Thoughts before reading:
I've never read this one before, but despite it being a babysitting plot, it sounds like a sweet story. Hopefully it's well handled and not too dated.
I'm still being surprised by how many BSC books I've never read. I thought I had read most of them, aside from those published after I outgrew the series.
The basics:
Dawn's having a great summer in California. The only weird part is that her dad has been dating a lot since he and Carol broke up. The We Love Kids Club has been busy too, and they get a call from a new client, Mr. Cater. He's looking for a sitter/companion for several weeks, for his daughter Whitney. She's twelve, and has Down's Syndrome. Dawn volunteers, pleased to have found a steady job. Mr. Cater explains that they're telling Whitney she's a new friend instead of a sitter, so as to not hurt her pride.
The situation makes Dawn a bit nervous, and she's uncomfortable that Whitney won't be told what's really going on. Despite this, the first job goes well, and she does hit it off with Whitney. The girls chat about boys and clothes, look at magazines, and even visit Sunny at her babysitting job. On another afternoon, Dawn takes Whitney shopping, and quickly becomes angry at how people stare. Even sales clerks are rude to Whitney. There's also lots of whispering, but Whitney doesn't seem to notice any of it.
Whitney buys Dawn a best friends necklace and tells her that she's her best friend in the world. Dawn's touched, and realizes Whitney really has become a friend.
For some reason, Dawn and Jeff's dad has been bringing them on a lot of his dates. They go to a carnival with him and Clarice, a woman who annoys them by repeatedly calling them children, and their dad "Schaf". Jeff torments her, attacking her at bumper cars, and egging her on to win Dawn a lime green panda that he insists she's always wanted (she doesn't). Clarice and Mr. Schafer don't go out again. only 9 days later, they go on a family date with another woman, Barbara. It's another disaster, as she's really uptight and rigid.
Next up is Karina, and she seems to be better at first. They go on a family date to an outdoor concert, where they run into Whitney. She sits with them, at which point Karina gets weird and looks repulsed by Whitney. She goes so far as to say Whitney should leave and go back to her parents, and "the scenery made her lose her appetite". (I REALLY don't want to believe this kind of stuff would really happen, but of course it does. This scene made me so angry... I just can't imagine anyone being so rude.)
Dawn and Whitney's friends-instead-of-sitter scenario continues to go well, until one afternoon when Whitney wants another ice cream sandwich after Dawn has been instructed not to let her eat past a certain time. Whitney (understandably) doesn't see why she has to listen to Dawn, and Dawn accidently lets slip that she's her babysitter. Whitney is really hurt, and things are a mess afterward. She takes back her necklace, and refuses to speak to Dawn for days. The jobs are now really awkward.
One day while Dawn's babysitting for Clover and Daffodil, they vanish from the yard. She calls the police after a neighborhood boy tells her he saw the girls going with a lady. A search is mounted, and Dawn ends up finding them with Whitney, who wanted to prove she could babysit. Dawn also bumps into Carol, who's very kind to Whitney. She makes sure to mention this to her dad later.
The last week of her job at the Caters, Whitney and Dawn finally make up. Dawn gives her the idea to make a grown up list, of things she can do, to show her parents. The girls agree to remain friends. Whitney's even made an honorary club member.
Mr. Schafer takes Dawn and Jeff on yet another disastrous date. This time, the woman has a daughter in school with Dawn, and the girls hate each other and fight the whole time. Dawn and Jeff decide to try and get their dad and Carol back together. By the end of the book, they reunite. He proposes, and they plan a December wedding.
Timeline:
It's still summer, so this happens during the same time as the last book.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker.
*In here the club's health food cookbook is an actual book, but in the past I'm pretty sure it was index cards in a file.
*This is the first non-BSC babysitting plot.
*An error on page 54 calls one of the Barrett or Dewitt kids Bryan. I'm pretty sure it was Ryan Dewitt.
*The carnival chapter was actually really funny, especially Jeff tormenting this poor woman relentlessly...
*Does anyone else think of Fast Times at Ridgemont High when they picture Cap'n Frank's Fun Fish Fry? LOL. (The location of one of the many family dates in this book.)
*ANOTHER name error, pg 69: Barbara calls Mr. Schafer "Richard". That's Mary Anne's dad. This ghostwriter really needs to brush up on BSC names.
*Mr. Schafer really needed to stop taking his kids on dates so early into his relationships with these women, yikes! What a terrible idea. This can't be good for them...
*Dawn gives Whitney the lime green stuffed panda.
*This book uses the phrase "a conglomeration of miscellany". I read way ahead of my reading level as a kid, but no way would I have known what that meant at 8.
*Mrs. Barrett and Mr. Dewitt get engaged during this book too, and their kids are all not happy.
*Mary Anne follows the Barrett kids around the house as they make booby traps and keep out signs for the Dewitt kids, but she does nothing to stop them. Somehow I don't think their mom would appreciate this babysitting technique very much.
*I really would have liked (and I think this book needed) a scene where Dawn and her father discuss Karina's behavior, and confront her on it.
*Editing error pg 105, quote marks before narration.
*Dawn was basically in an impossible situation with Whitney. I support what the Caters were trying to do for their daughter, but that was a lot of pressure to put on another kid.
*Alana calls Mr. Schafer Jack? Is that his actual name? After all the errors in names, I'm not even sure anymore.
*The Barrett-Dewitts can't even take their kids house hunting without hiring two babysitters to come along. How do these people even function?
Books mentioned:
*Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth
My rating:
3.5 stars. This subject was well handled, especially for the 90s, and the story was entertaining.
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