BSC #49: Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street

Tagline: How could a seven-year-old make Claudia feel so dumb?

Little Rosie Wilder is perfect at everything. She can sing and dance, she plays several musical instruments, and her I.Q. is so high, it's off the scale.

So how did Claudia "C-" Kishi get stuck baby-sitting for Rosie the genius? Because Rosie is so obnoxious, no one gets along with her - not even Claudia's sister, who's a genius, too.

The Baby-sitters think that Rosie needs to be taught a good lesson. But what Rosie really needs is a good friend... like Claudia.

Claudia is at home, gearing up to watch a documentary on Andy Warhol. She laments having to sit through annoying commercials, especially this one of a little girl spilling chocolate milk on a white carpet. She had tried to tape the documentary to watch at her own leisure, but in typical fashion, messed it up. This prompts Claudia to reflect on how much of a dunce she is compared to her sister. Of course, she doesn't dwell on this too long, as she also points out that she's incredibly artistic. Inspired by the documentary, Claudia runs up to her room to start on a new art project until the Club meeting starts.

At the meeting, they get a call from a new client: Ginger Wilder, who has a 7-year-old daughter named Rosie. Ginger's mother has come down with an unfortunate series of ailments, so Ginger needs to spend a few days a week helping her. Rosie has a million lessons though, so she can't come along. Mrs Wilder needs a sitter to come over three afternoons a week and essentially just be around and occasionally help Rosie with homework, while her lessons and practice will take up most of the time (the teachers all come to Rosie's place, which makes it easy on both Rosie and Claudia). Claudia is the only one free for most of the days needed, so she gets the job.

Claudia's first day with Rosie is less than stellar. First she's introduced to Rosie, who seems to be a gifted automaton, barely emoting, and practicing with fervor. Mrs Wilder goes over all of the lessons and things that Rosie has, outlining the schedule for when Claudia comes over. After some intense practicing, Rosie shows off for Claudia, showing her a song-and-tap number she's doing, as well as some violin and ballet. Then she goes to do some homework, which stumps Claudia, prompting Rosie to snort derisively at her. Claudia ends up going home feeling very little.

Next time, Claudia decides to treat her sitting job as a project, and vows to be cheerful, and furthermore, call Janine when Rosie needs help with homework. Rosie and Claudia help themselves to an after school snack, where Rosie continues to make Claudia feel small. Rosie is already concerned for her health and cholesterol, and while talking, Claudia figures out that Rosie was the little girl from the carpet commercial, prompting Rosie to say that that's her college fund. Claudia knows nothing of nutrition and cholesterol, and she certainly hasn't thought about college tuition yet. Before her lessons, Rosie needs help with science homework, so Claudia recruits Janine. She zones out while the two of them talk science, but when Janine goes to leave, Claudia remarks that not even Janine could relate to Rosie. Rosie goes on to her lessons, while Claudia stays hidden, drawing. As Claudia draws, she can hear the lessons, and she realizes that damn, they're hella intense and that Rosie's teachers are really pushing her. It makes Claudia feel bad for Rosie, especially after the lessons when Rosie is all flush and her voice is all hoarse. Rosie asks to see Claudia's drawings, which sparks some hope for Claudia. However Rosie declines an invitation to sit and draw, instead running away to hide in her room.

Stacey and Jessi both take a turn at sitting for Rosie, which is pretty awful for both of them. Stacey is forced to read a script to help Rosie do an audition, and Jessi thought she'd be able to bond with Rosie over their love of ballet, but instead has to ask Janine over to help with homework. Rosie questions Janine's intelligence, causing mild-mannered, shy Janine to snap. Rosie then snaps at Jessi, stating that she only wants to see Claudia from now on. At their Club meetings, the girls reflect that Rosie doesn't seem to love all the things she does, that she seems more like an overworked machine than a little girl. This causes Claudia to feel sympathy for Rosie.

At another sitting job, Rosie is yet again being bratty, asking Claudia things Claudia doesn't know, and then questioning her about it. Finally Claudia snaps and tells Rosie that she won't play her games anymore. So while Rosie continues her homework in silence, Claudia continues to draw. Eventually, Rosie starts drawing, and Claudia notices that Rosie's got a lot of talent. She's about to say something when Rosie's father unexpectedly comes home. Rosie quickly hides her drawings, prompting confusion from Claudia.

After another sitting job, where Claudia witnesses Rosie's parents treating her like a performer (and themselves like managers) instead of a child, and Rosie having a meltdown, Claudia takes Mary Anne to the elementary school to watch Rosie participate in a crossword puzzle competition. There, the children are horrible to Rosie, but Mary Anne and Claudia manage to cheer her up. Upon returning home, Claudia and Rosie decide to unwind by drawing, only to be caught by Rosie's parents. Rosie's parents chastise Rosie for wasting her time, and Rosie throws another fit and storming off to her room. Claudia decides to talk to Rosie's parents, letting them know how talented Rosie is. Of course, this doesn't quite pan out the way she wants, as it prompts the Wilders to start thinking about fancy art studios and schools and lessons they can start enrolling Rosie in. Claudia realizes now why Rosie hid her art: Rosie figured that her parents would try to turn it into a new career path, and suck all the fun out of it. Claudia tells Rosie that her parents are okay with the art thing, but that Rosie should probably explain to her parents that she's tired of doing everything to the extreme all the time. Eventually, Rosie does, and she cuts back on her activities, settling on the three things she likes best: math club, violin and art.

The subplot in this one is that after watching her documentary on Andy Warhol, Claudia is inspired to do a series of pop-art portraits of her favourite subject: junk food! Eventually the girls decide that Claudia should do an art show, to display her art. They help her to clean out the garage and turn it into a gallery. Because of her newfound talents in art, Claudia invites Rosie to display some of her stuff too. Things start off fairly well, with many neighbours and charges coming to see the art show. Of course, we can't have things go too well, and soon Alan Gray shows up. At first, he just makes "witty" comments to Claudia, but eventually Claudia finds out that he's quickly creating sketches and doodles of crude things and posting them alongside her art. Claudia gets mad and tells him off, sending Alan on his way. Alan's departure is all too easy, as Claudia then discovers that he's left wads of chewing gum all over the place. Kristy vows revenge, and the girls quickly get things cleaned up and settled. Claudia even sells two of her paintings! Ms Besser, from the elementary school buys one, as does Kristy's stepfather Watson.

Random Thoughts:

• This one is ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis. I've come to notice that he doesn't make Claudia as stupid as the other ghostwriters do. She definitely struggles in school and with retaining knowledge and academic pursuits, but he also makes sure to highlight her artistic endeavors and her general observations and brightness. Case in point: she watches a documentary on Andy Warhol, and while she says that the documentary itself is boring, Andy Warhol isn't, and is actually inspired by his art style.
• I remember reading this one often as a kid. I enjoyed it well enough now.
• Although, I do have a bone to pick about calling Rosie a "genius". I don't her IQ is ever really mentioned in the book. While yes, she's clearly very bright and has a natural affinity for things, she's mostly talented and disciplined and well-trained. I feel like if she was a "genius" she'd be innovative and creating her own things, or not needing lessons or whatever.
• Also: the description on the back of the book totally sucks. Claudia gets stuck with Rosie because she was the only sitter available for the majority of the days the Wilders needed. Also also: the Club never thinks Rosie needs a good lesson. They find her trying, but generally agree that she's probably not very happy and/or is insecure.
• Some of what Rosie makes fun of Claudia for is for random trivia, like knowing whether or not foxes hibernate. I was pretty sure upon reading this that foxes don't hibernate, but I dunno if I was willing to fight to the death over it, because I honestly have not had to think about foxes and hibernation since elementary school science. That's why shows like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? piss me off, because it's all dependent on knowledge that is freshly learned in elementary school, but largely unnecessary in real-life. Unless of course, you study foxes and/or animal hibernation habits... or are an elementary school teacher haha
• In case you were wondering: Foxes do not hibernate!
• However, Rosie does criticize Claudia's spelling, which is totally valid. Reading, writing and basic math are all skills that everyone needs, should learn, and should attempt to hone.
• In a bit of continuity, Claudia references the time when she studied under Mackenzie Clarke!
• I also love how the girls are realistically portrayed in this book. They want to help Claudia with her art show, but bicker and get cranky when making invitations and doing cleaning because it's not fun nor is it going particularly well
• Alan Gray is the worst in this one though. The worst. He's why boys suck haha Now I'm all bitter that he and Claudia eventually end up dating... even though that happens a billion years later, after repeating the 8th grade a million times and apparently slowly maturing over these years haha
• This book really made me want Doritos and Milk Duds. I want some now. Sadly, the weather is terrible, so I had it in my head to spend the day indoors, being cozy, warm and reading haha
• I know Claudia is talented and what not, but how the fuck does she, in the span of like, one month, sketch, draw and paint enough portraits of junk food to have an entire art show?? She'd need at least 6 to make it worthwhile. That's about one a week. And that's being generous. That's also whilst baby-sitting and attending school. Either Claudia did a really shitty job, and everyone is just humoring her, or... no, really, that's the only option. I honestly don't see how it's physically possible for her to turn out a minimum of 6 paintings in a maximum of 6 weeks, whilst still living her life haha god piss and my adult logic and reasoning!!!
• I've always wondered what would happen if a sitter was needed during a Club meeting. Because sitting jobs are always vaguely described, you can just kinda pretend that none of the jobs featured in the books happen to coincide with meetings. EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE. Ginger clearly states that she needs a sitter Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from after school until about 8pm. THAT'S CLEARLY DURING FRIDAY'S MEETING. There's even a chapter where Claudia says it's Friday, she picks Rosie up from school, and then mentions going for a walk together at 6:30! But the fact that the sitting job and the meetings overlap is never addressed!
• Furthermore: if I was Claudia's parents, I'd be like, "Wtf, no, you can't baby-sit from 3:30 to 8:30pm three days a week. When are you planning on doing your homework??" I mean yes, because of all of Rosie's lessons (that don't involve Claudia having to do anything), Claudia could theoretically do her homework then. But Claudia is notorious for skipping homework or needing help with it, plus her grades are so tenuous to begin with. I would not trust her to use her time responsibly and to stay on top of things. (In fact, us readers know that Claudia spends most of the time drawing!)
• The Wilders are horrible parents. They've scheduled every minute of this poor girl's life, turning every single talent or interest into a career path, parading her around to auditions and shows and various other things to show her off. I'm not surprised Rosie is the least bit bratty. She's either repeating things her parents have taught her, used to interacting with others only in a performance setting (other children are competition/distractions, adults are to be impressed), or she's incredibly stressed or under pressure. I don't want to say that the Wilders are abusive... but there's definitely something wrong about the way they treat their daughter. I shudder to think how Rosie would have turned out if Claudia hadn't encouraged her to say anything to her parents. Hell, we still don't know how Rosie turns out! For all we know, her parents quickly revert back to their old ways
• Apparently Rosie is featured in two other books, but they're both books I actually haven't read. But still! Those would still be two books theoretically only "later this year". Again, who knows how they'd be when Rosie was 10 or 13 or 16 or whatever.
• Apparently the Wilders ask Claudia to become Rosie's art teacher, but much like Claudia tutoring Emily Michelle, this never gets mentioned again haha

Random Thought...

Haha I was just sitting here, going through my collection of Baby-Sitter Club books and Sweet Valley books (got a few I was missing for Christmas), thinking about how this all started. Like, when I first started reading the books. I don't remember what my first Sweet Valley book was (although I know it was one of the Sweet Valley Kids books), but I'm pretty sure my first Baby-Sitters Club book was Super Mystery #2 Baby-Sitters Beware!. It wasn't my first AMM book (I had been reading the Little Sister series for ages by then), but it was my first Baby-Sitters Club book, which then got me reading the rest of the series.

I remember picking it up because I was perusing the slightly older section of my local library for a change, and the cover and title got my attention. I don't remember my library having the world's greatest selection of books, but it had enough, because I've read most of the Baby-Sitters Club books.

But that was the public library. I know my school library had a bunch of Baby-Sitters Club books, but oddly enough, my most vivid image of my school library is of the Sweet Valley High shelf. I remember seeing those books (my school library had the larger hardcover library editions) and thinking, "Those are for older kids. Way older than me." haha

As such, I didn't end up reading any Sweet Valley High books until I was in high school (and by then, I was reading them for shits and giggles and fun frivolous beach reading 'cause I could get them for a 1$ each at the used bookstore near my house). I had read tons of Sweet Valley Twins, and of course, all the Baby-Sitters Club. But not Sweet Valley High. Those were TOO HARDCORE!

Funny the memories that stick with you haha

BSC #48: Jessi's Wish

Tagline: Do wishes really come true?

When Jessi volunteers to help supervise the Kids Can Do Anything Club, she meets nine-year-old Danielle. Danielle has a beautiful smile and a great sense of humor. But Danielle is no ordinary little girl. She has cancer.

Jessi never met anyone like Danielle before. Even though she is very sick, Danielle is courageous and hopeful. She even has two wishes. The first is to go to Disney World. The second is to graduate from elementary school. Jessi knows she has to be strong for Danielle, and so she makes a very special wish of her own.

Jessi's chilling at home, watching her brother Squirt, when Becca comes home from school. She's super sad because one of the teachers who helps to run the Kids Can Do Anything Club (Kids Club) at school is going away for a bit, and the other teacher doesn't think he can run the club alone. That means that the club will have to disband until further notice. Jessi knows how much the club means to Becca, as well as a few other kids, and decides that she wants to help out. She decides to propose to the Club that they should spend the month volunteering on various projects. The girls agree, and with their blessing, Jessi goes and talks to Mr Katz (the remaining teacher) about helping out with the Kids Club.

At her first meeting, Jessi learns that the kids have just finished up organizing a toy drive for the local hospital. That day, Mr Katz shows them all the letters the kids from the hospital have written to them, thanking them for the donations. One of the letters turns out to be a from a girl named Danielle Roberts, who used to be in the club, but has been spending that school year in the hospital fighting cancer. Danielle writes that she's coming back soon, and although she's bald and looks different, she's excited to see everyone again. The kids are excited, and reasonably subdued, and decide to spend the afternoon writing back to the kids in the hospital.

Danielle comes back for the next Kids Club meeting. Everyone's excited, but something seems a little off. As Danielle stars talking to them, and telling them what she's been up to, Jessi realizes that it's mostly the third graders hanging around Danielle. Eventually Jessi comes to the conclusion that the older kids, who knew and remember Danielle before the cancer, are frightened of her and for her, seeing her look so radically different from before. But Danielle is just happy to be out of the hospital and keeps her hopes up. As the kids continue to write letters to the hospital, Jessi gets to know Danielle, and wants nothing more than to help her and for her to get better.

The girls have an informal Club meeting, to catch up with each other on their volunteer work. There, Jessi tells everyone about Danielle, and how Danielle wishes she could go to Disney World. Mary Anne tells Jessi of an organization called Your Wish Is My Command, that works to grant wishes of sick children. Jessi thinks it's a great idea, and looks into it for the Roberts' and lets them know about it.

Over the next little while, Jessi gets to know Danielle better, especially through Becca, who has quickly become one of Danielle's closest friends. The other 4th and 5th graders are still being weird about Danielle, so she mostly hangs out with Becca and Charlotte (who are 3rd graders). Danielle comes over to play and the girls have all sorts of fun, although Danielle does tire easily and has to take things slow. Jessi and the girls also go to Danielle's place for a BBQ, where Jessi meets Danielle's little brother Greg, who is clearly having a hard time dealing with his sister's illness. It makes Jessi want to send their family to Disney World even more.

Finally one day, at Kids Club, Danielle gets the news that her wish has been granted, and that her family will be going to Disney World! She'll be missing 3 days of school, and they'll take a plane, and everything will be covered. The kids are so excited that they stop being weird and careful around Danielle. That's when they notice that Danielle's hair is starting to grow back! Everyone is so happy and excited that they neglect the popcorn machine, and a big mess is made. But Jessi and Mr Katz don't care, because again, HAPPY!!!

We're then treated to a chapter of Becca and Jessi helping Danielle pack, followed by several postcards from Disney World. It seems like everything is working out for the best. The other teacher is due back any day, and Jessi, although excited to get back to baby-sitting, will miss working with the Kids Club.

However, things take a turn for the worse: one day, Danielle's not in school. She's had a relapse in her recovery, and is in the hospital again. The kids are all upset, and decide to write Danielle letters. Jessi writes her one too, and soon gets a reply. Danielle isn't sure when she can leave the hospital again, but she's hopeful: after all, she got to go to Disney World, so wishes really do come true.

The subplot in this one is that the girls decide to spend the month doing volunteer work, inspired by Jessi's work. They decide that whoever is free will go to meetings, and they'll just have to be extra careful of scheduling jobs and rely on Logan and Shannon more. For some of the girls, their volunteer work is only mentioned in passing, but others have entire chapters (instead of baby-sitting ones):

Claudia volunteers to help out with an after-school art class at a community centre. As luck would have it, several of their baby-sitting charges are in the class, including Jackie Rodowsky, Margo Pike and Karen Brewer. The chapter we're treated to is them in the middle of a ceramics lesson. The kids are making sculpture out of clay, which will then be glazed and fired. Karen is making a forest with animals and stuff, and somehow she manages to convince everyone that her sculpture is alive, getting the kids all riled up and stuff. Claudia manages to get her to stop by "expressing sadness" that Karen's sculpture will never be finished, since obviously you can't glaze and fire something that's alive. So Karen quickly retracts her comments and insists that her sculpture is just a sculpture.

Kristy decides to volunteer at a daycare centre that David Michael used to go to. It runs all day, with an after-school program for older kids. Her chapter is her first day there, where she wanders from room to room, helping out where needed. She helps some of the older kids with their homework, she helps the little kids with some finger painting and snacks, but eventually she ends up with the wee little babies. They're short-staffed, and Kristy finds herself saddled with one baby in particular, Joy. Apparently Joy is very fussy and never settles or likes anyone, so obviously she's in love with Kristy and everyone is in awe of Kristy's baby-powers. Kristy then decides that she'll spend the remainder of the month volunteering in that room, and we hear more about how much she loves Joy.

Dawn volunteers at the Baker Institute, which is in Stamford. They provide after-school activities, as well as physical therapy, for children with physical disabilities. Dawn rides on the van with other Stoneybrook kids after school. There, she meets a girl named Kendra, who is wheelchair bound because of cerebral palsy. Kendra wants to be a writer, and we're treated to an afternoon of her writing, along with other kids. When Dawn tells Jessi about Kendra, Jessi reflects on how Kendra is completely wheelchair bound and will never get better, but she thinks about what she wants to be when she grows up and long-term goals; whereas Danielle has a chance to make a full recovery and be completely healthy again, but only thinks about making it through elementary school.

Mary Anne volunteers to help out with some friends of her father's. They have a little boy named Frankie, who has brain damage. Mary Anne helps his parents and his therapists do exercises with him, as well as just generally helping out around the house and with his two siblings.

Stacey volunteers to mentor kids who are recently diagnosed with diabetes. She's paired up with two kids, an 8-year-old boy named Gordon and a 10-year-old girl named Charmaine. Gordon asks all sorts of questions and is handling things really well, but Charmaine is in total denial. At first, Stacey tries to be a perfect role model for her, but eventually decides to come clean and admit how hard it is for her to follow her diet as well. That changes everything with Charmaine, and she starts taking things more seriously.

Mallory volunteers with an after-school park program, where the counselors hang out in the park and organize games and activities for the kids.

Random Thoughts:

• I love how this is another example of Jessi just doing something because she wants to, and having her own ideas. Yeah, she wants to run it by Kristy and the girls to see what they think, but I get the feeling she would have done something even without their approval. I mean, really, the only thing she's running by them is the idea that they all do some volunteer work. I think if they had said no, she still would have done her own thing.
• Kristy in the later books would never suggest that the girls take an entire month to do some volunteering! haha
• Fun fact: sometimes I end up covering for the visual arts teacher at school, and for some reason, I've ended up covering several lessons during the ceramics unit over the years, so I've actually become decently versed in how to do ceramics. The school even has a small kiln, so the students' work gets glazed and fired too! My first year there, I made a small sculpture from some leftover clay. I then missed the end of the unit, but the students glazed my sculpture for me. Sadly, it never got in the kiln. Probably for better: I didn't crosshatch one section when attaching it to the main part, so it didn't end up sticking so well, so it kinda fell apart after some time =( haha
• Even with getting to skip the line, there is no way they were able to do Disney World in just 2 days. Then again, it's better than nothing. I wonder what they saw. They probably just went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and had like, a special meet-and-greet dinner. Fuck, now I want to go back to Disney and eat their food. They've got awesome food. (Mostly because I don't have to prepare it haha)
• I know Danielle is the focus of another book later in the series, but between this one and that one, do we ever hear about her again? Is she mentioned in passing in any of the other Jessi books? I really want to re-read the other Danielle book now, just to see what Jessi has to say. You'd think with Danielle being such great friends with Becca, we'd hear about her more.
• The volunteering thing was only supposed to be a month, with Jessi herself doing Kids Club for like... 6 weeks? AMM keeps starting chapters with "one day" or "later that week" and other vague things, so it makes it feel like so much time passes!

BSC #47: Mallory on Strike

Tagline: How could Mallory ever get tired of baby-sitting?

Mallory couldn't imagine not being in a big family like hers. There's always someone to do things with, and she likes to help take care of her younger brothers and sisters.

But now Mallory's working on an important writing project, and she needs peace and quiet. So why won't everyone leave her alone? Nicky needs help tying his shoes, Claire wants a sandwich, and soeone has to break up the fight among the triplets.

Mallory feelings like a baby-sitting slave.

And there's only one thing to do: This Baby-sitter is going on strike!

Mallory is at school and is sitting in a special creative writing class. She's especially happy and excited because her teacher just announced a special writing contest that will culminate in a celebration called Young Author's Day. It's in 4 weeks, and Mallory knows she just has to win! She wants to win the Best Overall Fiction for the Sixth Grade category. Mallory rushes home, intending to get all of her homework done and out of the way that afternoon, so that when she gets home from her Club meeting, she can dedicate the whole weekend to coming up with the perfect story.

Things quickly go awry for Mallory though. Upon getting home, she discovers the triplets terrorizing Claire, who for some reason is under the impression that their mother is kidnapped. Mallory gets the boys to go outside, but then has to take Claire around to find their mother. Instead, they find Margo, who has gotten into all the make-up. Mallory manages to hand Claire and Margo off to Vanessa, but no sooner has Mallory sat down before Nicky comes bursting into her room, having lost their pet hamster Frodo in the house. Mallory helps him search, and the next thing she knows, it's 5:15 and time for the Club meeting. Feeling overwhelmed, Mallory heads to the meeting, having not done any of her homework. There, she has to turn down a 4-Saturday job with the Hobarts, because she wants to be able to concentrate on her writing. Mallory feels like she's letting the Club down.

Mallory's weekend doesn't get any better. She wakes up especially early, with the intent on finishing all her homework and then spending the rest of the weekend working on her novel. Two hours later, she's all finished, just in time for breakfast. She helps her mom to serve the family, and then kicks Vanessa out of their room so she can work. However, her parents soon need her to help baby-sit for half an hour while they go check out a yard sale. Although they are true to their word and are only gone for half an hour, the rest of the day doesn't go much better for Mallory. She's constantly disrupted and disturbed, never having more than half an hour at a time to settle in. 6 hours later, all she has to prove for her efforts is a single sentence.

At school, Mallory feels awful because she hasn't gotten much done on her story. Her teacher seems disappointed as well, making Mallory feel worse. She decides to set up a schedule for herself, allotting specific time for homework and specific time for writing. Unfortunately, she keeps getting interrupted and doesn't much get to adhere to the schedule. Finally, it's Friday afternoon, and to Mallory's delight, she's left alone all afternoon. She gets a solid 2 hours of writing done, but loses track of time and is late to a Club meeting. After turning down two jobs, the Club asks her what's wrong, and she explodes, explaining that she's really stressed, under pressure and doesn't have enough time for her writing. The Club is sympathetic, although Kristy expresses displeasure at Mallory having turned down jobs. This makes Mallory feel even worse.

She then has a job with the Barretts, something that had been scheduled before the writing contest was announced. The kids are driving her crazy and while she's trying to help out Marnie (who's only a baby), Buddy and Suzy knock over a bag of flour in the kitchen. Which wouldn't be too bad, except before Mallory can really stop them, they decide to mop up with water, creating a bigger mess. Then Suzy lets the dog in, and it's more than Mallory can handle. She tells them that enough is enough, she'll clean up the mess. While she's doing that, Buddy asks if he can ride his bike, and Mallory says sure, as long as he takes the dog with him. Then Suzy takes Marnie away to go clean up. Just as Mallory is getting a handle on things and putting stuff away, she hears a cry from outside. Buddy's gotten tangled up in his bike, and has cut the bottom of his foot. Turns out that since Mallory wasn't there to supervise and tell him instructions exactly, Buddy decided to go bike riding without any shoes. In the moment, Mallory handles it well, and Mrs Barrett soon returns, but overall Mallory feels terrible for being such a bad and irresponsible baby-sitter.

Enough is enough. At the next Club meeting, Mallory asks to be demoted to associate member. If Kristy won't let her, then she'll outright quit. The Club is flabbergasted, and the girls all try to talk Mallory out of it. She won't budge though. Mallory is at the end of her rope, and it's time she starts taking a stand! Kristy tells Mallory to take time off for the next two weeks (which is when the writing contest is over), and says that if after the writing contest is done and everything has settled, if Mallory still wants to quit, they'll let her. Mallory agrees, and heads home from her last meeting for awhile.

It's Saturday again, and there's only one more week left to finish her story. Mallory is all set for a day of work, when she realizes that she probably won't get much (or any) done. She then decides to go on strike. She tells her whole family off and locks herself in her room. Her parents, true to their word that they won't disturb her, then hire Mary Anne and Dawn for a last minute baby-sitting emergency. When Mary Anne goes to check on Mallory, she finds out what happened, Mary Anne points out that although striking worked that day, Mallory's parents still don't really know how Mallory is feeling. She encourages Mallory to speak to her parents.

So Mallory does. She tells her parents how she feels stressed and taken advantage of. Her parents apologize and decide to give her an entire day to herself: a Mallory Appreciation Day. Since Mallory made so much progress on her story, she decides to take the day immediately. The next day, she and Jessi head to the mall. They spend the whole morning there (2 hours to be exact) and then get lunch, go to a movie, and eat ice cream sundaes. At the end of it all, Mallory is feeling much better, and is even missing her siblings.

Finally, the big day has arrived. It's Young Author's Day, and the middle school is host to all sorts of guest speakers and workshops. Mallory has a blast, and of course wins first place in the Best Overall Fiction for the Sixth Grade category. Everything is perfect. To make it all up to her siblings, she takes them on their own special day, and all is right in the world. Mallory decides that she could never ever quit baby-sitting.

There's no subplot in this one. Instead, the chapters of baby-sitting are dedicated to the Club sitting for Mallory's siblings, and reflecting on Mallory's situation. Jessi has to look after Margo and Claire while Mallory goes to the orthodontist, and the rest of the kids go shoe shopping. Margo and Claire are mad at Mallory because she won't play with them and is crabby. Jessi tries to get them to work out their feelings, but it ends with them making a mean play about Mallory, which obviously upsets her.

At some point Kristy gets a chapter, where she feels like she gets a taste of what Mallory must face. She was planning on going shopping with Mary Anne when her parents suddenly need her to baby-sit due to an emergency. It's raining outside, and the kids are all cranky. David Michael invited a friend over, and Kristy is less than pleased to now be stuck with five kids. However, his friend's parents aren't too pleased to find them at home without an adult, and decide not to let him stay. They instead invite David Michael over. However, since this friend is new, and Kristy knows that their parents haven't met him or his parents, she decides that it'd be best not to let DM go over either. This sets him off and he storms up to his room. The remaining three kids aren't much better, with the cat eating their lunch and Andrew dropping a glass and shattering it. Suddenly, Kristy feels a lot more sympathetic to Mallory's plight.

Random Thoughts:

• This one has TWO ghostwriters! Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner
• Right in the beginning, Mallory describes her family (herself included!) as having chestnut brown hair! From what I can tell, that's a dark brown with some reddish overtones. Definitely a brown, and not a red. Then why is Mallory always drawn and described as a redhead???
• Mallory's parents are horrible. They just take advantage of her. It's not even like she wants to be left alone to hang out with friends. As we know, before she met Jessi, she didn't even have any friends! She said she never needed them/got a chance to know them because she was always so busy with her family!
• That being said, I don't know why Mallory didn't just go to the school library or the public library right after school. She could've gotten 2 hours of solid, uninterrupted work time in. It's not like her parents could be like, "No! You have to come home and fix Nicky's finger and play with Claire, and make a snack for Margo, and mediate the triplets!!!" Even they would realize how ridiculous that sounded. It's easy to lose track of how many random and meaningless tasks they're asking of her when they do it in the moment when she's around. I mean, it wouldn't have solved anything in the long-run, but as a short-term solution, there's merits.
• I hope the writing contest was opened to the whole school. They made it seem like only the writing club would be participating, and that's only 10 members! I'd like to think that there's a writer out there who's better than Mallory, but doesn't have the time or patience or need for the club haha 
• I find it hard to believe that the Pikes would let Mallory cut up their family photos to create a collage for book cover. I know that with the negatives, you can get re-prints done, but I remember as a child my parents being super strict about family photos. We always got doubles of everything, and anything I wanted to take to school or use for a school project, it had to be a photo we had a double of, and even then, I had to take very good care of it and not do anything permanent to it. I'm definitely glad that digital photos exist now, so I can print and re-print photos all I want for all my art project needs haha
• I'm glad that Kristy was able to sympathize with Mallory, but one inconvenienced afternoon is nothing compared to what Mallory puts up with. Mallory's family is always 6 younger siblings, and they live in a regular-sized house, where everyone has to share rooms. Kristy's family may be large, but they live in a mansion, where everyone gets their own bedroom, even Karen and Andrew who only live there some of the time. Furthermore, even with Karen and Andrew around, Kristy only has 4 younger siblings, and most of the time, it's really only 2. The rest of the household is older, meaning there's always 5 people to share in the child-rearing duties. That's 6 baby-sitting aged people (Kristy plus her older siblings, plus the adults) for at most 4 children. As opposed to Mallory's family, which is 3 baby-sitting aged people for 6 children.
• This book, plus a few comments from one of my students, plus some new reviews on an old fanfic I wrote a few years ago, really make me miss writing. Maybe in the new year I can set up a schedule and get back into it. I need time to read, to write, to crochet and to run haha
• I know they say to write what you know, but Mallory's story is a bit too on the nose: it's about a girl who feels neglected by her parents. Her older sister is an academic star, but her younger brother is a troublemaker, leaving her caught in the middle. Oddly enough, it does sound exactly like the kind of novel you'd find in an elementary school library haha

BSC Mystery #1: Stacey and the Missing Ring

Tagline: Stacey has to find that ring - or business is over for the Baby-Sitters Club!

Stacey is shocked when a new family accuses her of stealing a valuable ring from them when she was baby-sitting. Stacey would never take anything from anyone!

Even worse for the Baby-sitters, the Gardellas are threatening to tell their other clients about the missing ring.

Will everyone in Stoneybrook think the Baby-sitters are stealers? Not if Stacey can help it. She's going to find out what happened to that ring!

The book opens up with Stacey having a nice Saturday with her mom. Her mom makes Stacey her favourite breakfast, blueberry pancakes, and then they spend the morning cleaning the house. They're listening to her mom's favourite songs, and generally having a great time. So great a time, that Stacey decides now's the time to broach a sensitive subject: Stacey wants a ring. But not just any ring. She wants a real ring. Real jewelry. Of her birthstone. The only problem is, Stacey's birthstone is a diamond. Understandably, Mrs McGill is upset and refuses to buy Stacey a diamond ring. Their morning soured, Stacey then goes to the mall with the Club.

At the mall, Stacey drags her friends around to the jewelry store, and again expresses a desire for a diamond ring. Stacey expects friends to all be on her side, but they're all skeptical of any of them owning such an extravagant item. Stacey's a little miffed, but lets it go. Overall, the girls all have a great time at the mall.

A few days later, a Club meeting, the girls get an exciting call: a new client! Mrs Gardella has a regular nanny, but she's currently out of town on a family emergency, so Mrs Gardella needs a baby-sitter to come over a few nights to watch their baby. Stacey gets the first job.

Stacey gets there and immediately is charmed and befuddled by the Gardellas. They're clearly super rich, with a nice house and fancy things, but they're also really friendly and down to earth. Mrs Gardella answers the door in an evening gown, wearing diamond earrings and a diamond necklace, but is very welcoming, even picking up the cat, despite getting covered in cat fur. The thing that throws Stacey off the most is the fact that they talk about their dog (Bird) and their cat (Mouse) more than their actual baby (Tara). Stacey meets the dog and the cat and all their dietary and care instructions long before she actually sees the baby. Soon, the Gardellas leave for their dinner party, and Stacey is left alone. It's a pretty easy night for Stacey, and she's happy for the money.

The next morning, Stacey is awoken by her mom at her bedroom door. Being Saturday morning, Stacey is less than pleased at being disturbed at the crack of dawn. She tells her mom to go away, but her mom tells her that it's Mrs Gardella on the phone. Immediately, Stacey wakes up and starts worrying about Tara, and then Bird and Mouse. Mrs Gardella is confused, and immediately tells Stacey that no, everyone is fine. It's her jewelry that isn't. Mrs Gardella goes on to explain that while she was putting on her jewelry last night, she forgot to put on her diamond ring. Now it's missing. She continues, saying that she's sure that Stacey didn't mean any harm, that Stacey probably was just trying it on, or wanted to show her friends, but now it's time for Stacey to return the ring.

That's right: Mrs Gardella is accusing Stacey of stealing her diamond ring. Stacey immediately defends herself, but Mrs Gardella isn't convinced. Furthermore, she thinks it's her duty to let other people know that the Baby-Sitters Club is full of thieves, and to warn their other clients of this. Stacey is completely numb and doesn't know what to say or do.

Despite the weird coincidence of a diamond ring disappearing right after Stacey mentions wanting one, her mom is immediately on her side. The Club decides to hold an emergency meeting about the situation, and the other girls are also sympathetic to Stacey's plight. They discuss what to do, but eventually decide that there's nothing they can do, and that they'll have to sit tight and see what happens.

Over the course of the next few meetings, things are quiet. Their phone isn't ringing as much as usual, and when it does, it's mostly clients looking to cancel. Things are looking grim, and Claudia, needing money to make up for her splurging at the mall at the start of the book, is starting to get frustrated. She's baby-sitting for the Prezziosos (a job she lined-up before the missing ring fiasco), when things seem to take a turn for the worse: the Prezziosos return early. Turns out they were at a dinner party, and they ran into the Gardellas. Mrs Gardella starts telling Mrs P. about how the Club isn't trustworthy, and Mrs P, her mood ruined, decides to just leave. Of course, this means Claudia's job is cut short. Pissed off, she heads to Stacey's to vent and hang out.

At least, that's what Stacey thinks she's there to do. However, it soon becomes apparent that Claudia is there to scope out Stacey's room and jewelry to look for the missing ring. Stacey is upset at the idea that her very best friend now suspects her. She decides it's time to take drastic measures. At their next meeting, Stacey decides that if they can't change Mrs Gardella's mind, maybe she can do something to make it up to her: Stacey decides to call her up, and offer her free baby-sitting services until the cost of the ring is paid off. For some reason, Mrs Gardella goes for this, but under the stipulation that the first time Stacey comes back, it's under strict supervision. So Kristy gets roped in for the sitting job.

At the job, things go well and it's easy sailing for the girls, just as it was when Stacey first sat. They put Tara to bed, and settle in for an evening of just chilling and playing with the animals. They throw all sorts of toys and treats for Mouse, who "kills" them, and then takes them to a secret hiding spot. The girls follow him, and discover a whole cache of toys! They retrieve them and start the game over. Only this time, Mouse takes them to a different hiding spot. Again, the girls follow him and surprise, surprise, they find the diamond ring!

When the Gardellas get home, Stacey and Kristy show them Mouse's hiding spot. Mrs Gardella is extremely grateful and apologizes to the girls. The girls are just happy to have everything all cleared up, and ask that Mrs Gardella contact their other clients and tell them the truth. Mrs Gardella then admits that she's been so busy, she hasn't had a chance to contact their other clients; running into Mrs P at the party was total luck.

Sure enough, it turns out just to be a coincidence. At their next Club meeting, the phone is ringing off the hook, with various clients having been sick or out of town. Mary Anne even realizes that she had a note about some of them in the Club notebook! The Gardellas' nanny comes back, and the Gardellas let the Club know that they won't be needing their services anymore. The Club is happy: they wouldn't want to sit for them anyways. Claudia apologizes to Stacey, and everything is back to normal!

There wasn't much of a subplot in this one, nor red herrings, nor other suspects. There's a brief mention of a burglar being in the Stoneybrook area, but other than a chapter of Jessi baby-sitting for her family and being paranoid, the girls don't seriously entertain the idea that the Gardellas were robbed.


Random Thoughts:

• Yay!!! Our first Mystery!!! I loved the Mystery series as a child =)
• And another one by Ellen Miles
• That being said, I neither loved nor hated this book. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 6 or so, tipping it slightly in favour. I have fond memories of the beginning of the book, the part about cleaning the house and blueberry pancakes particularly. I was looking forward to reading this.
• I also now really want blueberry pancakes. And I don't even particularly like pancakes =/// haha
• However, now that I've re-read it, there were a few things about it that bothered me
• For instance: why would the Gardellas ever agree to let Stacey sit again? For all they know, she really had stolen the ring, realized how much trouble this was causing her club and friends, and then offered to sit again for free, just for the chance to put back the ring and be like, "SEE?? IT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME!"
• Also: why the hell would you ever get Stacey a real diamond ring? Why would she think this was appropriate? When I was her age and younger, I was obsessed with my birthstone (amethyst), so I had amethyst on every single thing. Except you know what? It was probably just fake purple gemstones. And not once did I ever think of owning real jewellery with real purple (but non-amethyst) gemstones. I hope her parents buy her something with cubic zirconium haha
• I like how apparently the girls had lined up a job to sit for Betsy Sobak... but then the job got cancelled! I never realized how much that girl was mentioned. I guess it's because we never actually see the girls baby-sit for her again?
• Why the fuck wouldn't the McGills just get Stacey a cubic zirconium ring, or some other fake white gemstone. She doesn't know! Something like that could easily be like, 50$. Sterling silver and cubic zirconium. It'll look great! Seriously. I know I literally just mentioned this, but it's on my mind! This whole book could have been avoided if they'd just done that on the sly and not let her know! haha
• I really hate how much the book covers give away. As I was writing my recap, I realized, "Damn, I've written a ton already, and I'm only just getting to the missing ring now!".

BSC #46: Mary Anne Misses Logan

Tagline: Nothing beats your friends. But even so...

It was good for Mary Anne and Logan to break up for awhile. Mary Anne has had some time to herself, and she's been having lots of fun with her friends. But now Mary Anne can't help it. She misses Logan.

When she and Logan are both assigned to study their favorite author, Mary Anne thinks this is the perfect, most romantic way for them to get back together again. Until Cokie Mason, Mary Anne's mortal enemy, decides to steal Logan from her.

Mary Anne vs Cokie: Who will Logan choose?

It's Thursday afternoon, and Mary Anne misses Logan. She spends the whole afternoon recapping her life and summarizing her break up with Logan, before moving on to more pressing matters: a grade-wide group project about authors. MA doesn't particularly like group projects, and she's even more stressed since she could be paired up with anyone from the eighth grade. All in all, MA is pretty miserable.

The day comes to find out their groups and who they're studying. At first, MA is delighted to see that she'll be studying Megan Rinehart, her favourite author. She gets excited for the project, but is soon crushed to see that her group is Miranda Shillaber, Pete Black... and Logan Bruno! She likes Miranda and Pete, but MA isn't sure she can work with Logan. Things get worse though, when it soon becomes evident that Miranda can't stand Pete. Upon meeting, the group is silent and awkward. They're soon rescued by Cokie Mason, who manages to convince her English teacher that she really wants to study Megan Rinehart, which leads Miranda to switch out. Poor MA now has to deal with Cokie and Logan, with only Pete as support.

Things go from bad to worse, as it quickly becomes evident that Cokie only wanted to switch to the group because she wants to hit on Logan. She doesn't know anything about Megan Rinehart, doesn't care to do any of the work, and spends all of their group meetings flirting with Logan. MA misses Logan fiercely, and is all awkward around him. Soon, Cokie starts derailing things further, constantly bragging about going out with Logan every night. It's apparent that neither her nor Logan are doing any work, although Logan has at least read most of the books already.

So Pete and MA take charge. The group had decided that they were going to read 4 contrasting books by Rinehart (a serious, a comedy, a mystery and a collection of short stories), then each were going to take a book and see how it relates to Rinehart's personal life and biography. When it becomes clearer and clearer that Logan and Cokie aren't working, Pete and MA decide to do their sections for them. Things come to a head though when their principal has an announcement for the school: the day the projects are due, three of the authors studied were coming to school and the groups who studied them would be presenting in front of everyone. One of the authors? Megan Rinehart, of course!

Logan quickly goes into panic mode, and realizes he's effed up. He's done his part, but he knows that it needs work, so he calls up MA to get her help. At first MA is incredulous, thinking that he wants her to do it for him (which she already did), but soon realizes that he wants to make sure it matches what she and Pete did. Over the next couple of days, they work really hard and pull through together. MA is exhausted, but happy.

It's the day of the assembly, and MA is nervous. But Logan squeezes her hand, and reassures her that everything will be okay. They get called to the podium, and one by one, they present their assignment to the school. It quickly becomes apparent that Cokie didn't do any work. Her section consists of reading the dust jacket cover of the book she was supposed to cover. Cokie makes a fool of herself and runs off, Pete, MA and Logan get signed copies of Rinehart's latest book, and everyone's happy.

As thanks for the last minute help, Logan takes MA out for dinner. There, they discuss their feelings and their break-up. MA asks about Cokie, and Logan admits that while it was nice going out to sports games and concerts (stuff that MA doesn't typically do), he overdid things with Cokie, and his grades and life started to suffer. He didn't really like her, and was just using her to get over MA. MA admits that she misses Logan, and they decide to get back together again. Yay!

The subplot in this one involved the Kormans. They recently moved across town, into the Delaney's old house. The older children, Bill and Melody, aren't used to living in such a huge house. They're frightened by the sheer size of it and all the hiding places there are. Eventually, their imagination runs away with them, and they end up inventing a Toilet Monster, who they subsequently become afraid of. Over the course of the book, the girls take turns baby-sitting them, trying to get them to overcome their fear of the Toilet Monster. In the end, it seems to work.

Random Thoughts:

• I definitely didn't own this one as a child, but I did own #41, which was one of my favourites, so this one was always one that I longed for. I did end up reading it, having borrowed it from my friend, but I think I only got to read it once or twice. Not nearly as often as I would have liked. I'm very excited to be reading this now, because although I remember the overall plot, I don't remember the details.
• Huh. Turns out there really isn't much to this one. And even before re-reading this one, I already knew that the cover did not happen in the book
• And again, I don't read the synopsis on the back of these books before doing my re-read. This synopsis is highly inaccurate. Although she misses him, MA doesn't try to get back together with Logan, and she dreads having to work with him.  
• I somewhat vaguely remember the Kormans, but I totes forgot that they had moved into the Delaney's old house. When the fuck did that happen??
• Alright, a bit of research tells me that it happened in Little Sister #19, Karen's Good-Bye, which came out a couple of months before this one.
• I like the continuity that Miranda doesn't like Pete. I think the bra-snapping incident happened when they were in grade 7 still.
• Also: for some reason, I always picture the Shillaber twins as looking like Sherri and Terri from The Simpsons, only older and not dressing identically anymore. On that note, I always picture Sherri and Terri as not having purple hair, but that it being stylized/representative of them being half-East Indian or some other Middle Eastern ethnicity. Thus, I always picture the Shillaber twins as slightly brown (but not too brown, since if they were full Middle Eastern, you know that would've been a big deal for white bread Stoneybrook haha)
• You can tell that AMM wrote this one, because Jessi's love for telling jokes is back.
• I find it funny that of all the girls, Claudia is the one who thinks of adult authors, naming Danielle Steel and Stephen King. Again, you can tell that AMM wrote this one because Claudia's actually fairly bright in this one.
• Also: for all the famous authors referenced in this one, it's weird that the one that MA is studying is a fictional one.
• AMM makes it a point to note that Mallory was not sitting anywhere near Jessi at the Author Day assembly. Wtf does it mean?? WHY DOES THIS GO NOWHERE? WHY DON'T WE SEE MORE OF JESSI AND MALLORY AT SCHOOL???
• As someone who is highly academic and hates having to pull dead weight on group projects, it pleases me to see that Cokie's manipulations and schemes didn't pan out.
• ...the nerd in me also really likes this project and wants to do it myself.
• I kinda ship MA and Pete after this book, but I ship her with Cary Retlin more haha
• I like that Logan has obviously changed and has improved since their break-up. During that book, he tried getting back together again with her, without even considering her feelings. In this one, Logan asks MA what she wants to do.