BSC #4: Mary Anne Saves the Day

Front Cover: Mary Anne's on her own. Can she take charge?

Back Cover: Mary Anne has never been a leader of the Baby-sitters Club. She's left that up to Kristy... or Claudia.. or Stacey. But now there's a big fight among the four friends, and Mary Anne doesn't have them to depend on anymore.

It's bad enough when she's left alone at the lunch table at school. But when she has to baby-sit a sick child without any help from the club members, Mary Anne knows it's time to take charge.

The Baby-sitters Club is going to fall apart unless somebody does something - fast. Maybe it's time for Mary Anne to step in and save the day!

So, I know I said that The Truth About Stacey was my favourite of the original 4, but after I got this one off my shelf in preparation to read it next, I found myself getting more and more excited to read it. I really like a lot of the Mary Anne books. Even though she comes off as "a baby" most of the times, she's actually the one who sticks up for herself the most and does the most rebelling. She may be shy, but do not cross her!

This book starts off right away with the girls having a fight. Seriously. Mary Anne is storming out of a meeting by the end of the first chapter. Part of me feels like the fight is over nothing [Kristy gets excited and claims a sitting job with the Newtons without consulting the others], but at the same time, I suppose they had it coming. In these first few books, the girls disagree a fair amount, and past stuff actually comes up. It's almost as if there's continuity! haha

So what happens is that the girls fight. It starts with Kristy taking the job without asking, but escalates as all the girls call each other names and it all boils over. They then continue to fight for WEEKS. They're pretty much not talking to each other for the entire book. They take turns holding meetings solo, where whoever is running that meeting takes all the jobs that she can, and only calls the other girls when she absolutely needs to. It's surprisingly not as inefficient as they make it sound.

In the meantime, Mary Anne has met a new girl, Dawn Schafer, who has just moved to Stoneybrooke. While they hang out, they eventually realize that their parents knew each other in high school. More than that, but they apparently went to prom together and dated! In the end, the girls get their parents to reunite. Yet surprisingly, longtime readers will know that Dawn's mother goes on to date a few other guys before finally settling down with Mary Anne's dad.

All throughout the book, the BSC members remain at odds with each other. Mary Anne ends up baby-sitting for Jenny Prezzioso, who winds up coming down with a ridiculously high fever. Unable to reach the girl's parents, the neighbours, her dad, ANYONE, Mary Anne calls Dawn, just looking for help and support. Dawn is unable to reach her own mother, so the girls call 911, and they end up getting an ambulance ride to the hospital. The Prezziosos are incredibly grateful toward Mary Anne. This is one of the ways that Mary Anne saves the day.

Because of this, Mary Anne finally convinces her dad that she's mature enough to stay out a bit later, wear her hair down, choose some of her own clothes, and start redecorating her room. It's a whole new Mary Anne!

The other way Mary Anne saves the day is after Jamie Newton's birthday party. The entire club is invited to help out, and because they're not talking to each other and are being immature and petty (and let's be honest: 12 years old), they almost end up ruining everything. Mary Anne has finally had enough, and she calls a meeting. She essentially says, "Enough is enough. We all said mean things and we all owe each other apologies. Or else let's just call it quits. But this has gone on long enough." Everyone is all shocked, and end up apologizing in the end. All's well that end's well.

Mary Anne has a pizza party, and Dawn gets added to the club.

Random Thoughts:

• Looking at the cover, I always thought that that was a red blanket across Mary Anne's lap. However, looking at the updated cover, I think I see that it's actually supposed to be a skirt. This is one of the few times when the updated cover matches the original cover, but only with the new artist and models. The updated cover makes Mary Anne look way older than 12, and kinda hot in that "girl next door" kind of way. You can tell she's still shy and conservative, but yeah. One of those cool Hollywood movie nerds. Looking at her skirt in the original cover though, yeah, no wonder the other girls describe her as looking babyish. I wish I could split the difference between the two covers 
• I think this is the only time we've ever seen Richard say grace before a meal. Also, my copy is old enough to still have Mary Anne's mother listed as Abigail, not Alma. I like the name Abigail better.
• Re-reading the books, I'm a little shocked at how strict Richard is. I had forgotten just how bad he used to be. It almost borders on abuse!
• I don't know much about kids, and the only baby-sitting I did was within sight of my own home, where my mom always was, but I find it odd that the hospital would start treating Jenny right away with the only "guardian" present being her 12 year old baby-sitter. I mean, I'm not surprised they put cold compresses on her to keep her fever in check, and frequently checked up on her to see that she didn't get worse, but I am surprised that they drew blood. It's not like Jenny was in any immediate danger.
• "You mean some twelve-year-olds are ready to date and other twelve-year-olds still need baby-sitters?" I feel like this line here sums up everything we know about the 10 and 11 year olds in the series haha
• I like that Dawn's mother calls Mary Anne's dad "Richie" in this one, like she did in high school, yet I don't think she calls him that ever again. Lost continuity? Or time marching on??
• Part of me is sympathetic to Richard. It doesn't seem like he's home much, and he seems all awkward. He's probably never fully recovered from his wife's death, and he's just trying to raise his girl as best as he can. I bet you he honestly did not realize how much Mary Anne was growing and maturing. I can only hope that Mary Anne didn't get her period until after Richard married Sharon, because I'm sure Richard would've had a total meltdown and put a lockdown on Mary Anne, completely in denial or in shock that his little girl was now "officially a woman". Thank god Mary Anne is always described as petite and flat, cuz yeah, I'm sure bra shopping would have given Richard a heart attack as well haha

[Although I read and reviewed one of the original copies of this book, I currently also own one of the updated copies, with the Notebook Pages in the back.]

Author's Note:

AMM's note in this one is all about handling emergencies when baby-sitting. She talks about how it's important to know what numbers to call, whether it's 911, or whatever the local number is. AMM reminds readers to stay calm and that preparation is key: know your numbers before you need them. She also suggests that readers take a first aid course or a baby-sitting course at their local community centres. And then she plugs The Baby-sitters Club Guide to Baby-Sitting haha

Notebook Pages:

By helping Jenny Prezzioso, Mary Anne saves the day and gains her father's respect. I once saved the day when I managed to organize and corral 5 substitute teachers and about 100 students into getting organized and sorted out. 

If there was ever a medical emergency when I was baby-sitting, I would well, back when I still baby-sat, I would've definitely called my mommy, since I always baby-sat within view of my house; if I were to baby-sit now, aside from calling all the proper authorities (911, the parents, etc), I'd call my boyfriend. Cuz he has a car haha. 

The emergency numbers for my town are: police [] fire department [] hospital [] (and here is where I admit that I have no fucking clue; my plan was always just to dial 911 and hope for the best!) 

The thing I would be most afraid of when baby-sitting is me dying; I'm kinda the Stacey of my group of friends. 

The worst emergency that has ever happened to me was when I have no idea; honestly, my life has been pretty emergency-free. 

When this happened, I ...nothing??? 

When Mary Anne is in trouble, she calls Dawn and her father. When I'm in trouble, I call again, my mommy and/or my boyfriend... after I've called all the proper authorities of course! 

After she saves the day, Mary Anne gets the courage to ask her father to let her stay out later, to let her cut her hair, and to let her redecorate her room. If I could ask my parents anything, it would be for them to let me well, now that I am an adult, I don't need my parents' permission for anything. Even as a teen or child though, there wasn't anything I particularly wanted or wanted to do that my parents would have said no to. I was either a really boring child, or my parents were really lenient; probably something in the middle haha