Baby Sitters Little Sister #15: Karen's in Love

Tagline: Karen and Ricky sitting in tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Karen + Ricky = Love

At first, Karen and Ricky were enemies. But now they like each other. They are even going to get married.

Only now Karen and Ricky are in a big fight! First Karen puts gum in Ricky's desk. Then Ricky calls Karen Four-eyes.

Will Karen and Ricky make up... or break up?

Karen gets home from school one day, and is excited to see that she got mail. Opening it, she's dismayed to see that it's a birthday invitation to Pamela Harding's birthday party. Pamela is her enemy! Karen calls up Nancy and Hannie, and discovers that they too received invitations. They decide that since they're going to be forced by their parents to the party, they would just get her really yucky gifts that she won't like, or baby things. When they get to school, they find out that Pamela was forced by her parents to invite the entire class. Ricky decides that he'll give Pamela a snake (rubber or alive).

However, come the day of the party, Karen is disappointed to see that everyone got dressed up and got Pamela nice presents. Even worse, Ricky got Pamela something really cool: purple suspenders. Plus he's nice to her at the party. Karen feels bad because Pamela gives out really awesome goody-bags that even include an actual 1$ bill, while the bracelets she gave Pamela are worth only about that. Overall, the party is a failure.

The next day, Karen is still mad at Ricky, and decides to stop talking to him. Since she's ignoring him, Ricky decides to be partners with Pamela that day. This prompts Karen to write Ricky a mean note, which he then turns into a spitball to throw at Karen. This goes on for awhile. Ricky and Karen keep doing stuff to each other, and soon the whole class is taking sides (girls with Karen, boys with Ricky, with Pamela and her friends siding with Ricky). This upsets Karen because up until now, she and Ricky had been planning on getting pretend-married, and obviously now they won't.

So all in all, Karen's having a miserable week. She wants to stop fighting with Ricky, but can't figure out how. Soon, it's Valentine's Day. Karen's made Ricky a super-big elaborate Valentine's Day card. She can't wait to see if he gave her something, but unfortunately, she has to go through the entire day first. Her mom and Seth have a special red and pink Valentine's Day breakfast. Upon arriving at school, Karen's the first one in the classroom, and quickly delivers Ricky's special card before anyone else arrives. Then she's on pins and needles til the afternoon.

When she opens up all of her Valentines, she's sad to see that there isn't one from Ricky. She's just about to fall into a pit of despair, when she looks over and sees that Ricky's opening the card from her. He gets a funny expression on his face, but then reaches into his desk and pulls out a big card for Karen. It reinstates the fact that he wants to pretend-marry her, and that they're no longer mad and fighting. Karen decides that they should get married at school on Monday, and goes around to tell everyone. Her friends are all happy for her, except for Natalie Springer, who is sad about having received so few Valentines.

Karen spends the weekend at the big house, planning her wedding with Hannie. Upon discussing a few things with Ricky on the phone, Karen finally figures out something nice to do for Natalie: she asks Natalie to play the music for the wedding. Natalie's been taking violin lessons, and can only play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", but that's okay. Everyone agrees to get all dressed up and the wedding is a go.

Come Monday, Pamela and her friends tease Karen a bit, but for the most part everything goes well. Everyone shows up wearing their nice clothes, Natalie plays for the wedding and Audrey officiates. When it comes time to exchange rings, Ricky's embarrassed to admit that he doesn't have one. He does, but he forgot it at home. Karen says it's okay and bails him out with her plastic spider ring. Everyone chants for Ricky to kiss Karen, but they get all embarrassed. Bobby, Ricky's best friend, deflects from the situation and kisses Pamela on the cheek. Pamela freaks out, and with everyone's attention diverted, Ricky kisses Karen on the cheek and she deems it love.

When they get back inside, Ricky realizes that the ring was inside his desk the whole time. It's gold with a blue stone. He puts it on her finger, and Karen considers them to be officially married. She briefly contemplates changing her name, but decides that she's Karen Brewer forever.

Random Thoughts:

• This book takes place simultaneously with BSC #41. This book has 20 chapters. The first 10 take place before Kristy baby-sits in #41 (Karen references these events in that book), but then the last 10 chapters take place after.
• It was really irresponsible of Karen's mom to let Karen buy a birthday present for little more than a dollar. If Karen had thought things through, she would've gotten a more reasonably priced present, but something so out of style for Pamela, like a lame baby doll, or a toy truck (she could tell her mom that Pamela was a tomboy).
• Karen's dumb (but only 7 years old) to get mad at her friends. Obviously their parents would make them attend the party and bring decent presents.
• Pamela is obviously a rich bitch, but I'd be interested in seeing her from someone else's perspective. After all, Karen's rich too. In fact, aren't a lot of her classmates well-off? Stoneybrook Academy is a private school. But yeah, I can totally see Karen having a huge elaborate themed birthday party with hired entertainment, just like Pamela did.
• I don't remember why Ricky and Karen were enemies, and what changed between them. Is it bad that I'm kinda curious and wish I had some of the other Little Sister books?? >_< haha
• I totes don't remember Hannie getting pretend-married before Karen. In fact, I don't remember her being pretend-married at all, but that's probably because her pretend-husband goes to a different school. Her pretend-husband? Scott Hsu, who has been mentioned a couple of times in passing Kristy books, since he lives in the neighbourhood. I believe his brother is Timmy. I want to know more about these Hsu boys (are they Asian? I totes think they're Asian!)

BSC #41: Mary Anne vs Logan

Tagline:The Baby-sitters thought Mary Anne and Logan would be together forever...

Lately, Mary Anne's been feeling like she and Logan are spending too much time together. They fight over silly things. And Mary Anne never gets to do what she wants to - like read, and baby-sit, and be with her friends.

But when Mary Anne suggests that she and Logan see less of each other, Logan takes it all the wrong way.

Could this really be the end of Mary Anne and Logan?

Our story opens with Mary Anne getting read for a job at the Prezziosos. Just as she's about to head out the door, Logan calls her, wanting to go out with her. When MA tells him that she's got a sitting a job, he tells her to just get Dawn to cover. MA says no, which causes Logan to try to guilt-trip her into wanting to see him. MA puts her foot down, and heads off to her job. There, Logan calls several times, just to see if MA could leave early and/or somehow see him. Finally, Logan simply asks when MA is free. When she answers him, he makes plans for a date that night, not even asking for MA's input, and then hangs up the phone. This leaves MA feeling confused about her relationship with Logan, and wanting to have more of an identity.

That weekend, MA has a day off. It's Saturday, she has no homework, no plans, nothing that's demanding her attention. Dawn and Sharon are out of the house, and Richard is in his office doing work. MA sighs with relief, looking forward to a nice relaxing day with a book and her fireplace. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. It's Logan, and he wants to take MA out for a day in the snow. MA hesitates, but Logan tugs on her heartstrings, citing that it'd be romantic and that he has the whole day planned out. They start by going ice-skating. MA starts to enjoy herself, but after awhile, gets too cold and wants to stop. Luckily for her, Logan agrees, and without another word, he whisks her off to his next planned activity. He spots some kids building a snowman, and drags MA over to help them out. MA's not getting any warmer, and is starting to seriously feel miserable. Logan's too busy to notice, and once the snowman is done, shuttles MA onward, further into the park. MA speaks up about feeling cold, so Logan buys her a hot chocolate. It helps, but quickly MA gets cold again. Logan dismisses her feelings, saying that she can't possibly be cold because he isn't cold! He wants to take MA out on the ice again for more ice skating. Finally, enough is enough: MA insists on going home, and so Logan takes her back, all in a huff.

A week later, MA comes home early from a date with Logan. They were supposed to go out for dinner and a movie. They did go out for dinner, where Logan ordered for both himself and MA. He orders MA's usual, which was not what MA had wanted that night, and the waiter leaves without letting MA have any input. MA's annoyed, but not willing to put up a fuss. However, after dinner, Logan and MA can't agree on a movie. Logan wants to see Halloween Pt 3 and MA wants to the Music Man. They can't agree, so finally MA asks to be taken home. Anyways, upon returning, MA and Richard have a talk. Richard's concerned because MA seems tired and not herself, getting an unusually low grade on a test. He thinks she should limit the time she spends with Logan. MA agrees. MA calls up Logan and asks him to cool their relationship for a few weeks. She doesn't want to break up, but she needs some time and space to think.

Upon returning to school, MA's depressed to see that Logan is ignoring her. She wanted to see him less, not cut him out of her life altogether. She spends the week crying and being down, before finally confessing to her friends that she maybe sorta apparently broke up with Logan. At their Club meeting, Logan calls, asking for MA to baby-sit his siblings, since they were missing her. The catch: he needs her to baby-sit on Valentine's Day, because he'll be busy. MA bravely accepts.

In the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, Logan keeps his distance. MA starts going crazy, thinking about how he plans for the night. She starts imagining him going out with a new girl, a girl with an exotic name like Olivia, who is outgoing and essentially the exact opposite of MA. MA thinks about this so much, she starts to think Olivia is real, leading MA to actually mention her to the other girls. MA runs out of the meeting all embarrassed and confused.

That night, she heads to Logan's to baby-sit. There, Logan greets her in a tux, and she's even more hurt. Then Logan reveals that it was all just a ruse, and that he planned a romantic dinner for him and her together. MA reminds him that she wanted to cool things off between them, and Logan said that that was what he did: it's now time to heat things back up again. He gives her all these presents, and MA leaves feeling more confused.

Eventually MA realizes that while people can fight and not always agree, it's important that they try to learn from the fights and to be understanding. MA doesn't like that Logan planned a surprise for her (she hates surprises) and worse, she hates that he didn't talk to her at all about starting their relationship up again. In fact, he didn't talk to her at all about her feelings about anything over the course of the book. MA decides that enough is enough: she breaks up with Logan once and for all.

The subplot in this one is Jenny Prezzioso. Mrs Prezzioso is finally about to give birth, and Jenny is not pleased. She's used to being an only child, and resents how the baby will need so much attention. She acts super-bratty, but completely understandable throughout the entire book. The girls keep trying to convince Jenny that the baby will not be the end of the world, that her parents will still make time for her. Jenny's having none of it. Mr P asks for the girls to help him plan a surprise baby shower for Mrs P, and everything goes off without a hitch. Finally, Mrs P gives birth, and it's a baby girl named Andrea. When they bring her home, Jenny is so excited, that she forgets that she ever hated or dreaded her baby sister coming.

Oh, and there's a chapter of Kristy baby-sitting for her siblings, which of course includes Karen. Here, we learn that Karen is having a fight with her pretend-boyfriend Ricky. They were supposed to get pretend-married, but now she's not so sure...

Surprise: we'll find out in my next entry, because I happen to own Little Sister #15 Karen's in Love! haha

Random Thoughts:

• I have no idea why, but this was definitely one of my favourites as a child. I remember reading this one over and over and over again (like, not in a row, but just a lot). As an adult, I definitely still like it. I can relate to MA wanting time to herself. I would be super pissed if I was looking forward to a day off, and someone (whether it be my boyfriend or my friends) just showed up randomly on my doorstep being like, "HEY! I PLANNED A WHOLE AFTERNOON TOGETHER! LET'S GO!"
• I get that Jenny is young, and most likely misinterpreted her parents, and that her parents are super-stressed and excited for the new baby, but... I really feel bad for Jenny. Her parents should have totally handled her better. They get her a life-sized doll to show Jenny how to care for a baby, in order to help her understand her new sister and prepare her for it. But unless Jenny is exaggerating (and knowing what we know of Mrs P, probably not), they make her practice every single day. Poor Jenny is under the impression that she'll have to take care of this baby! They really needed to sit her down and talk to her some more and reassure her.
• If I lived with someone who did the exact same job as me (we worked retail together, or baby-sat, or whatever), depending on how much I needed the money, there's a pretty good chance I would ask to switch. As a general rule, I prefer not to work. However, MA is in no way obligated to do that, and I would most certainly be upset and incredulous at someone insisting that I do it.
• As someone who gets cold very easily, I sympathise with MA. I love ice skating, but eventually my toes get too cold as well
• I always love it when the books reference real movies and real books. I don't know if AMM meant for Logan to reference a real movie though. Halloween Pt 3 came out in October 1982. Logan mentions it had been out for "awhile", so it's somewhat maybe slightly plausible that it would still be playing in January... however this book came out in 1991, not 1982. Does that mean the story is taking place in 1982?? The first book in the series (back when the girls were in grade 7 and time was passing normally) didn't even come out until 1986. It's not like Music Man, which MA states is playing at the "oldies theatre".

BSC #40: Claudia and the Middle School Mystery

Tagline: How could anyone accuse Claudia of cheating?

For once, Claudia's studied really really hard for her math test. And when Claudia gets her paper back, it has an A- on it. All right!

But then, Claudia's math teacher calls her to his desk and accuses her of copying off of Shawna Riverson's test!

Claudia can't believe it. Neither can the Baby-sitters. Claudia would never cheat! And they're not going to rest until they help clear Claudia's name!

The book opens with Claudia studying for math with Janine. Unlike usual, Claudia's starting to finally catch on, and is even enjoying having Janine be her study partner. After awhile, Janine declares Claudia ready for the test, and leaves Claudia to do the rest of her homework. Claudia still isn't convinced though: this is a huge test, worth almost half of her grade. Stacey and the girls are quick to talk her down that night and the next day before her test.

During the test, Claudia starts to panic, but soon remembers everything Janine told her. Taking her time, she tackles the test one question at a time. Claudia's surprised at how much she remembers, and when it comes time to hand in the test, she's feeling pretty good. She's not sure of the exact grade she's got, but it doesn't even matter to her: she knows she did well, better than usual, and that's all that's important.

The next day, Claudia is thrilled to find out that she did even better than she could have hoped for: 94%! It's one of the highest grades Claudia's ever received, and she's ecstatic. However, her jubilation is short-lived. Mr Zorzi, her math teacher, calls her and Shawna Riverson to his desk. Turns out that both girls got the exact same score. In fact, they made the exact same mistakes. The only conclusion to be made is that one of the them cheated off the other. Shawna's quick to defend herself, saying she'd never ever cheat. Since Shawna generally does well and has high grades, Mr Zorzi believes her and doesn't even give Claudia a chance to defend herself. Claudia is going to get an F on the test.

Claudia is in total shock and is severely setback. She figures, if this is what happens when she studies, why should she bother? She spends the rest of the day avoiding her friends and family, eventually just lying in her bed, not even doing art. When her family calls her down for dinner, they tell her that the principal informed her of the situation. Claudia doesn't know what to say, only that she didn't do it. To her dismay, it doesn't seem like her parents believe her initially, but Janine quickly steps in and takes Claudia's side without hesitation. Her parents quickly recant, saying that of course they believe Claudia, and that they'll figure something out. Claudia tells them that she'd like to do it on her own. She talks things over with Janine, and tries to feel better.

The Club is immediately on Claudia's side (with the exception of Mary Anne, who in trying to be sensitive, is actually very insensitive). Everyone realizes that Shawna is obviously the one who cheated, but none of them can figure out why or how to prove it. Dawn mentions that she has the locker next to Shawna's, and that due to a mix-up, for a few days at the beginning of the year, it was actually her locker, so she knows the combination. She suggests that they look inside it to find evidence, but everyone quickly quashes that idea.

The next day, Claudia is still pretty bummed out. Suddenly she spots Shawna and her friends laughing and talking, and decides to follow them. Hiding in a bathroom stall, she overhears Shawna talking about how lucky she was to have gotten away with cheating, and how she doesn't even feel bad, because what's one more bad grade to Claudia? Shawna continues to explain how she cheated because she had stretched herself too thin in terms of extra-curriculars, and hadn't had time to study. Claudia is enraged by what she hears, and when the coast is clear, heads to meet up with her friends. At first, everyone is excited, because this was the proof they were waiting for! Then they realize that it would still be Claudia's word against Shawna's, and that that wouldn't help her in the end. Realizing that desperate times call for desperate measures, they decide to break into Shawna's locker after all, to see if they can find anything incriminating.

After school, Dawn, Claudia and Stacey stay behind to look inside Shawna's locker. With Stacey on lookout, Dawn and Claudia rifle through Shawna's things. Claudia then notices a note stuck in the locker vent. It says, "Congratulations on your A-. Who would have guessed that C.K.'s paper would have so many right answers?" Dawn is ecstatic, knowing that they hit the jackpot. However, Claudia realizes that she would have no way of explaining how she got the note, and no way of proving that she hadn't just made it up to clear her name. After Dawn and Stacey leave, Claudia puts the note back, and continues to be upset.

Claudia then thinks she can guilt or goad Shawna into letting something slip, so she spends all of their next math class saying suggestive things, waiting for Shawna to respond or start freaking out. All Claudia manages to do though is annoy Shawna and Mr Zorzi, and effectively miss the entire math lesson.

Finally, Claudia decides that she just doesn't care anymore. At least, that's what she tells herself. She wears her most outrageous outfit possible, and spends the whole day acting all cheerful, and pretending that she doesn't care about school, her math test, her grades, anything. Come the end of the school day, Claudia is exhausted from all the pretending, and doesn't even feel any better. That's when she sees Janine. Janine is visiting the middle school so that she may have words with the principal. Claudia is mortified, but Janine reassures her that she's always been on good terms with the principal, and that she's merely going to have a conversation. Enough is enough; Janine wasn't going to let her little sister suffer in silence anymore.

After careful discussion and deliberation, the principal, Janine and Mr Zorzi (who got called down eventually) decide that Claudia deserves another chance to prove herself. The next day, Mr Zorzi allows Claudia to re-write the test (a different test, but on the same materials). Claudia passes the test with flying colours, doing even better on it than the first time. Mr Zorzi apologizes to Claudia, and then calls Shawna to his desk. He tells her that she'll have a chance to prove herself by retaking the test tomorrow. Shawna breaks down and admits to cheating. She gets sent to the principal's office, and is ultimately suspended for two days, as well as getting an F on the test.

Claudia is thrilled. Not only did she prove herself innocent, but she earned an A- fair and square. The Club (and Janine) take a moment to celebrate with Claudia at their next meeting. Claudia gives Janine a piece of art she made, specifically for her, thanking her for always having her back and helping her out. That night, Claudia's parents celebrate at dinner with a cake. For the first time, Claudia sees how proud they all are of her, and she's pretty damn proud herself!

The subplot in this one involves the Pike triplets. They were playing ball when the ball goes wild and goes into the basement window. None of the triplets will confess to who did it, so Mr and Mrs Pike decide to punish and ground all of them, until one of them fesses up. Over the course of the book, the triplets start driving everyone crazy, cuz they're going nuts from being cooped up, but still they remain loyal to each other and refuse to rat on the culprit. Finally Mallory comes up with the idea of "re-enacting the crime". Turns out it was nobody's and everybody's fault: One of the triplets pitched the ball, but it was a bad throw, another triplet attempted to hit it anyways, and it just glanced off the bat and continued running wild, and the third triplet attempted to catch it, but it glanced off his mitt and into the window. The triplets are official ungrounded and cleared of all charges!

Random Thoughts:

• I never read the plot synopsis' on the back of these books, because I generally remember what all of the books are about. I'm glad I don't. Jfc this one spoils so much! Claudia spends the first three chapters worrying about her test. Us readers already know what she got on the test!
• I've gone on before about how I don't under the American grading system, but this time, I'm SURE I've got it all mixed up. Claudia gets a 94% on her math test. Here in Canada, that would be an A+ (anything above 90% is an A+). I'll admit, it doesn't make sense in Canada that A+ has a 10% range, A- to A has a 10% range, and then all the other letter grades and their iterations have a 10% range. But okay. Anyways, Claudia's 94% is only an A-??? You'd think even in the US system, it'd be at least an A! (From what I understand, the US system is roughly a 5% range for every different grade?)
• Claudia's parents are horrible. First off, they don't immediately take her side. But more importantly, they don't do anything! I know Claudia was all like, "No, please don't get involved!" but my god, she's a 13 year old child! If after three days or so, I hadn't heard of anything being done, I would have marched into the school and talked to the teacher and principal myself! I mean, I'm not saying they should storm in their, guns-ablazing, but at least be like, "Look, let's have a meeting and talk this out."
• On the other hand, Janine further cements herself as the most awesome person ever in the series haha I love when Claudia gives her a chance and opens up to her and has all these great sisterly moments.
• I like how apparently this is the fourth window the triplets have broken in three months. Uh, didn't your dad just get laid off and then have to start a new job?? Way to go guys...
• PS: there was no mention of that drama at all in this one
• I always loved Claudia's "Ms Frizzle" outfit in this one. It's one of the ones that sticks out in my head whenever I think back on the series and Claudia's crazy outfits haha
• I also like how, of all the outfits Claudia wears over the course of the series, this is the one she feels the most silly in haha
• Claudia is clearly capable of learning and studying: it just takes her longer to do it than most kids. How is it that she's always on the verge of failing??
• Also: how is it that Janine's never given her test taking tips at all. How has no one?? As a teacher, I'm constantly reminding my students to breathe, take their time, skip questions they don't know, etc, etc, etc
• As if Mr Zorzi is all, "One of you cheated", and then when Shawna goes, "Not me!" he essentially goes, "Well, it's true: Claudia's grades generally suck. Okay!" and gives Claudia a zero. No questions asked. Nothing else. Seriously, I would have immediately asked both of them to redo the test, then and there. There is no way I would have relied on the word of just a student.
• Plus it seems suspect that Shawna was ready to defend herself so quickly. You know, almost as if she was expecting to be accused. If you accuse an innocent person of a crime, they're generally too shell-shocked to be able to defend themselves. They're like, "Wait, what? Is this really happening? How???"
• They say that Mr Zorzi is not their usual math teacher, but rather that he's taking over for their usual teacher. Doesn't Wesley, the student teacher, take over for Mr Zorzi later? So confused >_< haha
• American lockers confuse me. Whenever I see them on TV or movies, or described in books, it seems like they have the locks built into them, and that they don't change the combinations. Anyone who has ever used that locker can apparently continuously get into it, at least for the rest of the year, if not for ever. In my province (can't really speak for the whole country with any certainty), students are to provide their own locks, and give the office their combination. I like that much better, because I feel secure in knowing that I'm the only one with my combination. Also: it allowed me to keep the same combination all throughout high school.

BSC Super Special #5: California Girls!

Tagline: They wish they all could be...

California, here they come!

Who would believe it - the Baby-sitters have won the loterry! And with their winning money, the girls are all going with Dawn to... California!

What adventures they have. Jessi lands a (tiny) part in a TV show, Kristy gets into a kind-of fight with Dawn's We ♥ Kids Club, and Stacey turns into a surfer girl! And in between all that excitement, they still have time for baby-sitting, sight-seeing, and the beach.

How can they go back to Stoneybrook now that they've turned into California girls?

Super Special Gimmick: There actually doesn't seem to be one this time. Dawn starts off the book, talking about the lottery, plus you know, it's her house they're staying at. But there's no gimmick as to why the girls are taking turns chronicling their trip haha

Alright, so apparently Claudia has been getting her father to buy her lottery tickets for years now, and the Club has always made fun of her for it. Well, now the lottery jackpot is at an all-time high, so the girls decide to pitch in and each get their own lottery ticket, and then split the prize if they win. Dawn comes close, with 5 out of 6 numbers right, which means they win a consolation prize. Each girl gets just over a thousand dollars. It's then decided that they'll use the money and an upcoming two-week vacation to go to California and stay with Dawn's dad.

They take an airplane down, which lasts about 5 hours, but due to the timezones, only 2 hours have passed. They're all pretty out of it and jet-lagged, and have a quiet evening at the Schafer's, joined by Mr Schafer's girlfriend Carol, much to Dawn's dismay. The next morning, the girls still aren't feeling up to doing much, so Carol takes them all to the beach for a day of sun and relaxation. There, the girls start taking up different interests, which leads to them spending most of the two weeks pursuing their own adventures:

Stacey decides to take a beginner surfing lesson that first day. She instantly falls in love with it, and Dawn decides to introduce her to some kids she used to school with that are at the beach. They're all super into surfing, so despite being a few years older than Stacey, they hit it off. The next day, they pick her up and take her back to the beach for more surfing. They drive pretty recklessly, but Stacey doesn't think much about it. She's all excited about surfing, and takes risks, like riding waves she's not quite ready for. One day, her new surfer friends pick her up, and it's a new guy at the wheel. He's even crazier than the others at driving, but Stacey loves it. Mostly, she doesn't want to seem like a wetblanket, since the rest of the kids don't seem to mind. Dawn and everyone warns her to be careful. Anyways, several days go by, including some group activities with the girls (which I'll detail later), and eventually it's the middle of their second week. Mr Super Reckless (whose name is Beau) can't wait to get home after a day of surfing, and speeds away faster than usual. Fast enough for another one of the group to actually remark on it. Then they get stuck in traffic behind a slow truck driver. Instead of signalling and being a responsible driver, Beau just lane changes, and ends up causing a huge car accident. Despite it involving multiple cars and the truck, no one is seriously injured. Stacey is shaken up. Carol comes to pick her up, and together, they tell Mr Schafer what happened. Mr Schafer bans Stacey from ever seeing those friends again (not a big deal, since she's leaving soon and by her own admission doesn't particularly want to see them again either), and Stacey spends the rest of the week with the girls.

Dawn's storyline is mostly her conflict with Carol, her dad's new girlfriend. She doesn't like how Carol is always around, as if she had already inserted herself into the family. Furthermore, Dawn doesn't like how "cool" Carol acts, trying to be their friend and what not. Everything turns around though when Dawn sees how Carol acts in an emergency situation: Stacey's car accident. She and Stacey expected Carol to be all winks and like, "This is our little secret", but instead she immediately takes charge and tells them that they need to tell Mr Schafer. This earns Dawn's respect, and she sees that while Carol is cool and fun and young, she is also an adult and can be trusted to do the right and responsible thing when the time comes. Dawn decides to give Carol and a chance, and stops acting so bratty to her. They have a very pleasant last few days together.

Jessi decides to visit Derek Masters, who's in LA filming his TV show. Like what always happens when dealing with Derek, Jessi thinks maybe she should get an agent and start modelling or acting. This is further compounded by the fact that she gets chosen by the director to be an extra in one of the scenes. Jessi also fights with Mallory, who is busy trying to be a "California Girl" and essentially just being a giant brat. It's the first time they've ever fought over the course of their friendship. Of course, in the end Jessi decides to forget about all this Hollywood nonsense and stick with ballet. And she and Mallory make up.

Mallory has what I think the most annoying plot in the book. Going to the beach, she looks around and sees all these hot blonde girls, and decides that she wants to look like that. She convinces Carol to drive her to the Max Factor Museum of Make-Up, and then spends another day at the mall. It's on her trip to the mall that decides to get all this fancy high-end make-up, and blows all of her spending money. She buys wash-out hair dye and dies her hair blonde, and spends forever playing with make-up. Because she has no money, she has to borrow from Jessi. When she finds out that Jessi is going to visit Derek, she gets all obssessed with getting noticed and being on TV. When Jessi brings her (in an attempt to connect with Mallory and try to understand her obsession with being something she's not), Mallory gets rejected by the director to be an extra, saying she doesn't have the "right look". This leads to Mallory being all mopey and depressed and avoiding everyone for a full 24 hours, before Kristy puts her foot down and tells Mallory to get over it. Mallory sells her make-up to Stacey and Claudia, dyes her hair red again, and goes back to normal.

Claudia meets a boy on the beach. His name is Terry and he's Asian, and he's super intelligent. Claudia keeps bringing herself down, saying that she's not smart enough to be with Terry, and keeps dreading spending time with him. However, he seems to be really into her, and keeps asking her out, to which she keeps saying yes. He takes her to a fancy Italian restaurant, and then to an Italian film with subtitles. Claudia did alright with the food, but couldn't understand the movie nor read the subtitles fast enough, so she just mostly smiles and nods. Then he takes her to a fancy French restaurant, where she orders escargots, not realizing that they were snails. She tries to keep up in conversation with him, but really can't, and just goes home feeling humiliated. She even calls Janine, trying to get some intelligent world issues talking points. Janine tells her to just be herself, and to invite Terry somewhere with her instead. Claudia takes the advice, and ends up having a great time. They part ways, and promise to write, with Claudia talking of visiting again sometime.

Kristy gets all competitive with the We ♥ Kids Club, insulted by how relaxed and informal they are. Kristy, wanting to prove that she's the best and that everything she does is best, takes a difficult job from the girls. She agrees to baby-sit for Erick and Ryan Dewitt, the We ♥ Kids Club's toughest clients. Apparently the boys are very rambunctious and spirited, and need a firm guiding hand, or else they take advantage of the situation and run nuts. Kristy's convinced she can handle it though. They soon realize that the sitting job is on the same day that Mr Schafer had planned to take everyone to Universal Studios. Kristy doesn't see what the big deal is, and simply gets permission to bring the boys along. Of course, it all goes to shit. The boys run around, keep standing up on the tram, ask to go to the bathroom and then get into a water fight while trying to stick pieces of paper towel to the ceiling... When the tour asks for a child volunteer to demonstrate some of the special effects, and Jeff gets picked instead of them, they're loud and rude and just a nuisance. However at some point, they get scared by the effects, and Kristy tells them that they have to stay with her and Stacey from now on. By Kristy being firm and telling them they have to stay close, they can make it seem like they're not scared and are just following rules. Kristy learns that maybe she doesn't know everything, and that sometimes, being firm is what's needed.

Mary Anne also snags a sitting job with the We ♥ Kids Club. She's sitting for Stephie Robertson, a little girl who is exactly like Mary Anne, only with asthma. Stephie's mother also died when she was a baby, leaving her father to raise her. Stephie is shy, sweet and sensitive. Anyways, she and Mary Anne hit it off, and Mary Anne sits for her a bunch of times. Even though Mary Anne is told that Stephie's asthma is brought on my emotional stress, MA freaks out every time Stephie wants to do something active or is surprised or startled: pretty much anything that would make you take a deep breath. MA also decides to bring Stephie to Universal Studios, figuring the outing would be good for her. When the outing goes off without a hitch, MA finally realizes that Stephie's asthma is not the end of the world, and clearly Stephie can handle it and be a normal kid. Of course, this is the moment where Stephie has an asthma attack. It's MA's last time sitting for her, and Stephie starts to get emotionally distraught by the idea of MA leaving, which gets her crying, which gets her sobbing, which triggers an asthma attack. MA handles it well though, and although she loves Stephie and clearly knows what to do in case of an asthma attack, MA is glad to be going back home and to not have to worry about it anymore.

Random Thoughts:

• For some reason, I always thought this one took place later in the series. I mean, I know there's still another 10 Super Specials and only another 100 books or so left, so it makes sense that every 10 books, there'd be a Super Special, meaning this one would have to happen sooner rather than later, but still! haha
• This one was always one of my favourites. I remember reading it constantly in the summer, along with Super Special #10, Sea City, Here We Come!
• Also: damn, there's a lot of Super Specials in a row! It's only been like, 4 books since the last one!!
• I should have realized that this was one of the earlier ones: Dawn eats chicken!! She's not a super-strict hardcore vegetarian!
• You totes know that if the books were written now, she'd be a hardcore vegan. Maybe even gluten-free haha
• You can tell that AMM wrote this one, because in addition to Dawn not being a super-strict hardcore flanderized vegetarian, Kristy goes to the mall with Dawn and Claudia, and comes away with a matching charm bracelet.
• I guess another reason why I always assumed that this book happened later rather than sooner was because of how prominent Carol is in it. Carol and Mr Schafer don't get married until Super Special #12. They dated for a really really effing long time! haha which is actually realistic.
• It sure is nice for Mr Schafer to let 6 random girls spend two weeks at his place. I hope they all gave him some money, considering how much food they must have eaten!
• How the fuck does Dawn know kids that are 3 or 4 years older than her. When you're a little kid, that is practically another decade... even generation! And this is before California Diaries, where knowing older kids makes sense. And even then, Dawn and her friends were all like, "WTF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS". Uh, wouldn't you know the kids in the grade above you? Anyways, it would've been interesting if Dawn's rand-o surfer friends came up during California Diaries, but nope!
• We find out that one of the kids lives down the street from Dawn, and that Mr Schafer knows all their parents, so maybe the kids live in the neighbourhood, and/or Dawn knew them because their parents all knew each other?
• More foreshadowing on Stacey's diabetes not being good and her health being wonky.
• Poor Carol. She never said that Claudia should change her personality to get a guy. All she started saying was that she knew people who did... but then Dawn cut her off and that was that. Dawn and Claudia then went back to Dawn's room, and acted like all Carol had said was, "People change to impress other people". You totes know Carol was going to say, "I know people who change to please other people... but it usually doesn't end up working and it's best to just be honest and be yourself." Of course, it's really realistic to have a bunch of 13 year old girls take advice wrongly haha
• As someone who is only really driving for the first time, reading of Stacey's car accident was not fun haha
• Dawn would hate me. I'm 27, and I'm fairly "cool". My students always can't believe how much of their stuff I know and like, and will often just enjoy talking to me. Of course, sometimes I'm a total adult, such as assigning homework and making sure everyone is seated and being civilized. But yeah. I don't try to be cool to impress my students. I just act how I always act. It would feel weird and disingenuous to be all like, "I AM AN ADULT! I READ LITERATURE AND DRINK WINE AND CREATE CULINARY CUISINE AND THE ONLY MOVIES I WATCH ARE FOREIGN INDIE FILMS WITH SUBTITLES." Mostly because I do none of that haha
• I also like how Dawn makes it seem like Carol is a bajillion years younger than her father. Yes, Carol is rather young (at age 32, she would have had Dawn at age 19 if she was Dawn's biological mother), but I bet she's probably roughly the same age difference (if not less!) than me and my boyfriend are haha
• Was the Grateful Dead really the kind of band that 10 year old boys listened to in the early 1990s? I always thought that it was weird that Jeff was a fan, and always assumed that nah, it must be a made-up band. It can't be that band!
• For some reason, Claudia always finds Asian boys while she's on vacation, but she never dates them at home haha
• I'm all for Claudia being herself, and I like the idea that Terry, while super intelligent and primarily into indie and niche interests, also enjoys regular every day teen stuffs. However, the moment Claudia writes to him, he's going to see how dumb she is =/
• I'm surprised Dawn didn't spend more time with Sunny and her California friends. Or at least talk about wanting to spend more time with them

BSC #39: Poor Mallory!

Tagline: Why can't everyone live like this?

There's some bad news in the Pike family: Mallory's dad has just lost his job. And since money is going to be tight until Mr Pike finds a new job, all eight of the Pike kids decide to help out.

Nicky gets a paper route, Vanessa tries selling her poetry, and Mallory takes a baby-sitting job in Kristy's ritzy neighborhood. But being around the Delaneys only makes Mallory feel poor. They have a cat that cost $400 and tennis courts in their backyard!

Poor Mallory - she needs the Baby-sitters now more than ever!

As Mallory mentioned a couple of books ago, the company her father works for is going through a rough time. The day has finally come for them to make cuts, and Mr Pike is pretty sure he'll be one of them. Sure enough, when Mallory gets home from her Club meeting that night, she finds that her father is now unemployed.

It's pretty scary. Not only are Mallory and her siblings worried about money, but their dad is acting completely unlike himself. He's pretty angry and quiet during their initial discussion of what to do. Mrs Pike decides to enroll in a temp agency, to make some extra cash, while Mr Pike starts looking for a job. At first, Mr Pike is all into looking for a job. He gets up, he gets dressed, and starts combing through the papers. Now that Mrs Pike is at work, it's up to Mr Pike to get Claire from kindergarten and to spend the day with her. He's not all super-dad, but he's not neglectful either. Claire's disappointed because she thought it'd be all fun with him around.

Eventually though, Mr Pike exhausts all the options in the newspaper. He starts staying in his pajamas longer, watching more and more trashy TV... he doesn't cook or clean or do any of the things Mrs Pike did when she was home. It gets to the point where he doesn't even leave the house to collect Claire from school: he has Mrs Perkins do it when she's picking up her girls. Mr and Mrs Pike have a huge fight about it, and Mr Pike starts getting dressed and cleaning again.

In the meantime, the Pike kids are doing what they can to make extra cash. Mallory lands herself with a swanky regular job sitting for the Delaneys three times a week for a month. The triplets start and odd-job service. Vanessa attempts to sell her poetry to magazines and papers, but eventually settles on styling kids' hair at recess. Nicky has the most success, actually landing himself a real job: a paper route. It's a tight and tense month for everyone. The kids are teased at school, with some kids being downright mean, while others just being awkward. Mallory discovers that Jessi and the Club are her only real friends.

One day, Mallory comes home and discovers her father not only dressed and smiling, but playing with Claire and interacting with her, doing crafts, going full-on Super Dad. That almost makes Mallory more nervous, because although she's opened to the idea of having a stay-at-home dad, it's not really feasible for the Pikes, since Mrs Pike isn't making that much money.

Everything turns around though when Mr Pike finally gets a call back. After three excruciatingly dramatic interviews, we find out that he gets the job! All is well and back to status quo in Pike-land.

The subplot in this one revolves around the Delaneys and their pool. They just got a brand new pool put in, and of course all the neighbourhood kids love it. But the more and more time passes, the more Amanda and Max suspect that kids are only coming over to play in the pool - not because they actually like spending time with Amanda and Max. Eventually Mallory comes up with the idea that they should tell their friends that they aren't allowed to be in the pool when a sitter is over anymore, then see who still wants to come over and play: those would be their real true friends. Despite the attitudes of most of the kids over the course of the book, only one kid actually doesn't show up. Amanda and Max feel better, knowing who truly likes them and who doesn't.

Random Thoughts:

• We actually get to hear of some of the girls in the sixth grade! Mallory apparently has friends other than Jessi and the BSC! Of course, they stop being her friend when her dad loses his job, but yeah. It's interesting seeing them even mentioned at all.
• I'm pretty sure Rachel is the same girl who made fun of Jessi in Mallory's first book.
• I like how Mallory's two friends betraying her to go tease her with the popular girls is played out like some huge drama, but it has no impact on the reader because we never ever see Mallory and Jessi at school, nor them interacting with other sixth graders. The only time we ever heard about other sixth graders was at the start of Mallory's first book, before she joined the Club. Even then, we knew that 1) she wasn't particularly close to anyone and 2) they were all kinda bitchy and mean anyways, cuz they were totes racist against Jessi.
• This makes me wish we saw more of Jessi and Mallory at school and/or outside of the Club. For the other girls, we know tons of their classmates: Cokie, Grace, Pete Black, Alan Gray, Erica Blumberg, Trevor Sandbourne... a few others too.
• It's pretty mean of Mr and Mrs Pike to make their money issues sound tremendous, and not tell the kids about Mr Pike's severance package. My dad got laid off when I was in high school, and of course, my immediate thought was, "But... but... money???" I was all set to worry when my dad told me that he got a severance package worth about 6 months' salary. It then only took him about 2 weeks to find a new job, and it was pretty much close to the same pay he was previously getting. So, you know haha
• Mr Pike's reactions to getting laid off are pretty realistic, and absolutely terrifying for a kid. I would've liked to have seen more of this and Mallory's home life.
• I don't really have much to say about this book haha I don't really remember reading it much (or at all) as a kid (although I know for sure that I read it at least once) and yeahhhh... not my favourite, but not terrible either.

BSC #38: Kristy's Mystery Admirer

Tagline: Who is sending Kristy love letters?

Of all the Baby-sitters, Kristy's the last one anyone would expect to have a secret admirer. But someone is sending her mushy notes with hearts all over them!

Kristy and Shannon are pretty sure the letters are from Bart, Kristy's rival softball coach. But then the notes Kristy receives from her mystery admirer start getting a little weird... and creepy.

Is Bart pulling a practical joke on Kristy? Or do the strange notes mean something more serious? Only the Baby-sitters can find out!

The Krushers are having a game against the Bashers, and actually end up winning the game. The kids are all super-excited about it, and Kristy's super-proud of them. As they're leaving to head home, Bart offers to walk Kristy. They're talking and it's clear that Bart's making an effort to get to know Kristy. He asks her about her life and all sorts of non-softball related things. Kristy's all mystified, as when Bart drops her off, he says they should see each other real soon, maybe even before their next game. Then he walks away, whistling.

A few days later, Shannon calls up Kristy, and insists on coming over immediately after dinner. Turns out someone has left a note for Kristy in Shannon's mailbox. Kristy wonders at how the mailman could have gotten their addresses mixed up, when Shannon reveals that it wasn't delivered by the mailman: it's handwritten and has no address. Shannon comes over, and she and Kristy soon discover that it's a love note from a mystery admirer! Shannon thinks that the note must be from Bart, but Kristy's not convinced. She calls Bart up that night, but neither of them say anything about the note, so Kristy just drops it.

Kristy receives another note, and Shannon and the rest of the Club are convinced it has to be Bart. He's the only guy who has shown a serious interest in Kristy, plus he lives in the neighbourhood for easy delivering. Kristy still isn't convinced though, because whenever she talks to Bart, he never gives anything away. Anyways, Kristy decides it doesn't matter, and invites Bart to the Halloween Hop at their school at the end of the month.

Anyways, Kristy keeps receiving notes. She likes them a lot, and keeps them on her at all times. After she gets the fourth one, she shows them all to her friends at lunchtime at school. Cokie Mason and her friends are nearby, attempting to eavesdrop and snickering. Kristy assumes they're making fun of her, and quickly hides the notes.

At this point, the notes take a sinister turn and Kristy starts freaking out. If they really are from Bart, does that mean he's a psycho? Does he have a split personality? Delusions? Is he a serial killer??  Then Kristy starts to think... maybe they're not from Bart at all. Maybe they're from some random psycho, who wants to kidnap Kristy for ransom, because Watson is a millionaire. This keeps Kristy up at night, and she starts getting stressed and paranoid.

Shannon and her friends point out that it's unlikely it's a random guy. If someone wanted to extort money from Watson, they'd probably take Andrew or Karen, since they're 1) his biological kids and 2) smaller and easier to take. Shannon thinks maybe it is Bart, and maybe he's trying to psych Kristy out so that she's not on top of her game when the Bashers play the Krushers again. Kristy can't believe he'd do something so lowly and cowardly, and stops talking to Bart. Shannon starts ignoring Bart too.

After days of Kristy evading Bart on the phone and on the softball field, Bart finally goes to Kristy's and confronts her. Kristy shows him all the notes and starts accusing him of writing them. Bart finally confesses that, yes, he wrote the notes. But only the nice ones, the first four ones. Not the later creepy, weird ones. They have a bit of a fight, but quickly reconcile. But that still leaves the question of who sent the notes? Shannon comes over to help them discuss it, and it's quickly determined that because Kristy brought the notes to school, a lot of people know about them. Still, they can't come up with any answers.

Finally it's the day of a big game between the Bashers and the Krushers. Kristy's all distracted and stressed because of everything, plus organizing the game and the refreshments. When she gets to the field, she's surprised to see Cokie Mason and her friends there. Cokie plays it off like she's just there to support Kristy and is interested in softball. She mentions that Kristy's seemed depressed, to which Kristy retorts that she's not, that she has a boyfriend, and that they're so happy they're going to be together forever. That's when Cokie lets slip something that was written in one of the creepy letters. Kristy puts two and two together, and realizes that Cokie was the one who sent the notes. Cokie reacts that she wouldn't have done it if it weren't for what the Club did to her and her friends "last Halloween", and if Kristy hadn't have made it so damn easy for her by flaunting those notes around. Kristy points out that they only pranked Cokie because she was so horrible to Mary Anne in the first place, trying to get Logan to break up with her. Kristy gets the last laugh though, because she says she'll make sure that everyone at SMS and at Bart's school know what Cokie did, so that no one will want to date her.

The game goes off without a hitch. The Krushers win again. Kristy and Bart decide to go to the Halloween Hop dressed as lobsters, which they win prizes for. All's well that end's well.

There isn't really much of a subplot in this one. The Krushers are doing really well, and in fact win their first game against the Bashers in this book, as previously noted. Bart and Kristy decide to up the stakes by having a World Series game. The Krushers don't do so well for a bit, but eventually come through and win the game. Shannon starts attending games, and Buddy Barrett accidentally beans her in the head with a softball and develops a crush on her. Sadly, that's just dropped out of nowhere.

Also: it is Halloween, and the Pikes decide to have a haunted house in their house, and charge admission. Only we never hear of this again haha

Random Thoughts

• Omg, Bart is totes my ideal boy: he plays guitar in a garage band! My 13 year old self would've gone nuts over him. And my high school self. Okay, and even my adult self, kinda haha How come I don't remember this?? Does this ever come up again??
• I find it weird that Bart would leave love notes for Kristy. What kind of 13 year old boy does that? I don't even think Logan would do that for Mary Anne. More proof that Bart is my man haha
• Haha Kristy compares Shannon's looks to Meryl Streep. It's hilarious, because the first time I read the book (and pretty much the entire 5 years or so that I was super-into the books), I had no idea who the eff Meryl Streep was, and probably glossed over it. Now I do know who Meryl Streep is. Omg this is amazing! Shannon is definitely officially my favourite baby-sitter now
• For the record, this is what Meryl Streep looked like in 1990, at the time of publication. She's a good looking woman now, but I always preface it with "for her age". Holy jesus murphy, she was GORGEOUS when she was younger! And yeah, definitely "interesting" looks, but still so so so attractive!

• I love how Kristy points out that the Bashers are pretty pointless. All the kids are big enough/good enough for Little League. So why aren't they on a real team? And since they're all kids from Bart's neighbourhood, they definitely have the money to afford being on a real team. So yeah.
• Even though Kristy and Shannon live across the street from each other, we don't hear more about Shannon. It never really seemed to me like they were super good friends. That's why it surprises me when Shannon calls Kristy out of the blue at the start of the book, just to chat. I definitely only called my very best friends on the phone when I was that age, and definitely no one who lived within eyesight of my house haha
• Kristy mentions that she's surprise that Shannon is so into the love notes. She figured a girl as popular and as pretty as Shannon would be like Stacey: guys lining up and out the door. She also mentions that Shannon "gets to wear that make-up", which strikes me as odd, because unlike MA, Kristy's never been explicitly told she can't wear make-up. She just chooses not to.
• This does make me wonder at that throwaway line from SS #2, where Kristy mentions that she'll occasionally put on some mascara if she knows she's going to see Bart. Makes me wonder if maybe there's not more to Kristy than what the characters usually describe. 
• When Kristy points out that the "i" in her name is dotted with a heart, and that the only person she knows who does that is Stacey, she thinks maybe the note came from a girl. Shannon scoffs and says, "A girl who wants to go steady with you? Kristy, grow up." I wonder how that would be written today. I wonder if they'd just take the line out altogether or what.
• Fans often think that Kristy might be gay, just because she's never really shown an interest in dating and clothes, the way her friends do. Plus she's an athletic tomboy. They often pair her up with Abby, because of that book where Abby insists that she's not going to date a guy simply because he likes her and simply because everyone thinks she has to have a date for Valentine's Day. While I'm not opposed to there being LGBT characters in the BSC, I don't like that people automatically go to Kristy and Abby for such obvious and superficial reasons. It's totally possible to simply not be interested in dating. My best friend wasn't interested in dating for the longest time. Not in middle school, not in high school... almost not even in university. She just thought all guys our age were dumb and that all the dating drama wasn't worth it for them. In her last year of university, she finally started dating this friend of hers from work. He was her first and only boyfriend ever, and they just got married. I've had a million boyfriends, and am in no way planning on getting married any time soon. Everyone feels differently about relationships and people, and lack of interest does not indicate sexual orientation.
• Unless of course, you have zero interest at all: then you might be asexual. But my best friend often talked about celebrities and fictional characters that she liked, and she always dreamed of getting married and having kids. She just didn't think anyone our age that we knew was worth her time for the longest time.
• That being said, I would love it if Shannon was gay. It would go against the stereotype of "athletic girls are essentially boys, and therefore lesbians".
• No wonder Bart doesn't say anything at first: he probably thinks that 1) it's working and 2) Kristy has probably already figured out that it's him. The day he sends the first note, Kristy calls him up that night to chat. The next time he sends a note, she asks him to the Halloween dance at her school! Everything's working out exactly how he wants. Then, just as he was probably going to say something, Kristy stops talking to him altogether! So of course, he realizes something is wrong and stops sending notes.
• Oh god, the BSC time-warp is in full effect here: they mention what Cokie and her friends pulled "last Halloween", and how Stacey wasn't around for it. It's true: that all happened when Stacey was back in New York. Which was during grade 8. But they're still in grade 8. OMG WTF IS HAPPENING???
• Stacey's health is still being a problem. She's not particularly sick, she's just not particularly well either.