#28 - Welcome Back, Stacey!

Timeline: 

Again, doesn't say, so we can assume spring of their 8th grade year. They are still in school and when Stacey moves back to Stoneybrook, she jumps back into 8th grade again. So she was gone less than a school year. 

Plot:
Stacey's parents are battling it out lately, and finally decide to get a divorce. This means that Stacey needs to decide which parent she is going to live with - her dad is going to stay in New York, and her mom is trying to decide where to live - if Stacey wants to live with her, she is going back to Stoneybrook. If not, she will pick some other small town somewhere else.

Stacey hems and haws and writes pro/con list, and then finally decides on Stoneybrook. Obviously.

That's really all that happens in this book. 

Takeaways:
Stacey's dad "sleeps in his office" often. Nope. He "sleeps at his girlfriends".

I did really feel for Stacey during this book. That's a really tough position for a 13 year old to be in. But I was really happy she chose Stoneybrook - her reasons for going back were far less snobby than her reasons for staying in New York. Plus, I kind of got the feeling that her dad would be fine without her, and her mom really needed her. 

Best character:
Even though Laine turns into a huge B later in the series (spoiler alert), she was the best in this book. Stacey cannot make up her mind, and Laine never really pressures her to stay. And on the day the McGill's are all moving, she comes and brings them breakfast, and then just stays throughout the entire day to see them off. Very touching. 

Worst character:
I don't think there really is a worst character in this book - maybe the McGill's, for getting divorced in the first place?

#27 Jessi and the Superbrat

Timeline: 

Doesn't really say, but school is still in session so we're going to say the end of 6th grade for Jessi and Mal, end of 8th grade for everyone else. 

Plot:

Everyone in Stoneybrook is obsessed with this show on television, PS 162. (I think that's what it's called.) it's a good show, but also one of the main characters is a kid from Stoneybrook, Derek Masters. The Masters family is coming back to town for awhile, and they of course need a babysitter so Jessi takes the job. Derek is nervous about starting school again, and tells Jessi all about this terribly mean boy named John. Jessi works hard at making friends for Derek and it works, pretty soon he has a ton of friends and all is well. He stops talking about John. 

Jessi is also auditioning for a production of Swan Lake. She has to do three try outs, and she starts doubting herself. She tells Derek, and he convinces her that she would be a better model and actress anyway, so forget about ballet. She takes his advice, until she finds out she made it. Then ballet is her first love and all is well again. 

Derek gets a role in a movie, so the family has to move back to California. Jessi and the girls throw him a goodbye party, and Jessi tries to invite John but can't figure out who he is. She asks Derek, who admits he made John up and he was actually being the jerky superbrat. 

Takeaways:
Jessi gets nervous about ballet and thinks she won't get a part in Swan Lake, so she immediately says she doesn't like ballet anyway and wants to be a model. I do that same thing - when I think I'm not going to succeed at something, I claim I wasn't really interested anyway. I am sure a lot of people do this.

There is something kind of creepy about how Jessi keeps saying Derek is her friend. He's like 8 years old. But she is ready to, like, give up her life and move to California with him. 

Best character:
The other baby-sitters really weren't in this book at all. It was very Jessi centered. But I will say the best character is Karen Brewer. Kristy is baby-sitting her, and Karen begs her to meet Derek Masters bc Karen thinks Derek can get her into movies. Kristy refuses, so Karen makes up an entire play about how terrible Kristy is for silencing her talent.

Worst character:
There really isn't a worse character. Jessi gets kind of annoying when she thinks she needs to be a model, but she gets over it relatively quickly. Derek is a brat, but he's 8 and a television star, so that is to be expected. There are some really catty ballerinas trying out for Swan Lake with Jessi, but they don't get parts, so they get their karma. 

 

 

#26 Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

Timeline: 
No real time line mention - I'm assuming end of spring still. They are still in school because Claudia misses a ton of it because of her sad goodbye.

Plot: 
I legit fucking cried through this entire book. I don't even remember really crying as a kid while reading this book.

Claudia's grandma, Mimi, hasn't been doing well since her stroke and things keep getting worse. She has a weird fainting episode at the dinner table one night, so they take her to the ER and she gets admitted. They can't find anything wrong with her, so they send her home. She faints again, goes back to the hospital and dies.

UGHHH.

Also, Claudia and MaryAnne are teaching an art class for neighborhood kids. One of the kids, Cori, gets super attached to Claudia because her parents are always ditching her and they suck. Claudia stands up to her mom and tells her to get her shit together. So she does, and Cori's life is a lot better because of Claudia.

Takeaways:
UGHHH. I seriously could not stop crying through this entire book. I was a mess. I kept thinking about how sad I will be when my grandparents die.

One thing that kind of annoys me about these books is how mature everyone acts. Like - Gabby Perkins is only 2.5, but somehow she can sing, tap dance and take an art class? That is not that much older than my niece Quinn, and there is no way Quinn could just be taking an art class like an adult. Also, Jamie Newton is 4, same age as my nephew, Alex. Jamie is taking the art class and speaks like a grown ass man. I cannot.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how much I cried reading this book.

Also, it mentions how Stacey's parents fight and her dad stays in New York instead of coming to the funeral.

Best character:
Ugh, I don't know.

Actually, it's Janine. When Mimi dies, they just shut her bedroom door and pretend it's not there. But Janine is the one who opens it and kind of forces the family to deal with it, and good thing they did since Mimi had left things for them all in her room. Including an obituary where she listed the DATE AND YEAR OF HER OWN DEATH. Because she knew that.

Worst character:
Mimi, for dying, and destroying my day.

#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?!

#24 - Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise

Timeline: 
End of April, early May. As the title suggests, the book ends on Mother's Day. So towards the end of the majority of the girls' 8th grade year.

Plot: 
Kristy wants to do something really big for Mother's Day, it isn't really explained why this year is bigger and more important than previous years. She comes up with this plan to not only give her mom a day off, but all the moms in Stoneybrook. She gets the girls to work with her, and the Baby-Sitters Club had a "Mom's Day Off" event where they take all the kids to a carnival, the park, and then back to Claudia's house for stories and crafts.

Side note - MaryAnne is being weird about Mother's Day during the entire book, because her mom is dead. But by the end of the book, she decides to give her dad a mother's day gift.

Also, Kristy's mom is being all weird, asking the kids if they would like another sibling and getting all weepy when the whole family is together. When everyone returns home after the Mother's Day outing, she and Watson announce that they have adopted a little girl, Emily Michelle, from Vietnam, and she will be arriving the next day.

Takeaways:
I remember thinking this book was so boring as a kid. I don't know why. I thought it was fantastic as an adult.

I legit had to fight back tears at the end of this book when they brought Emily Michelle home.

Nothing else really happened in this book. Their outing goes well, the kids are ridic.

There was this weird part at the end where Dawn is singing the wrong lyrics and then one of Kristy's brothers yell at her what the correct lyrics are. It must have been an inside joke between Ann. M. Martin and someone.

Oh, and Stacey comes back to help out and she talks about how much all the kids have grown. She's been gone less than a year. She left at the beginning of 8th grade, and now it's the end of 8th grade.

Best character:
I love Kristy in this book.

Worst character:
That little bitch Jenny Prezziodioasdioo comes to the mother's day thing, and she hates that Matt Braddock is there. Because Matt is deaf. Seriously Jenny. You little bitch.

#23 Dawn on the Coast

Timeline: Alright folks, this is where the timeline jumps off the fucking cliff and just starts swimming around, doing whatever the fuck it wants. Somehow, we have skipped winter time and all the holidays and we have landed at spring break of the girls 8th grade and 6th grade years.

Plot: The girls have two weeks off for spring break (TWO WEEKS?) and Dawn heads to California to spend time with her Dad and Jeff. Of course, she falls back in love with California and decides she might want to move back there. I mean, California has everything she wants: sunshine, her dad and Jeff, good food, and a copycat Baby-sitters Club (her friend Sunny has created a subpar version of her own BSC, called the We Love Kids Club). Dawn gets seriously annoying about this, and already tells Sunny that she may want to move back, and talks to her Dad and Jeff about it, so Jeff gets all excited. But then something happens, and all of a sudden she knows she has to go back to Stoneybrook. Oh I don't know, Dawn, like maybe the fact that you promised your mom you would come back? So Dawn goes back to Stoneybrook and tells her mom she was thinking the whole time she may want to stay there, but she didn't. The end.

Takeaways:
Even though they just dealt with Kristy being bossy in the last book, she seems to still have a problem with it in this book. Well, and every book until the end (I assume, I've never read the last books).

Dawn flips her shit because at the We Love Kids Club they serve apple slices instead of candy. Like, that's seriously one of her reasons for wanting to move back there.

Also, she loves how casual the meetings are, like they don't have offices or anything. Even though in the last book she was fighting to the death because she wanted a new office.

While she is in California, her friends send her post cards about their sitting jobs. Why? That's so lame. Plus, that means they wrote about their jobs in the club notebook, then turned around and wrote them again on a postcard.

I'm sorry, but one more time...who gets two weeks off for spring break in middle school?

Best character:
I think this week the winner is Mrs. Bruen, the housekeeper. Her breakfasts sound LEGIT.

Worst character:
You think I'm going to say Dawn because she gets all California obsessed and almost leaves her poor lonely mother alone is Stoneybrook...and you are right.

#22: Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter

Timeline
Still between Halloween and Thanksgiving, Jessi and Mallory's 6th grade year and all the other girls' 8th grade year.

Plot
A call comes in to the BSC headquarters asking for a pet-sitter for a week. Despite Kristy's refusal, the other girls convince her to let Jessi take the job, as she has that exact week off from her other obligations. So Jessi pet-sits for several animals - a bunch of dogs, cats, a snake, hamsters, birds, etc. It sounds rather disgusting. But Jessi does a really good job, and even has to handle an emergency - one of the hamsters is pregnant (slut) and Jessi has to take her to the vet and then take care of her as she drops her shorties.

Also happening in Stoneybrook - the girls are in the fight of their lives. Everyone is sick of Kristy being such a bossy bia, and they decide to have elections to re-elect the offices of the BSC. Then they fight about how the elections should be ran. Then they finally have the elections, and everyone unanimously votes everyone into the office the already hold. They all laugh. The end.

Oh, and Jessi and Mal each get to pick out a hamster to keep for themselves. Jackie Rodowsky also gets one.

Takeaways
I LOVED this book when I was a kid. I would skip the pet sitting bullshit and just read the chapters of the girls fighting. Re-reading it as an adult was not as exhilarating.

The main reason the girls start fighting is because Kristy doesn't trust that they are reading the club notebook (where they record all their babysitting jobs, with details...like a journal). She wants to make a checklist so they can mark it off when they get done. 1. They could easily lie and just put a checkmark, Kristy. and 2. This made me think that if the BSC took place now, they would have like an online blog or some website they could enter their jobs in at.

Side note - I wonder if all the girls make the same amount of money? Like do they all work for the same rate? Because nowadays, parents could also Venmo or Paypal the money to them. But it would get annoying if the girls weren't all charging the same amount.

Best Character
Jessi, duh. She is, like, a world class pet sitter. Even if those chapters are boring. And she lets all her friends come over with their baby-sitting charges, even stupid ol' MaryAnne who lets the fucking snake out of the cage.

Worst Character
MaryAnne for sure. How the fuck do you let a snake out of a cage?