BSC #14: Hello, Mallory

Front Cover: Why are the Baby-sitters making it so hard for Mallory to join their club?

Back Cover: Mallory Pike has always wanted to be a member of the Baby-sitters Club. The Baby-sitters are so much fun to be around, and so grown-up. Now the club members have invited Mallory to a meeting. This might be her big chance!

But the Baby-sitters don't make it easy. First Claudia makes Mal feel like a baby on her first official baby-sitting job. Then they give her a written test - with questions nobody could answer!

Mallory's beginning to think she doesn't want to be part of the Baby-sitters Club. Maybe with her new friend Jessi she'll start a club of her own...

It's time to show those Baby-sitters what a couple of new girls can do!

So this is our first book narrated by Mallory. In it, we learn all about Mallory and are introduced to her and the Pikes from her perspective. Mallory is excited because she has a received an invitation from the BSC to potentially join them. She gets all dressed up, wanting to impress them at her first meeting.

But first, Mallory goes to school, where she meets a new girl. Not only is this girl new, but she's black. This is a big deal, because the only other African-American student in their school (and yes, there's only one) is in the 8th grade. Mallory is excited, because this is her big chance to make a new friend; maybe even a best friend.

Things don't go smoothly for Mallory though. At her first Club meeting, she feels awkward and realizes that she's too dressed up. The other girls have a hard time transitioning from Mallory being a charge to Mallory being in charge. When they hear about an accident Nicky had when Mallory was taking care of him, they decide that they better put her to the test!

Like the description says, the tests don't go well. The questions on the written test are so ridiculous, and Mallory gets so nervous during her sitting job with Claudia that she just acts like a giant spazz, causing Claudia to deem her unfit. Frustrated, Mallory decides that she doesn't need the BSC, and decides to start her own club!

Meanwhile, Mallory has been getting to know Jessi better. Jessi's family has been having a hard time with their move and transition into Stoneybrook, because apparently no one has seen a black family before. Of course Mallory doesn't care, and since she's in need of a best friend, she's especially keen to get to know Jessi and her family. Luckily for Mallory, Jessi loves reading (especially horse stories) and baby-sitting, so the two get along famously. Jessi immediately joins Mallory in her baby-sitting club.

Kids Incorporated doesn't get much business. In fact, the only business they do get is their own families. But the BSC isn't going to take any chances, plus they really do need more sitters. So eventually Kristy and the girls decide to stop being so unreasonable and mean, and recruit Mallory again. Mallory, not wanting to leave her new best friend in the lurch, insists that her and Jessi are a package deal. The girls agree to give them each one test run baby-sitting job (one without heavy breathing and berating). Mallory of course aces hers, and is now part of the club!

Random Thoughts:

• Although I know for sure that I have read this one before, I don't particularly remember reading it, so I don't think it was one that I re-read often.
• It's interesting getting everyone's descriptions from Mallory for the first time, as well as getting additional early insight into Mallory. For instance, despite the fact that every other book describes her as a red-head, and she's always depicted as a red-head on the covers (including this one!), we learn in this book that the Pikes all have "dark brown hair" (or "chestnut brown", as Mrs Pike refers to it). "Chestnut brown", even though I know is technically a darker brown, always makes me think of a more auburn brown, which would then be bordering on red. I had always assumed that the Pikes had auburn/medium brown hair, with Mallory's being particularly russet, leaning towards full-on ginger. But nope: apparently they originally all had dark brown hair! It'll be interesting to see when that changes.
• I'm probably the only one, but I would have liked to have seen more of the casual racism Jessi faces to have continued for a few more books. And maybe it will. I can't remember. I think I've only read Jessi's first book a couple of times. But yeah. I feel like it's really a non-issue after it was such a big deal in this one.
• I like how they don't list Mallory on the back of this book, as if there's any debate or suspense about her eventually joining the Club haha
• I think it's sad that Mallory has never really had friends, especially not a best friend, prior to this novel and meeting Jessi. I think it's especially sad that she says that she's never really needed to have friends: she'd always been so busy with her siblings that she didn't really have any time or need for friends.
• I can never figure out the size of Stoneybrook and/or the school. Stoneybrook always seems so large, and they have a million special elective classes and projects going on at SMS, that it doesn't really seem like a tiny town. Plus there are three middle schools in the area that feed into their high school: Kelsey Middle School, SMS, and Stoneybrook Day School (although that one's private). Is Stoneybrook just a community? Because my city is made up of many many many neighbourhoods/communities, each with their own set of elementary/middle schools and then high school. Several of them. But I can't imagine considering any one of those to be a town on their own. And like, I can easily public transit between the communities. Even if the girls weren't allowed to take public transit, there's no way their tiny community is so far out in the middle of nowhere that their next town over is a city! Yet somehow, Stoneybrook is so tiny that the arrival of an African-American family is a huge deal
• I especially liked hearing about Mallory eating lunch with the other girls in her class and how horrible they were about Jessi. I totally do not remember any 6th grade girls ever being mentioned in any of Mallory's other books.
• I miss the days when Jessi was a comedian. This one specifically points out how much she likes jokes and how she knows more jokes than anyone!
• Are reading glasses a thing? Everyone I knows pretty much wear glasses all the time, not taking them on and off. Either way, this is one of the few times where Jessi wearing glasses is part of her default description.

BSC #13: Goodbye, Stacey, Goodbye

Front Cover: How do you say good-bye to your very best friend?

Back Cover: Oh, No! Stacey McGill is moving back to New York! That means no more Stoneybrook Middle School, no more Charlotte Johanssen, and worst of all... no more Baby-sitters Club!

Stacey's friends are crushed when they hear that Stacey's moving, Claudia most of all. Stacey was her first best friend.

How will the Baby-sitters cope without Stacey? What kind of going-away present is good enough for someone as special as she is? But most important...

...Who is going to be the next member of The Baby-sitters Club?

Alright, so right from the get-go, us readers know exactly what's going to happen, but chapter 1 starts us off with a bit of suspense. Stacey's at a BSC meeting, and introduces to everyone then and there (instead of chapter 2, which is the norm). At the end of the meeting, Stacey's mom calls her, asking her where she is and if she could come home right away. Obviously, Stacey is upset and thinks someone is dead or dying. However, she soon learns that it's worse: they're moving back to New York. Not at the end of the school year, not at the end of the semester, but in just one month.

Understandably, everyone is upset, particularly Claudia, who had never had a best friend before. Claudia and Stacey try to convince their parents that Stacey should be able to finish out the school year living with the Kishis, but of course no one is having any of it. So over the course of the book, we have Stacey slowly packing up and saying good-bye to Stoneybrooke.

The subplot is the girls trying to think of a great way to say good-bye to Stacey, like a going away party or present. They run into all sorts of problems, mostly in that nothing they can think of is special enough, or they don't have enough money. A solution to the money issue comes from Stacey's parents letting the girls run a yard sale, since they can't fit a house's worth of furniture into an apartment. Since they were all just going to give it away or throw it out, they let the girls organize a yard sale and keep the profits. The club is reluctant to take money that should theoretically belong to the McGills, but then they decide that they can theoretically give it back by using it to have a going away party for Stacey.

Eventually the party idea that they end up settling on is having a play day with all of the charges, and they spend the money on cake and treats and toys and prizes for the children. It's pretty lame. At Stacey's last meeting, the girls call up Mallory Pike and offer her an invitation to join the club.

Jeff's ongoing troubles and efforts to return to his dad in California continues in this book as well.

Random Thoughts:

• I liked that the girls used the money from Stacey's yard sale for her going away party, but I hate how the whole thing was all just their baby-sitting charges. That sounds more like work than fun. I like the idea of doing something that will give the kids and Stacey a chance to say bye to each other, but I think most of the money should have gone towards a party with their classmates and friends. I think it would have been nice to have had a 2-hour picnic with the kids (where the kids all bring their own lunch) with cupcakes, where the kids had a chance to say goodbye and give cards, and then that evening had a party with their friends and classmates. You can see how the girls are getting progressively more and more one-dimensional and obsessed with their kids and shying away from their peers.
• I find it interesting that this book came out right after Claudia and the New Girl, where Claudia gets into a fight with everyone over making new friends, and Stacey gets particularly upset because she's Claudia's best friend. Now Stacey's leaving :(
• I just realize that Charlotte Johanssen sounds a lot like Scarlett Johansson. But I think that's just a coincidence, since Scarlett would only have been 4 years old when this book came out haha 
• I know Stacey's parents had big news to share with Stacey, but I think calling her at 6:05, being like, "WHERE ARE YOU???" when it would have taken her at least 5 minutes to get from Claudia's to her place if she had left right when the meeting had ended, is overkill. Way to panic your own daughter.

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 #12: Claudia and the New Girl

Front Cover: Claudia might give up the Club - and it's all the new girl's fault!

Back Cover: Claudia has always been the most outrageous kid in her class.. until Ashley Wyeth comes along, Ashley's really different - she wears hippie clothes, has six holes in her ears, and and is the most fantastic artist Claudia has ever met.

Ashely says Claudia has artistic talent, too. She thinks Claudia should spend more time on her "calling" and forget about the Baby-sitters Club: It's just a waste of time.

The Baby-sitters are sick of Ashley Wyeth, and they think Claudia's a traitor. Claudia's got to decide: either the Baby-sitters Club or the new girl - one of them's got to go!

It's still the start of the school year, and Claudia is already falling behind. But even so, she still makes time for baby-sitting and art. One day, a new girl joins Claudia's English class. Ashley Wyeth dresses weirdly (ie: like a hippie instead of the '80s), but Claudia soon discovers that Ashley is an artist, the real deal. Ashley takes an interest in Claudia's art, and soon the two become fast friends.

Claudia's never had an artist friend before, and she gets swept up by Ashley's talent and big ideas. Ashley's just moved from Chicago, where she studied art at Keyes, a real art school whose teachers actually sell and display their art. A far cry from small town Stoneybrooke. Ashley is very serious about her craft and thus dedicates all her time to it - and she thinks Claudia should too!

Claudia is torn between all the other things she loves, and spending time with Ashley and art. Inadvertently, Claudia starts missing Club meetings and consequently does less baby-sitting. She starts falling even further behind in school. The girls are all mad at Claudia for ditching them and not being a real friend. But Ashley keeps insisting that Claudia just needs to focus more on her art. Since Claudia loves art, she keeps going along. Ashley has all this experience and talent and ideas - so she must know best, right?

All the while, there's an art show contest going on, which is what really fuels Ashley and Claudia's quest for art in this book. They're going to create sculptures out of clay. Ashley decides that she wants to sculpt something unusual, an inanimate object, and goes around Stoneybrooke with Claudia, eventually deciding to sculpt a fire hydrant. After a couple of weeks of searching, Claudia still hasn't decided on anything, and is feeling discouraged and uninspired. The more Ashley tries to help and push her ideas on Claudia, the worse Claudia feels.

Eventually Claudia realizes that Ashley isn't really much of a friend, that she just likes Claudia for her art. Claudia also realizes that while she loves art, she also loves her friends and family and baby-sitting, and doesn't want to give everything up for only one thing. Maybe eventually, but not right now. Claudia and Ashley fight, and Claudia goes back to baby-sit the Rodowskys. It's watching Jackie and his infectious smile that inspires Claudia, and Claudia decides that it's Jackie she's going to sculpt!

Unfortunately, it's too late, and Claudia runs out of time for the contest. However, Mrs Baehr enters Claudia's work as a Work-In-Progress piece, where it wins an honourable mention. Claudia makes up with the girls, and everything ends well.

There's no real subplot in this one, but we get more of Dawn's brother Jeff acting out. Yay continuity!

Random Thoughts

• Fun fact: I have 6 holes in my ears. Well, one of my ears. The other one only has 2 haha
• Claudia looks like she's about to be kidnapped on the cover. She doesn't look conflicted or annoyed, she looks downright "no" haha
• I understand the girls being annoyed/hurt by Claudia, but I think they should have tried talking to her first instead of doing all that mean stuff. Also, they were way unnecessarily mean about Ashley. Especially whenever they talked about how weird she dressed, considering what Claudia and Stacey usually wear. I can understand them being annoyed by the fact that she seems to only talk to Claudia and how she tries to dominate/change her, but yeah.
• People cite this as the start of when the girls started to get really creepy and cliquey and obsessive with each other. I agree. Especially when Claudia feels so guilty for even just eating lunch without the club. I think that if the girls want to do something else during lunch, they should be allowed to without feeling guilty or being ostracized. Especially since Claudia was like, "Hey, sorry, but I won't be eating with you today." I could understand if she stopped eating with them every day, or didn't even talk to them about it, but the first time she does, Claudia immediately feels like she's done something wrong.
• I like how much they reference Claudia needing and seeking help with school. I don't remember that in the later books. Here, she actually has a period in the resource room, which is very realistic (their schedules and the way their classes are organized are far more similar to the way they are in high school here; the only way that they're similar to our middle schools is the number periods they have in a day). I miss how realistic Claudia and her school problems used to be portrayed.
• I love the ongoing continuity and arc of Dawn's brother acting out. It lasts a surprisingly long time, to the point where I'm interested in seeing where this goes (even though I already know).
• It seems really weird to me that Claudia would want to sculpt Jackie. Isn't she just trying sculpture for the first time? Why choose something so complicated as a person?? And why the fuck Jackie?? That has always bothered me
• Their art teacher, Mrs Baehr, doesn't seem very supportive or open-minded. I think sculpting an inanimate object is awesome!
• While I knew what "inanimate" meant when I first read this book, it was this book that really cemented the word in my mind and brought it to full consciousness. I had always thought it was a fancy big vocabulary word, the kind I tried to avoid using around my peers and only used around adults. But if it's in a Baby-Sitters Club book, it must be a normal, common word! haha

BSC #11: Kristy and the Snobs

Front Cover: Nobody's going to tell Kristy what to do - especially not the Snobs!

Back Cover: Kristy's mom got married again last summer and now Kristy and her family live in a new neighbourhood. The kids there aren't very friendly. In fact, they're... well, snobs. They criticize Kristy's clothes. They make fun of the Baby-sitters Club. And worst of all, they laugh at Louie, Kristy's pet collie, who's going blind. Nobody does that and gets away with it!

Kristy's fighting mad - and she's not going to put up with it much longer. If anybody can beat a Snob Attack, it's the Baby-sitters Club. And that's just what they're going to do!

This is our first look at Kristy's life in her new house. We're still early in the school year, and despite having lived at Watson's now for a couple of months, Kristy has made zero effort to get to know her neighbours. Her brothers have all made friends, but Kristy's been avoiding everyone. She thinks they're all snobs!

One day, the school bus is running late, so Kristy actually sees some of her neighbours waiting for their own bus for their private school. Later, when she's taking Louie out for a walk, she actually runs into a few of them and words are exchanged. Things heat up, and a rivalry starts between Kristy and Shannon Kilbourne, the neighbour across the street who is Kristy's age. Shannon and her sister used to do all the baby-sitting, but now Kristy's around, and Kristy is in charge!

In the last book, Kristy had distributed fliers for the Baby-sitters Club, and so now she's getting calls. Among the new clients are the Delaneys, who Shannon usually baby-sits for. The Delaneys really are spoiled little snobs, but I think that's more because of their age and up-bringing than anything. It's definitely not indicative of the neighbourhood as a whole, but Kristy just sees it as further proof that she does not like or want anything to do with anyone over there.

The subplot in this book the deteriorating health of Louie, the old Thomas collie. He'd been slowing down a lot lately, but this book is when he starts to really have problems. He starts going blind and walking into things. His legs start to act up so he kinda limps or can't get up or walk around as fast as he used to. He seems slow and in pain, whining a lot and not getting up. It all culminates one day when they walk in on him to find his back legs seemingly paralyzed, and him in a panic. They decide that it'll be best for him if they just put him down.

During this, Kristy learns to deal with the Delaneys (thanks to Stacey's psychological tactics) and comes to terms with Shannon. It turns out that Shannon is just jealous of the Club and of Kristy coming in and trying to take all the baby-sitting jobs away. They talk it out, and come away as friends, with Shannon giving Kristy's family a new puppy to replace Louie. David Michael names the puppy Shannon.

A minor point in this one is that we start to see Jeff, Dawn's little brother, act out and express his desire to go back to California to live with their dad.

Random Thoughts

• I do not remember reading this book at all. Like, I must have. I know I have. But I'm guessing I've only read it once, because yeah... this book did elicit strong feelings or memories in me haha
• It's really Kristy's fault that this all started. I don't entirely blame her, but yeah. She had all these preconceived notions about her new neighbours and didn't think twice about how snobby she was being. If she had taken the time to introduce herself, she and Shannon probably could have sorted out the whole baby-sitting thing a lot sooner!
• Again, I hate Karen Brewer. Jfc that girl is annoying. I would not want to live with her. I like how Kristy describes her and her older brothers having enough of her antics when she gets dropped off
• It's nice to see Charlie and Sam playing with Andrew at the end of the book. We don't really see much of those two, so I always like the little snapshots of them being good brothers and spending time with Kristy and the kids
• The deterioration of Louie's health seems very sudden to me, but I've never had a pet before, so who knows? I know for a few books he's been getting slower and generally old, but in this one, it seems like he went from "slow and old" to "so much pain he needs to be put down" in two weeks
• Because I read a LOT of the Baby-Sitters Little Sister books before I ever started on reading the BSC when I was younger, I kinda always forget that Louie was a big deal. The Little Sister series starts up in like, another 10 books or so, so every time Karen describes her family, she always described Shannon
• I'll admit, I got a little misty-eyed when reading about Louie's deteriorating health. I was surprised at myself haha

BSC #10: Logan Likes Mary Anne!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Random Thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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