Must still be between Halloween and Thanksgiving, cause ain't shit happening regarding holidays, school, weather, etc.
Plot
Mallory gets a regular job sitting for some new clients, the Arnold's, for like six weeks. The Arnold's have twin girls, Marilyn and Carolyn. At first they are okay, but then Mallory tells them they look like book ends and they lose their shit. They rip off the only identifying things about them (their bracelets with their names) and just start terrorizing Mallory. Claudia takes a turn babysitting them, and they do it to her too. They even go as far as to switch places, and one of them goes to the others one's piano lesson.
Finally Mallory realizes the reason they are such bitches is because they are sick of not having seperate idenities. Mallory asks them about it and they admit it. Then Mallory offers to sit with them and talk to their mother. Their mother gets it, and allows the girls to start being themselves and dress differently. Everyone is happy.
Oh, and throughout the entire book Mallory whines about how lame she is, with her curly frizzy hair and her glasses and her braces and her holeless ears. So then she gets inspiration from the twins and talks to her own parents, who allow her to pierce her ears and cut her hair. So she is happy, too. The end.
Takeaways
Mallory talks about negotiating in this book - she asks her parents for a new wardrobe, a new haircut, pierces ears, and something else ridiculous - and then they give her the haircut and the ears, which is all she really wanted anyway. But I specifically remember reading that as a kid and thinking she was a goddamned genius.
The girls are absolutely obsessed with getting their ears pierced - both Jessi and Mallory are like in depressions because they haven't been allowed to as of yet. Maybe I was weird, but this just was not a big deal to me as a kid. My aunt took me to get my ears pierced when I was seven, and I seriously have worn earrings like three times since then.
I'm assuming the dad just works, because divorce or death is never mentioned, but these twins' dad has literally shit to do with them. He is never there, never mentioned, and Mrs. Arnold seems to make every decision about their daughters.
Best Character
Mallory wins. I feel like Mallory might be my secret favorite babysitter.
Worst Character
There really isn't a worst character this week. The twins are jerks, but they are also like 8, so they are just acting like 8 year olds.
Oh wait. Yes there is a worst character, even though she ends up coming around. The mom of these girls completely blames Claudia when the girls switch spots and one of them misses their piano lessons. Um, it's your bitchy girls' fault, Mrs. Arnold, not Claudia's.
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