#52 - MaryAnne and Too Many Babies

Timeline

It must be springtime of their second 8th grade year - it is warm enough for MA to take babies on walks outside with just sweaters on. 

Plot

All of the 8th grade girls are in a class called Modern Living, where they get paired up as a married couple and are given an egg to use as a baby. Logan and MA are partners. Logan acts pretty ridiculous about their egg baby and doesn’t trust MA to take care of her (yes, they pretend the egg is a girl). They try to go on a date but it ends in a fight. 

Finally, the project ends and they both realize they are way too young to have kids and be married. Which I guess is the whole point of the project. 

Also MA has a semi steady sitting job for twin babies, hence the “too many babies” thing. 

Takeaways

These idiots are way too serious about their “egg babies”. They won’t put them down. They cry over them. Seriously it’s a fucking egg. 

In MaryAnne’s class she gets to choose her husband, but it seems like everyone else is assigned. 

The title of this book really doesn’t make a lot of sense, either. 

We had a class like this, too, but it wasn’t until later in high school. I think I was a junior?

Best character

The teacher of the Modern Living class. When the students are freaking out about their marriages and their eggs she’s just like “meh, it’ll buff out.”

Worst character

Kristy is married to Alan Gray and she spends like a half hour on the phone - during a babysitting job - with him to discuss their eggs social development. It’s literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in a BSC book. 

#51 - Stacey’s Ex-Best Friend

Timeline

Valentine’s Day, second 8th grade year

Plot

Laine calls Stacey to brag about her week long middle of February school break (wtf is that?) and she’s basically a big bitch on the phone - she has a 15 year told boyfriend named King, she has all these magical options for her break, she calls Stacey “Anastacia” bc it sounds more grown up...but for some reason Stacey still begs her to come spend her break week in Stoneybrook. Laine never really agrees but Stacey kind of steamrolls her and all of a sudden she is in Steoneybrook. 

The visit is a disaster. Laine is a huge fucking bitch, she makes fun of everything about Stacey, the BSC, Stoneybrook and all the kids at SMS. It all comes to a head at the Valentine’s Day dance, where Laine is with Pete Black but she treats him like dog shit. Stacey blows up, Laine blows and then Laine gets on a train to go back to NYC early. Stacey writes her a break up letter and returns her part of their best friend necklace. 

Also, the girls plan a Valentines Day party for their kids, and it goes off well. 

Takeaways

Laine is such a fucking bitch in this book. I can’t believe it takes Stacey so long to blow up at her. 

There really isn’t much more to say about this book. 

Oh,except I still can’t believe how often these girls do “events” for their babysitting clients. 

Best character

Stacey, because she acts 13 and tries to make it work with Laine but it just doesn’t. And after she leaves she apologizes to everyone on her behalf. 

Worst character

Obviously Laine. What a bitch. 

#50 - Dawn’s Big Date

Timeline 

New Years Eve (yes, they skipped the entire holiday season), their 2nd 8th grade year

Plot

It’s New Years Eve and the girls have a slumber party. They all make resolutions, but Dawn makes a secret resolution to make herself more attractive to boys. Then MA tells her a few days later that Logan’s cousin Lewis, who Dawn has been penpals with for awhile, is coming to visit. Dawn decides to test some things out on Lewis. She changes her look, her attitude...everything. She kind of loses her mind. MA encourages the behavior and basically tells Dawn it’s time to change. Then Lewis comes and Dawn sucks, so he doesn’t like her. MA is still acting like a bitch so the girls fight. And the rest of the BSC is annoyed with Dawn acting like a psycho. 

Dawn really wants to use Lewis to figure out how to make boys like her, so she invites him over. About five minutes into the second date she realizes how much her new life sucks and confesses to Lewis that she was changing to impress him. He is like oh thank god, and Dawn changes her clothes and becomes herself again. And he and Dawn fall in love. 

Takeaways 

I think the copy of the book I have is my original from when I was a kid. It literally fell apart in my hands, and I read this book a lot growing up. I loved it. 

Dawn and MA get all these dating tips out of magazines. I remember reading them as a kid and tucking them away into my memory. Like compliment boys, say their names, have “you directed” conversations. 

Dawn is always portrayed as the “easy going, doesn’t care what people think, casual”type person, but almost every book proves that is not true. 

On their first date, Lewis and Dawn and MA and Logan go to see Gone With the Wind. It seriously sounds miserable to sit through that movie on a first date when you’re 13. MA picked it of course. When Dawn picks their second date they go bowling which sounds so much more fun. 

During the first date MA pinches Dawn every time she thinks she does something stupid. It’s so fucking rude. 

Best character

Lewis definitely wins. Dawn is a nutcase and a horrible date, but he still agrees to give her another shot and then tells her how great she was just the way she was. 

Worst character

Dawn and MaryAnne are pretty much tied for this one. 

#49 - Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street

Timeline

Nothing mentioned. It has to be nearing the end of the second 8th grade year right? Claudia mentions the weather is cloudy and cool, so I’m still going with spring. 

Plot

The BSC has a new client, Rosie. Rosie is a genius and an actress and a singer and a piano player. And a dancer. Claudia has nothing in common with her and Rosie is kind of a brat so she dreads babysitting for her. 

As Claudia gets to know her, though, it becomes apparent that Rosie is pretty misunderstood and miserable. She doesn’t want to do all that shit, but her parents make her. She sees Claudia drawing one day and asks some questions, and it ends up that is one of her talents as well. But it is one she actually really enjoys. So Claudia convinces her to talk to her parents, who agree she can take art lessons from Claudia and they will chill about everything else. 

Also, Claudia and the club decide to put on an art show featuring Claudia’s “junk food” series. 

Takeaways

Rosie is in a crossword puzzle contest. What the fuck? Stoneybrook schools are so weird. 

Claudia calls Janine to come over and help Rosie with her homework. Janine does it. It’s kind of weird. And Janine doesn’t like Rosie either. 

Rosie is only 7. Seven. There is no way a seven year old would be like this. The BSC is so off with their ages. 

Best character 

Janine for helping babysit Rosie. Not only does she come with Claudia calls, but also Jessi calls her and she comes running. 

Worst character 

Rosie’s mom - she is an uppidity bitchy stage mom until the very end of the book. 

#48 - Jessi’s Wish

Timeline

Still nothing mentioned, so spring of their second 6th grade/8th grade year

Plot

Some of the kids in Stoneybrook are in this “Kids Club”where they do community service. Jessi’s little sister is in the club and she comes home freaking out bc one of the club sponsors is leaving town for a long time and they have to disband. Jessi decides to step up, if the BSC will allow it, and be the second sponsor so the club can continue. Not only will the BSC allow it, but they all decide to slow down on the babysitting and do some community service for a month. 

While helping this Kids Club, Jessi meets a little girl named Danielle who has cancer. She mentions to Jessi that she wants to go to DisneyLand, and Jessi researches a little and finds the BSC version of Make-A-Wish. They grant her wish, but then at the end of the book Jessi finds out she is back in the hospital. 

Takeaways

The club was so busy last book that they lost their goddamned minds that Mallory wanted to take three weeks off. But somehow now they can all take a month off to do community service?

Becca and Charlotte befriend Danielle when everyone else is kind of scared of her. It’s so sweet. 

I didn’t like this book as a kid. I just plain old didn’t like Jessi books, but also this book is depressing as fuck. 

We have no idea if Danielle lives or dies. We never hear about her again. 

Best character

Jessi, obvi. She’s pretty selfless in this book. 

Worst character

There really isn’t a bad character in this book. Everyone is really nice and thoughtful and giving. 

#47 - Mallory on Strike

Timeline

Again, nothing mentioned. So March/April of their 2nd 6th/8th grade year

Plot
SMS is having a "Young Authors Day" where an author comes and talks to the school and there is a writing contest. Mallory decides to enter under the "Best Overall Story" category, but has trouble finding time to write between the BSC and her needy family. So she decides to go on strike, refusing to take on new babysitting jobs and refusing to help out at home. Her family rolls with it, as does the BSC, who allow her to take two weeks off from baby-sitting. Mallory then writes her story, wins, and then realizes she was kind of a bitch to everyone who knows her. So she takes her siblings out for an adventure day and everyone loves each other again. The end.

Oh, and her parents realize they need to stop using her as free labor and give her a "Mallory" day where she can do whatever she wants. She goes to the mall and a movie and takes Jessi with her.

Takeaways
SMS literally just had an "authors" day in the last book - remember, MaryAnne got grouped with Logan and three authors came to speak and Cokie got embarrassed? That was one book ago.

Mallory is in some special writing class at school, and she clearly has a big crush on her teacher. I think it's one of those situations where someone is really good at what they do and really passionate about it, and that makes them attractive.

The Young Authors Day is on a Saturday, and somehow everyone in Stoneybrook goes and the middle school is packed. Um. What?

On the day when Mallory takes her brothers and sisters on an adventure (which seems like a LOT of work for someone who bitches about how busy she is), they first stop at the Barrett's and play with them for awhile, and then they are like whelp, see ya later. I'm sure the Barrett kids were like WTF, I wanna continue on with your adventure.

I realized during this book that Mallory was handwriting this story out. How annoying.

When Mallory explains to the BSC that she has this huge writing project to do, they act all pissy (well, mostly Kristy acts pissy) and is all like "we all have to be available to our clients". Um. It's a fucking Baby-Sitters Club and Mallory is 11. Stop acting like this is a major publicly traded corporation. Let Mallory take a leave of absence and shut the fuck up about it. 

Best character
Probably Jessi, because she deals with Mallory being a huge c-u-next-tuesday during the entire book, but stays supportive and then helps her with this all day long boring ass adventure with her siblings. 

Worst character
I honestly don't know. Mallory is a b, but she comes around. Maybe Kristy bc she needs to recognize she runs a fucking babysitting club, not a Fortune 500 company.

#46 - MaryAnne Misses Logan

Timeline

Again, nothing mentioned. So March/April of their 2nd 8th grade year

Plot

The 8th graders have a special literary project due, where they are put in groups of four and assigned an author to study. Guess who MaryAnne gets this study? Her favorite author Megan Rineheart. Guess who she gets to study with? Pete Black, Cokie Mason (her enemy) and LOGAN. who she also happens to still be in love with and she wants him back. 

When the group gets going, it becomes clear Cokie is mildly stupid. And she has no intention of doing anything. But to everyone’s surprise, Logan falls into her trap and starts dating her, also neglecting the project. MaryAnne and Pete work without them. 

Then they get a surprise - Megan Rineheart, along with two other authors, are coming to the school to hear the presentations on themselves. Then Logan finally wakes the fuck up and realizes how dumb he’s being. He calls MaryAnne and starts working with her and Pete. Their presentation goes great, except it’s painfully obvious Cokie did nothing and she fails. 

Logan takes MaryAnne out for dinner to thank her. They decide to get back together. The end. 

Takeaways

Cokie is the worst, it she also kind of has balls of steel. She just kinda bulldozes Logan into dating her. 

MA develops so much confidence by the end of the book. She’s all like “the old MA would doubt Logan would call the next day. But the new MA knew he would. So I wasn’t even surprised when he did.”

There is literally no mention of the other babysitters groups or projects in his book. I’m surprised Kristy didn’t end up with Alan Gray. 

There is a whole side story about how one of the baby-sitting families, the Korman’s, are scared of their toilet. It’s pretty stupid. 

Best character

New, badass MA

Worst character

Duh, Cokie. 

#45 - Kristy and the Baby Parade

Timeline

Okay so still no real timeline is mentioned. Kristy mentions it’s gloomy but not really cold. So like March? But it’s also nice enough for a parade to be planned. So who knows. 

Plot

Okay so Mrs. Prezziso wants the club to start babysitting Andrea (her new baby) but wants them to go through a baby training course first. They all do, and guess who aces the final? Kristy, of course. 

So after the baby class is over, the girls move right on to their next project which is entering a float in the Stoneybrook baby parade. What is that, you ask? An entire fucking parade featuring only babies. Yep. So the girls fight over the float theme (finally “The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”wins), they fight over the decor, they fight over the colors, they fight over the costumes.  The float sucks. 

Kristy also helps Mrs. P with Andrea’s stroller entry, where she dresses up like a queen. She wins. 

The girls realize they were all kind of dicks and it didn’t work out bc none of them worked together. Lesson learned. 

Takeaways

How are there so many babies in Stoneybrook that they need an entire parade? And only kids under 3 are allowed. WTF?! 

When I was a kid I hated this book. But it’s kind of hilarious as an adult. 

Building a float is so hard and Claudia does it all alone. No wonder it sucks. And then Stacey did the paint, but didn’t talk to Claudia. And Mallory did the costumes, but didn’t talk to Stacey or Claudia. And everyone else just sat around and held babies. 

Best character

I really don’t know. They all kind of suck. Maybe Mrs. P because she has this idea for the parade and Andrea - Queen Andrea - and Kristy thinks it’s just the dumbest idea ever, but then she wins. 

Worst character

I think Mallory and Stacey tie bc they don’t talk to each other at all about colors and they end up with an orange float and pink costumes. 

#44 - Dawn and the Big Sleepover

Timeline: 

Winter/early spring of their second 8th grade year

Plot

All the kids in Stoneybrook have pen pals with a sister school. Dawn hears about it from the Pike’s and gets kind of jealous bc she wants one too. Then the pen pals’ school burns down and Dawn decides it’s up to her to organize a giant fundraiser, food/clothing drive and then, as a reward, give the kids a giant sleepover in the school. 

I realize this is lame, but that is literally all that happens in this book. The sleepover happens and it’s loud and annoying but probably kind of fun. And the kids were super pumped to help their friends. 

Takeaways

I feel like there has to be some kind of policy not allowing kids to spend the night in a school. 

Dawn is all worried about Kristy taking over the project and taking all the credit. That doesn’t happen. 

The kids start donating their parents stuff without asking. It’s kind of hilarious. The parents are way cooler about it than they should have been - they actually bought it back from them, rather than just taking it back. 

Best character

I mean, Dawn does something very selfless in this book for a bunch of kids thousands of miles away that she doesn’t even know. So Dawn. 

Worst character

Mrs. Rodowsky tells her boys they can have a yard sale but then hires Claudia to run it. Can the parents in Stoneybrook never do anything with their children???