Super Special #15 - Baby-sitters European Vacation

Plot
OMGGGGGG I cannot believe this is the last BSC book I will be covering!

So back in Book #120, this happened:
It is summer again, Dawn is back again, and, again, somehow, SMS has offered their students an amazing trip. This year it is Europe for FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. THAT'S ALL.

There is also a opportunity at the playground for camp counselors. Everyone wants to do all of the things. But then Dawn says she is not going on the trip, so then Mary Anne decides she is not going. Then Logan says he is not going. Then Claudia says she is not going if she gets a playground job. Stacey, Abby and Kristy decide they want both, so they lie during the interview and say they won't go, but their plan is to just wait until they start and then ask for the ten days off. It's super shady and the girls fight pretty badly about it.

Mallory and Jessi get cut right from the start because of their age. Kristy, Stacey and Abby put their plan of lying into action. Meanwhile, Kristy is insistent everyone help fund raise even though not everyone is going. She is a huge bitch about it, which doesn't help with the fighting.

Subplot in this book is that little princess Victoria is moving back to Europe and she's sad. so they have an "American themed" goodbye party for her.

So as it ends up, the committee sees through the lies and only hires Dawn, Logan, MaryAnne and Claudia. They have this weird meeting where the formally apologize to each other and all is well.

So, this is the book where they go to Europe. I gotta be honest, it was pretty boring.

Highlights

• In Stoneybrook, Janine is like a lead counselor at the camp, for some reason, even though she never has been known to do anything outdoorsy. Her ex-boyfriend is also a camp counselor. She is very mean to Claudia, but it ends up it's because her ex is making her so uncomfortable. Claudia convinces her to stand up to him, and all ends well. The other babysitters that are still in Stoneybrook literally do nothing but write about Janine and Claudia. 
• Kristy meets a guy from another school who is also on this trip, and they fight the entire time....until the last night, where they realize they like each other and Kristy kisses him. 
• Mallory discovers she is a long lost relative of William Shakespeare and spends THE ENTIRE TRIP writing until Jessi is like dude, you are missing everything. 
• Jessi reunites with her ballet friends from New York who are doing a show in Europe. And how weird, one of the stars AND her understudy are both injured, so Jessi has to step in. And of course she learns the dance in like five minutes and is amazing. 
• Stacey's luggage gets lost and she loses her fucking mind and doesn't want to go anywhere because she has to borrow clothes from her mom and she can't believe how ugly she looks. But before she realizes it's not hers, she opens the suitcase and finds an urn full of ashes. It ends up her luggage got confused with a veteran who was bringing his body to Europe to spread his ashes where they served. They meet up and she gives him the urn. She kind of becomes less of a bitch at that point. 
• Abby meets up with Victoria, and she invites her to an event where they will meet the Queen. Of course Abby ends up stepping on the prince's toes. It's ridiculous. 
• Stacey's mom is a chaperone and she gets into fights with the other chaperone. 

And that's all folks! This was a fun little project, but I have to admit I'm glad it's done! 

I sold all of my BSC books on Facebook - I found a woman (named Jen, weirdly), whose daughter has started reading them and she was SO excited to find such a big collection. And I am so excited they went into the hands of a young girl who will appreciate them as much as I did when I was younger. 

Super Special #14 - BSC in the USA

Plot

Dawn and Jeff are in Stoneybrook for the summer. Their dad is going to NYC to pick up an RV to drive back to California, so he arranges it with their mom to pick the kids up and drive cross country with them. Then somehow this morphs into Krisy's stepdad doing the same thing, so now we have:

Brewer RV with Watson, Elizabeth, David Michael, Karen, Andrew, Abby, Jessi and Mallory

Schafer RV with Mr. Schafer, Jeff, Dawn, Claudia, Stacey, Kristy and Mary Anne

Each RV was taking a different route to get to California, and each person got to pick a place along the way that was special to them. 

And yes, Kristy ditched her own family because the other RV's route took them past more MLB stadiums. 

Highlights

• So much happened in this book. 
• Mallory's special place was this small town where her horse books take place. She got to see a lot of horses. 
• Jessi's special place was a plantation where her family were owned as slaves. Also, since they drove through her hometown they stopped there and had dinner with her grandma. Mallory started acting shy, so of course Jessi decided she is secretly racist. 
• Kristy, for some reason, got to go to a million special places. They were all baseball stadiums. And at the one in San Fran, she saw her biological father on the big screen! She magically finds him and they promise to keep in touch. 
• Claudia's special place was an art museum, but then she also fell in love with Wall Drug in South Dakota, where she buys an artist's sketch for ONE DOLLAR that ends up being worth $500. 
• Stacey's special place was Seattle, where her boyfriend Ethan was staying for the summer. 
• Also, Stacey and Claudia fight during the entire trip because Stacey thinks Claudia was snooping through her journal. So they wasted the entire trip fighting rather than talking about it. 
• MaryAnne's place was going to be her grandmother's house in Iowa, but then her grandma suggests they meet in Minneapolis instead at the Mall of America. 
• Abby's special place is Graceland, where they think they see Elvis. But then when they are at the Grand Canyon, she is miserable bc it was a favorite place of her father's. But then she accepted it and spent time just taking in the view and felt at peace and like her father was there. 
• Of course there are two huge almost catastrophes. Mr. Schafer somehow runs out of gas and has to leave the kids alone on the RV when he walks to find a gas station and they are all scared to death. This is happening while the other RV stops at Watson's college roommate's house in Oklahoma, and of course there is a tornado while they are there. 
• The adults did not plan anything for this trip. Every day they just decides where to drive. Mr. Schafer ran out of freaking gas for crying out loud. I don't know how they could plan a cross country trip with no planning. 

Super Special #13 - Ahola, Baby-sitters!

Plot
Most of the BSC is going to Hawaii - everyone except Kristy and Mallory. Kristy isn't going because her own family is going to Hawaii in a few weeks, and Mallory isn't going because her family can't afford it. Jessi feels awful, so she decides she needs to document every single moment of the trip and make a scrapbook so Mallory feels like she was there. She gets everyone on the trip to contribute to the journal.

Takeaways

• Jessi is highly annoying with her documentation. She is always writing in a notebook or taking photos. At some point you think she would realize she wasn't even enjoying her own vacation because she was too busy trying to document it, but she doesn't. You would also think at some point someone would realize Mallory may not want to see all this shit from a vacation she wasn't allowed to go on, but no one does. 
• Of course Stacey gets in a HELICOPTER accident and is missing for a night. Of course. 
• Claudia clearly hasn't paid attention in any history classes, so when she learns about Pearl Harbor she spends the rest of the trip depressed about her ancestry. 
• Abby finds a commercial being shot on the beach and lies her way into being in it. 
• Mary Anne........OF COURSE........finds a family to babysit for while she is there. 
• Dawn....of course....finds a beach to clean up, and lectures the town people about keeping it clean. 
• Logan and MaryAnne decide to spend time with their friends on this trip, rather than just each other. But by the end of the trip, they realize they missed out on a lot of memories together and decide never to do that again. 
• Stacey is also with Robert during this book, and he is flirty with another girl so Stacey gets pissy. One chapter is from his point of view and he explains how bipolar she is acting. But then he literally watches her helicopter crash so they fall back in love. And probably bang that night. 
• Mallory and Kristy are in Stoneybrook and they get into a fight with a lady in the park who thinks they are shitty babysitters. But then Mallory goes back to the park and sees her being a shitty mom so she just stares at her all smug like. 
• Hawaii is on my bucket list of places to go, but no book I have ever read has made it seem as boring as these girls did. 

Super Special #12 - Here Come the Bridesmaids!

Plot
Dawn is in California for her extended stay, and her dad is marrying his girlfriend, Carol. She invites the whole club, but only Kristy and MaryAnne can go - Claudia wants to but can't afford it, so Dawn's dad "hires" her to come and help with the wedding, paying for half her plane ticket. I don't know why that arrangement gets made for her but no one else, but whatevs.

The reason the entire club can't make the trip is because Mrs. Barrett is marrying her boyfriend, Mr. DeWitt, ON THE SAME WEEKEND (which of course makes Dawn angry, because why didn't Mrs. Barrett check with the BSC first to make sure that weekend would work?) so Shannon and Mallory are hired as "wedding babysitters" (because of course no one can watch the children on this special day) and Stacey is in the wedding as a bridesmaid (.....). Jessi is also working, as a mall Santa (...).

Since they can't all be together, Dawn decides they should each have to keep a journal, to compile into a book about these weddings.

Highlights

• This book makes no sense. 
• Dawn's dad and Carol ask her to be maid of honor. For some reason, she takes that to mean she is in charge of picking the bridesmaids. So she picks out a dress and asks MaryAnne to be a bridesmaid. MA is pissed at first bc why would Dawn assume she wants to be the center of attention? But then MA is excited about it. And THEN Dawn's dad drops the bomb that Dawn has no fucking clue what she is talking about and the complete wedding party is Dad, Carol, Dawn and Jeff and that's it. So then MA is mad that Dawn is stupid. But they cry and make up in time for the wedding. 
• Claudia is "hired" help, so she has to pick out flowers and take photos at the wedding. 
• Kristy gets all buddy buddy with the We Love Kids Club (even though she hates their club) and plans a goodbye party for Dawn because after the wedding she is going back to Stoneybrook forever (nope). 
• Meanwhile, back in Stoneybrook, Mrs. Barrett asks Stacey to be a bridesmaid about a week before the wedding. One of her friends backed out at the last minute. I mean, I guess I get it because it's not like a 13 year old is really going to have anything else going on, and she could fit into the dress. But who would want a 13 year old in her wedding party.
• So at the wedding, Shannon takes the youngest kid out of the church bc he is crying, so she just sits and cuddles him during the ceremony. Meanwhile Mallory gets to handle like four fucking brats all by herself. I would be pissed if I were Mallory. 
• Oh and also Mallory is fighting with her boyfriend, Ben, because she agreed to go caroling with him on the wedding day, but then remembers it's the wedding day so she calls to cancel and Ben gets irrationally pissed. But then they make up and just go caroling the next day. 
• Meanwhile, at the mall, the mall Santa has backed out and they need a replacement. Out of all of the people in the world, why not have an 11 year old do it? There are probably 11 year olds still going to SEE SANTA. What the fuck is wrong with this town that the only people who can do anything are 11-13 year old girls?
• Also, after the Barrett-DeWitt wedding, those families are combining into one house. Guess who gets called to help them move? THE BSC DUH. 
• 
  

Super Special #11 - The Baby-Sitters Remember

Plot
The Babysitters are on summer vacation and they are having a slumber party. They are discussing their summer homework assignment - an essay entitled "What I did this summer" - and complaining the assignment is so lame. Jessi says she wishes the assignment had been more thought-provoking, like "what is your most vivid memory"...

Highlights

• Kristy's most vivid memory is when her mom let her babysit David Michael by herself for the first time, and it started her obsession with babysitting. 
• MaryAnne's is when she had what she thought was a really horrible babysitter, but when she is babysitting for MA, Claudia and Kristy one night they spend the night playing jokes on her and she plays right along. That's when MA discovered how important it is to be a good, fun babysitter. (I think this is a super lame "most vivid" memory.)
• Claudia's is my favorite - it is when, in first grade, they are given a homework assignment to make a self portrait. Claudia makes this amazing butterfly, full of color and life. Then, at school, she gets in trouble for not understanding the assignment and not taking it seriously. She goes home and cries to Mimi, and Mimi marches right to the school and tells the art teacher that Claudia is the ONLY one who understood the assignment, and she drew how she sees herself. 
• Stacey's is then she got super sick in New York when she first got diabetes but she wasn't diagnosed yet. She gets sick at a slumber party and wets the bed she is sharing with Laine. All her friends tell everyone at school; the entire school is terrible to her, plus she gets officially diagnosed and they can't get her blood sugar under control, so she is in the hospital a lot. When her dad tells her they are moving to Connecticut, she can't wait. 
• Dawn's is when her parents tell her and Jeff they are getting divorced and the kids are moving with their mom to Stoneybrook. 
• Mallory's is when she stands in line to meet her favorite author, then can't speak to her when she gets to the front of the line and just bursts into tears. She decides she will be an author someday so she can have that same affect on someone.
• Jessi's is when her baby brother is born. 
• Shannon's is my least favorite. It's when a new girl comes to her school and "picks" girls from the class to be best friends with. When it's Shannon's turn, Shannon is busy studying to be in the Astronomy Club. She hangs out with her for awhile, but then decides the club is more important and tells her she can't hang out, so she gets ditched. She can't believe she almost gave up a chance to be in the Astronomy Club to hang out with someone. Dumb. 
• Logan's is moving to Stoneybrook, meeting MaryAnne and falling in LUV.
• I'm so glad Abby isn't in the club yet bc I would cry my eyes out if her vivid memory was losing her dad. 

Super Special #10 - Sea City, Here We Come!

Plot

The whole group is going to Sea City. The Pike's are going like they do every year. Normally Stacey and MA go as mother's helpers, but this year Mallory is acting as one (why would she want a normal vacation when she could BABYSIT the whole time), and since Jessi is her best friend, she is invited as the other. The Barrett's are also coming, and Stacey is their mothers helper. Kristy, Dawn, Claudia and MA are coming down for the second week. Mrs. Barrett's boyfriend, along with his four kids and Logan, drive them all down. They leave after a few days (Logan goes with them), and Kristy, Dawn, Claudia and MA hitch a ride back with the Barrett's or Pike's. 

While they are there, a hurricane hits and they have to take shelter in an elementary school. But it ends up being fine. 

Highlights

• Like, you would think a fucking hurricane would be the main point of this book, but it is literally one chapter, then we find out in the letter at the beginning of the next chapter that everything is fine. 
• Also, can we talk about how many letters and postcards these people write? Stacey literally wrote a postcard saying she was stranded in an elementary school - to her MOM. Maybe that should have been a phone call instead. 
• When they get there, Stacey immediately runs into her "ex-boyfriend", who she literally went on one date with and got "dumped" the next day. His name is Toby, and since Stacey won't give him the time of day, he starts hitting on Mallory and asks her on a date. Stacey gets super pissed and won't talk to Mal. Mallory decides she doesn't want to go on the date, so she breaks it off. Then Stacey finally apologizes. Also, in the letter Toby writes Mallory after they all go home (because Toby would write to Mallory......nope), he asks for Jessi's phone number. 
• Before the four extra babysitters go to Sea City, Claudia is in summer school; Kristy is coaching the Krushers and Dawn/MA have a summer camp in their backyard. It is written about extensively and is pretty boring. 
• Logan gets to go for a weekend, and he meets Alex, the boy MA went on a date with last time she was there. He is very jealous. Then when he goes back home, he can't stop thinking about how MA is probably cheating on him. When he finally hears from her, he realizes he is being cray and orders a HORSE AND BUGGY to pick her up when she arrives home. 
• Jessi decides she has to be a super sitter and is crazy about it. 
• There is an unnecessary chapter from Karen's point of view and she isn't even fucking there. 
• Dawn contributed nothing in this book. 

Super Special #9 - Starring the Baby-sitters Club!

Plot
All the Stoneybrook schools are putting on a play, Peter Pan. Jessi sees a flyer for it and decides she is the only person qualified, in all of the schools, to be Peter Pan. She is so confident she goes to the school newspaper and offers to write a insider article about it, since she will be playing the lead. She asks everyone to give her notes from their experience, so...we get a Super Special.

Highlights

• Jessi, however, does not get to be Peter Pan. Kristy does. Jessi is a freaking pouty baby about it the entire book. She gets cast as an Indian....or Lost Boy? Something like that. But she rejects the role. She does help choreograph dances for the little kids, but crosses her name off the program because she is literally the most bitter giant baby ever. Then, at the very last minute, Pete Black,  who is playing the dog and the crocodile, breaks his nose so Jessi gets to fill in. 
• Kristy is Peter Pan, and she has problems learning her lines, but then she is amazing. 
• Dawn is Wendy, and she wants to change all Wendy's lines to be more #metoo, but she gets denied. She gets her life together and is amazing. 
• Stacey and Sam are still dating, and they get cast as Mr. and Mrs. Darling. Sam makes a big show of teasing her, and it ends up it's because his friends give him a hard time for dating a younger girl and he wants them to see how much fun they have together. Finally they talk about it, they get their lives together and they are amazing. 
• Mallory is on the costume team, but she is too embarrassed to measure any of the boys so she is basically worthless. Then she becomes even more worthless bc she doesn't think she needs to be doing anything so she starts telling all the little kids what to do. But...
• MaryAnne is hired on (for free) to be the "backstage babysitter" and Mallory starts butting into her job when she gets bored with her real job. MA finally snaps at her, and Mallory finally realizes she actually does need to pay attention and do her job. 
• Claudia is a set designer. She is amazing. 
• Karen, per usual, is a little brat and, even though the director wasn't planning on casting anyone as TinkerBell, Karen gets cast and is amazing. 
• This play was offered to all the Stoneybrook skills, but somehow Kristy and Dawn get the leading roles? No one older auditioned for those? Basically the only high schooler in the play is the guy who plays Captain Hook (who Mallory won't measure even though its her fucking job). 

Super Special #8 - Babysitters at Shadow Lake

Plot
Watson receives a letter from his aunt (a phone call sure would make more sense...) about how they want to leave their lake house to him in their will. However, they know what a huge responsible it is, so they ask him to take a trip up there with his family to see if he would be interested. Kristy asks if they can bring friends, and Watson says yes. Sam and Charlie only need each other, Karen brings two friends, David Michael brings two friends, and of course Kristy brings the entire BSC. She justifies it by saying they will babysit the little kids, all day every day, for free. Of course. Kristy decides to have everyone make notes so she can put together a journal for Watson convincing him they need to have the lake house.

Highlights

• First of all - the BSC babysits the kids all day, every day. Do the parents never want to hang out with their kids?
• Sam decides he is in love with Stacey, so he teases her mercifully the entire book, and then on the last night they go to a dance and Stacey falls in LUV with him, too.
• Claudia discovers a boat costume contest (nope, not a thing) and decides to enter their tiny little boat up against the huge boats and yachts (nope, yachts aren't going to be on a lake). So she dresses it up as a lake monster and she wins "Best Spirit". 
• Most of the BSC act like total morons in this book. Examples
• MaryAnne babysits for the three girls one day and lets them "babysit" her. She acts like a baby. It's creepy and weird. And that's literally all MA does in this book. 
• Mallory gets bit by bugs a few times and becomes terrified of bugs/insects.She starts wearing long sleeves and hats and actual mosquito netting. She's a total spaz. I don't know why her friends hang out with her. 
• Jessi meets a boy, they hang out once and she decides he must be in love with her. She prepares to tell him about Quint and how she wants to remain loyal to him (yes, she is 11), but then he's like um I have a girlfriend back home, I was just playing. Which goes to show you even in the BSC universe, players gotta play. 
• Dawn gets obsessed with and scared of a "lake monster" and lets it take over her life. But you know, she's so cool and calm and collected all the time (eyerolls). She starts asking questions around time about a "lake mystery" and finds out there was a family that lived on an island, and one night they just all disappeared. One year after that, their house burned down. The BSC boats to the island and spends the night, but of course Dawn just wants to go back to the lake house the entire time
• David Michael and Karen have chapters and they are terrible and boring. Basically each group of friends wants to get away from everyone else. 
• Kristy's main goal throughout the book is to get Watson to realize he needs to accept the gift of the lake house. Which he does. 

Super Special #7 - Snowbound

Plot
Stoneybrook has had a lot of snow in the forecast lately...but no snow. So when a huge storm is predicted, no one believes it. So everyone just goes about their lives...and then the snow starts. And keeps going. And going. And going. Two and a half feet of snow fall, and every baby-sitter is affected in some dramatic way.

There is a write up in the paper about it, but Kristy doesn't think it has a personal touch to it. She offers to write a new article about her and all of the BSC member's experience with the blizzard.

Highlights

• Claudia is babysitting the Perkins' family and has to stay overnight when the parents can't get home. Her's is probably the most boring story. 
• Mallory and MaryAnne are doing a "babysitting marathon" where MA comes and spends the night at the Pike's so the parents can leave for a day in New York at 5am. She and Mallory get the kids ready for school, go to school, and then MA is supposed to spend the night again bc the parents won't be home until like midnight. However....the storm hits in the evening, and the parents can't come home at all. Somehow, a family of ten people is also almost completely out of food, so Logan skiis over the next morning with supplies. 
• Jessi is at her dance lesson, and her dad is supposed to pick up her 11 year old boyfriend Quint at the train station, then pick her up so they can go home. But her dad can't make it - so Quint WALKS IN A BLIZZARD to the dance school, where they stay the night. 
• Kristy decides to invite Bart over, who gets stuck there and has to spend the night. Even though Bart knows exactly what she looks like, for some reason she decides she can't just look normal in the morning, so she gets up early to shower, shave her legs (for the first time), curl her hair (for the first time) and wear makeup. 
• Dawn and her mom are on their way to the airport to get her brother when the storm hits. Jeff gets rerouted to Washington DC, and Dawn and her mom have to spend the night in the airport. 
• Stacey's story is the most annoying. She convinces her mom to take her to this mall like 30 miles outside of Stoneybrook to get a perm. Then, of course, they get stranded in the car on the way back. They run out of gas. That's responsible, Stacey's mom. Then a stranger comes by to help them, which is scary but dying in the car is scarier, so they go home with them. It ends up being a lovely little couple with a little boy. 
• I understand not really believing the forecast but seriously..........................they all should have just stayed home that night. They were calling for heavy snow, you dumb fucks. 
• I remember really loving this book as a kid.

Super Special #6 - New York, New York!

Plot:
The girls get yet another two week vacation from school, and decide to use it to go to stay in New York with Stacey's dad - actually, they can't all fit in Stacey's dad's apartment, so some of them stay at Laine's. Claudia is actually the driving force for this vacay, because she finds a two week art class she wants to take with a famous artist, Mac Clark. Mallory decides to take it too, since she is going to write and illustrate children's books.

Highlights:

• What kind of a vacation would this be if some of them weren't babysitting the whole time? Stacey and MA take a job as nannies for these two children who are in NY for the same two weeks as they are. Their parents are like, super important English dignitaries, so they are way too busy to hang out with their children. While taking the kids all over the city, they discover a man is following them. They finally tell the parents about him, and it ends up it is the children's bodyguard. Then Stacey awkwardly waves at him all day. 
• Claudia and Mallory take the art classes, and the teacher is super easy on Mallory and super tough on Claudia. Obviously this is because he sees Mallory as an immature artist and he knows Claudia has potential if she would just fucking focus. But it causes a pretty bad rift between Claudia and Mallory. Finally, Mac is honest with both of them about their skills, and Claudia is on cloud nine and Mallory is like meh, I don't really like serious art anyway, I like to draw cloud and mushrooms (wtf). Claudia apologizes for being a b. 
• Speaking of that, it always floors me how mean these girls are to each other. Like Claudia gets jealous that Mallory is getting treated better by the famous artist, so she calls her names and makes fun of her to her face constantly. I just don't think people do that in real life. Talk behind her back like a normal person, Claudia. 
• Kristy finds a dog in Central Park and takes him to Laine's apartment with the plan to take him home to Stoneybrook. Then she gets told no by Watson, and Laine's parents are like WTF are you doing? So she finds a new owner for him, this kid who is lonely and wants a dog. 
• Jessi meets a boy, Quint, and hangs out with him. He is a boy ballerina. She gets her first kiss from him. 
• Dawn, the laid back, cool, calm and collected Dawn, loses her shit and can't leave Stacey's dad's apartment. Kristy sits with her for two days and then can't take it anymore. She gets offended that Kristy and Jessi don't want to just sit with her all day and watch tv. She ends up meeting a boy in the apartment building, who convinces her to let him take her on a tour of the city. She falls in love with him, of course. 

Super Special #5 - California Girls!

Plot:
The girls win the lottery (?!?!) and decide to use the money to take a two week vacation to California to stay with Dawn's dad and brother. Dawn's dad takes the second week off work, but during the first week his girlfriend, Carol, hangs around a lot so she can be the girls chauffeur, which is really really nice of her, but Dawn and her brother Jeff can't stand her.

Highlights:

• Dawn's only real highlight of this entire book is that she hates Carol. Jeff can't stand her either. She thinks Carol is too young for her father and tries to act like a hip, cool kid. 
• Kristy and MaryAnne, of course, have to babysit while they are on vacation. MA babysits this girl, Stephie, who is a lot like she was when she was  younger - except she has asthma, which isn't a big deal but MA is scared to death about it. Kristy babysits these two crazy ass boys, and of course her sitting job is on the day that they go to Universal Studios, so she takes them along. 
• Mallory loses her goddamned mind. She decides she needs to be a "California girl" so she dyes her hair blonde and spends every cent she has on makeup. Then she has to borrow money from Jessi the entire trip. Then, her and Jessi are visiting Jessi's "friend" Derek on the set of his show (I say "friend" bc he's like seven years old and it's kind of weird) and they ask for extras. Mal thinks this is her chance, but nope - the director tells her he doesn't like her looks. She is distraught, and then Kristy is like you are acting like a jerk, stop it. 
• Speaking of Jessi's "friend", he makes Jessi think that she needs to get an agent while she is in California - during the two weeks she is in Cali, she is supposed to find and hire an agent. As an 11 year old. Luckily, she realizes that's stupid before she gets too far into it. 
• Of course one of them meets a boyfriend - this time it's Claudia. His name is Terry, they meet on the beach, of course they go on dates because that's what 13 year olds do in strange cities, but he is really really smart. At first Claudia tries to change for him, but then she acts like herself and they fall in love. 
• Stacey gets bit by the "surfing bug" and meets a bunch of surfing buddies. She goes to the beach with them almost daily, and then on the way home one evening they get into a car accident. The driver of her car causes it, and he asks her to lie for him. She doesn't, so that's the end of that friendship. Stacey calls Carol to come pick her up from the hospital, and Carol and Dawn go. The girls are thinking she will keep this a secret, but she tells Dawn's dad and they make her call their parents. Dawn gains a newfound respect for Carol, and immediately changes her mind about her. She writes her a letter and gives it to her in person. It fixes everything. 

Super Special #4 - Baby-Sitters Island Adventure

Plot:
Dawn and Claudia are really into sailing, suddenly, and they are both really good at it. They decide to have a race, to this little island and back, and it ends in a tie (of course Dawn thinks she won, but no one agreed with her). They schedule a re-do, but decide just to race TO the island, then have a fun afternoon, then leisurely take their time coming back. Becuase they have to be baby-sitting at all times, they invite four children to come with them - Becca, Haley, Jamie Newton (yes...4 year old Jamie Newton), and Dawn's brother, Jeff, who is coming to Stoneybrook for a four day weekend.

A storm hits in the middle of their journey to the island, and Dawn's boat gets a hole in it. They have to ditch it, and they all end up on an island using Claudia's boat. They are stuck there for two nights before they are rescued.

Highlights:

• There is no way this should have happened. One - the island they were going to was only three miles away. THREE little miles. If a normal person can WALK 3 miles in 45 minutes-ish, that's what is the most time it should have taken them to get to their original destination. How did they get SO off course that they weren't found for TWO days. 
• Let me back up. So the entire town, including NATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE, come to search for them. They have huge boats and AIRPLANES looking for them. Again, they could not have been that off course that they couldn't be found by AIRPLANES for days. 
• The day before they leave, Dawn forgets to give MaryAnne a message that Logan had to cancel a date. MA and Logan both hugely over-react and MA actually tells Dawn "I hope I never see you again." Then MA is too distraught to help with the search. MA is worthless. 
• Kristy cancels a Krushers game bc the kids on the island are involved with the team, and also literally every person in Stoneybrook is searching. Bart tells her she's being selfish. Bad call, Bart. Bad call. 
• Like...I get that this is a small town and this is a big deal. But Mallory's family is like, oddly super involved. Like they cancel an entire trip to stay in town and help with the search. Can you imagine the planning that goes into planning a family trip for ten people? It's weird that they 1. we still in town when this race started and 2. would just cancel the entire thing to search nonstop for people you aren't related to. 
• Jessi's aunt has to come to town bc her parents left town....and must have been pretty far away, since they NEVER COME BACK AND THEIR DAUGHTER IS MISSING....but also, they left an ELEVEN YEAR OLD in charge of two children for an entire weekend?!
• Again, I cannot stress enough how this never would have happened. 
• They were only going on a three mile trip...............THIS NEVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED. 
• Also, did no one think to CHECK THE WEATHER before they left for this huge, long, drawn out, three mile trip?

Super Special #3 - Baby-Sitters Winter Vacation

Plot:
The entire middle school, along with other middle schools, are going on a week long winter vacation to a lodge. While they are there, they have a Winter War, with a ton of outdoor winter activities. The entire school is divided between two teams - Kristy, of course, is the captain of her team, and she is also organizing the entire war.

On the way to the Lodge, a group of elementary students' bus gets into a wreck and the two teachers that came with them are injured. So, of course, the BabySitters Club offers to babysit them the entire week and even bunk up with them.

Logan can't go on the trip because his family is going to Aruba, so MA decides to write a book for him about her trip that he missed.

Highlights:

• MaryAnne is without Logan for ONE week and she loses her mind and assumes he is cheating on her. Also, he calls her from ARUBA just to say he misses her. They are 13. 
• Stacey and Claudia both fall in love - Stacey with Pierre, who is a 13 year old from another school. The feeling is mutual. Claudia falls for her ski instructor, who is married with two kids. The feeling is not mutual. 
• Dawn, who always says how easy going she is and doesn't care what people think of her, falls down a lot during the winter games and pouts the entire rest of the book. She starts a fight with MA and gets mad at Kristy. 
• Jessi, as an 11 year old sixth grader, is in charge of the entire Talent Show they have one night. Don't worry, she takes the opportunity to schedule herself into the show for a ballet solo. Also, one of the little kids is kind of rude to her, and Jessi decides it has to be race related, but of course it's not - the kid is just homesick (and also kind of a jerk). 
• Of course Kristy is way too intense about the winter war and ends up alienating most of her class. She also guilts people into joining the cross country skiing competition and one kid ends up breaking his leg. 
• If I was still doing worse character ever, Mallory would win. First, she loses her mind because they assign the rooms by grades, so her and Jessi are with sixth graders and of course she doesn't think that is fair. It doesn't matter anyway, since they end up volunteering to stay with the kids (seriously, can these girls ever NOT babysit?). Then, they announce there will be a dance on their last night at the lounge, and she is literally praying for the place to BURN TO THE GROUND so she doesn't have to go. She is the worst. 
• Oh, and Mallory tries to do her spying thing again, but she actually gets caught twice - one time, it's spying on Stacey and her lover. LIKE SERIOUSLY - she is so weird. 
• This was the first BSC book I ever read, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it. But even back then, I remember thinking "why would these girls give up their entire week to babysit for free?"

Super Special #2 - Baby-Sitters Summer Vacation

Plot:
All of the Baby-Sitters Club, along with Logan and several of the kids from Stoneybrook, go to Camp Mohawk for two weeks over the summer. Stacey has moved back to New York, so all the Stoneybrook BSC members decide they want to go after Dawn makes them watch camp movies. They take quite awhile to convince Stacey to go, because she doesn't think she can live without the NYC building and Bloomingdales for two weeks (um...it's two weeks, Stace). Finally she agrees but says if she's going to be gone from New York for two solid weeks, everyone has to write journal entries so that she has a diary of her time away.

Highlights:

• The camp is set up of age-separated cabins, with a counselor, two CITS (counselors in training), and six canpers. All the older BSC members are CITS, and Mallory and Jessi can't handle the fact that they are only 11, so they get special permission to be Junior CITS. All the other campers in their cabin make fun of them greatly for this. I don't blame them - that's fucking nerdy. Especially since Mallory makes them "Junior CIT" armbands to wear so they can stand out. 
• Kristy and MaryAnne are both in cabins where their partner CITS make them feel like babies. Kristy's make her over and force her to go to the Movie Night and the Dance with the boys side, even though she doesn't want to. MaryAnne's are constantly testing her and they don't believe she has a boyfriend. So she writes a scandalous letter to him and leaves it on her bed for them to find. They do, and then convince her she needs to take it to Logan. So she leaves at night to walk the letter across the lake to the boys side - but they freak out and tell on her, so then she gets caught. They take the letter to Logan, and he gets made fun of pretty heavily. 
• Stacey gets very sick and spends most of the time in the infirmary. 
• Claudia, of course, meets a guy for two seconds when he comes over to invite the girls to Movie Night and the Dance, and falls madly in love. They find each other on Movie Night and have an intense love affair during the two times they are allowed to hang out. 
• Dawn's group gets to go on an overnight camping trip, but they get lost and end up gone for two nights. What, Dawn, the camping expert, gets her group lost in the woods?? Shut the fuck up, Dawn. 
• Mallory and Jessi's are, of course, connected at the hip. Their cabin-mates make fun of them, but then they take it a step too far by bringing race into it. Their special project is to create a dance for the 8 year old cabins, and they make it about twins who feel different than all their friends. - and of course, they make the twins Becca and Charlotte, a black girl and a white girl, to prove a point. 
• Also, side note, it always amazes me how "shy" and how much stage fright Becca and Charlotte have, yet they are always on stage and in plays in these books. 

Super Special #1 - Baby-Sitters on Board!

Super Specials are different than the other novels in this series - they are longer, with the chapters divided up from different viewpoints. For these, I will write up a summary of the whole book then hit highlights from the character's stories.

Plot:
Mr. Pike wins a cruise and trip to Disney World for his entire family (I bet his company was wishing someone with a smaller family won).  They ask Stacey and Mary Anne to come as mother's helpers again. When Watson hears about the trip, he decides to take his entire family, along with Dawn and Claudia (because no baby-sitter can be left behind). (Also, I can't believe Kristy's brothers don't throw a fit and insist on bringing their own friends.) (Unless maybe they are each other's best friends.) Kristy decides since all of the BSC members are there (there are only 5 at this point - Kristy, Claud, Stacey, MA and Dawn) that they need to have meetings every single day. She also decides they need to brainstorm a gift to give to the two sets of parents that made this trip happen. They have a lot of shitty ideas, but finally Claudia comes up with the idea to make a scrapbook of the trip.

Highlights:

• Kristy, Dawn and Claudia share a room, both on the cruise ship and in the hotel. Dawn is a neat freak and Kristy is a slob, and they are pretty terrible to each other. Kristy is super immature - like, at breakfast one day she sloppily drinks her milk to create a milk mustache and then won't wipe it off). Finally, they apologize to each other. 
• Everyone meets new friends - Kristy meets an old man she hangs out with, Stacey meets this little boy in a wheelchair who has a bad heart, Claudia has a secret admirer, then she meets a boyfriend who ends up being the secret admirer, Dawn meets a boyfriend, and MaryAnne meets this incredibly sophisticated girl who tells her that she is an orphan, but it ends up not only does she have famous folk singing parents, but also her brother is Claudia's secret admirer/boyfriend.  In an odd twist of character, MA actually confronts her and decides she does not want someone who lies that much in her life. 
• Karen gets to pen two chapters, and she doesn't come off well in either one of them. In the first one, Kristy takes her, David Michael and Andrew to the pool and Karen asks if she can go back to her room by herself to get something - Kristy lets her but Karen gets distracted and goes and gets a manicure and a coke, charging it to her room. Like a spoiled little brat. In the second one, her parents take the three little kids to a Disney character breakfast and Karen fucking lies and says its her birthday to get everyone to sing to her. BRAT. 
• Mallory isn't a babysitter yet, and she's super weird. She tries to do this Harriet the Spy thing where she just kind lurks around and listens to conversations - and ends up getting most of her facts wrong. It's weird. She's weird. 
• Bryan gets to write two chapters, and they are boring AF.

#131 - The Fire at Mary Anne's House

Timeline
Summer after 9th repeat

Plot
It's summer time and MaryAnne is enjoying her normal life - sleeping in, lunches with Logan, talking to Dawn on the phone. She find a magazine with a "Best Babysitter" contest and she decides to enter with the entire BSC. Life is good.

Then - then she wakes up to a smoke filled house and the fire alarms ringing. Her entire house burns to the ground. She spends the next few days digging through the rubble with pretty much the entire town of Stoneybrook, and they are staying at Kristy's house, which is nice but crowded. MA doesn't cry a single tear, which is obviously very unlike her. Her parents start talking about a fresh start - maybe, away from Stoneybrook - possibly as far as Philadelphia. Finally, one night she can't sleep so she rides Kristy's bike over to the destroyed house and just sits and cries and cries. Dawn wakes up to find her gone, so she goes to find her and they cry together.

The BSC charges get together to send in their application for the Best Babysitter contest, but we never hear if they won.

Takeaways
Holy shit - I made it to the LAST BOOK in the regular series! And I will tell you what - it was a doozy to get through. I kept tearing up about the fire, but also I think because I knew this was it.

There really isn't a lot of takeaways other than what I wrote up in the plot summary.

I seriously had to fight back tears.

It's pretty clear it was the last book in the regular series - there was a lot of "remember whens" throughout the entire book.

Best Character
I don't even know. Dawn flew in right away to be with her family. MA and her family had to deal with a fire. The entire town of Stoneybrook took them in and took care of them. Everyone was the best.

Worst Character
Just the fire. The fire was the worst.

#130 - Stacey's Movie

Timeline
May of 9th repeat

Plot
Stacey and Kristy are both in a film making class at school. Kristy's group does a project where they record the kids of Stoneybrook and she is grouped with Alan Gray. Kristy, of course, is a psycho and takes over and is completely rude to Alan. She also tries to make the kids "act funny" and they get annoyed with her, along with the other babysitters.

Stacey's group is interviewing middle schooler's about their innermost thoughts and feelings. They end up getting some really real answers from their classmates - like Jessi feeling weird being one of the only black kids in Stoneybrook, MaryAnne being angry with her mother for dying, Alan Gray feeling like no one will ever take him seriously. Even Stacey ends up talking about her parents fighting and eventual divorce.  MA and Stacey are worried about how they will be portrayed, but the film ends up being amazing.

Takeaways
Stacey's boyfriend has always been 15, but in this book he is 16. So he gets to age but no one else does?

Kristy is pretty much the worst in this book, again, and Abby tells her as much. It's kind of hilarious. She writes in the club notebook how terrible Kristy is.

Best Character
I think Jessi is the best character in this book - she finally says all the things she has probably been thinking for years, and Stacey is all hurt that Jessi doesn't feel like she fit in, but she is just like meh...it's the truth, deal with it Blondie.

Worst Character
Just Kristy, She is such a monster sometimes.

#129 - Kristy at Bat

Timeline
April of 9th repeat

Plot
Kristy and Watson are going to a week long father-daughter baseball camp where baseball legends are leading the camp. One of the guys leading is Bill Baines, who Watson has worshiped since he was a kid. Watson loads up all his Baines memorabilia and they take off. But right before they leave, Kristy finds out she only made the B squad of the SMS softball team - she was feeling cocky and half assed it through the try out, and the coach noticed and assigned her accordingly. She is feeling pretty let down about the whole baseball universe, but she tries to make the best of it because Watson is so excited.

Pretty much right away, Watson meets his idol and he is a complete asshole, so Watson is pretty let down for several days. Kristy starts doing Kristy thing, completely taking over and organizing everyone. Bill Baines continues to be a dick, and finally Kristy freaks out on him, loudly, in front of everyone. Bill realizes how much of an ass he is being, so he completely changes and he and Watson become tight. At the awards ceremony, Kristy wins "Best Coach" because of her natural leadership ability.

Subplot is that of course, the kids of Stoneybrook are obsessed with baseball cards and have started a little trading club. David Michael gets taken advantage of, but then he gets the kid back.

Takeaways
Kristy is 13 years old, but somehow takes over and leads an entire camp, one where there are several adults.

She also admits that Abby is a better athlete than she is.

It was kind of nice seeing Kristy get put in her place by the softball coach - like I'm sure Kristy is a good coach, but maybe she needs to take that old saying "those who can't do, teach" more seriously.

Also, there's this weird thing during this book where Kristy really misses her real dad and wishes he was there with her.

Best Character
I would have to say Watson - he had to have spent so much money on this camp and he was so excited when his idol finally paid attention to him.

Worst Character
Even though he learns his lesson, Bill Baines is still the worst.

#128 - Claudia and the Little Liar

Timeline
March of 9th repeat

Plot
Claudia has been sitting for Haley and Matt Braddock one night, and Haley gets caught in a lie when her parents get home. After that, it is mother fucking game on - Haley is out to get Claudia. She convinces the rest of the kids in Stoneybrook that not only Claudia, but the entire BSC, are a bunch of liars and tattletails (Tattletales? Tattle tales?) Anyway, the BSC brainstorms and decides to use some psychology stuff that MA learned when she was seeing a therapist on Haley. It works, and it comes down to Haley is starting to suck at school, so she's been lying there to get our of stuff. When it works at school, she decides to start doing it at home too. Of course, the BSC solves the mystery and all is well.

Sub plot is that Claudia is still dating Josh, but she doesn't feel really romantic about him - she doesn't know how to handle it.But it turns out Josh is feeling the same way towards her, so they break up but remain really good friends.

Takeaways
Sometimes it's hard to take these books - these girls are SO INVOLVED in every single detail of their client's lives.

They keep talking about how much younger Josh is than the rest of the characters, and how he feels so intimidated by them. Um. He is in 7th grade and they are in 8th. How is it they have literally never met before Claudia got moved down to 7th grade? Stoneybrook cannot possibly be that big.

Best Character
Josh - he was way more mature than Claudia and initiated the break up conversation, even though that had to be scary for him considering he is "so much younger" than her.

Worst Character
The little liar Haley. I don't think all is well with her - this is just the beginning of her lying life. Soon she will be knocked up in high school.

#127 - Abby's Un-Valentine

Timeline
Feb of 9th repeat

Plot
Abby has no interest in boys or Valentine's Day. Actually, she is so anti Valentine's Day it's a little weird. So when a boy, Ross, decides he wants Abby as his Valentine, obviously things aren't going to work out in his favor. He chases her, but she resists and is actually quite rude to him. But of course, Ross won't give up, which is also quite rude. Then she realizes that all the things Ross is interested in don't appeal to her but they would appeal to her sister, Anna. She attempts to set them up, but it flops. He comes to the house and thinks Anna is Abby, and for some reason Anna doesn't correct him, then he realizes he has the wrong twin and gets very mad. Anna and Abby go to his house to apologize, and Abby says that maybe Anna and Ross should spend time together. They set a date.

Sub plot is that it's time for the guide dog that Kristy's family is training is ready to move on to the next step and Andrew is losing his mind. David Michael ends up giving him partial ownership of their other puppy, Shannon, to help him heal.

Takeaways
Ross may have trouble later in his life -he doesn't get that no means no.

Abby and Kristy end up spending Valentine's Day together, which is weird bc Abby mentions several times in the book that she is not that close with Kristy. Abby is in denial. It wasn't that many books ago Kristy went on vacation with Abby's family.

Best Character
I would say Anna, because it's pretty clear that she has feelings for Ross from the very beginning, but then she is very positive about getting Abby hooked up with him. So she puts her feelings aside for her twin. But then she ends up getting him anyway.

Worst Character
I know that everything ends up being okay, but I'm going to give this one to Ross because he doesn't respect Abby telling him no.

#126 - The All-New Mallory Pike

Timeline
January of 9th repeat

Plot
The day has finally come for Mallory to go to her new school, Riverbend. She and her parents make the trip, and the first night goes pretty well for Mal. She meets all the other new students, and then the next day the returning students come back and she meets her roommate, Alexis. Right off the bat, it's not going to work out -Alexis starts telling her all the "rules" for the room, and Mallory finds she also has no room for her own stuff bc Alexis has taken over.

Things just keep getting worse and worse. Alexis reads Mallory's journal; she borrows earrings without asking. Mallory throws herself into her new life with her new friends and just avoids her room. Alexis then makes her feel bad for avoiding her, but then two seconds later she is a bitch again. The shit finally really hits the fan when Mal gets a care package from the BSC and Alexis completely destroys it. They have mediation meeting with their RA and the dean, and Alexis storms out, goes back to their room and completely trashes it, throwing shit everywhere. The dean sees the situation is drastic, so they ask a girl who has a single room to move in with Mallory and they move Alexis to live by herself.

Back in Stoneybrook, the Pike kids are fighting over Mallory's space - with her being gone, Vanessa has a room to herself and that's really not fair. So they battle it out, and then finally sort it out.

Takeaways
Right when Mallory leaves, all the Pike kids like LOSE their minds and are all depressed that Mallory left. I don't think that's very realistic. And it's not like Mallory died. It's January at this point, so I bet she would be home in like 8 weeks for a spring break of some sort. Get it together.

Also, I think it's weird the Pike family never thought of the room situation before Mallory left.

The roommate situation reminded me so much of my first roommate at BVU. She was just weird. All I wanted to do was move out, but they had a roommate freeze time where you couldn't make adjustments. As soon as that time was over, though, I bolted.

Also, I kind of wish I had gone to an all girls school. I feel like I would have had my shit together a little earlier in life if I had.

Best Character
Mallory. When I was an 19 year old kid going to school for the first time, I lost my shit often. Mallory is 11 and handles it like a pro.

Worst Character
I mean, obviously Alexa, the room destroyer.

#125 - Mary Anne in the Middle

Timeline
December of 9th repeat

Plot
Okay so Mallory has decided she is for sure leaving to go to boarding school, and Jessi is pissed. They fight constantly and for some reason they are both confiding in Mary Anne about everything. They are constantly talking to MA about each other and MA is like losing sleep over it. Finally, she tricks them into both coming to her house at the same time and then she acts as the mediator, gets them to understand each other, and they make up. The BSC and pretty much the entire neighborhood of Stoneybrook then has a "We Love Mallory" day.

The substory is that the BSC, along with the entire neighborhood of course, makes holiday decorations for the old age home and then throws a party for the old people. It's the most successful party in the history of old age home holiday parties.

Takeaways
I really hope these girls are keeping track of all the community service they do. It will look great on job/college applications.

There really wasn't a lot to this book at all. Jessi and Mallory were both super immature about their fight and were downright nasty to each other. And they were super mean/rude to each other in front of people, including their sitting charges.

Also, they both get pissed and walk out of a BSC meeting and I can't believe that was okay with Kristy.

Best Character
MA because she has to deal with two sixth graders fighting like children and she is the only one who figures out how to get them to get along.

Worst Character
Honestly Mallory is pretty immature, but Jessi is just plain nasty the majority of the book.

#124 - Stacey McGill...Matchmaker

Timeline
November of 9th repeat

Plot
There is a new BSC client in town. He has two children, and Stacey gets assigned to the job. His name is John, and he is an author. When Stacey's mom comes to pick her up, sparks fly. Pretty soon, Ms. Stacey's Mom and John are dating. Stacey is elated.

You know who is not elated? Joni, John's oldest daughter. She is nine, and she is not ready for her dad to start dating. She is pretty convinced her mom will come back, even though she completely deserted the family to go be a model. Joni starts pulling all sorts of tricks with her dad to keep him away from Ms. Stacey's Mom.

Stacey and her mom host Thanksgiving, and it doesn't go well. Joni has kind of a meltdown at dinner, but the worst part was things didn't seem to be vibing with John and Ms. SM. He doesn't offer to help with dishes, SM is clearly not impressed with his parenting, and when she drives Stacey to the train station the next morning to go see her dad, she lets Stacey know she is going to break up with him. Stacey is pissed, but then her boyfriend Ethan tells her she needs to be on her mom's side. So she goes back to Stoneybrook, hears the news that the breakup is done, and goes over to their house to give the kids gifts and tell them she still loves them.

There is no real subplot, the other babysitters are barely mentioned. Except Mallory is going to visit a boarding school a long ways away because she hates SMS.

Takeaways
Stacey says something about how her dad had a quiet Thanksgiving, but she thinks he misses the big loud family Thanksgiving. I feel like Stacey doesn't really know her parents at all.

Like...she is obsessed with this John guy for her mom. She really barely knows him. And they've only been on like three dates and all of a sudden the families are merging for Thanksgiving?

One of Joni's tricks is that she deletes the chapter of the book John is working on. Like....I would for real give my kid up for adoption if she did that.

There is really nothing to this book except this relationship that fizzles out in like two weeks.

Best Character
Mrs. McGill, because she doesn't just settle for John. She knows she deserves Mr. Right.

Worst Character
I don't even know - I suppose Joni because she is a world class brat, but it seems weird to give worst character to a confused 9 year old. So instead I will give it to her mom - like, she GAVE UP her two kids to go be a model? Get a clue, lady.

#123 - Claudia's Big Party

Timeline
Fall of 9th repeat

Plot
Claudia is back in 8th grade, but she is still dating her boyfriend, Josh, who is in 7th grade. She is trying to figure out how to manage her time between homework, babysitting, her 7th grade friends, her 8th grade friends, her boyfriend and her family, especially Janine who has become kind of clingy since breaking up with her boyfriend.

Her parents take a four day trip and leave the girls home by themselves. Claudia decides a party with all her friends would be the best way to get them to hang out, and Janine agrees to it. However, it gets out of hand. Everyone seemed to invite extra friends, and soon the house is packed and a vase gets broken. Of course, that's the moment her Aunt Peaches stops by and makes everyone leave and says she is telling on them. But the girls tell their parents first, and they really aren't that mad. And the party ends up being a success, because all her friends, regardless of grade, already have made plans to hang out the following weekend.

Subplot is that Melody and Bill Korman are fighting and of course the BSC solves it and makes them get along.

Takeaways
This is literally the only time I can remember the BSC being nice to non-BSC members, especially girls.

I kind of thought the Kormans were being dicks to Bill and treating Melody like a princess but I guess that never really mattered.

Mallory is a huge whine tit in this book about still being called Spaz Girl. And of course she is the one who broke the vase.

Best Character
It's a tie between Claudia and Janine - Claudia is trying to hard to please everyone, and Janine is trying so hard to be cool.

Worst Character
Like, I know Peaches had to be mature and responsible and tell on the girls, but she was kind of a bitch about it. So I'm glad the girls told their parents first. But Peaches wins worst character fo sho.

#122 - Kristy in Charge

Timeline
Fall of 9th repeat

Plot
SMS, again, is doing something crazy. They have a new program, called TOT (Teacher of Tomorrow), where students can volunteer to be a teacher for extra credit. Of course Kristy is all for it, and Abby immediately calls her out for just wanting a reason to boss everyone around. Of course that's true. but Kristy also thinks this is a great opportunity to show the teachers how much they suck.

Most of the BSC does it - Kristy gets a gym class, Mallory gets an 8th grade english class, Stacey gets a math class, Mary Anne gets some boring class. They are supposed to come up with very detailed lesson plans to hand in. Kristy decides gym teachers don't do lesson plans, so she doesn't. She is also teamed up with the boys PE teacher for the same period, who is some guy she can't , stand. She refuses to work with him, so their first two class periods are complete madhouses. They get sent to the principal's office, who tells them they have one more chance and then they will be fired. So they actually work together and their last class is such a success, the PE teacher asks them to come back and teach the final.

Mallory, however, is terrible. She is nervous anyway about teaching 8th graders anyway, and then they make fun of her and call her SpazGirl, which quickly spreads to the entire school and becomes her new nickname.

The babysitting sub plot is that Vanessa decides she wants to be a teacher and forces her siblings to play, so they TIE HER UP and refuse to play with her.

Takeaways
Okay...so Kristy and her partner suck so badly they almost get fired, and then after ONE successful class, they get asked to come back and teach the final? #nope

Mallory is just the most depressing, negative person in the world.

MaryAnne hates being the center of attention and public speaking, but yet she volunteers to be a teacher? #nope

Best Character
Honestly, I think it was the PE teacher Kristy was working for. Usually Kristy kind of rolls over adults, but this teacher wasn't having it and put her in her place. And sent her to the freaking principal's office!

Worst Character
I realize Mallory was put in a shit situation, but her whining and crying made her insufferable. So Mallory.

#121 - Abby in Wonderland

Timeline
Summer before 9th repeat

Plot
Abby and her family are going to her grandparent's house in the Hamptons for an extended vacation, and while they are there their grandparents are throwing an Alice In Wonderland themed anniversary party for themselves. Her grandmother is hell bent on getting everyone in the family there, and she seems more crazy about it than usual. Abby can't figure out why her grandma seems so much more sensitive this year, so she does some snooping and discovers information about breast cancer in her grandma's bedroom. She then takes it upon herself to make sure this party has everyone there that her grandma wants, so she starts making calls and convincing her relatives to come, including her grandma's sister who has been estranged for quite some time.

Kristy comes to the party, and Abby is glad to have a friend there. During her grandma's thank you announcement, Abby becomes overwhelmed with emotion and runs inside. Her grandma sees her and follows her, and Abby finally just bluntly asks about the breast cancer. Her grandma admits she has a lump her doctor is doing a biopsy on, but no matter what happens she will fight bc she's not ready to die yet.

Side story is the Pikes don't get to go to Sea City this year, so they are all super depressed, so the BSC helps them turn their backyard into a beach and have a beach party with all their friends.

Takeaways
Abby's grandparent's house seriously sounds like the best place on earth. All I want is a beach house.

It's kind of weird Kristy goes to the party with Abby, but I guess she's probably the closest thing to a best friend Abby has in Stoneybrook? Everyone is kind of paired off already.

Also, like I said in the last book review...these books are getting deep lately.

That Alice in Wonderland party sound amaze-balls and I want one for myself ASAP.

Also, the Pikes are spoiled brats. There are EIGHT children in that house, and they act all depressed because, for the first summer ever, they can't afford a lavish two week beach vacation. Um. We had six kids in our family and do you know how many vacations we went on as kids? One. And we left one kid at home because he cost too much (jk, there was another reason).

Best Character
Obviously Abby's bad ass, cancer fighting grandma. Who is also a hell of a party planner.

Worst Character
All of the spoiled Pike kids except Mallory, who gets it.

#120 - Mary Anne and the Playground Fight

Timeline
Beginning of summer between 8th and 9th repeat

Plot
It is summer again, Dawn is back again, and, again, somehow, SMS has offered their students an amazing trip. This year it is Europe for FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. THAT'S ALL.

There is also a opportunity at the playground for camp counselors. Everyone wants to do all of the things. But then Dawn says she is not going on the trip, so then Mary Anne decides she is not going. Then Logan says he is not going. Then Claudia says she is not going if she gets a playground job. Stacey, Abby and Kristy decide they want both, so they lie during the interview and say they won't go, but their plan is to just wait until they start and then ask for the ten days off. It's super shady and the girls fight pretty badly about it.

Mallory and Jessi get cut right from the start because of their age. Kristy, Stacey and Abby put their plan of lying into action. Meanwhile, Kristy is insistent everyone help fund raise even though not everyone is going. She is a huge bitch about it, which doesn't help with the fighting.

Subplot in this book is that little princess Victoria is moving back to Europe and she's sad. so they have an "American themed" goodbye party for her.

So as it ends up, the committee sees through the lies and only hires Dawn, Logan, MaryAnne and Claudia. They have this weird meeting where the formally apologize to each other and all is well.

Takeaways
How are they going on this trip for only FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS?!

As this series is coming to an end, Kristy is becoming worse and worse to hang out with. I would guess when they are finally too old to be in a babysitting club, most of these girls won't be friends with Kristy anymore.

Mallory has a pretty good line in this book where she FINALLY yells at Kristy for treating her like a baby. Kristy is kind of the worst.

I also love that the committee saw through the lies and didn't give the job to Kristy. She kept saying in this book how she was way more qualified than anyone around her.

Best Character
I mean, they are all kind of terrible, but I would say MaryAnne because she makes the right decision by choosing to stay in Stoneybrook with Dawn. Although, passing up a $400 trip to Europe is pretty stupid.

Worst Character
Fucking Kristy.

#119 - Stacey's Ex-boyfriend

Timeline
May of 8th repeat

Plot
Robert broke up with Stacey several months ago for his friend Andi. Their relationship didn't last very long, but Stacey is still with the guy she met and started dating after Robert dumped her. His name is Ethan and he lives in New York, so Stacey sees him a few times a month. She is really happy, but Robert is in a noticeable weird funk. He has kind of given up on everything - his friends, his school work, his family - he even quits the baseball team right before their championship game.

Stacey runs into Robert's little sister, who yells at Stacey and says it's her fault that Robert is in a depression. So she goes completely overboard trying to "fix" Robert. She tries to become his best friend, and Robert will let her in for awhile but then he would get pissed and push her away. Finally Stacey calls into a radio show therapist and asks for help, and the therapist tells her she needs to get an adult involved. Stacey tells that to Robert, who gets pissed, but then he shows up at Stacey's house in the middle of the night, sobbing, begging for help. They call his baseball coach, who helps Robert a lot. He finally seems to be getting better. Stacey and Robert go to the spring dance, as friends, and they declare that they love each other as friends.

The side story is there is a strawberry patch that opens in Stoneybrook, and of course all of Stoneybrook is obsessed with it. Kristy and the BSC throw a Strawberry Festival and of course the entire town came and it is the biggest success in the entire world.

Takeaways
These baby-sitting club books are getting pretty deep lately.

It was pretty clear that Robert was going through a depression, and I can't believe Stacey didn't catch on sooner. She just kept telling him to snap out of it.

Her parents are also pretty patient with her, considering she decides at a moments notice to go to NYC for the day. Also, it's kind of weird that a 13 year old is in a long distance relationship.

Best Character
I mean, obviously Stacey who tries so hard to help even though she is getting no where - and this guy dumped her, so she really had no reason to want to help him.

Worst Character
I would say Robert's family, because WTF. They should maybe be paying more attention to their kid rather than just saying "that's how teenagers are".

#118 - Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer

Timeline
April of 8th repeat

Plot
There is a baby-sitting charge in Stoneybrook, Deb, who recently lost her sight. She got sick and woke up blind one day, and she is not handling it well. She is isolating herself and refusing to see friends. One day Kristy is babysitting her and she decides to walk to town by herself, almost killing herself. Kristy finds her and they have a long talk, and Deb seems a little better after that.

This unfortunate turn of events made Watson think that 7 kids, a bunch of pets, a business and running a household isn't enough, so he decides to become a service dog trainer as well. They go pick up their service dog in training, Scout, and the entire family starts taking him everywhere.

And that's what happens in this book.

Takeaways
Deb has some pretty good comebacks in regards to her blindness. Like basically anytime someone mentions seeing something, she's like um nope I'm blind. And at one point her brother is yelling at her and she's like dude I'm blind not deaf.

Of course there is some "service dog" fair when the Watson-Brewer's are done with their dog.

They take the dog to a dog training class, and on the "graduation" day, they have like professional pictures taken of the whole class and then the dogs and their owners. Seriously, that can't be real.

I am not a dog person.

Kristy even brings the fucking dog to the BSC meetings. Every single BSC meeting.

There is also a time when Karen feeds the dog something and Kristy loses her goddamned mind, but then Watson is like it's fine, things happen. Kristy is a lot to handle sometimes.

Best Character
Watson, who makes this decision and is just trying to do a good thing.

Worst Character
There really isn't a worst character in this book, but I'm going to give it to Kristy bc she's such a tyrant sometimes. And why does she have to bring the fucking dog to Claudia's house, which is pet free?

#117 - Claudia and the Terrible Truth

Timeline
March of 8th repeat

Plot
There were really three plots in this book:
1. Claudia's aunt and uncle leave town for a week and leave their kid, Lynn, at the Kishis.
2. It's St. Patrick's Day and there's a parade in town, so of course the BSC organizes with all the kids in town so they can be involved.
3. There is a new client in town, the Nicholls family. The dad is incredibly strict and doesn't have a job right now, and the mom is pretty meek and timid and works at the library with Claudia's mom. They have two young boys, who are not allowed to act like young boys bc the dad is so strict. They are terrified of them, and are always on their best behavior because of their fear. The dad still thinks they can't do anything right, even referring to them as "dumb" and "jerks" to Claudia, who becomes their regular babysitter.
One day Claudia leaves their house, but realizes she forgot her coat and goes back, walking in just in time to hear Mr. Nicholls slap one of the boys. Claudia can see the red mark on his face and both boys are crying. She runs immediately to the BSC, who decide they need to tell an adult. They tell Claudia's mom, who talks to a social worker and tries to talk to Mrs. N, but she denies everything and fires the BSC.
Another 8th grade girl, Erica, is babysitting for them one night and calls Claudia, because she heard Claudia had been fired. She said both boys are all bruised up and one of them has a black eye. Claudia calls her mom right away, who helps Mrs. N and the two boys escape. She finally admits the truth about the abuse and moves the boys 4 hours away to stay with her sister.

Takeaways
Jeez Louise, I legit had to fight back tears through most of this book.

I'm so glad the BSC decided to actually tell an adult, rather than trying to handle this on their own like they typically would.

I don't know what else to say. This book was heavy.

Best Character
Claudia's mom, who swept right in and saved the day and didn't give up when Mrs. N clearly wanted her to butt out.

Worst Character
Obviously the child abuser, Mr. Nicholls.

#116 - Abby and the Best Kid Ever

Timeline
Feb of 8th repeat

Plot
Lou, who was the worst kid ever when the Papadakis's were fostering her, is back in town. Her aunt and uncle adopted her and her brother and now they've moved to Stoneybrook. Also, the Addison's are moving. Also, it's Black History Month so Abby is doing a project on the Underground Railroad and (obviously) she involves all the kids in Stoneybrook.

Lou is acting like a perfect angel because she is scared that her aunt and uncle will get rid of her. She is annoyingly helpful and makes a lot of mistakes bc she is so obsessed with perfection. Abby talks to her brother about it, and be basically says Lou is on edge because she is scared of getting thrown back into the system. Even though she knows that, Abby snaps at her and then Lou becomes a brat again. Then she's good again. Then she's bad again. Finally she has a breakdown and her aunt and uncle say they will never get rid of her ever.

So that is settled. Abby's project is amazing. And they throw a goodbye part for the Addison's, and the family who moves in comes. The dad seems super controlling and the kids seem scared of him.

Takeaways
This book was SO boring.

Abby mentions a few times how bossy Kristy is, and how she is uncomfortable when she isn't in charge. She is super passive aggressive about it.

AFTER Lou's brother tells Abby how sensitive Lou is, Abby yells at her. It's so rude.

Again, this book was so boring.

Best Character
Mallory, because even though it had nothing to do with her, she helps Abby A LOT with her project and then stands at the fair with her the entire time.

Worst Character
Abby, for a variety of reasons. And probably the dad of the new kids, because I'm sure it will come out later that he is abusive.