BSC #35: Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook

Tagline: Can Stacey solve the haunted house mystery?

Unlike Claudia and Dawn, Stacey's never been much for mysteries and ghost stories. But when she and Charlotte Johanssen hear terrible noises coming out of the old Hennessey place, Stacey thinks the Baby-sitters definitely have a mystery on their hands.

Mallory claims the house once made her have a horrible nightmare. And Kristy discovers taht it was built on top of a graveyard!

Does Stoneybrook have a real, live haunted house? The Baby-sitters are going to find out - no matter how scary it may be!

Stacey's on her way home from another trip to NYC. She admits that while she has a lot of fun with her dad, it's tiring to go visit him. He crams so much stuff into a weekend, and Stacey admits that she's been more tired than usual. When she gets home, she pretty much just passes out, and spends all of Monday running late and feeling behind.

When Stacey gets to the meeting, she can't wait to tell her friends about her weekend in NYC. However, everyone's quickly distracted by neighbourhood news: some developer is tearing down one of the oldest houses in town to develop a series of condos. Stacey can't really figure out what the big deal is, but she's soon distracted by a phone call from Dr Johanssen: she and Mr Johanssen have to leave town for a week to help her father mend from hip surgery, and she was wondering if either Jessi or her would be able to house Charlotte. Jessi's family is headed to New Jersey for the weekend, so it's down to Stacey and Mrs McGill.

Stacey is thrilled. She's always wanted a little sister, and she loves Charlotte like one. She spends the rest of the week getting the guest room all set for Charlotte. Stacey expects it to be a lot of fun, Charlotte's more homesick and worried about her grandfather. Stacey decides to distract her by taking a walk past the old house that's about to be torn down. Even though it's only 4 pm, the workers have all left, leaving the place abandoned and spooky. While they're there, Stacey sees a face in one of the bedroom windows, while Charlotte hears some strange noises. When they both see a swarm of flies come out of the house, they decide to hightail it out of there.

Shortly after, while Kristy's baby-sitting for her siblings, she decides to check out Watson's old library to see if she can find any information about the house. In one of the books, she finds an old map of Stoneybrook, and all signs point to the fact that the old house was built on top of an ancient burial ground. The next day, she heads to Stacey's place with the books for her and Charlotte and Stacey to peruse.

Claudia takes the Perkins girls to the library for story hour. While the girls are busy, Claudia starts looking into the archives, trying to find out who owns the house. Eventually she comes up with a name, and through checking the phonebook, she discovers that the owner is actually still alive and living in Stoneybrook, albeit at the old folks' home. Claudia shares this news at the Club meeting, and it's decided that Stacey, Kristy, Claudia and Charlotte will go visit Mr Ronald Hennessy.

Before they go though, Stacey and Charlotte visit the house yet again. There, Stacey swears she sees a fire, but before she can put it out, it's gone. That night, she and Charlotte have horrible dreams, and the rest of the girls share their own stories of strange encounters at the house. Stacey is now convinced more than ever that the house is haunted.

Their fears are not assuaged by their visit to Mr Hennessy. Although initially surprised at so many visitors, Mr Hennessy soon opens up with stories from his lifetime of weird things happening at the house. Stacey and Kristy aren't too sure what to believe, but it does jive with what they'd heard and seen.

The next day, the house is torn down. Charlie and Sam Thomas stop to talk to some workers, and soon solve the mystery: one of the workers had stayed late the day Stacey saw the face in the window. The weird noises was from wind blowing through exposed pipes. The swarm of flies was really a swarm of hornets, their nest having been disturbed at the deconstruction. However, nothing can explain the fire Stacey thought she saw. In fact, after the house is torn down, Stacey swears she sees the ruins on fire, but no one else reacts! Determined to get to the bottom of things, Stacey quickly heads back to visit Mr Hennessy.

Sadly, it turns out that Mr Hennessy had passed away since their visit. He left her a note though, admitting to having made up all those stories. He hadn't had visitors in such a long time, and knew his life was drawing to a close. He just wanted to have a bit of fun and got so much joy and pleasure out of seeing the girls hang on to his every word. However, that still doesn't explain the fire Stacey saw. Stacey decides that it's probably best to keep that to herself, and the Club considers the mystery solved.

There really isn't a subplot in this one. Like I said, Stacey and her mom are looking after Charlotte for the week, and Charlotte's really homesick and worried about her grandpa. At least, that's all the McGills think it is at first. Eventually, Charlotte comes down with a fever and it's discovered that she has tonsillitis! She has take penicillin for a few days and miss a day of school, but soon she bounces back. She's still horribly homesick though, and while the mystery of the house helps to take her mind off of it, it also scares the shit out of her, so really she's a bit of a mess throughout the book.

Random Thoughts:

• Apparently this one was originally going to be called Stacey and the New Kids on the Block. It was advertised as that in the back of my copy of SS #3 and a few others. Does anyone know the story behind this? I know that it was originally going to be about foster kids. And then #33 was going to be this. Anyone know why they changed it?
• This is our first book to be ghostwritten by Ellen Miles
• I love that this mystery house is on Elm Street. Do they ever mention Stacey living on Elm Street again? Fuck, I wish I still had my copy of  The Complete Guide to the Baby-sitters Club haha
• There are a lot of continuity moments in this book:
• Stacey is surprised at how much Charlotte cries when her parents leave her. After all, she had spent two weeks away from them at summer camp, and had survived.
• Stacey mentions her massive crush on Scott from Sea City
• Stacey also mentions how big of a help Charlotte was on solving the mystery at her house
• Stacey mentions that even though her mom didn't work before, since the divorce happened, she wanted a job. Wanted? More like, needed, right?? I mean, I know Mr McGill is paying child support, but I should hope that whatever he is paying is not enough for Mrs McGill and Stacey to live comfortably in a house together without any additional income. Mr McGill should not be obligated to support Mrs McGill
• Stacey mentions having her diabetes being harder to control than usual, but she seems alright otherwise.
• Claudia takes the Perkin girls to the library for story hour, while she reads up on old Stoneybrook. At the story hour, one of the books they read is The Little House. Stacey makes such a big deal out of this book that I knew it had to be real. Turns out it's a bit of a critique on urban sprawl, which is essentially what is happening to the old house in Stoneybrook.
• Why would the Johanssens ask the girls if they could watch Charlotte? Why wouldn't they just call up either Mr and Mrs Ramsey, or Mrs McGill, and asked the adults first? Haha oh well
• I feel like we don't hear about Jessi's family in New Jersey nearly often enough, considering Jessi says that they were really close before they moved. I also find it curious that the next regular book in the series is the one where Aunt Cecelia comes to join the family.
• If I know anything about contractors, it's that they start at like, 7am, but then leave at like, 3pm haha

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 #33: Claudia and the Great Search

Tagline: Claudia thinks she's adopted, and no one understands!

It's no secret that Claudia and her sister are different. For one, they don't look alike at all. Claudia loves her wild clothes and funky jewelry, and Janine dresses... well, kind of nerdy. Janine is a genius, and Claudia brings home C's - when she's lucky.

Claudia opens the family photo album to see what she and her sister looked like when they were little. But there are hardly anybaby-pictures of Claudia! And when she goes searching for her birth certificate and a birth announcement in the newspaper, Claudia can't find them.

Is Claudia Kishi who she thinks she is? Or has she been... adopted!

The book starts off with Claudia reiterating how much she hates school. Luckily for her, class is cut short, because she has to leave for a family event. Unluckily for Claudia, that event is an awards ceremony for Janine. There, Claudia is reminded of how academically superior Janine is to her, and it not only makes Claudia jealous, but it also makes her upset. Even when Claudia tries to do something nice for dinner, her parents turn it back around to Janine. Upset and unable to concentrate, Claudia heads to her family's den to look at old photos. Claudia is hoping to find proof that her and Janine were more alike as children than what they are now.

Unfortunately for Claudia, she doesn't find what she's looking for. While there are albums and albums of pictures of Janine as a newborn and a baby, there are hardly any of Claudia. Claudia's upset, but doesn't think too much of it. Going into her parents' bedroom, Claudia hopes to find more pictures there. Instead, Claudia finds a lockbox. This convinces Claudia that she must be adopted and that's why there aren't more pictures of her, and that the lockbox contains the details of her adoption.

Claudia is unsure of what to do or how to proceed. She's convinced that she can't go to her parents because they wouldn't tell her the truth. Claudia tells Stacey, who isn't entirely convinced, but is very supportive of her friend. Claudia starts digging around, and the more she finds, the more she's convinced that she's adopted: she can't find her birth announcement and she finds out that Dr Dellenkamp wasn't her original pediatrician. Claudia decides to call all the families who had baby girls born at the same time as Claudia, and sees if any of them could be her parents. All their daughters are good and accounted for, except for one. Claudia is convinced she must be that girl.

Of course, Stacey believes her, but also doesn't think that just because Claudia has ruled out the other girls, it means she's necessarily this girl. Stacey finally convinces Claudia to talk to her parents and ask for the truth. Which Claudia does. Claudia's parents explain that sadly, they just don't have many pictures of Claudia because most parents don't have too many pictures of their second child. They show her her birth announcement (in a newspaper that went out of business several years before) and reassure Claudia that she is indeed their daughter. Mrs Kishi points out that Claudia is very similar to Peaches, whom Mrs Kishi is very different from. Mr Kishi also points out that Claudia greatly resembles Mimi when she was younger, and they even show Claudia pictures to prove it. Claudia goes to bed feeling better, and even ends up spending some quality time with Janine later.

The subplot in this one is Emily Michelle, Kristy's younger adoptive sister. Emily is far behind developmentally than she should be. The doctors and Watson and Kristy's mom figure it's due to her hectic past: her mother dying, then being raised in an orphanage for awhile, then being sent halfway around the world to learn a new language and culture she had never seen before. But Kristy's worried. Watson and Kristy's mom agree that it wouldn't hurt for Emily to get some tutoring and get used to other people. After a sitting job where Claudia starts teaching Emily about shapes and colours, they decide to hire Claudia as a tutor. There Emily makes great strides and improvements, so much so that she eventually passes her preschool interview, much to everyone's delight.

Random Thoughts:

• In the back of my SS #3, the coming soon lists this book as Claudia and the Mystery of Stoneybrook. Fans of the series know that this is eventually the title of Stacey's next book, #35. I have no idea why this changed. Does anyone?? I know why the title of #35 got changed, but I'm wondering why this one was affected, and why the whole shuffle around.
• This is definitely not one of my favourites. I suppose it's realistic that a 13 year old might think she's adopted and be too afraid to ask, but I dunno. I found the main plot really boring. I really enjoyed all the stuff with Claudia and Emily though.
• It's interesting, but at the beginning of this one, Claudia speculates the Peaches and Russ (her aunt and uncle) weren't able to have kids, because they hadn't done so as of yet.
• 1) That's totes presumptuous of her. Maybe they just didn't want to! Although, I suppose back in the 80s... plus as a 13 year old... that wasn't a common thought
• 2) Although I haven't read them, I know that eventually Peaches does get pregnant, but ends up miscarrying in a book. She later gets pregnant again, and has a healthy baby girl.
• Emily Michelle is a lot older than I thought she was. For some reason, I thought she was closer to age 1. The fact that's actually already 2 years old, almost 3, surprises me.
• We learn that Emily Michelle's mother died, and that Emily was stuck in an orphanage for awhile. They never mention her father. Now, maybe he was never around and it's a really dark and tragic story (rape??), but it does lend a bit of credence to the popular fan theory that Watson had a one-night stand (hired a prostitute? vacation lover?) while on a business trip, and is in fact Emily's legitimate birth father.
• I feel so bad for Janine. Again, she's definitely the unsung hero. She's nervous about receiving such a prestigious award, so she seeks outfit advice from Claudia. Claudia just dismisses her, figuring that all of Janine's clothes are boring and the same, so it didn't matter. Janine just gets confused and eventually leaves Claudia alone.
• Yet again, more foreshadowing on Stacey's health. Yay!
• Dr Dellenkamp is definitely like, everyone's pediatrician haha
• I'm sad that nothing seems to come from Claudia helping Emily. It would have been nice to have seen her parents acknowledge it.
• I find it weird that the adoption agency that Claudia looks into apparently only specializes in Vietnamese babies. Is there really such a market for that? I mean, I can understand specializing in babies from Asian, or all babies from Europe, or cross-continental babies or what not... but it seems weird to me to specialize in babies from one specific country. Then again, maybe not haha

BSC #32: Kristy and the Secret of Susan

Tagline: Susan's different from other kids.

Kristy's newest baby-sitting charge is Susan Felder, who goes away to a special school. Susan isn't like most kids. While she can play the piano and sing beautifully... she can't talk to anyone. Susan is autistic. She lives locked inside her own secret world.

Kristy thinks it's unfair that Susan has to be sent off to school and is treated differently from everyone else. But Kristy's going to try to change that - by showing everyone that Susan's a "regular" kid, too. And then maybe Kristy' new friend can stay in Stoneybrook for good.

Kristy finds herself with a one month job of looking after Susan Felder. At first, Kristy's confused: she remembers Mr and Mrs Felder from when she lived across the street from Claudia, but she doesn't ever remember them having a child. Well, that's because Susan is severely autistic and normally goes to a special boarding school. However, the Felders are in the process of transferring her to another school, so in the meantime, Susan is home for a month. Since Mrs Felder has to take care of her 24/7 for this month, and since Susan is so severely autistic, Mrs Felder is looking for someone to watch her for 2 hours three times a week, while she goes grocery shopping, runs errands, and takes a moment to breathe.

At first, Kristy can't believe what she's hearing: Susan's own mother needs a break from her child? And they can't wait to send Susan away? Nope, not on Kristy's watch! Kristy decides to make it her personal mission to get Susan some friends and convince the Felders that Susan belongs in Stoneybrook. But Kristy soon realizes that Susan is worse than Kristy thought she was: Susan doesn't speak and doesn't interact or acknowledge others; in fact, the only time Susan seems to respond is when she's playing piano or reciting dates from memory.

Undeterred, Kristy starts taking Susan out and into the neighbourhood. She figures that Susan can bond with the Hobart boys, because they too have no friends and are teased for being different. The Hobarts are great, and talk to Susan as much as they can, James in particular, but it doesn't make a difference: Susan is still unresponsive. Kristy thinks Susan just needs to make more friends. Kristy is thrilled when people start knocking on Susan's door when Kristy is sitting, wanting to see Susan, but Kristy soon finds out that one of the neighbourhood boys (one of the ones bullying the Hobarts) has been charging kids a dollar to go see Susan do her tricks.

Kristy even looks into the special education class at her own school, where there's students with Down's Syndrome, and students with cerebral palsy, and even students who are deaf. Kristy does everything she can think of. Finally, it's the end of the month, and Kristy is helping Mrs Felder pack up Susan's things. They have a conversation, and Kristy realizes just how much the Felders love Susan, and how hard it is for them to send her away. Kristy learns more about how Susan was as a baby and her development (or lack thereof). The final straw is when Kristy takes Susan out for a walk, and Susan wets her pants and does not even react. It's at that moment that Kristy realizes just how severe Susan's condition is, and how much better it'll be for everyone for Susan to go to her special program.

Kristy says good-bye to Susan, and sees her off as her family leaves to drive her to school. She learns that the Felders are expecting another girl, and wishes them well. Kristy admits to Mr Felder that she thought she could fix Susan, and Mr Felder is surprisingly supportive. Overall, everyone agrees that it's best for Susan to go away, and the Felders turn towards planning their future with the new baby.

The subplot in this one is that the Hobart family moves into Mary Anne's old house. The Hobarts consist of Ben (11), James (8), Matthew (6) and Johnny (4). They're from Australia and are having a hard time fitting in in Stoneybrook. Kids make fun of the way they speak, from their accents to their slang, and keep comparing them to Crocodile Dundee. Eventually though, the kids realize that the Hobarts are just like Americans: they dress the same way and like the same things. The Hobarts find acceptance, and Mallory finds herself a new boyfriend haha

Random Thoughts:

• I was not looking forward to this book. It was never particularly one of my favourites as a child, and now that I'm an adult and more educated in special needs students, and now that the world is more politically correct than it used to be, I knew this was going to be tough. I was right. It totes did not age well.
• In addition to just the really vague descriptions of autism, just so much of it is outdated. We've made huge strides in understanding autism in the past 20 years or so. Plus it doesn't really do a good job of conveying that Susan is severely autistic, not just austic.
• It also bothers me that Kristy thinks she can "save" Susan, but at the same time, these girls seem to think they can save everyone and that they know best for everything, so maybe it's not really that big of a deal that she does it here too haha
• I was really surprised, but I guess I shouldn't be: on page 31, Kristy mentions that Susan is autistic, but doesn't understand what it means. Claudia responds, "Retarded?" Ah the 1980s... In fact, that word is everywhere in this book, especially used to describe people with Down's Syndrome.
• On a related note: I don't like when people use "retard" and "retarded" as a derogatory term (ie: "Haha look at the retard!" or "Wow, you're so retarded! As if you think that!"), but it does bother me that people seem to think that you can't use the word at all. No, it's a real word, with a real dictionary definition. It means to be slow or delayed. We use it in French ("Je suis en retard." which is "I am running late.") and we use it in music (a ritardando means to slow the music down).
• OMG!!! We just got our first mention that Mallory has red hair! Trust me, I've been searching and reading carefully whenever someone describes Mallory. Aside from her first book (where it's described as "chestnut brown"), the only other descriptions we've had is that it's curly/unruly (she and Nicky both have curly hair, while the rest of the Pikes seem to have straight hair). This is the first time it's legit been described as red: "...Ben was gorgeous. His red hair was much nicer than hers, she thought.") So even though she's been drawn as a red-head, this is the first time she's been described as such. I guess from this moment on, it's official haha
• I have a friend who's Australian. I only met him this year. What sticks out to me about him (other than his accent, of course), is the fact that he speaks so much better than a lot of people his age. I know him through the university I work with, and everyone else I've met through there is your stereotypical 20-something aggro dudebro kind of guy. They always make fun of me for how I speak, because I've always spoken at a highly elevated level. My Australian friend is one of the few people who speaks like me. And of course, all his crazy Aussie slang haha
• On that note, people do tease him, but not for being "Crocodile Dundee", but for being the "Crocodile Hunter". What a difference a decade or two makes haha
• I don't know what to think of the Felders having a baby. I mean, people have babies all the time, so it shouldn't be that much of a shock, but at the same time... feels kinda like a replacement goldfish?? They're even naming the kid "Hope", hoping that she'll be "normal". I know we see Susan and the Felders again in some other book. I can't remember what ends up happening with them (other than Susan being slightly better).
• There's more foreshadowing about Stacey's declining health. Yay continuity! =D
• When discussing name-calling and bullying, Mallory mentions that kids used to tease her and her siblings, calling them spiders (8 kids = 8 legs). Jessi mentions that she's been called plenty of names before, but says that they're not appropriate and quickly changes the subject. I would've liked to have seen more on Jessi and racism. Like, actual realistic racism, like Mallory saw in her first book. Not Jessi just automatically assuming that everyone is racist and blowing things out of proportion.

BSC Graphix: Claudia and Mean Janine

Claudia and her sister, Janine, may as well be from two different planets. Claudia, who pays more attention to her artwork and the Baby-sitters Club's new playgroup than her homework, feels like she can't compete with her perfect sister. Janine studies nonstop, makes straight As, and even takes college-level courses.

But when something unexpected happens to the most beloved part of Claudia and Janine's family, will the sisters be able to put side their differences?

So here's something different! Obviously I've already reviewed BSC #7, Claudia and Mean Janine, but I saw this at my local library the other day and couldn't resist! Since I've already reviewed the main book, I'm going to mostly stick to reviewing the graphic novel and some of the changes they've made adapting the book to it.

First off, for those of you who don't know, they started releasing these books in the 2010s, right when they started re-releasing updated versions of the novels. These updated versions of the novels not only had all-new covers (ones that didn't involve the girls, so that they can be more timeless), but also updated content. They either took out the 1980s prices and dollar amounts, or inflated them to the new millennium. (For instance, in BSC #3, it mentions that a small popcorn and drink cost 1.25$, and poor Stacey only had a dollar on her. The updated version [which I don't have on hand], either just simply said that Stacey didn't have enough money, or I think they changed the price to 10.25$). They also updated the information on Stacey's diabetes, reflecting the research and modern medicines and treatments now available.

Sadly, the books didn't take off, and I think they stopped somewhere around #8 or so.

The graphic novels (and there's two versions: coloured and black-and-white) more or less follow the stories depicted in the updated 2010s releases. For some reason, they decided not to adapt #2, Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls, jumping instead #3. Then they did Mary Anne Saves the Day, followed by this one. Because of the combination of skipping books and updating the material, while this graphic novel stays true to the essence of its source, there are some changes.

For some reason, even though I own #1, this is the first time I've actually sat down and read one of the graphic novels from cover to cover, taking in the detail. It was really fun!

The book opens up with Janine helping Claudia study for math. It's a dark and stormy night, and it's pretty much an amalgamation of the opening scene from BSC #2 and the breakfast scene at the beginning of #7. Janine is trying to talk to Claudia and is getting frustrated because Claudia doesn't understand a word she's saying. Mimi then comes in to help her.

Because #5 and #6 never happened, this one takes place in the last week of school, followed by the start of summer vacation. Kristy's mom and Watson still aren't married yet, but Dawn is around and in the Club. Dawn and Kristy haven't had a chance to reconcile after the events of #4, so things are still really tense between them. Anyways, Kristy proposes randomly that they have a playgroup for their clients. Other than the set-up for the playgroup, it's pretty much the same as it is in the novel.

Also because #5 never happened, Kristy and Dawn's conversation in Dawn's barn happens in this one. It seems really random and comes out of nowhere, but it's still a really cute scene.

One of the updates to this book is that Janine now takes computer science courses, because she's working on her own personal website. I'm dying to know what her website is.

They added Claudia painting a family portrait in this one, which leads to a nice scene between Claudia and Janine. Claudia, in an attempt to connect to Janine, shows Janine the portrait. Janine really likes it, but offers Claudia advice on how to capture Mimi better. At first Claudia is offended, but then realizes that Janine is right.

There's some talk of adding Mallory to the Club at this point, mostly because I think they were planning on skipping the next few novels. But then they never ended up doing anymore (although there are rumors they might do 4 more now).

The subplot of Jamie Newton and Lucy Newton and her Christening are still here.

Random Thoughts:

• I really like how everyone is drawn. The girls are adorable and are all the correct heights and proportions compared to each other. Mallory is just about as tall Mary Anne and Kristy.
• To modernize Claudia and show how artistic she is, without having her dress really really weird (because I think they realized that her outfits would not translate well into a visual medium), they make it so her bangs are hot pink
• I don't like how they drew Mrs Kishi. It looks like she has curly hair. What kind of Japanese woman has curly hair???

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 #30: Mary Anne and the Great Romance

Tagline: It's Mary Anne and Dawn's dream come true!

It's official - Mary Anne's father and Dawn's mother are getting married! The Baby-sitters think it's so romantic, especially since Mr Spier and Mrs Schafer first fell in love when they were in high school.

But nothing can top Mary Anne and Dawn's excitement. They want a huge wedding with beautiful dresses, lots of presents, and a five-layer cake. After all, this isn't just any wedding. Mary Anne and Dawn are going to be baby-sitters, best friends, and sisters, too!

The book opens with Mary Anne and Dawn hanging out together as their parents go on another date.
It starts off pretty slowly, with everyone just going about their regular business, sitting for clients and what not. A few nights later, Dawn's mom has to work late, so Richard invites Dawn over for dinner with him and MA. He then tells the girls that he wants to do something special for Sharon's birthday (which is coming up), and asks the girls to help him plan something. Together, they decide to surprise Sharon with dinner (getting a friend of Richard's to set it up like a business meeting), and Dawn and MA excitedly go off to plan their presents. MA attempts to come up with ideas, but Dawn shoots them all down, giving MA no suggestions in return. MA's a little peeved, but they get past it fast.

Anyways, at the birthday dinner, Richard surprises everyone by proposing to Sharon. He and Sharon had already talked and agreed to get married, but Richard surprises Sharon with a ring (even though they had decided against them). Dawn and MA are overjoyed at the thought of being stepsisters, but MA starts to feel slightly off about things. She remembers that Dawn had mentioned that Sharon hated cats, but of course MA has Tigger. MA also wonders at how her super neatfreak father was going to be able to share a house with someone as disorganized and scatterbrained as Sharon. She quickly quashes these feelings and moves on.

As time goes on though, MA keeps thinking of possible conflicts. She and Dawn get to help plan the wedding, and the two girls have completely different ideas of what they want to wear as bridemaids. Dawn then points out that they haven't even been asked to be bridesmaids, and when Richard and Sharon mention getting married again, the girls immediately launch into long and elaborate descriptions of a lush and lavish ceremony they want to have. Richard and Sharon had been planning on just getting married at city hall, and having a nice dinner with the girls and Jeff. Eventually, everyone decides on a compromise: a small ceremony with only their 20 closest friends and family, followed by a lunch reception with everyone. Everything seems well and settled, until Dawn starts talking about how exciting it'll be to have MA living with her, and how they should share Dawn's room. MA immediately explodes, because she had no idea what the living arrangements were going to be, and is upset that Dawn knew about it before her.

Richard talks to MA, and explains that he meant to tell her sooner, but couldn't figure out how. At first, MA is livid at the idea of her and her dad giving up everything, and having to sacrifice it all for the Schafers. Richard then explains that no, both families will be getting rid of some things while keeping other things, and that it'll all work out fine. Even though Richard and Sharon make it clear that MA can have her own room and decorate it how she wants, Dawn convinces her that it'd be more fun to share a room, since they both always wanted a sister. MA calms down, but still can't quite shake the feeling that something is off.

The wedding day soon arrives, and it's a beautiful and simple ceremony. Things go perfectly as planned, and everyone gets down to the reception to order lunch. Although MA is happy for her dad, she starts feeling crabby. She starts wondering how they're going to prepare meals when Dawn and her mother are both vegetarians. She hears Sharon say something negative about having a litter box around. MA starts dwelling on her thoughts, and starts to miss her old room and how things were. But before she can work herself up into too much of a tizzy, Dawn gives her a silver bracelet, a "now we're sisters" present. Sharon then gets ready to throw the bouquet, and the book leaves off on that cliffhanger haha

The subplot in this one revolves around the Arnold Twins. Actually, it's more of a parallel plot, since it takes up almost as many chapters. Now that they're becoming more individual and have their own interests, they're starting to have their own friends. But it's hard for them, because they're starting to compete with each other in what they perceive is popularity and achievements and parents. Carolyn is more social and "trendy", with older friends such as Vanessa and Hayley. Marilyn is having a harder time making friends, and is more introverted. Eventually, things come to a head, and it's decided that the girls need more space, so they get separate bedrooms. They also learn that while their mother appreciates Carolyn's socialness and their father appreciates Marilyn's piano and introspectiveness, both parents love them equally. This serves as foreshadowing and paralleling to Mary Anne and Dawn for next book.

Random Thoughts:

• Stacey is on a stricter diet than usual. I know at some point (like, 15 books from now), she runs into problems with her diabetes. It'll be interesting to see if this is the start of that foreshadowing, or if it drops off altogether til then.
• Charlie acquires the Junk Bucket in this one. To find this out, we're treated to another chapter of Kristy baby-sitting for Karen and her siblings. Yay =/
• It occurs to me that we never see chapters from the other girls baby-sitting for their own siblings, unless it's Mallory's siblings because it usually involves two sitters. Yet we're treated to Kristy sitting for her siblings all the time. Mind you, the only other character who has younger siblings is Jessi, but yeah. Stupid Karen haha
• Anyways, Kristy deals with her own bouts of sibling rivalry. Particularly Karen is annoyed with Emily being around and in her way. It's ironic, because Kristy could say the same of Karen. Anyways, because Karen is like, 6 years old, she's particularly nasty, and blames Emily for making a mess, causing Kristy to punish Emily. Poor, poor Emily. Not only is she too young to really speak up for herself, she's extra confused since she's still freshly adopted and learning English. I hate Karen.
• How much time has passed?? When did Richard and Sharon go from dating other people, to dating exclusively, to deciding to get married?? It's insane. Of course, nowadays, they would've lived together for awhile before deciding to get married, but back in the day, AMM couldn't write about pre-marital cohabitation. If this had been written today, I bet you the surprise announcement would have been that they had decided to move in together.
• Also: I find it interesting that they announce that they're getting married, and then appear to get married in like, a month. You'd think they'd want to talk things out more with the girls, and logistics and stuff. MA is overly sensitive, but in this case, I don't blame her for being upset at finding out that she's moving in a few weeks.
• Also: MA is right to be worried about everything. Richard and Sharon really should've sat the girls down more and had more family discussions. All MA hears from Dawn is how Sharon hates cats. Obviously MA is going to be worried about her own cat. And the whole idea of making meals for everyone is also something that needs to be worked out.
• The interesting thing about this book is that it actually says "To be continued in book #31...". I don't think any of the other books in the series have anything like that in them.
• I love the cover of this book because it actually matches a scene in it, down to the smallest detail.