Thoughts before reading:
I remember checking this one out from the library a lot as a kid, even though I never owned it. I always liked Claudia, and I liked the spooky title of this one, so it was a favorite. As a kid I didn't have anything in common with Claudia, so I didn't relate to her, but she inspired my love of Nancy Drew books and made me want to be an artist, even though I had no artistic talents whatsoever.
Going into this I didn't really remember the plot at all. There's sadly no graphic novel adaption of this one either. I do love the cover though. Claudia actually looks like a 12 year old kid here. Also, the baby on the cover is a little Kirsten Dunst!
The Basics:
This book starts off with our four girls hanging out together, bored and looking for something to do. Mary Anne is flipping through a newspaper and she sees a story about the Phantom Caller. He's a jewelry thief operating in the area who calls the house he's targeting to see if anyone is at home before coming to rob them. If someone answers, he hangs up without saying anything. The girls get nervous about dealing with potential burglars while babysitting, so they make plans (booby traps, coded phone calls, etc.). Kristy decides to bring the club notebook to school every day so they always know where each other are babysitting in case someone needs help. Not long after all this, a few of them receive hang up calls while babysitting, and become more nervous.
The other plot going on in this book is Claudia's big crush on Trevor Sandbourne, a kid in her grade she thinks doesn't know she even exists. She wants to go to the Halloween Hop with him, but is too nervous to talk to him and ends up dumping jello on his lap in the cafeteria at one point.
One night Claudia and Kristy are babysitting for Jamie Newton and his cousins when they start to hear noises outside. Claudia sees a prowler out front and calls the police, who rush over and catch Alan Gray outside. He's been stealing the BSC notebook at school to see when Kristy is sitting because he likes her and was too nervous to just ask her out. Claudia's mystery caller? Trevor Sandbourne of course.
Both girls agree to go to the dance with these boys, despite their behavior. Everyone but Mary Anne ends up attending and having a good time. And of course, right after the dance, the real Phantom is caught by police.
Timeline:
October of 7th grade
My thoughts:
Ok, where to even start with this one? I get that these boys are only 12 years old, but stealing the club notebook to see where they are sitting, so they can call and repeatedly hang up? This is creepy stalking behavior, and it's not really addressed in the book at all. Even the cops just seem mostly amused, and both girls agree to the date! Come on, these guys have been terrifying you for weeks! Plus just what exactly was Alan Gray doing outside the Newton's house? All of this is just explained away as them being too nervous to actually ask, but really? That doesn't explain all the creepy behavior.
Also, since this is a Claudia book, she talks about her struggles in school a lot and how her family is helping her with her homework. After one of her homework sessions, she's excited to go and read her Nancy Drew book. You know, the ones she has hidden all around her room because her parents don't approve of them. They aren't "real" literature. Shouldn't Claudia's parents be glad that their daughter, who has no interest in school and is often flunking, wants to read anything at all? I've never understood this. Plus, her mom is the town librarian! She should be thrilled and encouraging ANY love of reading.
There's also a babysitting chapter where Kristy is sitting for Karen and Andrew at Watson's house. Their cat, Boo Boo, gets out and kills a mouse on Mrs. Porter's porch. For those who don't remember, she's the neighbor Karen thinks is a witch. Mrs. Porter puts the pieces of dead mouse in a bag and brings them to Kristy! WTF. No wonder all the kids are terrified of her!
Misc.
*I remember being SO impressed by Claudia having her own phone line when I was a kid!
*No chapter 2 yet! The background detail is mixed in to the early chapters, which is so much better.
*Stacey has a broken VCR... I can so relate to this 90s childhood woe.
*Claudia tells us about her crush: "Trevor Sandbourne is the most gorgeous boy in the entire 7th grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. And he happens to have the most romantic name in the whole world." Haha! Well, it does sound like a soap opera name...
*I always loved how Ann M. Martin gives nods to other children's books in hers. I like to think it was to encourage a love of reading in kids even more. There were a lot of mentions in this book, so I'm going to start keeping track of them in case anyone else is interested in this.
Books mentioned:
*Claudia is reading the Nancy Drew book The Phantom of Pine Hill
*Kristy reads a Ramona Quimby book to Karen
*Claudia's reading The Pond by Robert Murphy in her English class
*Kristy's reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare for her English class
*Mary Anne is reading The Secret Garden
My rating:
3.5 stars. I enjoyed re-reading this, especially since it used to be a favorite, but I didn't recognize the weirder aspects as a kid. Back then I probably thought what the boys did was romantic...
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