BSC Reader's Request: Logan's Story

Tagline: Nobody's going to call Logan a girl and get away with it!

It isn't easy being a boy baby-sitter.

Like lots of guys, Logan enjoys baby-sitting. And being an associate memeber of the BSC means he can sit when he wants to, and still have time for Mary Anne and sports.

But now the Baby-sitters really need Logan. Logan wouldn't mind taking on the extra baby-sitting jobs, but he's busy trying out for the track team. And the jocks are giving Logan a hard time about hanging out with girls and babies.

Logan doesn't want to let the Baby-sitters down. But he's tired of being picked on!

So we have our first Readers Request! This one is narrated by Logan, where we learn it's not easy to be a boy baby-sitter.

Logan's at football practice. The guys are being dude-broey, but it's not too bad. Logan reflects that he's not like other guys, in that while he enjoys sports, he also enjoys baby-sitting. He likes kids, and he's used to taking care of his younger brother and sister. He mentions that he's an associate member of the Baby-Sitters Club, which means that he gets to have jobs that work around his sports schedule and doesn't interfere with his life. The guys like to rib him gently about it, but for the most part it's not too big of an issue

All that changes though when Logan gets home from practice. He's about to help his parents prepare BBQ for dinner when he's summoned by Kristy to an emergency meeting of the BSC. Rushing over to Claudia's, he discovers everyone looking very tense and Mary Anne in tears. Turns out that Dawn just received bad news: her brother has a ruptured appendix and will have to have emergency surgery, followed by an extended stay in the hospital. She and her mother are rushing to California right away to be with him. The reason why the Club looks so tense is because business has been better than usual, and with Dawn gone, they'll be even more strapped and short-staffed than usual. The Club then decides to invite Logan to take Dawn's spot

Further complicating matters, Logan's got track tryouts soon. Not only is he on the football team with all their practices, but Logan has track to contend with. Between it all, Logan's pretty spread thin. But Logan's determined not to let anyone down!

Immediately though, he ends up with a job baby-sitting for the Hobarts, which results in him missing his first football practice ever. He's pretty salty about it, but Logan ends up bonding with the Hobart boys, who enjoy having a male baby-sitter. They're playing in the Hobarts' yard when a bunch of boys from school (Clarence King, Pete Black, and then two rand-o's we've never heard of: Irv Hirsch and Jim Poirier) see him. They tease him and make him feel really stupid, which of course upsets Logan. He tries to brush it off though, and continues playing with the Hobarts.

He ends up taking on more jobs with the Hobarts, and ends up having to miss his second football practice in a row. This also cuts into his time practicing for track tryouts. At a Club meeting, they call Dawn, who tells them that she'll be in California longer than expected. This means that Logan will have to continue doing more jobs. More than that, he'll have to go to the Health Fair (more on that later) with the Hobarts and help represent the Club. Logan worries about how public the event will be, and thinks of all the people from school he might run into.

On the weekend, Logan decides to go to school and get some track practice in. Mary Anne is baby-sitting for Jenny and Andrea Prezzioso, and decides to go visit him to cheer him on. Logan's practicing with a bunch of guys (different ones from the footballers, but still rand-o's), and they immediately spot MA and the girls and start teasing him about it. Logan, already feeling kind of embarrassed and flustered due to his lack of exercise recently, smiles at them, but quickly tries to get back into focus. The guys decide to practice mile paces, and Jenny decides she wants to join. While the guys are running, she cuts across the track, and they manage to avoid her, but are all thoroughly annoyed. Logan feels bad, because he knows it wasn't MA's fault, but at the same time, he can't wait to get rid of the girls, so they all leave. The boys continue to tease Logan though.

Later that week, while baby-sitting for the Hobarts again, Logan tells them about trying out for track, and the boys immediately want to try it too. Knowing that the track should be empty (no football practice that day, so no one to avoid!), Logan takes them to SMS to play. The boys love it, and Logan admits that he's having fun, however it all comes to a crashing halt when some guys show up to practice on the track. They take their teasing up a notch, and start calling Logan "Lois". Logan takes the Hobarts home, and they all commiserate over how stupid people are and how teasing people is bad.

Logan finally gets his ass to a football practice, but it's pretty brutal. The guys all tease him (except for Austin Bentley, who unlike Pete Black, is maintaining his good guy persona this time around) and it's evident that Logan is very out of practice. The coach tells Logan that it'll be okay, just show up to Saturday's practice. Unfortunately, Saturday is when the Health Fair is. Logan doesn't tell his coach this though, and suffers through the rest of practice. Mary Anne shows up to walk Logan home, and he just stews and broods. His family is worried, but all Logan can think is how his double-life isn't working.

Things eventually come to a head at the Health Fair. Logan brings the Hobarts there, and quickly runs into the guys who've been teasing them. They see him with the Hobarts and at the Club booth and give him a hard time. Logan is fed-up and frustrated, but tries not to let it get to him and not to let it ruin the Hobarts' fun. Eventually Johnny asks to go to the bathroom, and King and the guys overhear, telling Logan he better take him to the potty. This upsets Johnny, and Logan, not wanting to get in the way of Johnny's independence, agrees to let Matthew and Johnny go to the bathroom without him. Matthew ends up getting distracted by the candy vending machine though, and Johnny ends up going through a different exit and getting all turned around. Logan and the Club frantically search for Johnny, before finding him back at the Club booth. King found him wandering, recognized him, and in a moment of decency, returned him to the Club.

Despite the girls all reassuring Logan that everything was fine, Logan realizes that he can't keep doing all these responsibilities. He quits the Club and re-dedicates himself to football and track. After a week or so, things start to settle with him and the guys, with only Irv and King continually razzing him. However, as happy as Logan is with sports, he's sad that things ended so badly with the Club. He misses baby-sitting and being able to sit with the girls every now and then.

Finally, the day of the track try-outs come. Irv and King are still harassing Logan, but he decides to just kill them with kindness. This catches them off-guard. As Logan prepares for his first event, he finds out that the Club, the Hobarts, and his siblings have come to cheer him on. At first, he gets given a hard time, but Logan doesn't even care. Bolstered by their support, Logan has a great try-out and makes the track team. Afterwards, some of the guys congratulate Logan, and even ask him about the girls, eying them and checking them out.

As things start to settle, Logan realizes how much he really misses the Club. He realizes that he needs balance in his life, and that includes baby-sitting. He goes to a meeting to apologize to the girls, asking if he could be an associate member again. They're happy to have him back, and as they leave, he and Mary Anne run into the Hobarts. Logan goes over to play with them, and of course King and the football guys show up. However, this time they don't tease him. Everything is back the way it should be in Logan's life.

There isn't really much of a subplot in this one. I think if this had been any other book, the subplot probably would have been the Health Fair and trying to get the charges involved and excited and all sorts of shenanigans haha as it is, it's just kind of mentioned in passing, and then it's where Logan takes the Hobarts and has his big showdown with Clarence King. The girls decide to have a booth at the Health Fair, and Logan suggests that it be about safe baby-sitting tips and tricks.

Random Thoughts:

• Sorry I've been gone for so long! I started a new full-time job last year, and then got completely swamped! I'm hoping I can get back to updating this blog on a regular basis (although it might not be super frequent). I actually started this recap last year, but then never got around to finishing it until now. I had to re-read the book!
• I have never read this one either! In fact, I have never even seen this one in person, until I acquired it! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!
• Okay, this wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it'd be. In fact, I think I almost would have enjoyed this book more if it had been from a different sitter's perspective. Particularly Dawn haha
• I definitely would have liked to know more about Dawn's story in this one!
• Logan describes Claudia as sexy, which is weird. I don't think we've ever seen the word "sexy" in these books???
• I don't see why the dudes heckle Logan so much. I mean, sure, baby-sitting is traditionally mostly girls, but if I were Logan, I'd have been like, "Whatevs, I have a steady girlfriend and I have money to take her out!"
• I feel like it was incredibly out of character for Pete Black to be teasing Logan. Pete's pretty friendly with the girls!

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.

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 Super Special #2: Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation

Tagline: Good-bye, Stoneybrook... hello, Camp Mohawk!

What could be more fun than going to summer camp for two weeks with your best friends? Nothing!

This summer, the Baby-sitters and a whole bunch of the kids they sit for are going to Camp Mohawk! With the girls as counselors-in-training, and the kids as campers, it'll be just like baby-sitting - in the woods!

The Baby-sitters soon discover that camp isn't just nature walks and making lanyards. Dawn gets lost in the wilderness overnight. Kristy learns how to use mascara, and Mary Anne gets caught sneaking over to the boys' side of the camp. Stacey spends the two weeks weeks with poison ivy... and Claudia falls in LUV with a boy CIT.

This is one summer vacation the Baby-sitters will never forget!

Super Special Gimmick: It's Stacey's first time doing an extended stay in the great outdoors and camping, so she's decided to keep a notebook chronicling the two weeks, and is making everyone else write in it too.

Stacey spends the two weeks in the infirmary, as the description suggests. She wasn't originally planning on going to camp, but soon everyone talked her into it. Her parents were all worried about the diabetes (which to be fair, is actually a valid concern this time) and being able to adhere to her diet while eating a mass meal. She runs into a few problems at first, what with the cooks thinking she wants special foods cuz she's spoiled, but Mrs Means soon explains and Stacey is able to put together a meal she wants. Of course, that then leads the campers to complain about how she gets special foods. This doesn't end up being much of an issue in the end though, because Stacey does end up spending so much time away. It's probably for the best. She's in a 6 year old cabin, with Karen Brewer. Her cabin essentially seems like a nightmare, between Karen, a girl with a lisp, a girl with pink-eye and a girl with a sore throat. On Stacey's first night, during campfire time, she ends up sitting in poison ivy, which accounts for most of her two weeks. The next time we see her, she's headed to the infirmary, not only with poison ivy, but also with pink-eye, a cold, and impetigo. She doesn't mind too much though, once she starts getting treatment. She has a roommate who is at camp all summer with a broken leg, so Stacey does realize things could be worse. Eventually Stacey gets to go back to her cabin, where most of her time is uneventful. In fact, the only other thing that happens to Stacey is that her cabin gets "Christmas'd" by the other 6 year-old cabin. It's a good thing Stacey insisted on everyone else adding to her notebook, or else this would be a really really boring story! haha

Kristy is in a cabin with the 8 year olds, meaning she has Charlotte Johanssen and Becca Ramsey with her. That works out well, because Charlotte is super miserable and hating camp. Over the course of the next two weeks, Kristy wonders why Charlotte doesn't just go home, but no matter how much Kristy and her parents tell her it's okay to go home, Charlotte refuses to give up. Kristy's other plot is that her fellow CITs are all stereotypical fashionable boy-crazy 13 year old girls, who pick Kristy apart and criticize her and mentally make her over for being a tomboy and not into clothes and what not. Eventually they do actually physically make her over. In fact, they do it twice: once as a test-run and once on the night of the big dance. Kristy doesn't like it, but eventually just goes with it. She admits that she enjoyed looking different for a few hours, being a different Kristy, but that like a snake shedding her skin, she couldn't wait to go back to being regular Kristy.

Claudia has one of the 9 year old cabins, with Haley Braddock and Vanessa Pike. Not a whole lot happens to Claudia. Early in the first week, they get a visit from 3 boys, inviting the girls' side to their side for a movie night and a dance the second week. One of the boys is Japanese, and Claudia quickly develops a crush on him. The other girls see, and make it their mission to find out who he is. Eventually they do, telling Claudia that his name is Will. They all then squeal and live vicariously through Claudia as she goes to movie night and talks to him. They totally hit it off and spend the whole evening talking outside the cabin, instead of watching the movie. At the dance, they spend the whole evening gazing into each other's eyes longingly. When the evening is over, they decide not to exchange addresses, because there really wouldn't be a point, so they leave off with their good memories and leave it at that. Of course Haley and Vanessa, ever the romantic and sneaky girls they are, manage to get his address, so they give it to Claudia and she starts writing him when they get home.

Jessi and Mallory are pretty much together the whole time, so even though they're both narrators, I'll summarize their story together. They're together in one of the 11 year old cabins. As 11 year olds, they qualify as actual regular campers, unlike the older members of the Club, who get to be CITs. But since they're ~*~*special*~*~ they've been deemed Jr. CITs and have been given the task to help the 8 year old cabin prepare something special for Parents' Night. More on that in a minute. So because they're already total besties, and Mallory's a total dork for making them matching "Jr CIT" armbands, and because they brought their special status upon themselves, the rest of the girls in their cabin (Mary, Mary, Maureen and Mandy) pick on them and make fun of them. The girls don't really care though, because they have each other and their special project. Maureen does pull the race card though, and calls them "Oreos", which doesn't make sense in this scenario, but does get her a warning never to say anything racist ever again. Anyways, the girls do their special project with the 8 year olds, which if you've been keeping track involve Charlotte and Becca. Jessi teaches them a few simple dance moves, and Mallory crafts a narrative, and together they put on a play with dancing. Of course, being Jessi and Mallory, their play is so ham-fisted with morals and crap: it's about a pair of twins (Becca and Charlotte, who you know, are black and white) who move to a new neighbourhood where they aren't accepted. But through the power of dance and love, they all overcome their differences and prejudices, and everyone lives happily ever after. Of course, after seeing this, their cabin is a lot nicer to them. Except for Maureen. Because she's racist.

Mary Anne is in a cabin with 7 year olds, including Margo Pike. She spends the whole book trying to prove to the other CITs that she's just as sophisticated and as cool as they are. Her main selling point is that she's got a hot boyfriend named Logan, across the way. Of course, the girls don't believe her, so they dare her to write him a letter and then sneak to the other side to deliver it. She writes him the most ridiculous and over-the-top letter, and of course gets caught about halfway around the lake. This is enough to garner her some respect, but the other girls are still skeptical about this whole Logan business. They try to convince her to let them pierce her ears, to which finally she gives in, calling their bluff. It works, and Mary Anne gains a bit more respect and doesn't lose her ears. Eventually, they see Logan for themselves and are in awe that he actually exists. They end up being pretty good friends to Mary Anne for her duration at camp.

Logan is in a cabin with the 7 year olds, and has Matt Braddock, Buddy Barrett and Jackie Rodowsky with him. He's fitting in just well, and it's all really boring and dudebro-y. But then word gets around that Mary Anne tried to sneak over to visit him, and soon the guys start razzing him about his girlfriend, calling her a "feeb" for attempting to get across. They then read the super-flowery note, and tease him more for that. So logically, Logan starts a food fight. The next time we see Logan, it's the night of the dance. The boys continued to josh him about Mary Anne, especially when she didn't show up for movie night (more on that in a bit), but then when they see her at the dance, they decide she's alright. Anyways, Logan's story is pretty boring.

Dawn has the other cabin of 11 year olds (not Jessi and Mallory's cabin, thank god). She's generally having a great time and is an old pro at both actually camping and being at summer camps. Her main plot is that one of her cabin mates, Heather, doesn't seem to really want to be there. She's not miserable and homesick like Charlotte, she just can't be bothered to entertain the rest of the girls and give into their shenanigans. Heather spends most of the time off by herself, reading or writing. The other girls start teasing her, but eventually just decide to ignore her. Dawn pities the girl, saying that if she just tried, she could have friends! (Uh, maybe she's happy, Dawn? Maybe she doesn't want to be their friend??) Anyways, the night before their big overnight trip (they get to camping in the middle of the woods for realz), their counselor is called away, and the replacement counselor is really flaky: before they leave, Heather has to remind them of several things they need to bring. Debra (the replacement counselor) doesn't know how to read the map, and instead of stopping to think about it, or to ask the other girls what they think, just decides to follow her instincts and starts making random turns, eventually getting the girls super lost. Eventually Heather proposes that they just camp where they are, and try again in the morning. The next day, Debra leads them in circles and they end up right where they had spent the night. Heather finally steps in and asks to see the map. At this point, all the girls realize that with all the reading she's done, Heather is super-capable and has all these skills and relinquish all control to her. With Heather leading, they find their way back to camp, where everyone is understandably worried (this is why Mary Anne missed movie night).

Random Thoughts

• This isn't one of my favourite Super Specials. I barely remembered it from when I was a kid. My faves growing up were always 4, 5, 6, 7 and 11.
• This Super Special also doesn't quite fit in nicely with the timeline we've got going on. Unless the girls literally did nothing else this summer. The previous books were definitely late spring. The next book is during the school year. It could be summer... but it's just surprising that this would be the only book. Then again, we know that in a few books, Stacey comes back "during the 8th grade", so I guess everything's all effed up now haha still, I would like the books to make some sort of chronological sense (not have a book that takes place in spring, then the next one happens in the summer, then the next one is spring again, or whatever)
• There still aren't any illustrations in this one. This one doesn't even have the weird drawings that the first one had. This one just starts each chapter off with a postcard.
• What do 12 year olds do? It says that Camp Mohawk's oldest campers are 11 years old (lolz Mallory and Jessi) and that you can't be a CIT til you're 13 year olds. So where are all the 12 year olds? Are you just not allowed at Camp Mohawk for a summer? Not a big deal if you go to variety of camps every summer and change it up or only go sporadically. But what if you're a lifer? What if you've been going every summer since age 6, looking forward to the day when you can become a CIT, and then eventually a counselor?? I imagine your life pretty much ends when you turn 12 and realize you can't go to Camp Mohawk that summer haha
• What prompts the girls to want to go to camp is having watched The Parent Trap (among other movies). When I first read this book, it was probably only a year or two after the remake with Lindsay Lohan had come out, so I had always assumed that of course, that was the movie they were referring to. It wasn't until a few years (I think when I was 12 and started having more access to the internet at school [still no computer at home]), that I started becoming aware of movie remakes and music covers. So embarrassing!
• I'm very curious as to how Matt Braddock was able to go to camp. Yeah, sure, Haley is there, but she's on the other side of the lake with the girls. And yes, Matt is in the same cabin as Logan and Buddy, but just how much ASL do those two know? I'm just surprised he was able to go.
• This book is also chocked full of foreshadowing and references to Mimi not doing so well, hence my placing it here, before BSC #26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye.
• When getting ready to leave, Claudia mentions being worried about Mimi, causing Kristy (that chapter's narrator) to reflect that Mimi isn't in such great shape.
• Then when Claudia and Stacey reunite, Claudia tells Stacey all about how Mimi seems to be improving in terms of her body, but that her mind seems to be getting worse, referencing all the weird and non-sequitur things Mimi now says.
• Finally, Claudia gets picked up by her parents, as Mimi isn't feeling well, so much so that Janine has to stay behind to take care of her.
• This one mentions Dawn looking forward to going boating. This ties in nicely with Super Special #4 Baby-sitters' Island Adventure, where we learn that Dawn's been taking boating lessons.
• As if Mallory and Jessi  are Jr. CITs. That doesn't make any sense. Essentially, it means that they miss out on some of their camp stuffs to have to teach a bunch of 8 year olds to put on a show and dance. They still don't get to do any of the things the CITs do. All they accomplished was giving themselves more responsibilities and ostracizing themselves from their cabin mates. If the rest of the Club hadn't been CITs, I bet Mallory and Jessi would've been totes fine just being regular campers and having regular 11 year old kid fun
• Stacey gets a body wave done, which I'm assuming is a type of perm. It's fun re-reading the series, now that I know what perms are. I remember when I was little, like around 1994 or so, my parents contemplated getting a body wave done to my hair, because my hair was so thin and straight and lifeless. They never did. Part of me is sad that they never did, but part of me is glad they didn't, because I'm terrified that all my hair would have fallen out. I was like, 5 years old and my hair is in such a precarious state of being already! hah
• I love how Claudia gets paired with a Japanese boy. I feel like all she dates in Stoneybrook are white dudes (perhaps she's the only Asian around?) but then in all the Super Specials, they pair her up with Japanese boys all the time.
• ...okay is "pretty much" as a descriptor really a thing?? Because now we have "pretty much sign language". I have never heard "pretty much" as a quantitative descriptor before. "I know sign language." "I know some sign language." "I know a fair amount of sign language." "I know a lot of sign language." But "I know pretty much sign language"?? Nope, does not compute
• If a bunch of girls tried to pin me down and forcibly apply make-up to me and pluck and shape my eyebrows, I would seriously kill them all. Especially the eyebrows thing. I never wear make-up, except for stage/theatre/costumes. That's fine. Make-up, you can take off. But I have also never ever ever plucked my eyebrows. Could my eyebrows be more shapely and neater? Yes, absolutely, of course. But naturally, they're by no means a disaster; I don't have ginormous bushy eyebrows, or a unibrow, or anything drastic like that. I have zero interest in having to regularly pluck my eyebrows, and I know that once you start plucking... you can't go back. You gotta maintain them. And that is absolutely something I have zero interest in. So yeah. Touch my eyebrows, prepare to die!
• I like how Kristy cuts in on Claudia dancing. It seems like a nice callback to when Claudia did the same to Kristy. Only this time, Kristy is way nicer about it.
• At the end, it mentions that Kristy pretty much went back to being her usual tomboy self, but that occasionally she would put on mascara if she was going to be running into Bart that day. I wish that trait had carried over. I get it, Kristy is a tomboy who doesn't care what clothes she wears... but eventually they take it to such an extreme that she just seems more like a caricature and completely unrealistic. 
• I really don't like Jessi and Mallory in this book. It reminds me of why I never particularly liked them/their books later on. Which is too bad, because up til this point, I had been enjoying them and was like, "wtf! why didn't I like them??"
• I would totes be Heather, the girl from Dawn's cabin. Like, that would totally be me, wanting to be left alone. As an adult, I eschew all social interactions. People are always trying to invite me out, or get me to talk and engage and socialize, and it's like, "No, I'm here because I have to work. Once I clock out and the day is done, I want to go home and be alone and not deal with people anymore." Eventually people stop asking me out, which is good, cuz that's what I want. It bothers me when people always say, "You know, people would like you more if you went out with them." Or "We'd invite you more, but you're always saying no. The reason why you're alone is your own fault." Uh, yes, yes it is. Exactly. That is exactly what I want. I want to be left alone. I am perfectly happy alone and with myself, without having to pretend to like other people and go through all the fake niceties for the sake of social conventions. Dawn essentially does the same for Heather.

BSC #25: Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger

Tagline: Tigger, come home!

Mary Anne just loves her little kitten, Tigger. So when he disappears one afternoon, Mary Anne is a little concerned. The next morning Tigger is still missing... and Mary Anne is frantic. It's time for an emergency meeting of the Baby-sitters Club.

The girls pool together a reward for the return of Tigger, and they search everywhere for him. But there's still no sign of him... until Mary Anne receives a frightening letter in the mail. Someone has taken Tigger, and Mary Anne must pay a hundred dollars to get him back.

Is this some mean practical joke... or has Tigger really been cat-napped?

This one starts off with Mary Anne being completely obsessed with Tigger. She's on her way downtown to buy more cat toys for her kitten. She rushes home to give the toys to Tigger, then runs to a Club meeting. Immediately after the Club meeting, she rushes home once more to play with Tigger. Next, we've got her hanging out with Logan on her porch (no boys allowed inside the house!), playing with Tigger. Everyone is all happy and yay Tigger. Apparently it's another Club day, because Mary Anne has to go to a meeting. Tigger doesn't want to go inside, so Mary Anne figures that he'll be fine outside for half an hour, and leaves for her meeting.

When the meeting is over, Mary Anne can't find Tigger. At first, it's no big deal, but as she starts making dinner and realizing there's still no sign of him, she starts to worry. Her dad gets home, and to his credit, he's pretty cool and agrees to help Mary Anne do a cursory search. Of course, they don't find him, and Mr Spier tries to reassure Mary Anne that cats like to wander and that he's sure he'll turn up soon enough.

However, come the next morning, there's still no signs of Tigger. Same thing when Mary Anne gets home from baby-sitting. At this point, Mr Spier concedes that maybe Tigger really is missing and that it might be time to start worrying. Mary Anne then calls up the Club to tell them the news. They immediately declare it an emergency, and together, the girls put together a missing poster and agree to start papering the neighbourhoods as soon as possible, which turns out to be the next day (Sunday). They also pool together their money and come up with a reward of 30$ for Tigger's safe return.

The girls get together and start passing posters around. They put them on signs and in people's mailboxes. Mr Spier even asks for a couple to put on the community bulletin boards while he's out getting groceries, something that surprises Mary Anne and makes her feel incredibly grateful. While she's out, she runs into a little boy, about 10 years old, who sees the posters and claims he's seen Tigger. Mary Anne quickly realizes it's a scam and is upset and tells the boy to go away.

The day after putting up the posters, Mary Anne finds a ransom note in her mailbox, demanding 100$ for Tigger's return. At that night's meeting, the girls (and Logan) discuss what to do. Based on the childish scrawl and the fact that the letter wasn't actual sent through the post, they figure that it's probably some kid who did, not hardened dangerous criminals. Either way, it's their only lead, so they decide to follow up on it. They organize a stakeout, where Mary Anne will leave the ransom (fake money) where the note says to, and then the rest of the girls will wait and watch to see what happens.

Of course, when the girls (and Logan) go through with it, they soon discover that it's the same boy from Sunday who tried to scam Mary Anne. They threaten and scare the boy, then send him on his way. The girls are no closer to finding Tigger than they were before, and Mary Anne is feeling even more discouraged.

The next day (Wednesday), Mary Anne is baby-sitting for Hunter, while Kerry and Logan go to the dentist. (Hunter was supposed to go, but with all his allergies, he's liable to accidentally bit off the dentist's fingers with a sneeze.) Eventually, Mary Anne goes sleuthing, trying to find the source of Hunter's allergies. Unable to find anything (without going through closets and doing a massive invasion of privacy), Mary Anne eventually concludes that the only safe place for Hunter is the kitchen. Hunter, upset at that, finally confesses to Mary Anne the source of his allergies: a kitten that Kerry has been hiding in her closet! Of course, the kitten turns out to be Tigger. Afterwards, Mary Anne confronts the Brunos. Kerry admits that although she didn't know who Tigger belonged to at first, she did know who he was now. Mary Anne thinks that Logan knew the whole time, since he'd been distant and kind of a jerk the whole book, and was covering up to protect Kerry, so she takes Tigger and leaves upset.

Eventually Mary Anne talks things out with Logan and finds out what's wrong with him (baseball stuffs). They kiss and make-up and everyone is happy. Mary Anne brings Tigger to another Club meeting. Yay!

The subplot in this one is that Logan's siblings are acting strangely. Kerry is being more helpful than usual, and Hunter is being more sneezy than usual. This of course is because Kerry has had Tigger and is attempting to prove that 1) she's responsible and 2) Hunter's allergies aren't that bad. She's wrong on both accounts. Also: Logan is on the verge of being kicked off the baseball team, so all in all, it's a pretty shitty month for the Brunos.

Random Thoughts:

• Again, we learn of Mary Anne's love of mail and getting mail. It's always her that seems to get the bad stuff! haha
• Dawn's mom and MA's dad go on a date again. A couple of dates in fact. But just two months ago she was dating the Trip-Man! haha
• There's more foreshadowing of Mimi in this one:
• As she's leaving a meeting, MA says by to Mimi, who replies, "I will take six, please."
• When the girls are making their posters for Tigger, Mimi wanders in and asks what they're for. When the girls tell her it's Tigger, she replies, "Eggplants", and then wanders out in confusion.
• At some point, Claudia is baby-sitting, and she thinks about how devastated MA would be if it turned out that Tigger had died. She reflects on the fact that although her mother had died, MA was too young to have any conscious memories or thoughts of it, and thus Tigger's death would be almost worse. Claudia further concludes that she wouldn't know what to say or do to help Mary Anne in that case: no one Claudia has ever known has died. Claudia specifically then mentions how Mimi had her stroke, and while it was scary, Mimi ultimately recovered.
• Logan really sucks in this one. We eventually find out that he's going through some shit of his own (he was the star baseball player at his old school, but here he's on the verge of getting kicked off the team), but he's still really shitty to MA. He's generally distracted and doesn't seem to care about what she's talking about or anything. Again, that's somewhat understandable. What really takes the cake for me though is that when MA gets the ransom note, and wonders what will happen if they don't get the money and is understandably upset, Logan says, "Mary Anne, would you calm down? You are being so... sensitive. You're acting like such a girl." To MA's credit, instead of breaking down further and crying more, she glares at Logan and replies, "There's nothing wrong with being sensitive, and besides, I am a girl." (you go girl!) 1) Her beloved pet is missing, 2) potentially being held ransom, 3) she's generally pretty sensitive to begin with and 4) she is a girl.
• I suppose this is fairly realistic though. 13 year olds aren't the most mature. It makes sense that Logan would fixate on his own problems and bottle it up, instead of being honest and talking it out with MA like a more mature couple would.
• I also hate how Logan is upset over Mr Spier's rule about no boys in the house when no one's home. I mean, sure, as the weather cools, it's pretty shitty and it sucks, but Logan glares at MA and acts all exasperated, as if it's her rule. Sure, she could break it, but that's not in her character, and not fair to expect that of her.
• In my re-read of the series though, Logan's really pissing me off. They always describe him as the perfect boyfriend, but I'm starting to think he's a bit of a jerk. MA could do way better! I think she just settles for him cuz 1) he's hot and 2) she has zero self-confidence.
• lolz when Dawn is baby-sitting for the Barretts, and the kids are worried about their own pets going missing, Buddy essentially outlines the entire premise of Mystery #7 Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs: sometimes people go around steal pets because it's easy to do with them being out in the yard, and then sell them to new unsuspecting owners. This really makes me want to re-read Mystery #7 now. It was always one of my favourites.
• Claudia baby-sits for the Perkins, and the girls want to play "Hawaii Private Eyes". Are they talking about the show Magnum P.I.??

BSC #10: Logan Likes Mary Anne!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Random Thoughts:

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

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

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

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