Okay, so I think the format of these book reviews will go as follows:
- A plot synopsis. I will also take note of what time of year the book takes place, because any BSC fan can attest to the fact that the typical calendar year was not followed well in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.
- Takeaways from the book
- Best character
- Worst character
If you have any suggestions or ideas for a different way to do this, please let me know. This blog is for you, BSC fans, so any and all ideas are welcome!
This book was (obviously) the beginning of the series. From researching the BSC, Ann M. Martin (#legend) was given a job to write a four-book series on a group of girls who baby-sit. Thank God this thing took off, and gave us the gift that is the BSC and its many spin-offs.
Plot
The girls are just finishing seventh grade. Kristy lives with her mom and three brothers, Charlie, Sam and David-Michael. Charlie and Sam are in high school, and David Michael is only six so he needs babysitters every afternoon because Kristy's mom is some business lady with a very important job. Kristy and her older brothers take one afternoon each, and then there is a babysitter for the two other afternoons, but she seems shady as shit because during this book alone she cancels twice and Kristy's mom is searching for a sitter.
One afternoon Kristy's mom makes a ton of phone calls to find a sitter and never does. Kristy ends up having to take DM on a sitting job with her. During all her phone calls, Kristy is sitting there feeling sorry for her mom, and for DM who was feeling like a giant pain in the ass. With a little bit of brainstorming by Kristy, the Baby-Sitters Club is born.
Kristy asks her best friend and neighbor, MaryAnne, to be in the club with her, and then they recruit their other neighbor, Claudia. Even though Claudia is kind of outgrowing Kristy and MaryAnne (They are still young and short and immature looking, while Claudia is exotic and beautiful and likes boys now and is starting to wear a bra), she is super fucking pumped about the club and suggests they ask the new girl, Stacey, to join too. They do, and Stacey accepts, and the girls are off and running with their idea. They elect officers (Kristy as president, Claud as VP, MaryAnne as secretary and Stacey as treasurer) and start advertising.
They all get their first sitting jobs and things are going well for what seems like about a month. Then Stacey starts acting super shady, not eating and sneaking off to New York (where she came from) all the time. Kristy confronts her and they all get into a fight, but then they make up and have a slumber party and everyone feels very warm and fuzzy.
Takeaways
The book starts off with Kristy jumping up and screaming "Yeah!" when the bell rings at the end of the school day. This pisses her teacher off, and he makes her write a 100 word essay on the meaning of having decorum. When I was younger, I thought this word was one I was going to have to remember since adults clearly used it. I have never heard it used again.
Right off the bat, I got super annoyed that Kristy was in a skirt and was carrying a purse. No, she wasn't. My girl Kristy does not wear skirts unless forced, and it is very uncharacteristic for her to be carrying a purse. Are there a lot of seventh grade girls who carry purses, anyway.
So Kristy's dad took off before the book started, and her mom has been dating a very rich man named Watson Brewer for about four months. Watson seems like a cool cat, but Kristy is having none of it. Watson brings the entire family dinner (chinese) one night, and Kristy refuses to eat it. She basically acts like a snotty little bitch, and then gets sent to her room. When she marches up the stairs, before she slams her bedroom door, she screams to Watson, "I'm sorry you're such a terrible father!"
Woah, woah, woah Kristy. There is a line, and you crossed it. As a step-daughter myself, I have never delivered a blow that low. And Watson has illustrated no qualities of a terrible father. In fact, he is dating and presumably falling in love with a woman who has the baggage of FOUR children. One of which is kind of a little bitch, and I ain't talking about David Michael.
Kristy's first job is sitting for two giant dogs. I feel like this experience scarred her far more than it should have.
Stacey acts incredibly weird and shady throughout the whole book, and then it turns out she has diabetes and was worried they would think she was weird. Kristy assumed she was anorexic. This book caused me to believe I was both diabetic and anorexic for some time.
Going back to Watson and Kristy's mom - so at the beginning of this book, it says they have been dating four months. I think the book takes place over the course of a month. And by the end of the book, they are engaged. Seems fast to me, but I guess when you know, you know. Also, they combine the families for dinner one night, where they have fondue. I want to have a fucking fondue party!
This book was the first mention of Mrs. Porter, aka Morbidda Destiny, who is Watson's next door neighbor and his daughter, Karen, is convinced she is a witch who put a spell on their cat BooBoo. Her younger brother Andrew just goes along with it; he seems pretty easy going. But I'm not going to lie, I agree with Karen - MD seems pretty goddamn witchy to me.
Best character
I gotta give this one to Kristy's mom. She is a badass single mom taking care of four kids, then she nabs a millionaire. But when he proposes, she makes him wait before she will accept. Kristy acts like a little snot bag during a lot of this book, and her mom just deals with it but still lets Kristy know that she is loved (even though Kristy was acting like a giant douche).
Worst character
Claudia's first BSC job is for Jamie Newton, but Mrs. Newton failed to tell Claudia that THREE of Jamie's cousins would be there, too. Bullshit, Mrs. Newton. You didn't want to share that information beforehand, because the kids were fucking jerks. Epic fail, Mrs. Newton.
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