Mystery #3: Mallory and the Ghost Cat

 

Thoughts before reading:

This was one of my favorite BSC mysteries when I was a kid, but I don't remember anything about it anymore, even though I know I read it quite a few times back in the day. For awhile it was also part of my collection, although I did eventually trade it in for new titles. This book was just the kind of very mild spooky story I used to love, before I got into R. L. Stine and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 

I like this cover too. It's simple, but looks like a good ghost story scene. Perfect fodder for a rainy weekend afternoon when you're eight years old.

The basics:

The Pike family receives the news that Mr. Pike's Uncle Joe is coming to stay with them for a month or so, until he moves into a new nursing home. He's been living in one for awhile, but is taking a little break in between to visit with the family. Everyone is excited, because their father has told them a lot of stories about how much fun he had with Uncle Joe when he was a boy. The kids help clean the house, prepare a room, and make a banner for his arrival. When he finally comes though, they are all quickly disappointed. He's very standoffish and seems uninterested in any of the kids, basically sitting around all day and ignoring everyone. When Claudia comes over to babysit, he's even mean to her, very at odds with the warm, funny man from Mr. Pike's stories.

Meanwhile, the BSC gets a call from some new clients who are friends with Kristy's mom, the Craines. They have three daughters, Margaret, Sophie, and Katie, who will be needing a temporary regular sitter. Mallory takes the job. She likes the girls and the first job goes smoothly, but she keeps hearing a cat meowing the whole time, even though the kids tell her they don't have any pets. Her second time there, they all hear the meowing and decide to search the house. After they don't end up finding anything, Margaret starts to worry that it's a ghost. Even Mal ends up spooked as the afternoon wears on, until Margaret mentions to her that they have an attic. They search it, and sure enough, there's a little white cat hiding inside. (It looks like he was able to get in the house by climbing a tree outside and slipping through the rafters.) The girls give him food and decide to place an ad in the paper to see if he has an owner.

Ghost Cat, as the girls take to calling him, is thriving, but still hides all over the house. During one such afternoon where Mal is helping them look for him again, they find a hat box of old letters in the attic. Mal starts reading them to the girls, and the gist of the story they contain is: a man named Kennedy Graham used to live in the Craine house, and he wrote the letters to his nephew, Samuel. In them he mentions finding and taking in a small white cat. He loved and pampered it, until its sudden death of a "wasting disease". Afterward, Kennedy was never the same, and for the rest of his life he was tormented by a meowing sound coming from the attic. 

Mallory starts to wonder if the cat they found is actually the ghost of Kennedy's cat. She invites Dawn over to ghost hunt on her next babysitting job for the Craines. After running a bunch of "tests", Dawn determines that he's a real cat. Right after, a rude man calls the house and says the cat is his, but he's out of town for two more days, then he will come pick up his cat, Rasputin. On the day he's coming, Mal is sitting for the girls again, and they are playing around giving the cat an IQ test when they hear meowing coming from elsewhere in the house. Then Rasputin's owner promptly turns up, and Mal is shocked to see he looks just like the picture of Kennedy from one of the letters, right down to a scar under his eye.

The Craines end up getting a cat of their own from the shelter. This one is also white, with blue eyes, and is deaf. The girls tell Mal they've never heard any meowing from the attic since Rasputin left.

Back at the Pike house, Margo surprises Mal by feeling bad for Uncle Joe, because he seems so sad. Mallory realizes she hasn't even thought about his point of view on the situation. By this time she's also noticed that he roams around the house randomly a lot, and keeps collections of strange objects, like foil balls and pop tops. Once, he roams into a neighbor's house and falls asleep on their couch. He also forgets the time of day, and where things go. 

It's confirmed that Uncle Joe has Alzheimer's, and he ends up having to return to the nursing home early. On his last day with them, Mal has her siblings each draw a picture of the family for a contest, so they can give the winning one to Uncle Joe. She notices only Nicky includes him in his drawing, and declares him the winner. When she goes to tell Nicky, she finds him sitting on Uncle Joe's lap, watching a magic trick. Mal's amazed by the sweet scene. Uncle Joe tells her he's sorry for being so quiet the past few weeks, but he has a hard time being around so many people. 

After moving in to Stoneybrook Manor, the Pikes all go visit Uncle Joe. He seems much happier and at ease there. 

Timeline:

Spans a few weeks, but the time of year isn't made clear. School is in session though.

My thoughts:

This book was fairly entertaining, and probably still one of the better mysteries (we'll see though...). I have mixed feelings about the ghost cat storyline, but at least it was something different, and the kind of mild ghost story kids definitely love. This was also the second time there has been unexplained supernatural events, the first being in #35, Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook. So, I think it's safe to say that ghosts exist in the BSC-verse? Karen's not so crazy after all...

Mallory says in here that she takes care of her siblings so much that she feels like a mother. I 100% understand that feeling from my own childhood. I'm really surprised that she still likes babysitting, and wants to do it for fun. I don't think it will last very long though. She probably just likes the variety of watching other kids besides hers, and feeling like an adult. Those are the reasons I did other babysitting, although I was older than 11 when other people left their children with me, of course. I can also relate to her frustration at being given a lot of responsibilities, but otherwise treated like a kid. Even looking at it from an adult perspective now, I think that's a confusing double standard to give to a kid.

I was shocked to read that the first time Mal sits for the Craines, her dad gives her a ride and walks her up to the door so he can meet them, because they are new clients. Actual parenting! Where has this been for the last 50+ books?! It's mentioned in here that Kristy told them before that this is always a good idea, but it's never been done before or mentioned to the reader. Sounds like a big safety retcon to me, probably done in response to criticism from the parents of young readers. Either way, it was nice to see this finally done.

I also had a lot of sympathy for Uncle Joe, although I doubt I would have as a kid. He's old, tired, and not doing particularly well, then he gets dropped into a house with eight young kids. Since the Pike kids don't receive much supervision and are always running wild, this has to be even more jarring. It's not his job to entertain the kids, and he probably doesn't have a lot of energy either. I do think this was a good way to teach kids empathy for the elderly though, which is something very difficult to understand when you are young and bursting with energy all the time. The explanation of Alzheimer's was also a nice touch. All the topics in this storyline were well handled. Even though this was the side plot, it overshadowed the main, random ghost cat storyline.

Misc:

*Mallory's favorite vegetable is an artichoke. Jordan doesn't like waffles. (We get lots of Pike family meals in here.)

*In the early books, we were told that Mal had brown hair, but now she says it's red and the rest of her family has brown.

*Apparently sometimes Mal and Jessi pretend they're horses?! Wow, that's hilarious. I used to pretend to be a My Little Pony...when I was around 6-7. Could we please get a scene of them doing this, and being caught by another BSC member??

*Mal worries that the Craine girls' aunt is going to offer her a beer, just because she rides a motorcycle, LOL! Not only is this hilarious, I think it's also the first mention of alcohol in the series! Gotta cross that one off my list of things that I thought didn't exist in the BSC-verse.

*Kristy doesn't like cats. Is this because of Boo-Boo, haha?

*Since when does Mrs. Pike have a part-time job, and what is it? Or do they mean her temping? 

*Dawn owns a meter that "tests for the presence of ectoplasm"! She sent away for it after seeing an ad in a Ghostly Tales comic. This is SO something I would have done as a kid!

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles

Books mentioned:

*Mal's reading A Wrinkle In Time

*Angelina Ballerina, by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig

My rating:

3.5 stars, an entertaining read, and not bad for a mystery.

#51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend

 

Thoughts before reading:

This is another one of the group of BSC books I read over and over for comfort growing up. I LOVED this book so much, mainly since I had this exact same problem happen to me during my BSC reading years. We were younger than Stacey and Laine, but my childhood best friend and I also drifted apart, then abruptly stopped being BFFs. By 5th-6th grade, she had outgrown me: gotten snobby, made "cool" new friends, become boy crazy, and gotten really into hair, makeup and clothes. I was still dorky, shy, and bookish. This book really helped me during that time, and made me feel so much less alone. I'd reach for it whenever we were having problems, and when we finally, inevitably, went our separate ways, this book helped me get over it and move on. It's one of those books to me that will always define a specific part of my personal history. So, obviously really hoping it holds up decently well now!

The basics:

Stacey's chatting with Laine on the phone, and listening to her talk about her new fifteen year old boyfriend, King. Laine mentions she has a week off school coming up, and several good options for how to spend it. Stacey begs her to come to Stoneybrook, telling her about all the fun they could have. She seems a little hesitant at first, but then agrees. Both girls get permission for the plan, and Stacey is beyond excited. She runs around fixing things up for Laine, and hiding things she thinks are too babyish.

The first night of Laine's visit, the girls throw a BSC sleepover. Laine seems really unimpressed with it, and with Stoneybrook in general, but she does end up having fun. Also, since Stacey doesn't have the week off school, Laine goes with her for a day. She finds SMS equally unimpressive though, and she acts like she's too good for everything, even the boys. Pete Black clearly likes her, and Stacey tries to convince Laine to go with him to the Valentine's Dance the following weekend. After Pete ends up asking her, she agrees to go, but then later makes fun of him on the phone to King. Stacey overhears and starts getting angry.

The rest of the BSC is also planning to attend the dance, but that week everyone starts fighting with their dates and worrying that it's because the dance is on a Friday the 13th. Bart apparently wants to watch a game on tv instead of going at all, so Kristy's mad at him. Mary Anne is mad at Logan because he wants to dance...at the dance. (They usually always dance together at dances, despite what she says here.)

Laine also attends a BSC meeting, which she finds boring (I don't blame her there). She informs Stacey that she got a "real" summer job. Stacey's also getting more and more annoyed with her, because she's calling everything immature, and insisting on calling her Anastasia. Despite this though, Stacey keeps trying and making the choice to be mature and rational. (Another reason Stacey's awesome.)

By Friday, when the dance rolls around, things are a wreck and only getting worse. Laine makes fun of everything about the event, including Pete. Stacey finally loses her patience when Laine turns down a dance with Pete, hurting his feelings in the process, then immediately accepts a dance with someone else. When Stacey confronts her and calls her out on acting snide and superior to everyone else, Laine says she wants to go back to NYC that night. 

Stacey calls her mom to pick them up early, after apologizing to Pete, and her own date, Austin Bentley. When Mrs. McGill arrives, she tries to mediate between them. Laine really just wants to leave though, so she gives in and calls her mom. Mrs. Cummings blames Stacey, which we can tell just from the one side of the conversation Stacey hears. The moms also end up arguing, and Laine goes home on the late train. 

In the morning, Stacey starts calling people to apologize for Laine. Her and Claudia discuss how much she's changed, into a completely different, unkind person. Stacey's anger begins to fade into sadness, because her and Laine were friends for over eight years, sharing a lot of memories. She also realizes that not everyone makes up after fighting, sometimes fights are just the end. In this case, she has no interest in being friends with this version of Laine, and realizes the friendship is really over. She writes Laine a letter about how she's feeling after all this.

Timeline:

Only spans about a week, the week of Valentine's Day. This is the second one of 8th grade so far.

I'm wondering now if they are going to start going through time in order again?

My thoughts:

Obviously this wasn't going to be as ground breaking as I once found it, but I can definitely see how this appealed to kid me. I loved how Stacey and Laine didn't make up, or even talk after Laine left early on bad terms. It's so much more realistic this way, since a lot of friendships end when you're this young. This isn't a story about a fight, it's really about a friendship ending, which is so much more important and helpful. Almost any kid reading this is going to have gone through something similar, and I'm sure most won't get a happy ending. It's really painful and hard to lose friends, particularly the first time. Not feeling alone really helps.

Stacey was really the mature one in here, and she impressed me again with how she handled things. Even when the visit was turning very ugly, she was actively reminding herself to keep trying, and to cut Laine slack. She also had some good insights into how this experience feels, that I still agree with now: mainly, the pain of losing all the memories, and all the time you shared together.

I was also really surprised that Laine even agreed to go on this trip. She knew Stacey wasn't even on a break, so she'd have quite a bit of alone time in a place where she doesn't know anyone. Plus, she has to leave King for a week, and one of her vacation options was spending time with him. It definitely sounded like he was also on a break from school.

There was a weird mention in here of Claudia bringing a rag doll to Stacey's house for a sleepover? I'd love to know when, why, and exactly HOW this happened, because I can't picture it at all. There was so much made of the fact that Mary Anne and Kristy still played with dolls up until 7th grade, but Claudia was too mature for that. It's mentioned a lot in the early books. I know she didn't bring it to Stacey's to play with, but this still needed a quick explanation.

Misc:

*At one point Stacey mentions the effects of global warming. I didn't know people were concerned about this in 1992.

*Jessi goes to the dance with Curtis Shaller, a 7th grader.

*Stacey hiding stuff before Laine comes over? I also used to do this.

*I am really loving Stacey's mom post-divorce. She's fun but also firm, and you can tell how much she loves her daughter.

*Stacey has a hair ornament made of shoelaces! I also had one of those in the 90s!

*Claudia thinks Ron Belkis is cute, but he's only in 7th grade. I think she actually dates him later on, when they put her back in 7th grade for awhile.

*Laine calls King Heart and he calls her Babe, LOL. These kids...

*Mallory and Ben get into a fight in this book...over the card catalog?? They definitely win for stupidest fight ever...I'd love to know how this even happened.

*Kristy cancels the Friday BSC meeting because of the dance? This definitely does not sound like her.

*We learn that Stacey bought a clown on a home shopping show? I love that under her "sophisticated" exterior she's got a dorky side. 

Books mentioned:

*The Clue of the Tapping Heels (Nancy Drew)

*Laine is reading A Summer of Diamonds. Unfortunately this appears to be fictional, but her summary of it is fantastic. 

*Mrs. McGill is reading The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

*Stacey's reading Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

My rating:

3.5 stars, kind of slow, but there's some good stuff in here.

The BSC...Where Are They Now?

 

To celebrate hitting book #50 in the regular series, I wanted to post something different, just for fun. Not to mention, when you're reading so many of these books, you start to think about things like this. Years ago, I read Sweet Valley Confidential, and like many others, I absolutely hated it. The idea got me thinking about the BSC though, and wishing something similar would be released for them. Since it never has, I want to come up with my own.

Now, to be clear, I'm far from the first blogger to come up with this idea. I've seen these on quite a few other blogs. The ones I've come across weren't very serious though, they were more dark and snarky. It doesn't really bring me any type of amusement to imagine my beloved childhood characters dying in car accidents or having multiple abortions. I want to write one that my eight year old self would approve of. Is it also wish fulfilment? Most definitely. We could all use some of that, especially this year.

Some of the younger characters I feel like we don't know enough about to really speculate on how they will end up. If that changes in later books, I might update this. For now, this is what I came up with.

Kristy Thomas:

*Continues a babysitting business through high school, even though she has to find almost all new members when her original club  moves on to new things. Also keeps busy playing several sports and coaching kids.

*After graduation, she goes to a local college while living at home. She remains involved in sports, various clubs, coaching, and of course, still babysitting to earn her own money. While in college, she decides coaching is her main passion, and gets her teaching credentials. 

*When she finishes college, she gets a job coaching and teaching PE at SHS. She also coaches little league and works at the Boys and Girls Club during the summers.

*She remains living in Stoneybrook, but only remains close with Mary Anne and Stacey from the former BSC.

*She dates only boys until her late 20s, when she finally figures out her sexuality. After some internal struggle and a slow coming out, she begins dating women. Suddenly everything makes much more sense to her, as there is a world of difference in how it makes her feel. (Her entire family is very supportive and happy for her. Most of them already knew she was gay long ago.) The coming out process is also helped by her free spirited step-sister, Karen (more on this later!). 

*In her late 30s she gets married to a divorced single mom with one child, a three year old son. She's a restaurant manager, a great mom, as well as serious, quiet, and a great listener. The marriage is a happy one. Kristy doesn't have any other kids of her own, but is a wonderful stepmom, and a devoted aunt (see below!). She babysits for her nieces and nephews whenever she can.

Mary Anne Spier:

*Only original BSC member to remain in the club with Kristy in high school. She dates quite a bit, all long term relationships, but never gets back together with Logan.

*Goes to college in NYC, her dream. She attends NYU with Stacey, and they remain close. During her junior year she studies abroad in London. Her major is English, and she also decides to get a teaching credential. Student teaching is a disaster for her though, and she ultimately decides littler kids are her passion, and becomes a preschool teacher.

*In her early 30s she marries the single father of one of her former students. He's divorced, with two young children. Mary Anne wants to have children right away, but they end up struggling for years with infertility. Instead they adopt two children together, both as newborns. 

*She remains on the East Coast, but travels a lot with her family. Her father Richard also moves after his retirement so he can be close to her and her children. (He's a wonderful and attentive grandpa.)

*Mary Anne also remains lifelong friends with Kristy and Stacey, but keeps in touch with everyone in the former BSC. She never misses a Christmas card or a birthday. Her and Dawn are not very close as adults, although they of course remain family.

*When all her children are grown, she fills her empty nest with cats.

Claudia Kishi:

*Quits the BSC after 8th grade, but still babysits on her own occasionally. Instead she keeps busy in high school with dating and her art. She wins numerous art prizes, and studies abroad in Italy the summer after her junior year at SHS. Despite her artistic successes in high school though, she's never a professional artist. (Sorry, but that's almost impossible to do!)

*Academically, she struggles even more in high school, and has to repeat 10th grade. After graduation, she enrolls in community college, where she's FINALLY diagnosed with a learning disability that went undetected during her years in grade school. From there, she's able to get specialized help and graduate college, even though it takes her much longer than 4 years.

*She quickly learns it's nearly impossible to make a living as an artist, and gets a job teaching art to 8th graders at SMS. Her students adore her, and she's one of the most popular teachers. She also loves the job, so she remains in Stoneybrook.

*In her late 20s she marries another local, and they have two daughters. They end up divorcing while the girls are still young, and she's a single mom for many years, before settling into a second marriage later in life. 

*In her free time, she teaches art at the Stoneybrook Community Center, and runs a very popular Etsy store. One of her daughters is also very artistic. 

*She lets her kids eat, wear, and read anything they want.

Stacey McGill:

*Also leaves the BSC after 8th grade, but unlike the others who do, she doesn't do much babysitting afterwards. Instead she enjoys spending her years at SHS trying new things, traveling, making new friends, and dating. During the summers, she works at Bellair's to make her own money. When she's 15 she starts dating Sam Thomas again, more seriously this time. By then the age difference doesn't matter. They break up towards the end of her senior year, after a pregnancy scare leads her to realize all she wants to do before getting really serious with someone.

*For college she moves back to NYC and attends NYU, majoring in fashion. That ultimately doesn't turn into a career, but she finds some success doing interior design instead. She also gets to travel quite a bit, mostly with her dad during the summers. Her and her mom are still very close, so she's constantly visiting Stoneybrook.

*After college she reconnects with Sam while she's back in Stoneybrook for a BSC reunion (organized by Kristy, of course). This time they make it work and marry young, 24 and 26, respectively. Stacey's the first BSC alum to get married. 

*Sam goes back to school after the wedding, and gets a job working for Watson's company. They live in NYC, and have three very well dressed children. Stacey continues working in interior design, and does volunteer work helping the city's homeless. 

*Stacey's lifelong friends with Claudia and Mary Anne. She also remains close to Kristy, who is now family, and very involved with her nieces and nephew. She drifts apart from the others though. Her mom ends up moving back to the city to be with her daughter and grandchildren. 

Dawn Schafer:

*She remains in California for high school, doing a lot of extracurriculars and some babysitting. During her high school summers, she returns to Stoneybrook to visit her mom. On these trips she always sees the other former BSC girls, but as time goes on they drift apart. 

*After high school she opts out of college, and finds work in restaurants while searching for her passion. 

*She gets pregnant in her early 20s, during this period of searching. Her boyfriend is too young to deal with it, and isn't involved. She becomes a single mom, as well as the first BSC alum to become a parent. Her father and Jeff help out a lot with her son though, and she lives at home with them for many years.

*Eventually she decides she needs a fresh start, and moves to San Diego. There, she opens her own vegan restaurant. It's a modest success, and she enjoys the work, especially spreading the word about healthy eating. (Her son is also raised vegetarian.)

*Dawn never marries or finds "the one", but has several serious relationships, and a lot of friends. She also does volunteer work, rescues strays, and refuses to drive or own a car. After saving enough money, she buys a tiny house and has an organic vegetable garden.

*After she retires, she teaches an adult education class about global warming.

*She never gets to live close by her mom again. Sharon remains with Richard, and they live out on the East Coast, close to Mary Anne's family. Dawn usually sees them only once a year. Her and Mary Anne aren't very close as adults either, although Dawn is the maid of honor in her wedding. 

Mallory Pike:

*By high school, Mal starts rebelling from her parents, who she feels never let her do anything. She ends up messing up her high school grades, but she's still smart enough that they aren't terrible. Tired of her parents nagging her about her wasted potential, she skips college and tries to make it as a writer without going. 

*This doesn't go very well, and by her early 20s she's reconciled with her parents, is back living at home, and attending night school to graduate with a creative writing degree. During the days, she works as a barista. 

*Eventually gets her BA and ends up doing freelance editing work, lots of textbooks mainly. She keeps writing off and on but never gets anything published. (Her sister Vanessa does however, making family reunions a bit strained.)

*Relocates to LA, and later Portland, Oregon, where she marries and divorces. She never has any kids of her own...she feels like she's already raised 7. Plus she has tons of nieces and nephews to spoil, because all the other Pike kids except Jordan have children.

*Continues dating, but decides to never marry again.

*She does get contact lenses for awhile, but never gets that nose job.

Jessi Ramsey:

*Keeps doing ballet through high school, and also participates in the SHS dance team. Remains a perfectionist, doing a lot of extracurriculars and getting straight As. She does mostly stop babysitting though, due to her busy schedule. 

*After graduation she goes to Georgetown, the only BSC alum to attend an ivy league school. She devotes herself to academics there and mostly gives up ballet, because of her demanding course schedule. Following some searching for her passion, she decides to major in law.

*Once she earns her degree, she begins working an entry level job in DC, ultimately becoming a campaign manager.

*She marries in her mid 20s, and has a daughter, but the marriage doesn't work out. After a stint as a single mom, she ultimately remarries and has another child, a boy. Her second husband also has three children from another marriage. Both of her children take dance classes.

Karen Brewer:

(No, unlike a lot of BSC re-readers, I do not hate Karen. I read the Little Sister books before the BSC ones, and she was my first beloved book character ever. Is she annoying to me now? Yes. Because she's a seven year old kid, and I'm not anymore. Otherwise, I find nothing wrong with her at all.)

*Remains interested in storytelling, and ends up going to a small liberal arts college in Rhode Island, where she majors in English, tries out tons of new extracurriculars, and dabbles in Wicca. She also comes out as bisexual her sophomore year, and dates around a lot, just having fun.

*After college, she remains on the East Coast to be near her family. In her late 20s she marries a man and has four kids. Finally, she gets to be in a loud, busy household full time.

*Works in a library, and starts seriously writing while her children are small. She gets published after a few years of trying, and ultimately becomes a wildly successful author of spooky book series for children. Her main book series are Shivers & Spooks, Campfire Nights, and The Coven, as well as numerous spin-offs. Eventually she outsells R. L. Stine.

*She repeatedly tries to get a paranormal tv show to investigate her father's mansion, but without success until she's famous. When they finally agree to do an episode, there are numerous strange occurrences recorded on the third floor. 

*Despite some hard times, she works hard to make her marriage a success, so that her children never have to be two-twos. 

Charlie Thomas:

*Marries young and becomes the kind, responsible, hard working father that he never had himself. 

*Remains in Connecticut with his wife, moving to another small town. There, he works as a mechanic, and eventually owns his own place. 

*Has five children of his own, and is a good uncle to all his nieces and nephews, as well as always being there when one of his siblings needs him. 

Janine Kishi:

*Mellows out during college, when her interests also expand a great deal. She attends Princeton, and earns a degree in computer science.

*Works doing freelance computer science for various companies.

*Marries in her early 30s, and has one child. 

*Her and Claudia are very close as adults, getting together often. 

Whew, that's all for now! When I get further in the series I will add Abby, Logan, and probably a few others. I also wanted to do Andrew Brewer and David Michael Thomas, but we don't really know a lot about them.

#50: Dawn's Big Date

 

Thoughts before reading:

This book is a rarity: one I read as a kid and didn't particularly like. I was around 8-9 when I first read this, so all the dating stuff bored me. Also, since I loved Dawn, I hated her acting different, especially for a boy. I remember also being concerned that dating seemed hard and stressful, and you might have to act different around boys. At one point I had my own copy of this, but it was one of the ones I traded in for new books.

They really set the plot of this up awhile ago. It was way back in Dawn and the Older Boy, #37, that Dawn and Lewis were mentioned. That was also the other book where Dawn changed herself for a boy, and apparently, didn't learn anything.

The basics:

Mary Anne mentions to Dawn that Lewis, Logan's cousin, is coming for a visit soon. (Remember, he and Dawn have been writing to each other for awhile, but have never met.) Dawn promptly begins worrying that he won't like her, based on the fact that no boy has ever liked her before.

It's also New Years time, and the Schafer-Spier family is having a party to celebrate. Dawn and Mary Anne are also inviting the whole BSC over for a sleepover on New Year's Eve. At the sleepover, everyone is talking about boys/crushes, and Dawn starts to feel left out. She feels even worse when everyone but Mal and Jessi call a boy at midnight. Since she's the only older girl without someone to call, she's mortified and feels like she's behind. All of this gets her worrying about Lewis even more. She silently makes a resolution to get a boyfriend and become attractive to boys.

Meanwhile, the BSC has just acquired a new client, the Hill family. They have a nine year old daughter named Sarah, and a seven year old son, Norman. Dawn gets the first job sitting for them. Norman turns out to be very overweight, and the whole time Dawn's there he's sneaking junk food. Sarah constantly nags him about his eating habits, orders him around, and even teases him alongside her friend, Elizabeth. Through them, Dawn learns that the kids at school call him Enormous Hill, information sadly gained when the girls build a snowman and start calling it by that name in front of Norman. He tells Dawn that he's used to being teased all the time, but he likes to eat and doesn't want to change. His parents are apparently always on his case about his weight too, and are sending him to fat camp over the summer unless he loses twenty pounds before then. Dawn feels bad for him, and is upset over the whole situation.

All her worrying about Lewis's visit finally leads to Dawn deciding to make herself over to see if boys will like her more, Lewis being her test case. She's embarrassed to admit her plan to anyone though, because it will shatter her image as an individualist (rightly so...). Mary Anne sees her looking through a fashion magazine however, and is all over the idea of giving Dawn a makeover. Dawn ends up loving her hair and makeup all done up, and sends Lewis a picture. It's not long before Dawn decides she also needs a "cooler" attitude to go with her new, edgier look: less people pleasing, more not caring about anything. She even mouths off in class, which makes the popular kids take notice of her. This encourages her to keep up "Project New Dawn". However, she soon ends up mad at all her BSC friends because she thinks they don't want her to change, when in reality they are just (rightly) concerned.

When Lewis's visit finally arrives, Dawn dresses up in one of her new, edgy outfits and goes with Mary Anne and Logan to meet him at the airport. She's too nervous to talk much though, so she ends up thinking Lewis hates her right off the bat. Now she's even more worked up about the big double date that Mary Anne has planned. Dawn prepares for it by getting even more made up, and reading a bunch of dating tips in magazines. Needless to say, the date is an absolute disaster. Lewis seems nice, but things with him and Dawn are awkward, and Mary Anne makes it way worse by constantly butting in and coaching her. The girls end up fighting when they get home, because Mary Anne has the nerve to be mad that Dawn didn't listen to her enough, and Dawn's angry that she kept interfering. 

Kristy cleverly gets Mary Anne and Dawn to talk again after the fight by calling them repeatedly about Norman's problems, then making them both get on the line to discuss the situation. Dawn realizes her problem is like Norman's: if everyone left her alone, she could handle things better. She decides to see Lewis again, alone. 

Unfortunately the solo date with Lewis doesn't go well either, until Dawn realizes it's too much work trying to be someone she's not. She apologizes to Lewis for the way she's been acting, and he's relieved, telling her that he really liked her before, in the letters. She rushes home to undo her "look", and return to the real Dawn. Then they hang out for real, talking in the barn, then trying out some health food, which Lewis actually ends up liking.

Inspired by her success, Dawn decides to talk to Mary Anne about how badly she made her feel, and for once Mary Anne apologizes. Everyone has one last double date that goes well, and even ends with a first kiss for Dawn and Lewis. They decide to keep writing to each other, and Dawn finally learns that the real her is special, and she should have confidence in that.

Encouraged by the BSC, Norman starts standing up to his sister, which actually makes her begin to treat him better. He also tells his parents how badly they are making him feel about himself, and they agree to ease up. Norman decides to try and lose weight himself before the summer, by pretending he's Stacey and junk food will make him sick. 

Timeline:

The very end of December, then most of January. This one actually follows the timeline continuity of Snowbound, the last book, which is a rarity. It's even mentioned that Jeff is still visiting.

My thoughts:

Well get comfortable, because I really have some opinions on this one!

First of all, I was expecting to be really annoyed by Dawn, but mostly I just felt bad for her in here. Yes, it still really bothers me that she has done this multiple times and not learned from it, but at least she finally does. Who hasn't felt like Dawn in this book? We've all changed parts of ourselves for someone, especially as teenage girls. I've done it and learned the hard way, seen others do it, and had a best friend in high school who did it constantly. At Dawn's age, everyone is still trying to figure out who they are, and trying on different identities. I wish I'd paid more attention to the great messages about being true to yourself that this book has to offer, instead of dismissing it as a story where a girl changes herself for a boy. If I had, it might have stuck with me when I got older and faced similar situations. When I first started reading this, it was really hurting my feminist heart, but when I realized where the story was going, I also realized this is something positive for young girls to read about, and hopefully learn from.

I totally forgot about the Normal Hill storyline until I started re-reading this. Even though I didn't like this book much as a kid, I loved his storyline because I had an unhealthy fixation on weight as a kid. This was because I thought I was fat (I wasn't). This time around, I didn't love the way the "fat" storyline was handled. Being overweight doesn't equal being miserable and sneaking junk food all the time, just like being thin doesn't automatically make you happier. Once again, it comes down to being true to yourself. Problems aside though, it was a good storyline, and my favorite babysitting one so far. It tied perfectly into Dawn's struggle, for starters. He learned the same lessons, even standing up to his family to do it. I think overall it could be helpful for young readers, even if the actual messages about being overweight were outdated. It's my hope we will see Normal again in later books, happier and healthier, no matter what he weighs. I would have liked to see the point made that it's health and happiness that matter, not the number on the scale.

The worst part of this book for me, which will not surprise anyone following this blog, was...Mary Anne! She was at her most annoying in here, butting in way too much, being really critical, and acting like some dating expert. She actually scolds Dawn for not talking to Lewis when they first meet. Really rich coming from her, someone supposed to be shy and sensitive. She was the same way when she first met Logan! Also, once again in here, she's the polar opposite of sensitive and caring. Her constant coaching makes Dawn way more nervous. She also kept saying "Logan already likes me the way I am" to Dawn, until I was wishing Dawn would slap her. Did she do all this makeover stuff to herself when she first met Logan? No. Then on the actual date, Mary Anne was coaching Dawn and correcting her, right in front of Lewis! How could that be anything but an awkward disaster? When they get home from the date, she has the nerve to tell Dawn, "the least you can do is thank me, I tried as hard as I could to make this date a success. It's not my fault you did everything wrong. I did the best I could." (pg 114) Are you fucking kidding me?? Doesn't she think Dawn feels bad enough? She took all Mary Anne's bad advice anyway, and MA has seen firsthand how hard she's tried. I was fuming by this point.

Misc:

*Ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn

*Dawn's mom still has a New Year's banner from 1979, haha.

*Jessi says she's been sent to bed before midnight every previous New Year's? Seems overly strict to me. Didn't she ever go to a friend's house or a family party before this year?

*The triplets and Jeff hiding in the secret passage during the sleepover to spy on the girls, then teasing them about the boys they like, was hilarious. I love the cute scenes like these between the characters.

*Kristy's New Year's Eve call to Bart? "Happy New Year, Bart-Man!" Followed by her immediately hanging up. LOL, sounds about right!

*Everyone's resolutions, shared during the sleepover. I always love when characters make these:

Kristy: Make the Krushers a winning team

Mary Anne: Be less shy (because it's hard on Logan and she wants him to be happy-gag me!)

Claudia: Do better in school

Mallory: Stop worrying about how she looks in braces (yawn)

Jessi: Do a ballotte, an advances ballet jump

Stacey: Stop wishing she can eat foods she can't have

Dawn: She says she wants to do something more interesting with her hair, but she really wants to get a boyfriend and become more attractive to boys (and I still want to know why she loses her confidence and easy-going nature when boys are involved!)

*If the Hills honestly wanted to help Norman, why were they keeping any junk food in the house that he could get into? Surely the whole family could model healthy eating for him. He's only 7! Plus he's so young he'd have a hard time getting any junk food elsewhere by himself.

*The scene where Dawn mouths off in class was hilarious! The teacher asks her for the two common types of igneous rock, and she answers heavy metal and pop, haha!

*Dawn sassing Kristy in here was also amazing.

*Dawn says she's never chewed gum before, which I found hard to believe. Not even as a little kid?

*Another reason to like Stacey: she's great with Norman, comforting him while also challenging him, and she's the one to encourage him to talk to his parents about his feelings.

*Error on page 118, there's a quotation mark after narration.

*Apparently Mary Anne is really good at bowling?

*I really liked how Richard and Sharon bit their tongues about Dawn's new look and behavior, letting her figure things out for herself.

Books mentioned:

*The Marvel Encyclopedia of Super Heroes

My rating:

4 stars, I actually really liked this book this time around. It has a lot going on.

Super Special #7: Snowbound

 

Thoughts before reading:

I've never read this one before, and I can't drum up much excitement for it either. I really just want to get back to the regular series. By now I've hit the point where sometimes I have to read a few books just to get to the next book in the regular series, which can be frustrating. It tends to make it feel like I'm not making any progress, but I am glad to be finally reading the real continuity order for the first time.

I do like this cover though! The kids shown here, who I'm assuming are Claire and Margo, are so cute! Too often the characters shown on the covers look really strange, so this is a nice change. 

The basics:

When this story opens, the blizzard is already over, and we learn the BSC girls are keeping records of their experiences during the snowstorm in an attempt to get to write an article for the local newspaper. We then go back to before the storm to start finding out what happened to everyone. (Same format as the BSC Island Adventure, basically.)

The Winter Wonderland dance is coming up at SMS, and for the first time all seven BSC members have dates. Even Kristy's excited about it, since she's going with Bart. Everyone has also eagerly been awaiting the first snowfall of the season, which keeps being predicted but not actually happening. In addition to the upcoming dance, everyone has a lot going on during this week. It's almost Christmas, and Dawn is extra excited because Jeff is coming for a visit. Mary Anne and Mallory have an almost 24 hour sitting job for Mal's siblings, from very early morning to 1 AM that same night, so Mary Anne will be staying two nights at the Pikes'. A big snowstorm is predicted on Wednesday, the same day as the job and Jeff coming, but after all the false alarms lately, no one believes it. 

Wednesday afternoon arrives with the weather still clear, so Stacey's mom agrees to drive her to Washington Mall to get a perm for the dance. Kristy invites Bart over that afternoon to watch movies, since the BSC meeting that day is cancelled due to everyone being busy (a first!). Jessi has a part in the Nutcracker at her ballet school, and she has a rehearsal on Wednesday. Quint is coming in from New York for the dance that same day. Dawn and her mom go together to pick Jeff up from the airport. Claudia has a sitting job at the Perkins'. Mr. and Mrs. Pike leave for their trip early Wednesday morning, as planned.

As the afternoon wears on though, the snow hits hard, just as predicted. By the time Jessi's rehearsal ends, it's snowing so hard that no one's parents have been able to make it to the school to pick their kids up. Jessi isn't able to get through to her own parents, and she's extra worried since her dad was also going to pick Quint up at the station on his way to get her. She keeps busy helping the little kids at the school who are scared though, and it's not long before Quint shows up, having walked there from the station. They stay overnight at the dance school, until the next day when the roads clear and parents start arriving.

Dawn and her mom are still on the way to the airport when it starts snowing, and they almost get into several accidents on the way. When they finally arrive, it's only to learn Jeff's flight has been delayed due to the bad weather. It's then re-routed to DC. Dawn and her mom are stuck at the airport all night, until he finally lands around 11 AM on Thursday.

Bart ends up getting snowed in at Kristy's overnight, because the storm is too bad for him to even get home down the street. Kristy's mortified because her little siblings are already embarrassing her in front of him. She even wakes up early on Thursday morning so Bart won't see her right after she's woken up. Then she proceeds to shave her legs for the first time, do her hair, makeup, and dress up. Of course, her brothers have a great time teasing her about it all day.

On the way home from the mall, Stacey's mom is forced to pull over because she can't see at all in the snow. After realizing it's not going to let up anytime soon, she decides to try to make it home anyway, but now the car is stuck in the snow and won't move. They wait in the car, trying to keep warm and decide what to do, but the car runs out of gas and the heater stops working. Since there's also no food for Stacey, the situation is dire. Luckily a man driving by pulls over to help them. He lives nearby and invites them to come stay the night. Out of options, they accept the ride, even though Stacey's terrified of getting murdered (very valid, this is a perfect horror movie set-up...). He turns out to have a wife and a baby at home, and they are very welcoming.

Claudia ends up staying with the Perkins girls overnight, because their parents are also stuck and unable to come home. The power goes out, and she can't find Chewy. Her mom comes over to check on her and help out, but Claudia insists she doesn't need to stay the night. Chewy turns up in the morning, safe and sound. He was just stuck in the basement. 

The Pike parents are also stuck of course, but the kids are mostly unconcerned. Mallory and Mary Anne become worried though, because there isn't enough food in the house for everyone (apparently Mrs. Pike only left enough for the one day?). Thursday morning Logan skies over to the Pike house to bring food for everyone, after Mary Anne calls him to whine about being hungry. That morning Mary Anne also notices that Stacey and her mom still aren't home. The BSC members all begin to call each other and check in, and they realize Stacey and her mom are missing.

Later that day, Stacey finally gets back home. Everyone reunites, the dance is still on, and their article gets published.

Timeline:

It's December, the second snowy season of 8th grade so far. The other was in #41. This book also has the first mentions of Christmas so far during the 8th grade school year.

My thoughts:

This was undeniably over the top and crazy, but it was very entertaining. There was actually a lot to enjoy in here, despite the wacky plot. I really enjoyed the family dynamics, something we rarely get to see. A lot of the BSC parents were actually around for this story, and for once they actually remembered their daughters are only 11-13 and need help from adults sometimes. I liked the way the adults were written also, overall. They actually acted like parents and made mostly decent decisions. It was also nice to just have something different, where we see the characters in totally new situations. The disaster was actually plausible too, compared with getting shipwrecked especially, haha. This actually read like something that could happen. Plus, no babysitting chapters!

By far my favorite aspect of this story was the playful banter between Stacey and her mom. I'm really loving their relationship dynamic now that it's just the two of them most of the time. It was too cute when her mom was teasing her for not dressing warmly enough, and Stacey replies that she only has to get from the car to the mall. Her mom's response? "I'm sure I never acted anything like you when I was 13", jokingly. She also switches Stacey's Tin Can Voices cassette tape for Vivaldi, which Stacey claims is cruelty to children. It's all much funnier in context of course, but trust me, it's a great scene.

Once again, the Pike parents were the worst adults in this book. Now, I don't live where it snows, so I'm no expert, and not familiar with what people do in these situations, but is it normal that everyone left home and made all these plans? Or was it just because no one really believed it would snow at all? With even a prediction of snow, I found it laughable that Mr. and Mrs. Pike would go out of town, and leave their kids with hardly any food in the house. How does this even really happen? Doesn't everyone have stuffed pushed to the backs of shelves or the freezer that never seems to go anywhere? Either way, why risk it? Just do a quick grocery run before leaving your children alone with babysitters too young to drive...

Misc:

*Everyone's dates for the dance are as follows: Claudia with Iri Mitsuhashi, Mal with Ben Hobart, Jessi with Quint Walter, Kristy with Bart Taylor, Dawn with Price Irving, Mary Anne with Logan, and Stacey with Austin Bentley.

*The Ramseys were letting Quint come from NYC for a dance with their sixth grader daughter, and stay with them for a few days? Damn, I bet Aunt Cecelia hit the roof!

*I found it very hard to believe that Mr. Spier would let Mary Anne stay over at Mal's on two school nights in a row, and babysit that long. What about her homework and other responsibilities? He's gotten very lenient. 

*Dawn's mom accidently hit the neighbors' cow mailbox driving in the snow, and cusses in front of her for the first time, LOL

*This was another Super Special that actually had nice illustrations.

*The little Pike kids weren't upset in the slightest that their parents weren't able to get home. This is probably because they hardly see their parents anyway...

*I loved that no one's parents could make it home, but Mary Anne and Mallory still thought they could get pizza delivered...

*Kristy wasn't quite herself in this book, worrying so much about Bart staying over and her appearance. I'd panic too in her situation though. I did like her rant about how girls have to deal with hair and makeup, while boys don't, and how boring/time consuming it is to do all that everyday. That's exactly how I've always felt.

*There was a really long break in Stacey's chapters after her mom accepted the ride from the stranger, to build up tension about what happened to her. If I'd read this as a kid I would have been freaking out.

*Typo on pg 222: "I was pretty sure that a phone call saying Snowbound! was going to be published". Obviously supposed to be "an ARTICLE". 

Books mentioned:

*Katy and the Big Snow, by Virginia Lee Burton

*The Night Before Christmas, by Various

My rating:

4 stars, highly entertaining and something different. 

Mystery #2: Beware, Dawn!

 

Thoughts before reading:

I've never read this one before, and I don't know much of anything about it going in either. It sounds fairly similar to Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls though. Hopefully it has a better twist...also hoping it will be better than the first mystery. I know when I was a kid I liked the mystery books, but not enough that any of them really stood out as favorites. 

This cover brings to mind a Fear Street book more than a BSC one. They were definitely trying to appeal to the fans who liked things spookier with this. 

The basics:

David Michael tells Dawn that the neighborhood kids are having a "best babysitter" contest, and submitting the winner to the newspaper. She immediately starts trying to up her babysitting game and be the perfect sitter. It's not long before the whole BSC knows and starts discussing the contest. They all really want to win, because then they would know much much the kids really like them. Stacey wisely reminds everyone that they need to work together and not get competitive, because then they forget about teamwork and only care about winning, which never leads anywhere good. 

Dawn's sitting for the Hobart boys and witnesses Zach and his friend Mel still teasing them, and she tries to intervene to help. Not long after, she's on another sitting job for Jenny P, and somebody calls but doesn't say anything. Someone then rings the doorbell, but no one is outside when she goes to check. There's just a white envelope on the porch, and inside is a note made of letters cut from magazines. It says "You better watch out, you netter not shout. I'm going to get you. -Mr. X". She's understandably freaked out, but decides not to tell anyone because it might risk her winning the contest. 

The other BSC members start getting harassed by Mr. X too, but no one says anything about it to each other, also because of the contest. Mr. X also leaves dead flowers for Jessi, threatens the Pikes' hamster Frodo, smears baked beans on the porch of Charlotte's house while Claudia's sitting, and leaves a dead mouse on the Pike porch. After all these incidents, the girls finally admit about Mr. X to each other, and it turns out he's bothered everyone but Kristy. Dawn wonders if she could be behind it.

Jamie Newton mentions that Mel Tucker, Zach's friend, has been doing "secret babysitting checks" for the contest. Dawn realizes what this must really mean, and the girls decide to set a trap and catch him in the act. They have Dawn spread the word that she's going to be home alone all night babysitting for her cousin, then the whole BSC hides in her house. It doesn't take long before the girls begin to hear noises coming from the secret passage, and they catch Mel out there trying to scare them. Once caught, he bursts into tears, and they actually end up comforting him.

The girls (generously) realize he's just a troubled boy who needs help, and decide to go easy on him. When asked, he explains his motive for creating Mr. X: they got him in trouble by telling Mrs. Hobart that he was teasing her kids. Even after all this, Mel doesn't get what the big deal about the bullying was. Kristy tries to explain to him that you can't tease people for being different. The BSC tells the Tuckers about what has been going on, and they explain Mel has been having a hard time lately, but they will be taking him to a child psychiatrist. 

The big babysitting contest ends very predictably: in a seven way tie. 

Timeline:

No indications in here.

My thoughts:

Well, this was a definite let down, and didn't do any better as a mystery than the first book. We've never really heard anything about Mel before this book, so this had a really unsatisfying pay off. They would have been better off having Zach be the culprit instead, since we've dealt with him several times. Also, like all the books with a mystery element, Mel was mentioned early in the story, right alongside his motive. Since Mel was harassing the girls while they were babysitting, this was essentially non-stop babysitting chapters, which also made it boring. The contest storyline was even worse, since it was completely pointless in the end. What are the odds that there would be a seven way tie? Why can't these books ever just go the harder, more realistic route and let somebody actually stand out and win something like this? 

The only redeeming factor this book had for me was the ending. I liked how the girls handled Mel. Even though he had genuinely terrified them, they had a lot of empathy and dealt with him maturely. His parents were also really understanding of the seriousness of what was going on, instead of being in denial. Or even worse in these books, sometimes the parents don't even get involved much when something serious happens (Claudia and the Bad Joke, I'm looking at you here...). Not only that, but his parents are actually seeking help for their son, instead of giving him a mild, BSC-verse punishment. There was also a gentle discussion about therapy in here, including its benefits. Kristy told Mel about the "feelings doctor", and how he will be able to help Mel understand why he feels angry or sad, and how to feel better. A truly troubled child who needs serious help has never been addressed before, even though I would argue we have seen a few such kids already. I know kids will just do crazy things sometimes, but I would have really liked to see some other things taken this seriously. Betsy Sobak could use some actual help, and so could Kerry Hunter (see #19 and #25). I'm also tired of how all the kids get away with bullying, so it was nice to know Mel got in trouble for it, even though it wasn't a scene in the book.

I think emotionally troubled kids, bullies or bullied, or kids who deal with depression, anger issues, or difficult life situations could all benefit from this storyline and find some comfort in here. Another very well handled subject, and one I definitely wasn't expecting, even though it was pretty brief. I just wish they had found a more compelling story to use to say these things.

Misc:

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles

*Mallory and Ben went to the library together, which was big BSC news.

*I did briefly suspect Kristy too, not going to lie, but it doesn't really make any sense that she would do anything to risk her club. Even she isn't that competitive.

*Oh and the reason only Kristy never got harassed? Because she lived too far away, and she mostly sits in her neighborhood. He could have still called her though?

*This is yet another book where Stacey was the most mature one...I know I say that all the time, but that's because it keeps being true.

*A lot of Mel's notes were honestly disturbing, so I think I would have found this scary as a kid. I'm very glad he's getting professional help...I wonder if we will hear anything about him again, and whether or not he's doing better.

Books mentioned:

*Muggie Maggie, by Beverly Cleary

My rating:

2.5 stars, really boring. I did add half a star though, for this addressing a truly troubled child for the first time. 

#49: Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street

 

Thoughts before reading:

This was another of my absolute favorites! I loved Rosie Wilder when I was a kid. We were around the same age, so I related more to her than the older girls, and I wanted to be just like her, so I re-read this constantly. I always dreamed of being the kind of kid who took tons of lessons, went to private school, and had a bunch of talents. I was already a perfectionist, and did well in school, but I always longed to be a genius. (If all this sounds really dorky, it was. I was a kid with a boring life, mostly just stuck at home if I wasn't in school.) Around the time of my BSC obsession, I was also really into playing pretend that I was a book character. I used to read this one, then play a game where I pretended to be Rosie Wilder and followed her schedule. Keep in mind, I had a lot of free time, and I lot of imagination. 

The summary on the back of the book says that Rosie is so annoying even Janine doesn't like her, so I'm very interested to see what I think now. I do really like Janine on this re-read though, so this seems a bit harsh already.

The basics:

Claudia's watching a documentary on Andy Warhol and trying to think of a new art project when the idea for Junk Food Fantasy hits. She decides to work on a series of pop art paintings capturing her favorite junk foods. Excited to have a new project, she immediately sets to work.

The BSC gets a call from a new client, Mrs. Wilder. She needs a sitter three times a week for awhile because her mother has fallen ill and needs her help. Her daughter Rosie is seven, and an only child. Claudia thinks that Mrs. Wilder sounds a bit odd on the phone, but she takes the job.

Rosie turns out to be very smart, taking tons of lessons, and full of talents. She plays the piano, sings, tap dances, does ballet, and acts, as well as doing crossword puzzle competitions at school. Claudia's impressed but a bit intimidated that this seven year old is smarter than she is. She also finds Rosie obnoxious, and quickly comes to dread the sitting jobs with her. Claudia also struggles to help Rosie with her homework, so she enlists Janine to help. 

Stacey also babysits for Rosie on a day that Claudia isn't free, and it also happens to be the day that a tv host named Uncle Dandy is coming over to audition Rosie for his talent show. They ask Stacey to read lines with Rosie, and she winds up mortified because she's nervous and fumbles most of her lines while Rosie does perfectly. Shortly after, Jessi also has an embarrassing time sitting for Rosie, and Rosie tells her she only wants Claudia to babysit her because she likes Claudia the best. 

As the jobs continue, Claudia notices that Rosie never seems happy when she's doing any of her lessons or talents, and she begins to realize she's only doing all these things because she feels like she has to. She actually doesn't like any of them. This is confirmed one day when Rosie is watching Claudia work on her junk food sketches and ends up joining in. Rosie finally confesses to Claudia that drawing is what she really likes to do, but she hides it from her parents. 

Claudia and Mary Anne attend one of Rosie's crossword puzzle contests at her school. Rosie wins, but gets teased by the other kids the whole time and ends up crying. Claudia gives her some good advice about how difficult it is to be different. They return to Rosie's house and enjoy some downtime, drawing and goofing off. The Wilders return home and find them that way, and they are not happy, scolding Rosie for not doing something useful with her time. Rosie blows up at them (finally!) about how she hates her life because she never has any fun, she just works all the time. Claudia tries to help by telling the Wilders how talented Rosie is at art, but they immediately start trying to turn it into a career path, which makes Claudia realize the reason Rosie was hiding it. Her parents would just push her too hard and suck the fun out of it, like they did with everything else. 

Kristy has the idea for Claudia to hold an art show with her junk food painting series, and invite clients, to show kids how much fun art can be. Claudia loves the idea, and invites Rosie to also take part in it. The show goes fairly well, even though Alan Gray crashes it to play stupid jokes. Claudia even sells two of her paintings. Rosie does end up coming too, and she promises that she will stand up to her parents.

On the last day of Claudia's job with Rosie, they just relax and have fun together. Rosie tells her that she talked to her parents and told them that doing too many things was making her hate everything, and she needs more free time. They agreed with her, and Rosie decided to keep doing only math club, violin lessons, and art classes.

Timeline:

During the school year and spans about a month, which is pretty typical.

My thoughts:

This was WAY different than my childhood memory, and the first time that's happened so far. I think the actual point of this book, and Rosie's struggle, somehow went right over my head. This time around, I felt really sorry for her instead of envious. She wasn't a brat at all, just a deeply unhappy kid. This poor girl doesn't get to have any sort of childhood at all. She works at something literally all the time, having absolutely no downtime or time she's allowed to waste. Nobody can live that way, never having any fun. Her schedule is like the equivalent of several full time jobs. She also doesn't fit in with other kids as a result, not that she'd be allowed to spend any time with friends anyway. Her know-it-all persona that drives everyone crazy is just an act. If she didn't take on the persona that her parents expected from her, there's no way she could deal with living that way. I can't even guess at what they were thinking by pushing her that hard. Left unchanged, she was right on track to become a child star with crazy stage parents, then go wild rebelling as a teenager. Maybe this is an insight into why so many child stars get into drugs, partying, and serious trouble really young? Her parents were really the epitome of the type that manage their child's career to the exclusion of everything else. They don't even let her stop for ice cream because it messes up her schedule!

The set up of this book was a lot like Mallory and the Trouble With Twins, except that Rosie was much more likeable and sympathetic to me. Even though I found this book well done overall, it was yet another example of a BSC member swooping in and fixing a family. Those seem to make up about 75% of all babysitting plot books, while also being the least realistic. I'm also very suspicious of how easily the Wilders let go of everything. If they had this whole big fantasy about their daughter being a celebrity, would they really just give up because she told them she was unhappy? It certainly didn't seem like they ever cared about that before.

Misc:

*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis

*Claudia thought calculus was a roman emperor, LOL.

*If Janine's IQ was really 196, wouldn't she already be in college at 16, not just taking some college classes? That's essentially the same as the AP class set up most high schools have, and plenty of students can succeed at those just by working hard. Plus, 196 is ridiculously high.

*I liked how Claudia defended her Nancy Drew reading in here: "To me, reading is kind of like food. You can't eat filet mignon all the time. It's nice to have some ice cream and cake. Nancy Drew mysteries are my ice cream and cake." (pg 6) So true, Claud.

*Janine going to the Wilder's to help Rosie with her homework? Yet another example proving that Janine is actually a really good sister.

*Claudia's whole issue in this book is that she's really just jealous of Rosie, which also made me sad for Rosie. She clearly has this problem in most of her relationships, and all the things about her that make others jealous are things she hates, or didn't choose.

*While Janine and Rosie are working on her science homework, Claudia says she "felt about as useful as an oar on a speedboat", LOL.

*Stacey had the most compassion for Rosie, telling Claudia that conceited people are actually really insecure. Yet another reason that Stacey is awesome.

*Rosie's scene for Uncle Dandy was from a soap opera called "The Brash and the Beautiful", which I thought was also funny.

*Claudia ends up calling her exhibit "Claudia Lynn Kishi's Disposable Comestibles, a pop-art multi-media extravaganza". Quite a mouthful! Janine accidently gave her the idea.

*The two paintings Claudia sells go to Ms. Besser (remember her?) and Watson Brewer.

Books mentioned:

*Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens

*The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis

My rating:

4 stars, best babysitting plot yet. That's a real compliment too, since I hate the ones where the girls magically fix a family they just met.