Dawn is pretty new to town; she's from California. I tell you this right off the bat, because a good portion of this book is her bitching about the weather. We get it, Dawn. It is always beautiful and sunny in California, and Connecticut sucks. Get over it.
Anyway, so Dawn is the newest baby-sitter, and she is eager to be liked and please the BSC, especially Kristy, who is pretty butt hurt that Mary Anne has a new best friend. Dawn ends up taking on a new client, The Barrett's and she ends up seriously having to, like, mother these children. Mrs. Barrett, even though she is breathtakingly beautiful, is a disaster. Her house is seriously disgusting; her children are fucking filthy. So Dawn swoops in, cleans her house and mothers her children. The kids start calling her and showing up at her house, and then all hell breaks lose when Dawn is babysitting one day and Buddy goes missing. It ends up being his dad, who was pissed because Mrs. Barrett wasn't doing her part of the custody arrangement (shocked face), and so he sweeps by and takes Buddy to teach her a lesson. As soon as he figures out that Buddy was with a baby-sitter, he brings him back. But it was too late - Dawn called the cops and the entire town of Stoneybrook had dropped everything to search.
After that, Dawn talks to Mrs. Barrett and Mrs. B agrees to get her shit together. Also, Kristy and Dawn have a bonding moment in Dawn's barn, and Kristy names her the Official Alternate Officer of the club. The end.
Takeaways:
This book takes place around Memorial Day. Dawn's mom has a BBQ (which, like an hour before it's supposed to start she has no food for - so they have to go to the grocery store and buy EVERYTHING, even a grill. WTF Mrs. Schafer?!) Also, to note, the girls are in seventh grade, so I am guessing they are getting to the end of their seventh grade year.
At this BBQ, Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad are like, canoodling and acting all lovey dovey. This was pretty scandalous, because Dawn's parents hate him for not having money as a teenager.
When Dawn is trying to win Kristy over, she invites her to her house. Kristy agrees, and then asks if they can "play in the barn". It just seems weird that Kristy would call it "play" - hang out would be a better word I think? I just think baby-sitters are too old to be "playing" in a barn.
When Dawn first meets Buddy Barrett, he shoots her with a finger gun. She tells him she doesn't allow any kind of gun play while she is there. To this day, when I see little kids playing with any kind of guns, I think it is so weird and I think back to this book.
Best character:
Dawn's mom is my favorite character in this book, and let me tell you why - when Buddy is missing, everyone is searching and Dawn takes a moment to herself where she sits against the wall, puts her head down and starts crying. Dawn's mom shows up at that moment and is, like, so comforting to Dawn. It melted my heart.
Worst character:
I think Mrs. Barrett wins this one, because she is just the worse. She doesn't tell Dawn anything about her children; she never tells them where she is going, and she doesn't tell her that Marnie is allergic to chocolate so Dawn almost gives her some. Also, her house is a fucking pigsty, and I'm sorry, but that's just not okay. AND she has a babysitter, like, all the time. If you have full custody of your kids and their dad wants to see them, why not let them go with him once in awhile? Instead of hiring a baby sitter every other day?
Also, Mallory in this book is the worst. A bunch of the Babysitters and their charges are having a picnic, and they are playing this "Bzzz" game where you poke someone and say Bzzz....and I don't know what it really means. An insult of some sort. Anyway, at lunch, Mallory fucking Bzzzing one of her brothers - bitch, you are going to be in the BSC in a few books, you need to grow the eff up. Also, she is the one who stops Dawn before she gives Marnie chocolate. When Dawn is like "wtf Mallory, you'll get your brownie in a minute", Mallory gets all teary eyed. Again, grow the eff up, Mallory.
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