BSC #23: Dawn on the Coast

Tagline: Dawn's a California girl!

Dawn can't wait for this trip to California. Besides all the sun and fun, It's Dawn's first visit since her bother, Jeff, moved back to live with their dad.

California is better than Dawn ever remembered it. The beaches are beautiful, Disneyland is a blast, and Californians eat healthy food! Plus, Dawn's best friend, Sunny, has even started up her own baby-sitting club.

After one wonderful week, Dawn begins to think she might want to... stay in California, like Jeff.

Dawn's a California girl at heart - but could she really leave Stoneybrook for good?

It's spring break and Dawn is headed to California for two weeks to visit her dad and brother. Of course, Dawn can't wait, but she assures her mom that she'll always want to come back to Connecticut. Mary Anne is worried too, but Dawn also tells her that she has nothing to worry about. Despite the fact that she'll be busy, Dawn is sure that she'll miss Stoneybrook.

Dawn's flight to California sucks, as the flight attendant is too busy flirting every attractive man to do her job properly, leading Dawn to have to flag her down several times. The flight attendant even gave away Dawn's vegetarian meal! Luckily Dawn's seatmate is nice. Soon enough, Dawn arrives in California.

Right away, Dawn feels like she never left. She meets Mrs Bruen, who is the housekeeper that Jack has hired for Jeff. She makes the family an elaborate healthy breakfast full of fresh fruits and other fresh items. On Dawn's first day, so goes to Disneyland with her dad and brother. They know they can't do everything in one day, so before they leave, they create a plan of attack, and Dawn is grateful for how organized her father is, in contrast to how disorganized her mother is.

Upon getting back from Disneyland, Dawn goes over to Sunny's house for a surprise: Maggie and Jill are there too, and together they've formed their own baby-sitting club, the We ♥ Kids Club. Dawn's amazed to see how chill everything is: there's no Club Notebook, they just answer the phone, cover the mouthpiece, decide who's free, and then take the job. Plus the snacks are all healthy things that Dawn loves! Maggie and Jill, whom Dawn had known before leaving but was never particularly close to, tell Dawn all about the club.The girls line up a job for Dawn for two girls she used to sit for, Clover and Daffodil Austin.

The girls go to the beach, and then the next day Dawn baby-sits for Clover and Daffodil. Nothing too exciting happens, other than Dawn realizing how much she missed them and being able to just go to the beach whenever. Soon Dawn realizes that she's having so much fun, that she doesn't ever think of her mom and Connecticut until someone calls or brings it up. It makes Dawn think that maybe she doesn't like Connecticut as much as she thought she did, and that maybe it was a sign that she should stay in California.

Dawn's entire second week is basically spent waffling back and forth between staying in California or going back to Connecticut. She thinks about all the things she loves about California, and all the things she loves about Connecticut. Overall, the California list seems longer, but Dawn eventually realizes that the different items had different weights. Although there was a baby-sitting club in California, for instance, the W♥KC had way fewer clients than the BSC, and therefore they didn't really need her nor would she get as many jobs. Dawn also doesn't like the idea of leaving her mom alone, especially if that means pushing her mother more towards the Trip-Man. In the end, Dawn decides to go back to Connecticut.

There's really no subplot in this one. Back in Stoneybrook, the girls continue to baby-sit. Claudia and Mary Anne sit for the Newtons, Perkins and Feldmans all together. They're surprised to see that Rob, although still not too impressed with girls in general, really liked taking care of the babies and knew a surprising amount. Jessi sits for Karen, Andrew and David Michael, and we get some foreshadowing about Mrs Brewer wanting a baby. Mallory and Kristy sit for the Pikes, and Nicky tells them that he misses Dawn, which ultimately spurs Dawn to come back home, apparently.

Random Thoughts:

• This is the first one that's officially written by a ghostwriter: Jan Carr. I wonder if it's because it's so largely set in California. I wonder if Jan Carr wrote the California Diaries series.
• Okay, a quick check of my collection (I've only got 11/15 of the books) shows me that Peter Lerangis actually wrote most of them!
• We get another appearance of the Trip-Man. Funny how in just 7 books, Dawn's mom will be marrying Richard? We know it's currently spring... I wonder how many months pass before she marries him. How long did they date exclusively before deciding to settle down together??
• Dawn reiterates at the beginning of this book that she'll never leave her mom the way Jeff did. But then the whole plot of this book is Dawn contemplating leaving her mom! And of course, later on, we see that she leaves for an extended period, before leaving again for good.
• I've only flown a plane once (twice if you include the trip back... okay, 4 times if you include the layover), and that was technically international (I always forget that the US is international to Canada), so I am no way an expert on air travel. But when I flew, we had to be at the airport like, 2 hours beforehand. Again, part of the reason was because it was an international flight, so we had to go to customs and show our passports and what not, which obviously Dawn didn't have to do. But still. I'm amused by the fact that Dawn didn't even think about heading out to the airport until an hour before her flight. (And that's "in case of a traffic jam"!)
• Here, we learn again that Dawn is not a "strict vegetarian", she just doesn't like the taste of meat (especially red meat) and that the vegetarian dish on flights is always better
• In Disneyland, Dawn buys Mickey Mouse ears for everyone. Now, I went to Disney World last year, and though they varied in price, I believe Mouse ears were on average 15$-20$ each. That's a lot of money! Especially to buy 5 pairs! Plus a few other things
• We get some foreshadowing on the Brewer-Thomas household acquiring another child
• There's an error in my copy: Dawn talks about "Sam Brewer", but it should say "Sam Thomas". None of the Thomas kids took Watson's name
• At one point, they described a spinach lasagna they were having for dinner out in California. I fucking love spinach lasagna. Way better than regular lasagna. Now I want spinach lasagna >_< haha
• Apparently the Pikes are cool with the kids just taking a whole milk carton and dipping paint brushes into it for crafts. That idea disgusts me. I paint and do lots of arts and crafts. You can never get paintbrushes fully clean once they've been used. I would not touch that milk carton again.
• I like how Dawn considers the Trip-Man to be a bore. He just sounds like a modern day hipster to me: chamber concert, wine tasting, lecture on humor, tortoise-shell glasses...
• The funny thing is, we always hear about how strict Richard is, and how although Mary Anne loves him, and he clearly loves her, they're not particularly affectionate and cuddly with each other. Richard is also a lawyer and works standard 9-5 hours. If you ask me, that sounds pretty boring haha I mean, as an adult now, I'm cool with Richie, but it's just funny that Dawn considers the Trip-Man to be a bore, but never once expresses the same about Richard Spier. Probably cuz he's Mary Anne's dad
• ...god piss, now I want some chicken enchiladas!
• Even though it won't happen for another bajillion years, Jack Schafer suggests that Dawn bring the whole club next time, setting us up for Super Special #5
• And I just checked: SS#5 is published a year and a half later
• I love how they merely get delayed at the metal detector because Jeff has a pocket knife. Today, Jack and Jeff wouldn't be allowed through the metal detectors and to the gates, and if for some reason they were, Jeff would immediately get tackled and detained and interviewed for that knife
• On the way back to Connecticut, Dawn finds the list of plays her seatmate had suggested on the way down. A quick Google search tells me that none of these are real:
• Cat Dancing
• Romeo in Joliet
• Scheherazade's Tales
•  When Dawn gets back, she finds that the girls have already scheduled her to work a few baby-sitting jobs. I don't know if that would frustrate me or not. On the one hand, she'd probably have booked those jobs anyways if she had been around, but on the other hand, it's like, bitch please, I just landed after a 6 hour flight, and you've already got stuff lined up?? haha
• We don't get much of a description here of Sunny, Maggie and Jill, so it's easy for me to believe that they're still the same girls that we'll see evolve into the California Diaries characters. All we know is that Maggie loves ghost stories like Sunny and Dawn do, and that Jill likes painting their nails.
• Sunny's mom is still very much healthy in this book. I know one of the reasons why Dawn goes back to California for an extended visit is because of Mrs Winslow's cancer. The whole crux of Sunny's storyline and development in the CD books is that her mom is dying of cancer. I'll be interested in seeing which other BSC books this comes up in, and seeing the progression, since in CD, it's clear that Mrs Winslow is no longer fighting the cancer, but just letting the time run out and is dying.
• Every chapter in this one starts off with a postcard written either to Dawn or from Dawn. Like all the Notebook entries and other handwritten things, I tend to just skip them altogether now haha
• When Dawn takes Clover and Daffodil to the carnival, Daffodil only gets a prize when she manages to get all 6 rings on ring-toss. I'm surprised they didn't have smaller or medium-sized prizes for having achieved 2 out of 6 and 4 out of 6 rings.

BSC #19: Claudia and the Bad Joke

Tagline: This is one practical joke that really backfired!

Claudia's not worried when she hears her newest baby-sitting charge, Betsy Sobak, is a great practical joker. After all, how much harm can one little girl do?

Plenty. Clauda breaks her leg as a result of one of Betsy's mean jokes... and now she's talking about quitting the club. "Baby-sitting," she says, "is just too dangerous." Kristy thinks Betsy needs to be taught a lesson. She also thinks the Baby-sitters are just the ones to do it.

Watch out, Betsy Sobak! The joke war is on!

The book starts off with the girls going to see a comedy short film festival at the library. They think that the practical jokes and stunts in the film are hilarious, but are soon found regretting those thoughts when practical joke fever has hit their charges. Claudia soon finds herself with a new baby-sitting charge, Betsy Sobak, who is known to be the Queen of Practical Jokes.

Before her baby-sitting job, Claudia talks to some of Betsy's old baby-sitters. They tell her more about Betsy's jokes, and how they refuse to sit for her anymore. Claudia is suitably nervous, but is surprised when she meets Betsy. She's completely sweet looking! (And is wearing a really snazzy outfit: red pants with red suspenders, blue and white striped t-shirt, sneakers with purple laces, pigtails tied with blue ribbons.) Betsy's mom leaves (her name is Cookie btw; not to be confused with Cokie Mason, who for the longest time, I thought was named "Cookie") and Betsy quickly asks for a snack. Claudia, pleased to see things going well, agrees, even offering to help. However Betsy says that Claudia is her guest and insists on serving Claudia herself. Claudia soon realizes not to let Betsy out of her sight, because in her glass of juice, she finds a fake ice-cube with a fly in it. Worse still, she realizes that the glass is a dribble glass, when it leaks juice all over her outfit. After getting tricked by trick gum (Betsy had switched the wrappers, so Claudia thought she was out-thinking her, but she wasn't), finally Claudia suggests that they go play outside, since then Betsy wouldn't have access to her tricks and toys. Betsy eagerly asks to play on the swingset, and directs Claudia to a certain seat. Oh Claudia, why did you let your guard down? When nothing happens, Betsy frowns, but Claudia proposes a swinging contest. As they're swinging, Claudia hears a clunking sound, and suddenly finds herself flying through the air. The seat has snapped on her swing, and Claudia has landed on her leg and it's broken.

Claudia gets whisked away to the hospital where she learns her leg is BROKEN, no hairline fracture. She'll have to spend a week in the hospital, then several weeks at home, before she can even go back to school. Upon hearing that the healing process will take several months, Claudia gets to thinking: what if she had broken her right arm or hand? She is told that she'll be able to walk again, and with some physical therapy, she'll be good as new. But it could easily have gone otherwise. Claudia starts to wonder if she should be baby-sitting at all.

Claudia spends time in the hospital, where she's greeted by a steady stream of visitors, flowers, gifts and calls. Her roommate doesn't have any, and Claudia reflects how lucky she is. However, she still can't shake the feeling that something terrible could have happened while she was baby-sitting, and tearfully confesses to Stacey that she's seriously contemplating on dropping out of the club.

Finally Claudia gets to go home, but she can't go back to school yet. She spends some time with Mimi, where she admits to be having fun. They read and watch Wheel of Fortune, and Claudia does some of her homework. She also colours and draws on her cast, turning it into a work of art. At her first Club meeting back, Claudia tells the girls that she's considering dropping out. The girls aren't happy, but begrudgingly accept what she's saying. They decide that since Claudia can't baby-sit for awhile anyways, she take the time to really think about her decision. Claudia really struggles with the decision. She's too scared to baby-sit again, but she knows she'd miss if she didn't. What Claudia really wants is to not have to make a decision at all, but after a week, Kristy really starts to put the pressure on Claudia. If Claudia doesn't want to be in the Club, they'll have to find a new place to meet.

Meanwhile, the girls are facing troubles of their own, as all their charges seem to want to pull pranks and trick each other. Jessi and Mary Anne deal with the Pikes, while Mallory, Dawn and Kristy each have a turn with Betsy. The girls want to get back at Betsy, and show her that her games and tricks are just plain mean. Mallory tricks Betsy with some sneezing powder, but Betsy is able to counter every trick. Mallory admits that some of the tricks were funny and harmless. Dawn manages to get Betsy distracted for awhile, and enjoys some joke-free time. Betsy apologizes for all the jokes, and poor Dawn believes her, until Betsy makes her an ice cream sundae with shaving cream.

It's Kristy who makes a breakthrough, by essentially be really really mean to Betsy. She takes Betsy to a movie, and while Betsy leaves to buy popcorn, Kristy switches seats, leaving Betsy feeling lost and bringing attention to herself in the theatre as she tries to search for Kristy. Her classmates see her, and start making fun of her (Betsy doesn't have a whole lot of fans). Then while they're watching the movie, Kristy tricks Betsy with a severed thumb at the bottom of the popcorn bag, again causing Betsy to embarrass herself as she shrieks. Finally, Betsy realizes that her tricks embarrass people, and that they might not all be just fun and games. Kristy takes Betsy to Claudia's to apologize in person. Betsy was unaware that Claudia had been missing school this whole time. Betsy and Claudia have a chat, and Claudia says she forgives Betsy, offering her some candy as a gesture of peace. When Betsy looks at it warily, Claudia points out that if Betsy didn't pull so many tricks, she wouldn't have to be so paranoid of others doing it on her. Betsy agrees, and Kristy takes her home.

Up until this point, Claudia had been struggling with her decision, talking things over with both Mimi and Stacey. She just couldn't come to the right conclusion! But through talking things over with Betsy, Claudia gains some closure, and is able to make her decision: she's going to stay in the Club. She celebrates by accepting a job at the Rodowsky's three weeks from now, when she'll be able to baby-sit again.

The book ends with Claudia getting her cast cut off after having had it for 3 months.

Random Thoughts:

• Mallory is still described as simply having curly hair. I'm wondering when it goes from chestnut to red! Does it ever??
• Dawn's mom is still dating the Trip-Man
• In what world is an 81% on a math quiz: 1) a disappointing grade and 2) a B-minus?? No wonder Claudia hates school so much! I know plenty of Asian families who believe that anything under a 90% is an failure (because here in Canada, 90% and higher is an A+), but an 81% up here is an A-minus, which is quite the respectable grade! Anything above 80% is generally very well regarded!
• This book is very heavy-handed. Every chapter seems to end with "the jokes were just beginning!", or "if only I knew then what I know now", or something of the sort haha
• Now that I'm older, I am flabbergasted at all the times the charges come to visit the sitters whenever the sitters are doing something. I had friends who stayed in the hospital when I was younger, my own FRIENDS, and I never visited them! The only person I remember visiting was when I was in high school, a classmate was in the hospital for a month because of severe pneumonia. I only went because a whole bunch of other people were going, and I thought it'd be fun to tag along. I wasn't particularly close to him or anything.
• Aside from how strict Claudia's parents are with her grades (I'm sorry, but an 81% is hella good!), I think they're my favourite of all the parents.
• I miss Mimi =(
• Most of the jokes in the book are just lame and annoying. Big elaborate pranks are the only thing I would really consider a prank
• As a musician, I understand Claudia's fears of damaging her hands. There have been a few times when I've been freaked out and paranoid about it happening. I even had a phase where I learned instruments that could specifically be played using only one hand, or one hand and a prosthetic, since my main instruments rely heavily on regular use of all 10 of my fingers.
• This book covers quite a lot of time, but I know that the next book will ignore that. The book itself covers a month, but then the last chapter is Claudia getting her cast taken off "two months later", meaning all in all, Claudia spent 3 months with a cast. That is a quarter of the year. But I bet you the next book will take place as if only one month had passed. At the time of publication, the books were being published fairly often, usually once a month. Like a tv series, the seasons/holidays in the books usually paralleled when they were released. Which means, I highly doubt three months' time will have passed by the next book.
• This is one of the few times the girls' acknowledge that other people baby-sit, and that's why they can sometimes have new charges. They even name and reference and refer back to the other baby-sitters.
• I hate how the girls never tell Betsy's mother what's going on. Does Cookie even realize that Claudia broke her leg because of Betsy, or does she truly believe that it was all just an accident??
• I would be super pissed if someone tricked me in a way that got me dirty, the way Claudia got apple juice all over her outfit because of Betsy. I hate being dirty and sticky and messy. The only time it's acceptable is on my own terms! Which usually means when I'm paintballing or running track haha
• How the fuck does Claudia not get held back at this point? I was a great student in HS, but I'd miss an entire week every year because of orchestra trips, and whenever I got back, I could never catch back up in math (for some reason, I always had math in second semester, when the trips were), and thus my math grade would always drop from the mid-80s (which, might I remind you, is a very good A-) to the mid-70s (a solid B). And that was from missing ONE WEEK of school, and with me already being an excellent student, and it was always just the ONE CLASS I couldn't catch back up in. Claudia is already apparently struggling in all her classes (although, I'm starting to wonder if I should take that with a grain of salt, if apparently 81% is "bad"), and she misses an entire month
• Claudia must have to go through a fair amount of physical therapy, I imagine, after not using her leg at all for 3 months. I wonder what the standard time is for a cast? I always thought it was closer to 1 or 2 months (hairline fracture), and that anything more was SERIOUS BUSINESS