BSC #10: Logan Likes Mary Anne!

Front Cover: Mary Anne has a crush - on a boy baby-sitter!

Back Cover: It used to be that Mary Anne had to wear her hair in braids and ask her dad before she did anything. But not anymore. Mary Anne's been growing up... and the Baby-sitters Club members aren't the only ones who've noticed.

Logan Bruno likes Mary Anne! he has a dreamy southern accent, he's awfully cute - and he wants to join the Baby-sitters Club.

The Baby-sitters aren't sure Logan will make a good Club member. And Mary Anne thinks she's too shy for Logan. Life in the Baby-sitters Club has never been this complicated - or this fun!

It's time for school to start again, and the girls are now in the eighth grade... for the first time! Yay! Mary Anne is excited. She has a new wardrobe and newfound confidence from her adventures over the summer. She also just got fitted for her first bra. However, she also doesn't quite feel ready, since she is still 12 years old. Her birthday is about halfway through September.

At school, Mary Anne discovers that a new boy has just moved to town: Logan Bruno. He looks exactly like Cam Geary, her favourite celebrity. Logan is in Stacey's English class, but he's nice and friendly to all the girls. Right away Stacey can see that Logan and Mary Anne like each other, so being the good friend she is, Stacey tries to introduce them and get things going.

Throughout all this, the Club is busier than ever, so the girls consider asking Logan to join the group. Even though he does a great job at the Rodowskys (our introduction to Jackie!), everyone just finds it so awkward, because the girls and Logan don't know how to act around each other in a close intimate setting like Claudia's room. A lot of their stories and conversations trail off when someone or other decides that they can't finish that thought in mixed company. Eventually it's decided that Logan will just be an associate member: someone the girls can call on in a pinch, but who won't actually have to attend meetings.

Another subplot is that it's Mary Anne's birthday soon. Stacey wants to throw Mary Anne a surprise party, but she knows that Mary Anne wouldn't like being the centre of attention. So instead, Stacey decides to just throw a regular party, a back-to-school party, and then just surprise Mary Anne with a cake. However she and the girls get all excited again and carried away, and it ends up turning into a surprise birthday party anyways (except without everyone hiding and jumping out). Mary Anne is understandably overwhelmed and panics, running away from the party.

The girls think Mary Anne is mad at them, and Mary Anne thinks that the girls are mad at her. When she calms down, she realizes that the girls were just trying to do something nice for her, and that she ruined it. They all talk and everything gets sorted out and they're the best of friends again.

Mary Anne ends up getting a kitten for her birthday from her dad, and she and Logan are better than ever.

Random Thoughts:

• They "earn pretty much money" through the Club. Editing fail, haha
• I love how Logan mentions that he's got other guy friends who would be interested in being associate members... and then nothing ever comes of it. It's too bad. It would be cool for the girls to have had a handful of guys they could call on in a pinch. But I suppose as the club grew, the chances of there being an evening that needed more than 9 baby-sitters would be slim, especially since I'm sure a lot of people had regular baby-sitters who were not club members (like Erica Blumberg)
• Like Mary Anne, I too would have hated having a surprise party in my honour. I used to fantasize about it, but it was always such a stupid fantasy, because I would imagine a surprise party like what you see in movies and TV, but I hate social gatherings that are more than 10 people (and even then, it has to be like, 10 people I know very well and are comfortable with), so yeah haha I think the girls should have just had a surprise party with just the 5 of them. I would love that.
• I like how at the end of this book, Mary Anne and Logan aren't suddenly magically boyfriend and girlfriend. Yeah, they're hanging out, and they talk on the phone, and they've gone to a dance together, but they haven't actually said the word "boyfriend/girlfriend" yet. I like it.
• I also love how instead of having their Friday evening meeting, the girls decide instead to get ready for the dance, and just pay Janine to answer the phone and take the messages haha that would have never happened in the later books. I can't remember if they ever end up getting Claudia an answering machine. I feel like they must have. If not, that definitely would have been a good investment haha
• At the birthday party, Logan and Mary Anne are having a really good heart-to-heart, and Mary Anne acknowledges to the reader that it's the first time since they've started talking and hanging out that she's felt comfortable. Logan picks up on this, and some of the stuff he says just... rubs me the wrong way:

"Well, when I first met you, I liked you okay, but you were so quiet and shy... If you could just open up more - I mean, be the way you are right now - people would have a much easier time getting to know you. I almost didn't ask you to the dance, you know... But you have a sense of humor, too, which is nice. The only thing is, sometimes you're too sensitive. I really wasn't sure things would work out between us."

Uh, dude, you've only known each other for like, 3 weeks. I think it's a little early to be passing judgments on her. I mean, I get where he's coming from, but yeah. It's not like Mary Anne is going, "I wish I had more friends! I don't understand why people don't like me and don't talk to me more!" She's kinda happy the way she is. Anyways, long-time readers know that eventually this becomes a bit of a recurring problem, Logan assuming that Mary Anne wants/needs things

• This is when the girls stop eating with their separate groups of friends and start eating together. This eventually becomes obsessive and unhealthy haha