BSC #40: Claudia and the Middle School Mystery

Tagline: How could anyone accuse Claudia of cheating?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Random Thoughts:

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

BSC #39: Poor Mallory!

Tagline: Why can't everyone live like this?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Random Thoughts:

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

BSC #34: Mary Anne and Too Many Boys

Tagline: Two weeks of sun, fun - and boys galore!

It's Sea City Part II when Mary Anne and Stacey return there as mother's helpers for the Pike family. The girls can't wait to catch some rays, stroll along the boardwalk... and baby-sit, of course!

But neither of them expects to meet up with her boyfriend from last summer. And to further complicate things, little Vanessa Pike has a crush on the cashier at Ice-Cream Palace - only he has a crush on Mallory!

Will a summer romance come between Logan and Mary Anne? Will an older boy break Vanessa's heart? Only one thing's for certain: There are too many boys in Sea City!

Alrighty, so from the fuck out of nowhere, it's summer again. Which of course means another trip to Sea City. Even though Mallory is a sitter now, since it's technically a family vacation, the Pikes don't want Mallory working too hard, so they hire both Stacey and Mary Anne to come back.

The trip down to Sea City is fairly uneventful. Margo doesn't even throw up! The triplets (in a car with Mary Anne, Vanessa and Mrs Pike) taunt Nicky whenever the two cars pass each other. Claire briefly gets lost at a rest stop when she returns inside to get a new ice cream cone, and the rest of the family can't find her. All in all, they make it to Sea City in one piece.

After they arrive and unpack, they're able to spend some time on the beach before the lifeguards pack up. They're all set to hit the beach again the next day, only to discover that it's all cloudy and grey. The boys don't mind, so Stacey takes them while Mary Anne and Mallory take the girls to the boardwalk. They stop to get ice cream, which is where they meet the cashier mentioned in the book description. It's a pretty disastrous visit: Claire manages to dump her entire soda on herself and then the cashier, trying to impress Mallory, ends up getting whipped cream all over the place and making a mess.

The next day, they're all able to get to the beach. There, Mary Anne and Stacey run into Alex and Toby, the mother's helpers from before. Toby and Stacey are clearly all about rekindling their summer romance, while MA is all torn because of Logan. She's clearly into Alex, and he definitely is into her, but MA doesn't want to be disloyal to Logan. She figures she can see Alex as a friend, and never really have to tell either Logan nor Alex about the other.

Stacey ends up going on two dates with Toby, much to MA's displeasure. This year, the Pikes decide that MA and Stacey can have two nights off each, like last year, but that unlike last year, they have to take them separately. MA had planned on going out with Alex, only for Stacey to be a bitch and be like, "No, I'm going out tonight, you can go out tomorrow." But then the next night, Stacey's all, "We had so much fun, we're going out again!"

Eventually MA gets to go out with Alex. The first night, they have the time of their life, and MA starts to feel guilty. She thinks back to Logan, and how she really likes him, but how she barely thinks about him when Alex is around. MA greatly enjoys spending time with Alex. When they go out a second time, MA's expecting everything to be awesome, but instead things are awkward. Eventually they admit that they each have someone waiting for them back home. MA's relieved and doesn't feel so guilty anymore. Now that the ice has been broken and everything's laid out on the table, their date goes much more smoothly. They agree that they're great together at Sea City, but that's all they'll ever be. It's too much to expect that they'll keep it up during the school year.

Sadly, Toby's not as stoic or mature, and completely dumps Stacey and breaks her heart. Stacey apologizes to MA for being such a bitch, and all is forgiven. Sadly, it's time to head back to Stoneybrook, so the girls pack up and wave goodbye to Sea City.

There's not really much of a subplot in this one. Pretty much the girls are all scattered for the first few weeks of summer: Dawn's back in California, Claudia's family is going to Vermont, and then Stacey, Mary Anne and Mallory are in Sea City. That leaves Kristy and Jessi at home to do all of the baby-sitting. We're treated to a chapter of Kristy baby-sitting for the Rodowskys, where they go to the community pool. Dawn baby-sits for the children of Carol's friend, where we learn that Jeff is surprisingly good with kids. Jessi baby-sits for her siblings and Charlotte, where she learns that Squirt is perceptive and perhaps smarter than he seems.

I suppose the real subplot is Vanessa's crush on Chris, the Ice Cream Palace cashier. She decides to write him poems anonymously, leaving them out for him to find. He does find them, but ends up attributing them to Mallory, since Mallory is much closer to his age. At first Vanessa is absolutely crushed, but eventually handles it maturely. She decides to write one more poem saying good-bye, and never tells neither him nor Mallory the truth.
 
Random Thoughts:

• First time for ghostwriter Mary Lou Kennedy!
• I'm surprised we got another MA book so soon. It's only been 3 books since her last one. I think MA ends up with the most books in the entire series. This kinda makes sense, since AMM has always said that MA was kinda meant to represent her.
• lol I think this is my first time really re-reading the BSC since the Lord of the Rings movies came out. Plus usually when I read them, I skip the parts where they describe the club, the members and their families. Anyways, it just dawned on me that the Pikes named their hamster Frodo haha
• Even though I always think they sound gross, whenever they mention chocolate sodas in the BSC-verse, it makes me want one. Or at least some sort of milkshake. Or Starbucks frappaccino haha
• I know I've said it before, but my god, Jackie Rodowsky pisses me off
• Ah Mary Anne.... I've been there before too with the boys haha the fact that you'll never see them again outside of this two week period always makes things seem grey haha
• I love how judgemental and bitchy Mary Anne can be. It's funny, because she's always described as super sweet and sensitive, but it's always the quiet ones you need to look out for. She snarks about all the boys in Stacey's life, referencing both Scott and Pierre. MA notes that while Toby might be at the top of Stacey's list... for now... who knows how long he'll stay?
• We see Carol again. Even though she had no idea what Mr Schafer was planning, it still seems super flaky to me that Carol would just show up to his place with two random babies. If the person I was dating randomly showed up with little kids and was like, "Surprise! We're baby-sitting!", I would be seriously pissed.
• In this one, we learn that Mallory talks in her sleep. I have a friend who talks in their sleep vividly, like Mallory. He'll sit up, say something clear as day, and then fall back down, roll over, and continue sleeping. He'll have no recollection of anything the next day. It's creepy as fuck. I hope this gets mentioned again, but I have a feeling that it won't.
• I really liked Vanessa in this book. She's kinda annoying in a lot of the books, but mostly because we only ever see her from a little sister perspective, and they always focus on her incessant rhyming. Here, she's super mature and handles things well. I'd be interested in seeing what she was like when she was older.
• I also really like the poem she writes MA, thanking MA for her help with delivering the letters:

Love can hurt, love can sting,

A broken heart can never sing.

Boys will come, boys will go

but a friend is forever, this I know

A friend is rare and hard to find

everyone knows it's true

You helped me through a very bad time

I'll always be grateful to you.

• My favourite line is "a broken heart can never sing", even though I know that that's not true at all. I just really effing like how it sounds xD haha

BSC #31: Dawn's Wicked Stepsister

Tagline: Dawn thought having a sister was going to be fun. Was she ever wrong!

Now that Dawn and Mary Anne are friends and sisters, Dawn wants them to do everything together - share a room, talk all night long, wear each other's clothes.

But living with Mary Anne isn't exactly what Dawn expected. Mary Anne brags about having a date to the school dance, her kitten throws up on the rug, and she hogs Dawn's baby-sitting jobs!

Dawn's always wanted a sister. Instead, she got Mary Anne, the wicked stepsister of Stoneybrook!

This book picks up exactly where the last one left off, with Mrs Schafer throwing the bouquet. Mary Anne ends up catching it, which prompts some jealousy in Dawn. Dawn of course acknowledges that the whole thing is silly, and tries to move on, but this is just the first of many problems that pop up for them in this book. Their day ends with them going back to MA's old place for one last night.

The next day is moving day, and it does not go well at all. MA is cranky (understandably), and so Dawn is cranky too. Tigger, MA's kitten, is all disoriented, which upsets MA. But Dawn forges ahead, and reminds MA of all the cool stuff they can do now that they're sisters. In fact, the first thing Dawn wants to do is for them to pick out outfits from each other's wardrobe to wear. MA gets excited, and Dawn thinks that everything will work out alright. Just before he leaves though, Jeff voices his opinion that things are not what they seem. Dawn brushes him off.

On Monday (so just a couple of days after the wedding), things are testy between Dawn and MA. Dawn trips over Tigger, which sets MA on edge, and MA is rude about the bean sprouts in the fridge, which then sets Dawn off. By Wednesday, things are downright nasty. A job comes up that both girls are available for, and MA starts sniping at Dawn, telling her that she doesn't look good in MA's clothing (implying she's fat) and insisting that because she was the one who had to move, she should get the job. Eventually they pull straws, and MA gets the job. A few nights later, when MA comes home from the job, she starts to rub it in Dawn's face, but eventually the girls start laughing at what the kids had done, and all is forgiven.

As time passes, Dawn starts to realize that she dreads the weekends. On the weekends, everyone is home and tensions run even higher. Richard keeps waking up super early and making giant breakfasts that include bacon, which of course Sharon won't eat. Even so, Sharon doesn't wake up til much later, and her breakfast is cold and mostly wasted. Neither of them will address the issue though. Same thing with meals. Sharon insists that MA and Richard can eat meat during lunch (when they're away from home), but that they should all eat a vegetarian dinner together. Richard and MA also always want to clean things right away (even wanting to spend an entire day doing cleaning), while Dawn and Sharon would rather wait til later. (Actually, Dawn concedes that she doesn't mind cleaning sooner rather than later, but at this point, it's more about siding with her mother.) When they do clean, MA ends up following Sharon around, cleaning up after her, which pisses Dawn off. Finally, Tigger throws up on the carpet, and Sharon freaks out, which somewhat surprises Dawn.

Another week goes by, and Dawn and MA are still arguing over everything. MA rubs it in Dawn's face that she has a boyfriend, and that Logan is so wonderful and taking her to the dance. Dawn gets all pissed, and ends up calling Jeff that night. Jeff mentions people needing emotional space, which prompts Dawn to think back to the Arnold Twins, and how they were constantly fighting until they each had their own room and personal space. Dawn considers it, but then reconsiders things when MA gets home, and they end up having a really nice chat from their beds side-by-side.

Dawn starts noticing that MA is spending more and more time with Kristy, initiating hangouts, which is something that's out of character for her. Dawn thinks that maybe MA is just as miserable at home as Dawn is, but can't quite figure out what to do. Things finally come to a head when the girls can't agree on how to do homework: in silence or listening to music. MA storms off and decides to do her homework and spend the night in the guest room (the room that would've been hers if Dawn hadn't pressured her into sharing). What strikes Dawn is the fact that her mom sided with MA, and that MA's dad sided with her. After talking to Kristy about dealing with new, blended families, Dawn realizes that everyone is walking on eggshells at home, and they really want things to work, but in forcing togetherness, it's just making everyone tense and take sides. More importantly, Dawn realizes that MA and her need separate rooms.

Of course, Dawn can't just explain this to MA. Dawn's afraid that MA will think that she did something to upset Dawn, or that MA will get stubborn and insist on trying to work things out. What Dawn needs is for MA to want to leave on her own accord, and not because of a fight with Dawn (which is what's been happening at this point). Dawn decides to use the secret passage to terrify MA into wanting to leave. One night, when Richard and Sharon are gone for dinner, Dawn pretends that the Pikes need help, and that she has to leave. That leaves MA all alone in the house, and more importantly, their room. Dawn then hides in the secret passage and makes noises and stuff. She rings the doorbell, and while MA is gone to answer it, she opens up the passage and leaves things in the room for MA. Of course, just before leaving MA alone for good, she takes all the stuff back so that MA doesn't have any proof of her "haunting". MA, thoroughly terrified, later tells Dawn that she can't sleep in that room anymore and moves her stuff out. The family then has a meeting and decide to talk things out and figure out how to make their combined household work. With more honesty and space, Dawn and MA go back to being BFFs.

The subplot in this was the "Pike plague": over the course of the book, pretty much every Pike got sick or injured in some way, shape or form. It starts off with Mallory contracting chicken pox for a second time, after having baby-sat for Jamie and Lucy Newton. Then the triplets come down with pneumonia. At some point, Nicky breaks his fingers (and for some reason, this constitutes staying at home and being treated like he's sick and miserable??) while Vanessa sprains her ankle. Margo and Claire eventually come down with colds. Finally, Mrs Pike injures her knee playing tennis and is unable to walk for several days, while Mr Pike severely burns his hand is unable to use it (including drive) for several days as well. Eventually, they all get better, obviously.

Random Thoughts:

• I have one of the first printings of the book. In it, it says that in the last book, Mary Anne had gotten Dawn a present, but in the last book, Mary Anne had said that it had been Dawn who gave the present. Also, in the "coming soon" list, it lists #33 as Claudia and the Mystery of Stoneybrook and #35 as Stacey and the New Kids on the Block. But fans of the series know that those aren't what those books ended up being.
• We've got more foreshadowing about Stacey and her health in this one. Again, we're reminded that Stacey's been put on a stricter diet than usual.
• Dr. Dellenkamp is mentioned in this one. She's the Pikes pediatrician (and probably for a lot of the other clients too). Is this the first time she's mentioned? I feel like I know her super-well, but I can't figure out why. I think maybe she was Karen's doctor too? And I read pretty much every single Little Sister book as a child. (I was part of the book club and thus got every book in the mail every month haha)
• When every single Pike is out of commission, Kristy and Jessi end up going to their place as emergency sitters to help get them through their Saturday. It's noted that the Pikes are in desperate need of groceries, so Charlie Thomas, on his way to pick up Kristy, goes grocery shopping. He even then stays to help make dinner. He is the greatest brother ever and I want so badly a mini-series of books regarding the series from his POV.
• Mallory admits that she has chicken pox scars in "unmentionable places". That part always stuck with me as a kid. I remember describing my lady bits as "unmentionable places" for the longest time xD haha
• It says that "[Mallory, Vanessa and Nicky] will all be in school on Monday." but Vanessa just had a sprained ankle and Nicky had broken his fingers. I could see maybe Nicky being kept out of school for a day to get used to the cast and maybe due to pain, but neither him nor Vanessa should have really been kept out for a long time.
• I really really really hate that Dawn tricked Mary Anne into moving out of her room. Seriously. It was Dawn's fault that MA was there in the first place, Dawn should have owned up to it and admitted that she was wrong. Although, I suppose it's fairly realistic that a 13 year old wouldn't want to be quite so honest and upfront about that stuff.
• This is the first we hear of Carol, Jack Schafer's girlfriend. We'll be seeing her lots whenever Dawn does stuff in California. 
• I find it weird that Dawn doesn't go to the dance because no one asked her to go. Whatever happened to being an individual? And why the fuck can't you go to a dance with your friends without dates? I never understood that mindset. When I went to dances in middle school, my friends and I just all went as a big group, although occasionally there was like, an unspoken agreement that one of us was going with a guy, or at the very least planning on dancing with a guy. In high school, we didn't go to dances at all because we all agreed that we were too cool for them haha
• New people move into MA's old house. Well, they don't move in yet, but the house has been sold. The girls find out that it's to a foreign family, and that they think they're from Austria. At this point, I remembered the Hobart family. I had completely forgotten that they had moved into MA's old house. (The Hobart family is from Australia, as we'll soon learn.)
• I like how even though sometimes Dawn gets jealous of Kristy's relationship with MA, she still turns to her for advice. I like it when Dawn and Kristy get heart-to-hearts, and it makes me wish that they did it more often. What stuck out to me particularly was the fact that after Kristy and Dawn talk about blended families and making things work, Dawn and Kristy hugged good-bye. Kristy doesn't generally seem like a huggy-touchy-feely person, but especially not with Dawn. I liked it.
• Like I mentioned last time, I still think it's super weird and stupid of them not to have talked about living arrangements prior to having lived together. Like seriously.

BSC Super Special #1: Baby-Sitters on Board!

I guess because this is the first book that's not part of the regular series, AMM didn't quite know what to do with it yet. She probably just wanted to do a fun vacation book that broke the formula. Anyways, because of that, this book doesn't fit into the continuity at all. It's published after Stacey moves and Mallory joins the club, but within the book, Mallory is still very much a charge and Stacey is still around. They say it's summer vacation, but even if it managed to be magically squeezed into their already full summer before the 8th grade, that still wouldn't fit because they mention being in the 8th grade already. So I'm reading it now, right before Stacey moves.

Front Cover: It's the baby-sitting adventure of a lifetime!

Guess who's going on a dream vacation? The Baby-sitters, of course!

Back Cover: Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey, Claudia and Dawn are the luckiest baby-sitters in the world. This summer they're going on the greatest trip ever: a plane ride to Florida, a boat trip around the Bahamas, and then three days of fun - in Disney World!

Of course they have a million adventures. Claudia gets notes from a mysterious "Secret Admirer". Kristy, Mary Anne and Stacey make some unusual new friends. Dawn has her first real romance. And they still have time for what they like best of all - baby-sitting!

Super Special Gimmick: creating a memory scrapbook for their parents

So Mr Pike wins a contest at work for an all-expenses paid cruise and trip to Disney World for his whole family. Of course, with so many kids, he decides to hire Mary Anne and Stacey again (since they worked out so well in Sea City). When fancy rich Watson Brewer finds out, and furthermore finds out that Kristy has apparently never even been out of the state, he arranges for the whole family to go on the exact same trip, plus Claudia and Dawn too, so they don't feel left out. Thus begins our story.

Kristy: is an absolute nightmare. She's sharing a room with Claudia and Dawn. Kristy is messy and Dawn is super-neat, but Kristy goes out of her way to goad Dawn. She purposely leaves stuff lying all over the place (not just clothes, but food wrappers too) and does so staring pointedly at Dawn, just to watch Dawn get upset. Dude! It's not that hard to clean up after yourself! You don't have to fold your clothes asap, but you know, maybe contain your mess to one corner of the room? Anyways, her storyline mostly consists of being a brat to Dawn and befriending this old guy, Rudy Staples. Rudy's wife just died two months prior, so he's on the trip to do something different and try to forget about his troubles. He's pretty miserable though. Kristy distracts him and they end up hanging out a bunch. Rudy says that Kristy's the granddaughter he never had (he has six grandsons) and she says that he's like the grandfather she never knew. It's kinda cute, especially how Kristy keeps joking about setting him up with Nannie.

Dawn: meets a boy named Parker Harris, who's all mysterious and sketchy about who he's travelling with. It turns out he's on the trip with his dad, his new stepmom and his two younger stepbrothers who are 8 and 5 years old. He's all bitter about the divorce, the remarriage and the new family, but Dawn convinces him that the boys can't be brats because LITTLE KIDS ARE AWESOME! They end up spending an afternoon together at Disney World and Parker in the end warms up to them.

Mary Anne is baby-sitting for the Pikes, and while going around on the ship, she meets a girl named Alexandra Carmody, who is a couple of years older. When Mary Anne asks who she's travelling with, Alexandra says no one, and that she's an orphan. Later though, Mary Anne runs into her again, and Alex says something about her brother, leading Mary Anne to suspect she's lying. Eventually Mary Anne finds out the truth (from Mallory): Alex is on a trip with her younger brother and her two parents, who are famous singers (I keep picturing Donnie and Marie Osmond... except, you know, husband and wife, not brother and sister haha). Alex just likes lying because it's fun and it makes life interesting. Well, Mary Anne feels duped and decides that Alex is not a very nice girl and that she doesn't want anything to do with her anymore.

Mallory is still very clearly a charge in this one, despite being 11 years old, and decides that she wants to be a spy like in Harriet the Spy, which she apparently just read. Mallory doesn't really do anything interesting, other than discovering the truth about Alex. She also thinks she's found a stowaway on board (we see him pop up periodically in other people's chapters) and she thinks she's seen Spider from the band Insects on the ship. All in all, it's a really boring plot.

Claudia has a mystery admirer. She keeps getting all these notes and gifts explicitly saying that she has one. Finally, Stacey thinks she's spotted him, and Claudia goes running after him. She ends up bumping into this guy, Timothy, who suggests that maybe the admirer is just shy, and offers to help Claudia out. They start to hang out and hit it off, but Claudia feels guilty that she's ignoring her admirer (who continues to give her things). It's pretty obvious that her admirer is Timothy. Anyways, eventually we learn that not only is Timothy Claudia's admirer, but he's also Alex's younger brother. He also enjoys spying on people, which explains why everyone in the book keeps finding him hiding around the ship, thinking he's a stowaway.

Stacey is baby-sitting for the Pikes, and while going around on the ship, she meets a family with a sick little boy named Marc. Marc has a weak heart, and thus is confined to a wheelchair most of the time. He can technically walk and stand and everything, but he's not supposed to, because it aggravates his heart. He also carries around an oxygen tank. Marc's parents are understandably very protective of him, but they loosen up enough to allow Marc to become friends with Margo and Claire (he's 7 years old like Margo). Eventually they confess to Stacey that this trip is kind of a just in case thing: he's about to undergo a serious operation that will allow him to have a normal life... but there are some serious risks. Stacey is sad, but tries to keep up appearances for the kids. After the trip, we find out that Marc pulled through spectacularly and is on his way to becoming a typical active kid.

Karen gets three chapters, and we basically learn that she's a spoiled brat with no consideration for others. I can't tell if she's a typical 6 year old, or if she really is particularly annoying. Anyways, in her first chapter, she and Kristy and David Michael and Andrew are headed to the pool, but she forgets her earplugs. She promises Kristy that she'll go back to the hotel room and straight back to the pool without getting lost. Well, she doesn't get lost, but she does get distracted, and manages to convince the cruise to charge her dad for a manicure and a soda. In her next chapter, she goes on the Haunted Mansion ride, and is convinced that she legit picked up a hitchhiking ghost. She then blames the ghost for her actions in her last chapter, where she announces at breakfast to their entire reserved dining room that it was her birthday, all so that the Disney characters and everyone would pay attention to her.

Byron gets a couple of chapters too, which is totes random. It's mostly about how he's read Treasure Island, and how he tries to convince his brothers to read it, but of course, they hate reading, so they don't. But the cruise is playing the movie, which the boys all see and love, leading them to trying to find hidden treasure on their trip. They find what they think is a treasure map, but it turns out to be Dutch instructions for a copying machine.

Random Thoughts:

• Another weird thing about this Super Special that's different from the later ones: there are no illustrations. Instead, we've got these pictures that look more like drawings. The later ones have actual illustrations that look awesome!
• It's fun reading this book so soon after having visited Disney World myself. I have never been on a boat cruise though.
• I do not remember reading this at all. I mean, I remember Parker, but yeah, that's about it. I had no idea that this book had anything to do with Disney World til I re-read the synopsis at the back. I don't think I owned this one as a kid, or if I did, I must not have re-read it a lot. 
• I would not want to have been the girls on this trip. I went to Disney World with friends, and we had 7 days to look at everything, and still we were exhausted and cranky and missed out on a few things. The girls kept getting stuck with kids (or in Stacey and Mary Anne's case, it was their job to be with the kids). I would've liked to have seen a chapter from Sam or Charlie.
• They mention chocolate sodas in this one. I remember when I was little, reading the Little Sister books, Karen was always mentioning them. She would get them as a treat when out on the town with her parents or Kristy. I remember thinking they sounded gross, but mostly being confused by them. Then they mentioned them here too. Was this an '80s thing? A Connecticut thing?? I still don't know what the fuck a chocolate soda is (I think it's club soda/seltzer water with chocolate ice cream? like a Coke float??) and they still sound gross to me haha
• The name Parker Harris has always stuck with me since reading this book, and I definitely used it a lot when writing fiction in elementary school and high school and even now haha
• While I don't believe it's fair for Parker to hate his stepbrothers, I hate the idea that Dawn is like, "They can't be bad: little kids are great!" Dude, he's 5 years older and 8 years older than them. I wouldn't want to hang out with them either. Plus, he went from being an only child to suddenly have two children as siblings. I feel for Parker.
• I always assumed that Marc was on the trip because of the Make-A-Wish Foundation (or something like it), but it seems like the trip was something his parents were able to do on their own. 
• If I know anything about a manicure (and really, I don't, but let's pretend that I do), between that, the soda, and actually going to the hotel room, we're looking at about 2 hours of Karen being missing. Of course, we know she must be somewhere on the boat since the boat hasn't docked yet, so her being missing isn't really the issue. However, 2 hours is still a long time, enough for her to get into serious trouble. Serious stranger danger trouble. If I were Kristy, I would have sent out a search party for her. Or at the very least, called back to the cabin and tried to find my parents.

BSC #9: The Ghost at Dawn's House

Front Cover: Creaky stairs, spooky noises, secret passages - it must be a ghost!

Back Cover: Dawn has always thought there was a secret passage hidden in her house. But she never thought there was a ghost... until now. All kinds of creepy things go on whenever Dawn's at home. There are even spooky noises behind her bedroom wall!

Dawn is sure there's a ghost in her house. And so are the other Baby-sitters. But they're so busy with their baby-sitting jobs that they hardly have time for a ghost hunt. Will Dawn and her friends ever solve the mystery, or will Dawn have to share her house... with a ghost?

It's the last two weeks of summer, and the girls are all reunited after their adventures in the last book. Dawn is back from her vacation in California, and she decides that now is the perfect time for her to really dedicate herself to the search for a secret passage in their old farmhouse. We're treated to several chapters of Dawn scaring herself silly, between the search, reading ghost stories, and the stormy weather.

But then one day, when trying to find a place to read in the barn, Dawn stumbles upon a hidden trap door. Following the passageway, Dawn finds that it leads straight to her own bedroom! She's excited, and continues to explore it periodically. However, Dawn starts to notice things: things start to show up and then disappear in the passageway. But if Dawn is the only who knows about the passage, how is this happening? The only thing Dawn can think of is this: her house must be haunted!

The subplot in this book is actually connected to the main plot: over at the Pikes, Nicky is feeling left out, because the triplets always want to hang out together and their own friends, leaving Nicky alone with all the girls. Mr and Mrs Pike decide to let Nicky assert his independence by letting him wander around the neighbourhood alone, so long as he adheres to a 2-block radius. Despite Nicky insisting that he does, Dawn can never find him whenever she sits for the Pikes and goes out looking for him (after the events of Buddy from book 5, she suitably sensitive about this). Eventually though, Dawn realizes that her own house is within a 2-block radius and concludes that Nicky must be using her passage. Sure enough, he has been. She says he can continue to do so, and everything ends well. However, Dawn still isn't entirely convinced that her house isn't haunted.

Another thing to note in this book is that we meet the Perkinses for the first time. They moved into Kristy's old house, next to Mary Anne.

Random Thoughts:

• I have always loved Dawn on the cover of this. I love her outfit (I would totes wear something like that; back then AND now!) and I just think she looks super pretty and realistic. The cover also reminds me of the mystery/horror novels I used to read as a child, specifically Betty Ren Wright's The Dollhouse Murders.
• ...yes, I admit it: I just Googled the book Dawn is reading at the beginning Ghosts and Spooks, Chills and Thrills: Stories NOT to Be Read After Dark. It sounded good! I was hoping it'd be real haha it's exactly the kind of book I would have read at her age.
• I always imagined Dawn to be one of the taller girls, but either AMM has no concept of height, or Mary Anne and Kristy are MIDGETS, and Dawn is just as short as them: "Although I'd only fallen about five feet, it felt like five thousand. I was in darkness, but above me I could see a square of light". By grade 8, I was 5'2", and I pretty much stopped growing at that point (only gained a cumulative inch over the next 3 years, so I settled in at 5'3"). In grade 8, I was average height for the girls. There were a few girls a few inches taller than me, and a few girls a few inches shorter than me. But I don't recall anyone being much shorter than 4'11.
• I love Dawn's description of "Disneyland Daddy". It's so perfect: "...a guy who hasn't seen his kinds in months and feels really guilty. Guilty enough to take time off from work and give them a whirlwind vacation of beaches, amusement parks, shopping, dinners in restaurants, movies, treats, surprises... It was spectacular - except for the fact that a Disneyland Daddy doesn't feel like your father anymore. But I guess he's better than no father at all."
• I love the Perkinses. I think they're my favourite of the kids' charges. They are so not realistic kids at all, but they're adorable and I love them.
• We're also introduced to the Trip-Man in this book. While I don't entirely find it weird that Sharon is dating someone other than Richard (especially since the Trip-Man is the son of her parents' friends), I do find the overall timeline of everything to be weird. She essentially dates him off and on up until like, 6 months before finally marrying Richard. Maybe adult relationships are different, especially when it's a second marriage to a guy you already dated/knew for a long time earlier in your life, but it just seems sudden to me.
• I have always pronounced Myriah Perkins's name like Mariah Carey's. It has never occurred to me to pronounce it any other way. But in the past few years, through discovering fandom and what not, it came to my attention that it could theoretically be pronounced like "Maria" (think West Side Story and Sound of Music).

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

Author's Note

AMM talks about how as a child, she was obsessed with finding a secret passage in her house (even though it was a new house at the time!) and how she loved ghost stories. She decided to give these traits to one of her characters, and thus Dawn was born. AMM figures that her readers would love reading about things that interest her as a little girl. Again, we get a mention of how much she loved Nancy Drew and mysteries.

Notebook Pages


Dawn's new house is big and spooky. The spookiest place I've ever been is the old jail in Ottawa, Canada, that's now a hostel

It gave me the creeps because even though the lower half has been renovated to be a hostel, the upper half is still creepy as fuck, with the original jail cells and deathrow on display

The spookiest thing that ever happened to me was when I first moved into my house. I lived alone, and it was my first time not living with my parents. The house made all sorts of weird sounds, but the scariest thing was when I heard a crashing sound in my backyard. I woke up the next morning to find a giant weathered wood plank in my backyard. I have no idea where it came from

When this happened, I did nothing haha I just told myself that the plank must have always been there, that the wind just knocked it around, that everything was normal

One person who really scares me is Chuckie

This person scares me because he seems completely normal, wears button up shirts, mild-mannered and polite... but then every now and then... when you least expect it... he'll say something very disturbing or very not accepted by society... and he'll say it in a totally nonchalant, matter-of-fact tone, and then carry on like he hadn't said anything weird.

If I wanted to scare this person back, I would do nothing; I don't think Chuckie is scarable haha  

Dawn likes to read scary books. The scariest book I ever read was I don't know if they were the scariest books I've ever read, but Michael Grant's Gone series has always stuck with me and haunted me and once gave me nightmares haha

My favourite kinds of books are young adult sci-fi and horror

I like them because of the escapist factor. The things that happen in those books will never happen to me in real-life. I like being able to use my imagination

Dawn has a sleepover at her house. I've been to not that many, but a few sleepovers.

The most fun I've ever had a sleepover was when my friends and I did the 30 Hour Famine in high school

During Dawn's sleepover, the girls tell scary ghost stories. The scariest ghost story I've ever heard was about children. Children are always scary haha    

BSC #8: Boy-Crazy Stacey

Front Cover: Who needs baby-sitting when there are boys around!

Back Cover: Stacey and Mary Anne are mother's helpers for the Pike family for two weeks at the New Jersey shore. Things are great in Sea City: There's a gorgeous old house, a boardwalk, plenty of sun and sand... and the cutest boy Stacey has ever seen!

Mary Anne knows that Scott the lifeguard is way too old for Stacey, but Stacey's in love. She fixes Scott's lunch, fetches his sodas, and spends all her time wtih him... instead of with the Pike kids. Suddenly, Mary Anne's doing the work of two baby-sitters, and she doesn't like it one bit. But how can she tell Stacey that Scott just isn't interested - without breaking Stacey's heart?

So, this is not one of my favourites. There's nothing really wrong with it, but not a whole lot happens really.

This book picks up exactly where the last one left off: the Pikes are going on a two-week trip to Sea City, only this time they want some time to themselves, so they invite two sitters along. For various reasons, Mary Anne and Stacey are the only ones available. Both girls are very excited, because it's their first trip away from home (Mary Anne) since getting diagnosed with diabetes (Stacey).

The trip starts off pretty well. Mary Anne is all excited because it's her first two-piece bathing suit, but then she gets all self-conscious about it. Stacey's a good friend though and assures her that she looks fine (after telling the readers that Mary Anne doesn't quite fill it out as nicely as she, Stacey, does haha). They get down to the beach, and right away Stacey sees the lifeguards. She falls in love with Scott, who is 18.

From there, it's just Stacey obsessing over him. She and Mary Anne take the kids to various places, and we're treated to chapters of them eating at the Burger Garden and playing miniature golf. But mostly, it's Stacey obsessing over Scott. She ignores the kids and Mary Anne, and then can't figure out why Mary Anne is so pissed. She decides that Mary Anne is jealous, because the only person Mary Anne has to talk to is a dorky guy mother's helper. She also decides that Mary Anne shouldn't be so mad, because she does have the help from the male mother's helper, Alex.

Scott gives Stacey his lifeguarding whistle, and Stacey takes it as a sign that he loves her too. On their first Friday night, Stacey spends all of the girls' free time shopping around for a gift for Scott. She ends up blowing all her money on a box of chocolates. Of course, immediately after she does, she and Mary Anne run into him kissing a "much older girl" (who Stacey later admits is actually Scott's age). Stacey is heartbroken and runs off.

She spends the next week dreading running into Scott, but eventually decides it's not worth it. She's not entirely mad, because he is her first love, but she's over it. What helps is that Alex has a cousin named Toby, who Mary Anne arranges to go on a double-date with. Of course, Stacey instantly falls in love again.

Despite the fact that she ignored her for most of the week, Stacey and Mary Anne do end up a bit closer, and Mary Anne has her first encounter with love too. Of course, Mary Anne is a lot more practical, and knows that it doesn't really mean anything in the long run, but she's just happy for the time and memories of Alex, and that they'll be penpals now.

We're also treated a chapter from Kristy, where she baby-sits for Karen and Andrew. Fuck, I do not remember them being in these books this much. They decide to wash Watson's rich fancy car (with Watson's permission), and get all settled with soap, hoses and sponges. However, David Michael was at Linny's place with Louie, but Louie gets injured and it looks like he needs stitches. Kristy tries calling everyone she knows with a car in a panic, leaving Karen and Andrew outside with the car and the car washing supplies. It should have been fine, except that Karen decides that sponges aren't good enough, and ends up running back into the house to grab the steel wool that Watson uses on the pots. This of course ruins the paint on the car. In a surprise turn of events (this totes wouldn't have happened in the later books), Watson is actually angry at Kristy for having paid closer attention to the kids.

Random Thoughts:

• I love how Kristy was reading People magazine at the beginning of this book.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: all the references to the Jersey Shore (the actual location, not the show haha)
• I love the way Stacey looks on the cover. She looks a little older than 13, maybe closer to 14 or 15, but yeah. She looks young and innocent and it's awesome. Scott on the other hand, doesn't look 18. He looks like he's 25! haha
• I think this book would have been way more interesting from Mary Anne's perspective
• The job description makes it sound like Mr and Mrs Pike would be going to the beach with the kids, but they wanted the sitters around so that they could occasionally take an afternoon or evening off, or in case the kids wanted to split up and they needed extra hands on deck for different excursions. But it seems like Mr and Mrs Pike spend the whole time inside the cottage, essentially meaning that Stacey and Mary Anne are working the whole time.
• We find out a lot about the Pikes in this book, which I suppose for first-time readers, especially if reading in chronological order or as they're being published, would be exciting. But since I've read Super Special #10 [Sea City, Here We Come!] a million times, as well as just other books in the series, this wasn't that interesting to me.
• I'm not so sure what the big deal on bathing suits is. I wear a two-piece, but I wear swim trunks on the bottom. My two best friends both wear one pieces, also with swim trunks. We like to cover up haha our lack of skin doesn't make us any less adult, I don't think haha
• I'm surprised that the Pikes can afford to go to Sea City every summer. Apparently they'd been going every summer since Mallory was 2, to which I'm like "omfg why???" At that point, Mallory would have been 2, which is young for a family vacation, but okay. BUT, the triplets would have been 1 years old AND Mrs Pike most likely would have been pregnant with Vanessa. I cannot imagine trying to go on vacation with 4 kids in diapers WHILE pregnant. And it just gets worse from there. I think if the youngest kid is 2, then trips are feasible. 
• Also, the house they rent is HUGE. The boys all sleep in one room, the girls in two different rooms (same arrangements that they have at home, actually), and then Mary Anne and Stacey share another room, but are told that if they don't like it, they can choose another one. With so many rooms, I'm surprised the kids would want to share. This is probably their only chance to have their own rooms. Or at least split up the boys or something.