#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.

#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.

#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.

#114 - The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier

Timeline
December of 8th repeat

Plot
MaryAnne's dad, for some reason, gives MA his credit card to use to do all her Christmas shopping. The deal is that she has to pay him back by the time he has to pay his credit card bill. For some reason, she goes bananas buying really super nice Christmas presents for her entire family and every single one of her friends. She doesn't mess around - like, she buys Jessi ballet tickets - and then seems super shocked when she finally adds up all her receipts. Then her dad tells her she will also have to pay interest on her purchases, and wow. MA needs to do something, because her babysitting money isn't going to cover it.
So she lies about her age and gets a job as an elf at the mall. She keeps this a secret from everyone and is just truly living a double life. Meanwhile, Dawn is home but she's acting like she is way too cool for her - back in California, 8th graders are in high school - but MA is so busy she doesn't really try to fix it, she just snaps right back at her. Plus, MA's coworker, Angela, tells her that her parents kicked her out and she is homeless, so MA is very concerned about her not having anywhere to spend Christmas.
There is a close call at the mall when Logan, Dawn and Logan's bro and sis come to see Santa. No one recognizes MA except Logan's little brother, who promises to keep her secret. Finally, her last day comes and goes and she has enough money to pay her dad. MA confronts Dawn about her shadiness, who then throws it back at her - so MA confesses to her double life, then she tells Logan, then her parents. Everyone is like dude, you should have just told us. MA also asks her parents if Angela can spend Christmas with them and her dad grumbles, but Sharon is like hell yes, and she buys her some gifts.
Subplot is that the hospital always does a Toys for Tots type fundraising event, but they cant this year - so of course the BSC takes it over and knocks it completely out of the park and raises the most money of anyone else in the land.

Takeaways
Why in the world would you give a 13 year old a credit card to spend how she wants? AND WHY wouldn't MA be keeping track of her spending as she went along? AND WHY wouldn't Richard explain about interest before letting her spend her balls off? That whole thing is so out of character for both of them.

MA mentions that Logan can't babysit his brother and sister because he has volleyball practice - how progressive of SMS.

Angela's parents throw her out - at 16 years old - and she tries to call them twice and they won't take her calls. Like...what the hell did she do?

Best Character
I mean, I think I have to give it to the whole BSC because they work their asses off for this Toys for Tots type charity.

Worst Character
It's a tie between MA and her dad, for their stupid financial decisions.

#109 - Mary Anne to the Rescue

Timeline
Summer before 8th repeat

Plot
Dawn is coming home for the summer, and when the entire BSC is waiting for her at the airport, some guy chokes on his food. Sharon saves his life. The BSC realizes how truly inept they were in the case of an emergency, so they decide to take a first aid class.

During the class, MaryAnne hates everything and cries about everything. She almost faints. She dreads going. Also, Logan tells her that he is being sent away to boarding school, so they are both very upset about that. Basically the summer sucks. In true BSC universe fashion, since the BSC is interested in learning about safety, so is the entire town, so there is a Emergency Drill exhibit in town that the BSC volunteers at. Dawn volunteers MA to be the "bleeding out victim" so MA is covered in fake blood. She is super pissed at Dawn, so she finally stands up for herself. Dawn tries to blame MA for not speaking up, but then they both apologize to each other.

After that, Dawn and MA are babysitting for a bunch of kids at a pool, and one of them jumps in the deep end and starts drowning. MA jumps to action and saves the kid's life. That's when she realizes that when the going gets tough, she acts. She tells Logan he needs to do the same thing, and stand up for himself to his parents about this boarding school idea.

So he does (with MA's help) and everything ends up fine.

Takeaways
Why in the fuck would any parent want to send their kid to a boarding school when the kid gets good grades and is very active in his community? Stupid.

MA CRIED ALL THROUGH THIS BOOK. Even when she was saving the kid, she said tears and pool water were running down her face.

Dawn is seriously the worst. She volunteers MA to be bleeding out even after MA said she didn't want to do anything but watch. She lectures people about their food choices ALL THE TIME. DAWN GO TO CALIFORNIA AND STAY THERE.

Best Character
I guess I will say MaryAnne, since she literally saved someone's life this book. But she seriously annoyed me with all the crying.

Worst Character
I just want Dawn to go away and not come back.

#102 - Mary Anne and the Little Princess

Timeline
Thanksgiving of their 7th repeat

Plot
For some reason, a princess moves to Stoneybrook. Her parents are very important people who are gone a lot, so the BSC gets called for someone to be a "companion" for the young princess. Not a baby-sitter, necessarily, because her nanny and driver are always around. Mary Anne gets the job. The princess starts to grow on her, but she is pretty snotty and stand-offish, so the kids of Stoneybrook really want nothing to do with her. A bunch of the baby-sitters take her and a bunch of kids (and the nanny, for some reason) to a football game and it doesn't go well.

After that, Stacey, Kristy, MA and the princess (and the nanny and the driver) go on an afternoon trip to New York City. They are supposed to meet the princess's parents for dinner, but they are too busy so they just say hello and then send them on their way. The princess gets super pissed. Plus the nanny is a total blow-hard and doesn't want to walk or do anything fun. The girls ditch her for awhile.

During this entire time, MA's dad has been out of town. Sharon has started referring to herself as Mom with MA and kind of tries to turn her into Dawn. So MA kind of understands misses her parents and also people not just loving her for who she is. So she relates to the princess, and she gets better.

MA has a talk with Sharon, not necessarily about her acting like MA is Dawn, but just about how Sharon has lost a lot people she loves and she's kind of gripping on to MA bc she loves her so much. So that's all better. For Thanksgiving, MaryAnne's dad comes home and they also invite over the princess, the nanny and the driver. And Dawn comes home!

The end.

Takeaways
This book was pretty boring.

The nanny never left the princess's side, yet they needed a babysitter too. It was weird.

By the end of the book, MA was referring to Sharon as Mom. It was kind of nice.

Also, Dawn coming home was a surprise for Sharon, and I legit teared up a little when Sharon saw her.

Best Character
I would say Sharon. I mean, girl has been through a lot. BOTH of her kids ditched her for her ex-husband.

Worst Character
That nanny was pretty insufferable.

#93 - Mary Anne and the Memory Garden

Timeline
Winter of their 6th repeat

Plot
MA wants to get to know more people and be more social (be careful with that, MA, those kinds of things get you kicked out of the BSC). She gets the opportunity pretty quickly in her English class - she gets put into a group with three people- Amelia, Gordon and Barbara. They have a brainstorming sess at MA's house, and it goes amazingly well - the group just clicks and they have the best ideas. When they leave that night, Amelia is going to dinner with her family. She jokingly invites the group to go with her, but they won't all fit in her dad's tiny car.

The next day, SMS is a buzzing with the news of a car accident and the death of a 13 year old girl. They soon find out it was Amelia's family and she has died.

Kristy takes the news especially hard for some reason, and MA makes it her mission to take care of her and make sure she's okay. Kristy becomes obsessed with SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) and starts a Stoneybrook chapter. She throws herself into the project and seems to get back to her old self, and that's when MA starts to lose it. She sinks into a depression and decides to go to a therapist. The therapist points out that Kristy didn't handle the news well bc it's something she can't explain or control - and MA wanted to take care of her bc that's what MA does - and then when Kristy threw herself into a project and MA didn't have to take care of her anymore, reality set it.

MA decides she wants to do something in memory of Amelia, and comes up with the idea of a memory garden. She goes to Amelia's best friend and brother, and they work on it together.

Also, there is a boring side story about Dawn finding a dirty, litter covered field in California and she gets her friends and babysitting charges to clean it and they plant a garden.

Takeaways
This book is not named correctly; the memory garden does not even come into the story until the second to last chapter.

Dude, I legit cried reading this book. That shit is rough.

Enough with the Dawn in California shit. No one cares. She gone.

Best Character
Mary Anne. She broke my heart this book.

Worst Character
The drunk driver who killed Amelia.

#86 - Mary Anne and Camp BSC

Timeline
The first three weeks of summer, after their fifth repeat

Plot
Mallory and MaryAnne are talking and realize that when school ends there is going to be a three week time period before summer camps start where they are going to be really busy babysitting all the kids of Stoneybrook. To be proactive, at the next club meeting they decide to do a summer camp, called Camp BSC, so they can babysit all the kids at once. The theme is a Circus Camp, and there are a set of kids (Karen Brewer and the other rich kids) who have been to a real Circus Camp and are huge snobs to the kids who haven't been.

There is one little girl, Alicia, who doesn't take too well to the camp and doesn't want to go on any of the field trips. MaryAnne feels bad for her so she always stays back with her. At first everyone gets it, but then the other sitters are like dude....you should probably stop enabling her.

But part of the reason MA is feeling so sorry for Alicia is bc she is also feeling like an orphan. During this time, MaryAnne's dad announced that there is a big merger at his work and he has to leave town for a few weeks. Dawn and her mom are super fucking pumped to "bach" it and plan on partying it up. They are actually quite disgusting, throwing food at the television and leaving it, only ordering from places that deliver, not doing the dishes or the laundry or anything, etc. It's pretty disgusting. MA misses her dad and actually asks him to come home early, but he kind of brushes her off and asks to talk to her stepmom.

MaryAnne is on a bike ride and has a pretty bad fall, twisting her ankle. She sinks into a pretty bad self pity hole. Then Alicia stops being a little baby and realizes she is missing out on all the fun, and then MA realizes she's being a pretty big baby too. She talks to Sharon about how she is feeling. They clean the house and pick up Richard at the airport. The end.

Takeaways
MaryAnne is pretty annoying during this book, but wow Dawn and her mom are immature bitches. Throwing popcorn at the tv? Refusing to clean anything up? I wonder how much money they spent on delivery charges, since they would only order from places that deliver. Also, how big is Stoneybrook that, in the early 90's, they had that many places that would deliver?

I wonder how much the BSC charges per kid for this camp. Also, do the Pikes get a discount since they are sending so many?

Karen was a huge bitch in this book - just a little rich snob. I see that getting worse as she gets older.

This book was pretty boring.

Best Character
I really don't even know. No one really stands out in this book. I guess maybe Mallory, since the whole camp thing happened bc she was smart enough to realize there was going to be a babysitting problem.

Worst Character
Disgusting Dawn and her disgusting mom.

#79 - Mary Anne Breaks the Rules

Timeline
Halloween time of their 5th 8th grade year

Plot
Mary Anne is so so happy. Can't stop talking and thinking about how happy she is. She takes a baby-sitting job at the Kuhn's, whose dad just left and moved far away. The two girls are okay, but Jake, the oldest boy, is not handling it well. Mary Anne invites Logan over while she is babysitting to do "boy stuff" and Jake becomes a happy go lucky kid again. So MA keeps inviting Logan over. One day, the three kids and Logan and MA are inside eating a snack when the mom comes home, and the mom LOSES her mind that MA invited her boyfriend over. She yells at Logan and MA. Then calls Kristy and yells at Kristy. Then Kristy yells at MA. Then Kristy yells at Logan. MaryAnne cries through all of this.

Then Mrs. Kuhn actually talks to her son and finds out that there was no hanky panky, it was all just Logan trying to be a good mentor for Jake. So she and Jake go over to MA's house and apologize. Then she calls Logan and apologizes. Then she calls Kristy and apologizes. Everyone makes up. Mary Anne cries through all of this.

The subplot is that all the kids in Stoneybrook split up and make competing haunted houses. Alan Gray helps one of them out.

Takeaways
I have to admit, this book is pretty freaking boring.

The conflict with MA, Logan and the Kuhn's gets wrapped up in chapter 13. That left two entire chapters at the end that is just about the kids' haunted houses. Very boring.

The most annoying thing about this book is that is MA had just asked Mrs. Kuhn is Logan can come over and explained why she wanted him to, everything would have been fine. Or, maybe they should have just asked Logan to take one of the jobs. It's very un-MaryAnne like to not ask permission.

Also in this book MA says her dad got  remarried when she was 12. Nope. Wrong. She was 13. But I understand her confusion, since this is her 5th time through 8th grade.

Best Character
Dawn - everytime MA calls her to cry about stuff, Dawn tells her it will all blow over and to calm down. And she was right.

Worst Character
Probably Logan, because when Mrs. Kuhn comes home and finds him sitting there, he just fucking bolts.  Like literally just runs out the door.

#73 - Mary Anne and Miss Priss

Timeline
Spring has sprung on their 4th repeat of 8th grade

Plot
Mrs. Prezzioso calls the BSC and asks for a permanent babysitter like five days a week. She is kind of secretive about the reason why, and Mary Anne ends up with most of the jobs. Jenny is even more weird than usual; super obsessive about being perfect and clean. Finally MA works up the nerve to ask Mrs. P where she is going, and it ends up she is trying to make Andrea (Jenny's little sister) a baby model. So she has been taking her to auditions, which is why Jenny is trying to be perfect - she is trying to get her mom's attention. Finally, Jenny just tells her mom she wants to try being a model too. So Mrs. P (and MaryAnne, for some reason) take Jenny to get headshots taken, and also on a bunch of auditions. Jenny isn't as sought after as Andrea is so then Jenny goes in the complete opposite direction and becomes a complete slob. Then Jenny actually get a job, but hates it, so then she kind of just becomes a normal little girl.

Sub plot is that the Pike triplets form a neighborhood kickball league and they refuse help from any of the BSC. The whole thing is a disaster and pretty soon everyone quits.  Finally, Mallory convinces them to take some advice from her and Claudia, and everything gets solved.

Also, Mallory is still not in the BSC because of her mono. Her parents are totally taking advantage of her by making her their in house nanny. Finally, Mallory confronts them about it and they agree she can rejoin the BSC.

Takeaways
At one point, Jenny sits in the front seat of her mom's car. As a four year old. Man, the 80's were a free for all.

The Pike triplets refuse help from the BSC because they finally realized that they are only one year younger than Mallory and it makes no sense that she has so many more responsibilities and privileges than they do.

I wonder why Mrs. P all of a sudden wants to get her baby into modeling. Did she think Jenny was an uggo and that's why she didn't try with her?

I will never understand why the parents of Stoneybrook have to ask the BSC to help them parent their children. Like why did Mrs. P need to take MA with her on auditions? She can't handle the two children that she chose to give birth to?

Best Character
Mary Anne, because she has the patience of a saint with Jenny and the whole Prezzioso family, actually.

Worst Character
The other parents of the kids who were on the auditions. I have no experience with stage moms, but they sound fucking terrible.

#66 - Maid Mary Anne

Timeline
Summer after their 3rd 8th grade year.

Plot
MaryAnne is on this kick thinking she is selfish and self centered, so she is making a valiant effort to be the most giving person in the world. She takes the kids she is babysitting to visit that goddamned goat from the last book, she ends up meeting the goat's neighbor, Mrs. Towne. Mrs. Towne is really good at sewing and making quilts, so she and MA decide to work out a little side hustle - MA will pay MT to give her sewing lessons. It works well until MT gets hurt; she falls and breaks an ankle. She ends up in the hospital for awhile. MA spends her every waking moment helping her, and then MT is all "hey, rather than pay me with money, how about you work off the cost for your lessons?" so then MA feels even more obligated. MT starts calling all the time, and MA ditches all her friends, and Logan, and club meetings to be at her beck and call.  Her friends are starting to get pissed (she leaves two meetings in a row to run and like, move something out of a closet for MT).

In the meantime, MA has started a "sewing class" for the neighborhood kids. Some girls and two boys, Nicky and Buddy, take the class. They decide to make a quilt for Mrs. T, and the kids are all fucking pumped. Nicky and Buddy start getting made fun of because they are acting like girls and sewing, so they quit and start doing more manly things. Then they realize that the kid making fun of them is just a bully who will make fun of them no matter what, so they rejoin the class in enough time to finish the quilt.

MA finally grows a pair and tells Mrs. T. she needs to stop taking advantage. Mrs. T admits she didn't really need help, she just wanted MA to come over because she is lonely. They make up.

The end.

Takeaways
The visiting hours at this hospital are from 4-530p and 7-830p. Um...that must be an 80's thing because visiting hours now are whenever the hell you want. Also, when I was in the hospital for my neck I can't imagine if I had been alone all that time.

Mrs. Towne is in the hospital and decides to stay a few extra days. Um. Nope. Or maybe insurance was more relaxed back in the 80's, but there is no way in this day and age you could treat a hospital as a hotel.

It is summer in Stoneybrook. The kids are out of school. I 100% don't believe that they would all be so pumped to sit inside and sew.

Dawn whines her ass off throughout this entire book about how Connecticut is not California.

Best Character
MaryAnne wins, because she honestly tried really hard to be a good person, she just gets taken advantage of.

Worst Character
There are a couple. Mrs. T's son, who can't seem to ever make it to Stoneybrook to help his mom. The bully who bullies Nicky and Buddy. And that fucking goat, because anytime it is mentioned in a book it will be the worst.

#60 - MaryAnne’s Makeover

Timeline
It is winter, just past New Years Day. So they skipped all the holidays. And it's now winter of their third 8th grade/6th grade year. They have the January Jamboree dance at school at the end of the book. 

Plot
Okay, I'm going to try really hard not to give any opinions until I get to the takeaway section. 

MaryAnne is looking through a magazine before a club meeting and sees a haircut she likes. She asks her friends for their opinions and they are like um no. It's not you. She is hurt but says nothing. 

She goes home and can't stop thinking about it, so she looks through some more magazines and finds an even better haircut. She works up the nerve to show her dad and he is surprisingly all for it, even saying he has always thought a short haircut would suit her. They plan on going to the mall on Saturday to get it done, and MA wants to keep it a secret until then. 

MA and her dad go to the mall and have a great day. She gets her haircut, then a makeover (where her dad buys her some of the makeup) and then they go clothes shopping. They get lunch and laugh and talk and are feeling all close. They stop and get dinner for everyone and go home to reveal the new MaryAnne. Sharon is very exited and supportive but Dawn is a HUGE FUCKING BITCH. Then, before MA can surprise the club members, Dawn tells them all and they are all HUGE FUCKING BITCHES. They are like "dude, we told you that haircut is not for you" and "meh, it'll grow out". Seriously, they are terrible. TERRIBLE. Meanwhile everyone else in the school is losing their shit over how great she looks, and Logan freaking loves it. So while her friends are being absolutely wretched whores to her, she gets to know other girls and spends a lot of time with Logan. She starts skipping club meetings because they are being so mean. They are being SO MEAN. SO MEAN!!

There is also a rumor going around that these two high school boys like MA now. It's a bit ridic. It's never explained who started it but I'm going to go with Kristy. She just seems immature enough to do it, and the boys are supposedly friends with her brothers. 

Finally she has had enough and confronts Dawn, who doesn't really apologize but says she was hurt MA kept a secret from her and went shopping with her dad instead of her. Then MA goes to a club meeting and they all make up too, even though the girls never really apologize or explain why they were such bitches. They all go to the January dance and everything is fine. 

The subplot is that Carolyn Arnold is making a time machine and she really thinks it is going to work and sets up appointments with all the neighborhood kids and charges them a $1 to use the machine. Then she's like "fuck, this isn't going to work" and she gives all the money back. 

Takeaways

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why MA went back to these heinous bitches. They are TERRIBLE. Why does Stacey think she is the world's leading expert on beauty and fashion? Her "poofy" perm sounds fucking ugly as shit. And DAWN. DAWN IS A TERRIBLE PERSON.

MaryAnne mentions that the Arnold twins used to be required to dress alike and act alike, but then MA talked to their mom and convinced her to let them be their own person. Um, pretty sure Mallory did that. Nice job trying to take the credit, MA. 

While none of the girls are talking, MA starts talking to two other girls and she says that the BSC always thought the girls were snotty but really they are not. Then she says "maybe the BSC are the ones who are snotty" and TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SPOKEN. 

Best character
MaryAnne's dad. 

Worst character
It is a four way tie between Kristy, Dawn, Claudia and Stacey. Again, I cannot express how fucking horrible these girls are. The entire series should have ended right now, with MA dropping out of the club and then setting their houses on fire.

#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. 

#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. 

#41 MaryAnne vs Logan

Timeline: 
We've skipped all the holidays and jumped right to February, specifically Valentine's Day - so their second Valentine's Day of their 8th grade year.

Plot:
MaryAnne loves Logan, but lately she's been feeling smothered by him. He always takes the lead and plans all their dates, tries to convince her to ditch her friends/babysitting jobs to hang out with him, etc. On a particularly freezing day when MA just wants to stay inside and read, he randomly shows up at her house so they can go ice skating, build snowmen, make snow angels, etc. MaryAnne begs him to take her home, and he gets all huffy.

She decides they need to chill out so she can think, so she tells him she wants to cool off their relationship for awhile. He gets mad, but has no choice but to do it. So a few weeks go by, and then he calls during a BSC meeting and asks her to babysit on Valentine's Day. She agrees, but when she gets there it's a romantic date night Logan has arranged. She reminds him that she wanted to cool off for awhile, and he's all "we did, that's over now". So MA is frustrated.

Finally, she decides enough is enough. So she asks him to go to the park, and she dumps him.

Also, Jenny Prezzizo's mom is having a baby, and Jenny is a huge brat about it until the baby is born, and then she is obsessed with her sister.

Takeaways:
It's weird how MA is such a follower, but she gets mad when Logan plans everything for her.

Also, it's kind of creepy that Logan wants to "show everyone what a great couple they are" when they are ice skating. It's just weird for an 8th grade boy to care about "showing" people what a great couple he and his 8th grade girlfriend are.

Best character: 

I don't even know. I guess MA because she finally stands up for herself?

Worst character:

There really isn't a worst character. Logan is kind of overbearing, but then he cries when he gets dumped so that's sad. I guess I will say Jenny, because she's quite the little b word about her new sister coming. 

#34 - Mary Anne and Too Many Boys

Timeline: 
Finally SUMMER! So this is the summer between after 8th grade for the older girls, after 6th grade for the younger girls.

Plot:

It's finally summer, after the longest spring ever. Mary Anne and Stacey have been asked to be mothers-helpers for the Pike family again. Mallory is a baby-sitter now too, so she's like a back up, but her parents mostly want her to just have a good vacation so they still bring along both girls to work.

Everything is going swimmingly (ha!) until Alex and Toby, the cute boys from last summer, show up. They are mothers helpers again too, so they immediately set up dates with the girls. Mary Anne is a bit hesitant, since she has Logan at home, but Stacey pretty much throws herself at Alex.

The Pikes tell the girls they can have one night off per week, but ask them not to take them together. Neither of them check with each other, and they set up dates with the boys for the same night. Mary Anne cancels her date and agrees to go out with Alex the next night instead. But then the next night, Stacey starts getting ready for another date! She thinks Mary Anne won't mind, but MA actually stands up for herself and tells Stacey to get bent.

Vanessa falls in love with this older guy who works at the ice cream stand and starts sending him secret admirer love poems. But the guy thinks Mallory is the one sending them, so he asks Vanessa to ask Mallory out for him. Vanessa actually handles it okay, and writes him a final poem, acting as Mallory, turning him down gently. It was way, way too mature for a nine year old.

The next week, Stacey goes out with Alex again and he dumps her - even though they have only been "together" for a week? He tells her he's not interested in doing anything serious with her, and she loses her mind. Mary Anne goes out with Alex again, and tells him about Logan, and then Alex tells her about his girlfriend. So MA decides that Alex is a great friend, but Logan is her boo.

Takeaways:

MaryAnne essentially cheats on Logan, but just trusts none of the Pikes or Stacey to say anything to him about it. Hmm.

Stacey is a total bitch when Alex "dumps" her. She screams at Mary Anne about using her towel (which she wasn't) and makes fun of her. Give me a break, Stacey. You barely know this guy who just dumped you, and if you were that awesome he would have at least tried to stay friendly with you across the miles.

Sea City seriously sounds like the best place on earth, and their house sounds amazing. I wish I could go there for real.

They did some weird side stories about the other girls baby-sitting in Stoneybrook and it took all of my energy not to skip those chapters. Who the fuck cares about babysitting jobs in Stoneybrook when you are in Sea City?!

Best character: 
Vanessa, due to her maturity of handling her first heart break.

Worst character:
Stacey. COME ON.

#30 - MaryAnne and the Great Romance

Timeline: 

No timeline. So it has to still be the end of May, their 8th grade year.

Plot:
MaryAnne's dad and Dawn's mom have been on like 25 dates, so they decide to get married. They clearly had already planned on it, but then Mr. Spier decides to surprise Mrs. Schafer on her birthday with a fancy dinner and engagement ring. MaryAnne and Dawn then plan a huge ass wedding in their heads, but they are shot down with their parents tell them they want a quiet, lowkey event, very soon.

It is decided that MaryAnne and her dad will move in with the Schafer's and when MaryAnne finds out she loses her goddamned mind. But then she gets over it. Her and Dawn decide to share a room.

The wedding is a little event, and then they go out to lunch. At that point MaryAnne starts worrying about her new life, then Mrs. Schafer throws the bouquet, and it's headed right towards MaryAnne and Dawn and.....to be continued.

Takeaways:
At the wedding lunch, Mr. Spier tries to feed Mrs. Spier veal. After 25 dates and now a marriage, he doesn't know she's a vegetarian? He acts all butt hurt when she doesn't accept it.

MaryAnne cries through the entire fucking wedding. Seriously. I know it's emotional, but get your life together. She completely messed up all of her makeup that Claudia wasted time doing for her.

The subplot in this book is that the Arnold twins hate each other because they have to share a room. MaryAnne sees that, and suggest that maybe a little distance will help. But does she take her own advice? Nope.

Best character: 
Probably Mr. Spier, because he plans a pretty nice proposal and then he gives MaryAnne a necklace he was saving for her 18th birthday that was her mother's.

Worst character:
Probably Mr. Spier, for trying to feed a vegetarian meat.

#25 MaryAnne and the Search for Tigger

Timeline: 
No real timeline is mentioned, so we will assume this is like mid-end of May, since the last book was on Mother's Day

Plot: 
MaryAnne is like, scarily obsessed with her cat and for some reason all the neighborhood kids are too. Logan doesn't really get it. He thinks that cat is fine, but gets annoyed when MaryAnne wants to sit outside with all the neighborhood kids and watch the damn cat play. Logan is pretty irritable with MaryAnne through the whole book, actually.

For some reason, though, when MaryAnne has to go across the street to Claudia's, she leaves Tigger outside. Even though she mentions a lot throughout the book how overprotective she is of her cat. So of course, when she comes back, Tigger is missing.

The entire rest of the book involves them looking for Tigger. The piece together $30 as a reward and hang up posters. They get a lead, they think, but it's just some kid messing with them. They pull off an elaborate prank on the kid who is fucking with them, but it still ends up with the same dreary, sad conclusion - Tigger is missing. Because Mary left him outside.

Then one afternoon MaryAnne is babysitting for Logan's brother and sister, and she finds Tigger in Logan's sister's closet. Ends up she found Tigger on the side of the road (MaryAnne's fault) and took him home to prove to her parents she is responsible enough to have a pet, and that it wouldn't affect Hunter, her brother's allergies. She was wrong on all accounts. So was MaryAnne, for leaving her fucking cat outside in the first place.

Oh, and MaryAnne is convinced Logan knew where Tigger was the whole time, and that's why he's been so moody. But really he didn't know, he's just mad about baseball. So they make up.

Takeaways:
This book was seriously so boring. All they do is look for a damn cat the whole book.

I cannot get over the fact that MaryAnne just left this stupid cat outside. If I let my cats outside, they would be fucking gone. #maybeishouldletmycatsout

Logan being all upset about baseball totally reminded me of my high school boyfriend. If he had a bad game, it was better to just avoid him for a few days.


Best character:
The entire baby-sitters club, except for MaryAnne. They all donate money to the reward fund, help MA hang posters, help her search endlessly, and then help her take posters down after Tigger is found.

Worst character:
MaryAnne, why did you leave your FUCKING CAT OUTSIDE?!

#17 - MaryAnne's Bad Luck Mystery

Timeline: 
Finally, folks, we have a timeline! This book takes place at Halloween time of their 8th grade year.

Plot:
MaryAnne's life is going along pretty awesomely. She is the only one of her friends with a boyfriend, and he's, like, the hottest guy in 8th grade (these two mean girls, Cokie and Grace especially think he's the hottest guy in 8th grade and they spend a lot of time staring at him and giving MA dirty looks). She has awesome friends, She has a kitten and her dad is pretty cool lately. But then she gets a chain letter in the mail, which she ignores. And then all hell breaks loose.

She soon gets a package in the mail with a "bad luck charm" in it and a note telling her she has to wear it or else. So she does and bad luck is bestowed upon all the sitters. Kids start getting hurt during babysitting jobs, they lose stuff, they fall out of their beds. I mean, we are talking about really bad stuff here.

MaryAnne and Logan go to the Halloween Hop dressed as cats, and while they are there Mean Girl Grace notices the bad luck charm and comments on it. When MA gets home there is another, more deadly, note. It tells her to go to the cemetery at midnight on Halloween and go to Old Hickory's grave with the BSC club. MaryAnne freaks out, calls everyone and they develop a plan to have Charlie pick everyone up, they will go to the cemetery, and then they will have a slumber party at Kristy's.

However, the next morning MA's dad tells her that the charm on her necklace does not mean bad luck, but a symbol of faith. So MA is all "how did Grace know it was bad luck when no one told her that's what we thought it meant?" and then she pieces it all together and the BSC put together a plan to scare the crap out of the mean girls in the cemetery at midnight. Which they do, and then they have a slumber party.

Takeaways:
I guess in middle school some of the things that happen to the girls would seem detrimental, but wow, as an adult they seem stupid. MA falls out of bed, Kristy loses her watch, Mallory has to get braces (which she already knew....), Jessi fell during ballet, Claudia fails a spelling test (which she always does....)....they seem pretty fucking stupid.

Grace and Cokie (side note, what the hell kind of name is Cokie?) set all this up and then invite Logan to the cemetery too. Their reasoning? So Logan can see the girls all being made to look like fools so he will dump MaryAnne. Come on.

Charlie drives the girls to the cemetery and then is their get away car. I am just a little surprised he didn't have better things to do on Halloween night.

Best character:
I have to give this one to Charlie.

Worst character:
I mean, obviously Cokie and Grace are fucking bitches in this book.

#10 - Logan Likes MaryAnne!

Timeline:
8th grade just started. This is where this timeline is going to get interesting. The girls never leave 8th grade, and there are LITERALLY 120 more books in this series. MaryAnne turns 13 in this book, and she is the last one to hit teenage-hood.

Plot:
MaryAnne has changed. She's grown up, and she's kind of boy-crazy. After her wild 2 weeks in Sea City where she discovered boys aren't gross, she has moved on to continue her boy-crazy life. And lucky for her, Logan Bruno just moved to Stoneybrook and not only is he hot, but he likes her!

But the world is not perfect. The girls started advertising in Kristy's new neighborhood, and they are too busy. They are literally running out of baby-sitters. Logan overhears them discussing this at lunch, and he offers his services. He comes to a meeting and gets assigned to watch a new client, the Rodowsky's, with MaryAnne. The job goes pretty well, even though one of the kids, Jackie, is a walking disaster. He ends the afternoon by accidentally pushing MaryAnne into Logan's arms. Swoon.

The girls invite Logan to be in the club, but he declines. But he asks MaryAnne out! They start hanging out all the time, and they go to the Remember September dance together. Then Stacey has a party and MaryAnne invites Logan! But wait - there's a catch. It ends up being a SURPRISE party for MaryAnne and as soon as she figures that out, she loses her goddamned mind and runs out of the house.

MaryAnne cries....a lot....and then realizes she is being a giant jackass, and she calls all her friends and makes up with them. Logan goes with her to buy a kitten, Tigger - and then he asks her to the next school dance. SWOON.

Oh, and they make Logan an alternate officer of the club, meaning he will be called in an emergency when none of the other babysitters can take jobs.

Takeaways:
MaryAnne says the club makes "pretty much money". What the fuck. Learn English.

When Logan comes to the club meeting, it is super super awkward. Like Claudia almost says bra strap in front of a boy, Oh my God. I seriously am so glad I rarely have to deal with 13 year old girls.

When Logan and MaryAnne are babysitting Jackie, he gets his hand stuck in a jar. Logan uses margarine to get it out. I still remember that to this day. I think they used butter in an episode of Full House too, when one of the girls gets her head stuck in the banister rails.

Spoiler alert - in some books down the road, Logan and MaryAnne break up because Logan is too controlling. Which I can kind of see in this book. Like during the party, he basically tells MaryAnne she needs to be more outgoing and not so shy. Um, shut the fuck up Logan. She's done pretty well for 13 years before you entered her life.

Best character:
I'm going to go with MaryAnne's dad. His daughter turns 13, gets a boyfriend and wants a cat all in the same week. For someone who is supposedly so uptight, he really rolls with the punches.

Worst character:
I'm going to say MaryAnne, because of her extremely dramatic exit when she realizes the party is for her. I mean, I get she is shy, but it would have been less attention seeking to just blush, blow out the candles and open your goddamned presents. Running away definitely caused all of those people to talk behind your back for awhile, MaryAnne.


P.S. I've got to get some consistency with this blog. I am going to work hard on publishing a post every Monday. I didn't realize how much work it would be to read a book and basically write a book report on it. But I will get better in 2017. Promise.