Original Publication Date: 1990
Ghostwriter? Nope, all Ann
Synopsis:
Mary Anne's dad suggests to her and Dawn that they plan a small surprise birthday for Dawn's mom. While at dinner, he proposes by having an engagement ring slipped over a candle on the birthday cake. Mary Anne and Dawn are thrilled: they'll be stepsisters!
Their parents plan a small wedding, but the girls talk them into a slightly larger one: a brief ceremony at a church with a few guests (including, of course, the BSC) then a dinner reception. There are a few hiccups along the way; for example, Mary Anne is the last to find out that she and her dad will move to the Schafers' house. She's worried that Dawn's mom won't get along with Tigger since she doesn't like cats, and not thrilled about leaving the only home she's ever known, but things work out. (Of course, had their parents discussed things with their children a little more, things would have been a little smoother)
By the time the wedding rolls around, most things are smoothed out. Mary Anne's still concerned about combining a vegetarian household with an omnivore one, and a little worried about the Tigger issue, but mostly it's a happy day. Since Mary Anne and Dawn have learned nothing from the book's subplot about the Arnold twins fighting because they're forced to share a room, they plan for Mary Anne to move into Dawn's room rather than the Schafer's guest room.
As many of you know, this book ends with a cliffhanger, with Dawn's mom's bouquet being thrown right toward the two girls. But just before that, Dawn surprises Mary Anne with a silver hair clip, as a "Now We're Sisters" present. I repeat, DAWN gives it to MARY ANNE. Stay tuned for what may be the most famous continuity fail.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: M&Ms under her bed, crackers in her desk
Mary Anne gives a recap of who has pierced ears and how many holes they have, and the counts all match what they were in Mallory and the Trouble with Twins. She and Kristy still plan to never pierce their ears.
Mary Anne also confirms that, due to her diabetes, Stacey has to test her urine. Stacey mentioned that Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation, but why would she tell her friends? Not that she should be ashamed of her diabetes, but what kind of conversation were they having that that would come up?
Mallory and Jessi are still making gum-wrapper chains.
These last few books have been really good about letting us know that Jessi is black without being awkward about it, none of this "But we'd still be friends with her if she were purple!" weirdness.
Claudia's leg still aches before rain.
Stacey's diabetes has been a little harder to control lately.
Mary Anne recently grew a few inches, but Dawn's still taller.
This will be important to know for the next book: sharing a room was Dawn's idea and she pushed Mary Anne into accepting it.
Their Families:
Dawn's mom doesn't like having big surprises thrust upon her (like a surprise birthday party) or waiters singing to her. Smart lady.
Charlie buys the Rust Bucket (his "new" car).
Mary Anne's dad puts off telling her about their impending move to the Schafers' because he knows it will be hard for her to hear. She must have inherited that trait from him.
Mary Anne thinks it's tacky that her Dad and Sharon invited (a small group of) people to the wedding over the phone rather than sending out mailed invitations. I'm with her on this, but at least they didn't do on Facebook.
Jeff still collects free things on the airplane ride (salt and pepper packets, that sort of thing). He is also noticeably awkward around his step-father-to-be, but tries to offer suggestions of what they can do by mentioning that he enjoys going to baseball games. Mary Anne's dad should probably have noted that and made it a point to find a sports game to go to on the family trip they take in the next book.
How awkward must this be for Jeff? He barely knows Mary Anne's dad at all.
The Club:
So, the girls are supposed to read the BSC notebook, right? Meaning they all read about the "Superbrat" back when Jessi was sitting for Derek Masters? Then why do none of them suspect that Marilyn Arnold's friend Gozzie Kunka is fake?
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
Dice is plural; die is singular (meaning, for the game pieces).
Misc:
Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad have a friend named Stu, like the McGills do. But I think it's a different Stu. This must be in vein with so many dads in the series being named John and working as attorneys; they also have friends named Stu.
When Mary Anne notices the Pike triplets laughing at scantily-clad angel in the church's stained glass window, she thinks she should tell Mallory not to let them into any museums until they're 20. I remember being at a museum with my younger brother when he was about 8...and eye-level with the statues' waists. When we saw the statue of Cupid and Psyche, he remarked, "So, Cupid's a boy, then."
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-5 (Guy, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-5 (Toby, Pete Black, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
7/19/10
Baby-sitter's Winter Vacation (SS#3)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
As part of the long-standing SMS tradition of long breaks and extravagant school outings, the entire school is going to spend a week at Leicester Lodge in Vermont. It's a mandatory trip, but some students are excused...most notably Logan, whose family had already planned a trip to Aruba. (He calls Mary Anne long distance during the week. Aww.)
Other schools are attending the lodge for the week, including sixteen underprivileged elementary students from Conway Cove in Maine. On the way to the lodge, their bus crashes in the snow. The bus driver ends up in the hospital. Their two teachers can stay with them, but have a broken arm and some cracked ribs between them. The students nearly have to head back home until the BSC steps in to help watch them for the week.
Mary Anne pines for Logan, naturally. She's insecure and worries he'll find a cute Aruba girl. She has also volunteered to be the trip historian, and winds up investigating a legend of a ghost at the lodge. She also finds out that her seventh-grade gym teacher didn't hate her, but admired her for trying so hard.
Kristy is captain of one team for the Winter War, and pushes everyone to participate. She talks several inexperienced kids into cross country skiing (the fifth event, best three out five wins, the teams are tied two-two). One newcomer breaks his ankle and Kristy feels awful about it, but she recovers by the end of the book (the boy with the broken ankle ends up okay, too).
Claudia is on the opposite team. She competes in several events and also judges one (a snow sculpture contest). Of course, Kristy's team calls foul when Claudia's team wins. I don't understand why the judges didn't leave during the sculpting and come back when it was all finished to decide on winners without the sculptors anywhere around them. Then it would have been easy to be fair. She also thinks she has a thing with her French ski instructor, Guy, but finds out he's married and has a family.
Stacey resolves to enter every event in the Winter War that she can (she's on Kristy's team). She also falls in "luv" with Pierre D'Amboise, visiting the lodge from upstate Vermont.
Dawn (on Kristy's team) also tries to enter several events, but has some clumsy moments that build on each other, which sounds like no fun at all. She looks to Mary Anne for some sympathy, but she's too busy missing Logan.
Mallory spies around the lodge, like she did in the first Super Special. She has a crazy-overactive imagination. She also worries about the dance that will be at the end of the week. What will she do about THE BOYS? Of course, she ends enjoying herself, and a classmate even asks her to dance.
Jessi organizes the SMS Talent Show. She also worries about getting hurt and ruining her chances at a ballet career and overreacts to the way an injured Conway Cove student lashes out at her, assuming she's racist. I can see how she would be sensitive to that, though. She and Mallory are on Claudia's team, which wins the Winter War.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: nothing, since they're away (there's also no real "Chapter Two" in this book)
Stacey says she's been dealing with her diabetes for "several" years even though she was just diagnosed in sixth grade. I bet it feels like several years because by this point, she's already started eighth grade twice.
Dawn compares the lodge to the hotel in The Shining, which makes sense because she's into scary stories. But the way she phrases it: "Remember the Overlook Hotel, where all the scary stuff happened?" Dawn, remember the Overlook Hotel, where almost the ENTIRE PLOT happened?
It's fitting that Stacey would have bad memories of Camp Mohawk, given her experience there.
Stacey finds the idea of being snowed in exciting, because she never saw much snow in New York City. I'm kinda with her on this; we don't have dependable snow in the Seattle area and I always get excited when we have some. And in case you're wondering, yes, I had fun when we got the ten inches in 2008.
Mallory puts her journal under her bunk mattress while at the lodge, just like at home.
Mary Anne can't stand adults missing teeth. She is "a firm believer in dentures."
Claudia still exchanges letters with Will Yamakawa from summer camp. They also talk on the phone.
Their Families:
Stacey's parents are still "in the middle of a divorce" which makes sense because those can take a while.
There's foreshadowing to Dawn and Mary Anne's becoming stepsisters.
The Club: Nothing new
SMS:
SMS students attend the Winter Carnival for the cost of a donation to the fund. I wonder how high a donation the school requires. Even though Mary Anne says the owners of the lodge cover the remaining amount, they can't afford to cover THAT much.
I hope the SMS buses have the kind of snow chains that drop down with the push of a button. I have never had to drive a bus in the snow (came close once), but it was a relief to know the chains would be easy to access. Along similar lines, it sounds like the Conway Cove bus that crashed followed protocol about setting up flares. Good job remembering your CDL manual!
Staff: Ms. Halliday (7th gym)
Students: Justin Price (sixth grade), Alvin Hopper (8th grade), Shawn Benedict, Jay Marsden, Lindsay McManus, Ethel Tines, and Miranda Elliot (grade not mentioned)
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
This book belonged to Sara Kuehl.
One night, a teacher tells a scary story the ends with the reveal that a woman's guard dog was choking on the would-be robbers fingers. I had a computer teacher in elementary who was missing a few knuckles of one finger, because he was messing around when his sister was chopping wood...and their dog ate the part that got cut off.
I gripe about misusing "us" as the subject of the sentence, so I'll take a moment here to be very, very happy that Mary Anne knows to write "if Logan were going." Because he's not, using "were" is appropriate. For example, I wish I were taller is correct over I wish I was taller, because I'm not taller. (But a few chapters later she uses "effect" instead of "affect")
Mary Anne describes the sky as "the color of mercury" which confused me, because I thought of Mercury the planet rather than mercury the element.
On the way to the lodge, the SMS boys sing (among other things) John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Once, we drove a friend back from Cle Elum to Seattle, and he sang that song at the top of his lungs.
Whoa, anachronism. The fifty-yard dash? Middle school uses meters to measure running races. That's also about the oldest age you'd have people competing in such a short distance, although indoor track and field has a sixty-meter dash.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-5 (Guy, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-5 (Toby, Pete Black, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
As part of the long-standing SMS tradition of long breaks and extravagant school outings, the entire school is going to spend a week at Leicester Lodge in Vermont. It's a mandatory trip, but some students are excused...most notably Logan, whose family had already planned a trip to Aruba. (He calls Mary Anne long distance during the week. Aww.)
Other schools are attending the lodge for the week, including sixteen underprivileged elementary students from Conway Cove in Maine. On the way to the lodge, their bus crashes in the snow. The bus driver ends up in the hospital. Their two teachers can stay with them, but have a broken arm and some cracked ribs between them. The students nearly have to head back home until the BSC steps in to help watch them for the week.
Mary Anne pines for Logan, naturally. She's insecure and worries he'll find a cute Aruba girl. She has also volunteered to be the trip historian, and winds up investigating a legend of a ghost at the lodge. She also finds out that her seventh-grade gym teacher didn't hate her, but admired her for trying so hard.
Kristy is captain of one team for the Winter War, and pushes everyone to participate. She talks several inexperienced kids into cross country skiing (the fifth event, best three out five wins, the teams are tied two-two). One newcomer breaks his ankle and Kristy feels awful about it, but she recovers by the end of the book (the boy with the broken ankle ends up okay, too).
Claudia is on the opposite team. She competes in several events and also judges one (a snow sculpture contest). Of course, Kristy's team calls foul when Claudia's team wins. I don't understand why the judges didn't leave during the sculpting and come back when it was all finished to decide on winners without the sculptors anywhere around them. Then it would have been easy to be fair. She also thinks she has a thing with her French ski instructor, Guy, but finds out he's married and has a family.
Stacey resolves to enter every event in the Winter War that she can (she's on Kristy's team). She also falls in "luv" with Pierre D'Amboise, visiting the lodge from upstate Vermont.
Dawn (on Kristy's team) also tries to enter several events, but has some clumsy moments that build on each other, which sounds like no fun at all. She looks to Mary Anne for some sympathy, but she's too busy missing Logan.
Mallory spies around the lodge, like she did in the first Super Special. She has a crazy-overactive imagination. She also worries about the dance that will be at the end of the week. What will she do about THE BOYS? Of course, she ends enjoying herself, and a classmate even asks her to dance.
Jessi organizes the SMS Talent Show. She also worries about getting hurt and ruining her chances at a ballet career and overreacts to the way an injured Conway Cove student lashes out at her, assuming she's racist. I can see how she would be sensitive to that, though. She and Mallory are on Claudia's team, which wins the Winter War.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: nothing, since they're away (there's also no real "Chapter Two" in this book)
Stacey says she's been dealing with her diabetes for "several" years even though she was just diagnosed in sixth grade. I bet it feels like several years because by this point, she's already started eighth grade twice.
Dawn compares the lodge to the hotel in The Shining, which makes sense because she's into scary stories. But the way she phrases it: "Remember the Overlook Hotel, where all the scary stuff happened?" Dawn, remember the Overlook Hotel, where almost the ENTIRE PLOT happened?
It's fitting that Stacey would have bad memories of Camp Mohawk, given her experience there.
Stacey finds the idea of being snowed in exciting, because she never saw much snow in New York City. I'm kinda with her on this; we don't have dependable snow in the Seattle area and I always get excited when we have some. And in case you're wondering, yes, I had fun when we got the ten inches in 2008.
Mallory puts her journal under her bunk mattress while at the lodge, just like at home.
Mary Anne can't stand adults missing teeth. She is "a firm believer in dentures."
Claudia still exchanges letters with Will Yamakawa from summer camp. They also talk on the phone.
Their Families:
Stacey's parents are still "in the middle of a divorce" which makes sense because those can take a while.
There's foreshadowing to Dawn and Mary Anne's becoming stepsisters.
The Club: Nothing new
SMS:
SMS students attend the Winter Carnival for the cost of a donation to the fund. I wonder how high a donation the school requires. Even though Mary Anne says the owners of the lodge cover the remaining amount, they can't afford to cover THAT much.
I hope the SMS buses have the kind of snow chains that drop down with the push of a button. I have never had to drive a bus in the snow (came close once), but it was a relief to know the chains would be easy to access. Along similar lines, it sounds like the Conway Cove bus that crashed followed protocol about setting up flares. Good job remembering your CDL manual!
Staff: Ms. Halliday (7th gym)
Students: Justin Price (sixth grade), Alvin Hopper (8th grade), Shawn Benedict, Jay Marsden, Lindsay McManus, Ethel Tines, and Miranda Elliot (grade not mentioned)
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
This book belonged to Sara Kuehl.
One night, a teacher tells a scary story the ends with the reveal that a woman's guard dog was choking on the would-be robbers fingers. I had a computer teacher in elementary who was missing a few knuckles of one finger, because he was messing around when his sister was chopping wood...and their dog ate the part that got cut off.
I gripe about misusing "us" as the subject of the sentence, so I'll take a moment here to be very, very happy that Mary Anne knows to write "if Logan were going." Because he's not, using "were" is appropriate. For example, I wish I were taller is correct over I wish I was taller, because I'm not taller. (But a few chapters later she uses "effect" instead of "affect")
Mary Anne describes the sky as "the color of mercury" which confused me, because I thought of Mercury the planet rather than mercury the element.
On the way to the lodge, the SMS boys sing (among other things) John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Once, we drove a friend back from Cle Elum to Seattle, and he sang that song at the top of his lungs.
Whoa, anachronism. The fifty-yard dash? Middle school uses meters to measure running races. That's also about the oldest age you'd have people competing in such a short distance, although indoor track and field has a sixty-meter dash.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-5 (Guy, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-5 (Toby, Pete Black, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
7/7/10
Mallory and the Mystery Diary (RS#29)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Mallory, Stacey, and Claudia explore the attic in Stacey's new house. It's full of things previous owners have left behind, including a trunk which Mallory is allowed to keep. It's mostly full of antique clothes, but Mallory also finds the diary of a twelve-year-old girl written in 1894. She's fascinated reading about it, and becomes more intrigued when she reads about the titular mystery.
Sophie (the diary's author) discovers in March that her mother is expecting a second child, but will have to be on bedrest until October, when the baby's due. She gives birth to a son named Edgar (like my husband's cat), but dies three days later. Sophie's grandfather, who we later learn is Old Hickory, is furious with Sophie's father, Jared, who he believes selfishly got his daughter pregnant when she was too weak. He's so upset that he write Jared, Sophie, and Edgar out of his will, though he does allow them to continue living their home, which he owns (and later, Stacey's mom owns). Then a painting of Sophie's mother disappears from Old Hickory's house, and the blame falls on Jared. He's essentially blacklisted. Sophie vows to clear her father's name, but the diary ends without resolution.
Meanwhile, the BSC is helping tutor Buddy Barrett in reading. Mallory does most of the work, and helps make reading fun for him. He too is intrigued by the mystery and reads Sophie's diary. He finds nothing helpful there, but searches the trunk, in which he finds Old Hickory's confession: he had the portrait of his daughter painted over but was too embarrassed to admit it, so he let the town think Jared stole it. Mallory and Buddy go back to Stacey's attic and find the painting. Stacey's mom has it restored and hangs over the mantle in the McGill's.
But one piece of the mystery is unsolved: is Sophie's father, Jared, the same Jared who supposedly haunts Dawn's secret passage? Cue Twilight Zone theme music...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Ring Dings
Mallory thinks a diary is something you write in daily, listing what happened. A journal is something you write when you feel like it about what you're feeling. I...always considered them the exact reverse. She hides her journal under her mattress.
Mallory inherited her nose from her grandfather and still think 11 is old enough for elective plastic surgery (a nose job).
Stacey and her mom moved in a week ago in this book, and we know that it's not late autumn, winter, or early spring since Mallory isn't sure if she'll be able to see into the McGill's back windows "when the trees are bare."
Dawn's "never rude." Just wait...
There's nice continuity regarding how Stacey got the moving boxes from the grocery store, and how the manager got sick and tired of seeing her.
Mallory calls Jessi every few diary entries (or should that be journal entries?) to discuss what she's read. She calls her WAY too much, which is what sparks some trouble between them in Mallory and the Dream Horse.
Dawn is "the world's neatest person." Remember that for RS#31 (Dawn's Wicked Stepsister) when Dawn thinks it's ridiculous to have separators in the silverware drawers.
Dawn's mom has been on twenty-five dates with Mary Anne's dad. Yes, you read that right, a whole 25 dates. Things are going to be moving awfully fast a moment here...
Their Families:
Mallory hates it when Vanessa speaks in rhyme. Fortunately, she hasn't for some time. (Sorry)
Bedtime is 10:00 for nine-year-old Pikes.
Emily Michelle has "another earache." I vaguely remember a Little Sister book in which Emily Michelle gets ear tubes because of her frequent ear infections, but I'm not sure if it got mentioned in any of the other series.
David Michael is still a champion whiner. And...hey, he and Emily have basically the same second name.
Mallory's brothers read Archie comics.
The Club:
Mallory says Mary Anne has yet to make a scheduling mistake, but she recently forgot to write down a job until Dawn reminded her (RS#27). Foul!
Mallory knows that Dawn called the Barretts "The Impossible Three" which means that either the BSC talks about it a lot or that Mallory's read the club notebook cover-to-cover. I wouldn't be surprised by either one.
Charlotte Johanssen pretty much gets in on the ground floor of helping solve mysteries. She's involved quite a bit in the Mystery series, and this as well.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Really, Mallory, of all people, shouldn't the aspiring writer know the "Us babysitters have discovered..." is grammatically wrong? I know writer doesn't have to mean editor, but a writer should know the subject of a sentence from the object. Especially given that just a few pages later, you know enough to write "...a girl a few years older than I" [am] rather than "...a girl a few years older than me."
Mallory also can't do math. She says the events in the diary happened over a hundred years ago. That's true now, in 2010, but 1989-1894=95, not more than 100. She should have said decades ago, because that's less specific and would still work today.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Mallory, Stacey, and Claudia explore the attic in Stacey's new house. It's full of things previous owners have left behind, including a trunk which Mallory is allowed to keep. It's mostly full of antique clothes, but Mallory also finds the diary of a twelve-year-old girl written in 1894. She's fascinated reading about it, and becomes more intrigued when she reads about the titular mystery.
Sophie (the diary's author) discovers in March that her mother is expecting a second child, but will have to be on bedrest until October, when the baby's due. She gives birth to a son named Edgar (like my husband's cat), but dies three days later. Sophie's grandfather, who we later learn is Old Hickory, is furious with Sophie's father, Jared, who he believes selfishly got his daughter pregnant when she was too weak. He's so upset that he write Jared, Sophie, and Edgar out of his will, though he does allow them to continue living their home, which he owns (and later, Stacey's mom owns). Then a painting of Sophie's mother disappears from Old Hickory's house, and the blame falls on Jared. He's essentially blacklisted. Sophie vows to clear her father's name, but the diary ends without resolution.
Meanwhile, the BSC is helping tutor Buddy Barrett in reading. Mallory does most of the work, and helps make reading fun for him. He too is intrigued by the mystery and reads Sophie's diary. He finds nothing helpful there, but searches the trunk, in which he finds Old Hickory's confession: he had the portrait of his daughter painted over but was too embarrassed to admit it, so he let the town think Jared stole it. Mallory and Buddy go back to Stacey's attic and find the painting. Stacey's mom has it restored and hangs over the mantle in the McGill's.
But one piece of the mystery is unsolved: is Sophie's father, Jared, the same Jared who supposedly haunts Dawn's secret passage? Cue Twilight Zone theme music...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Ring Dings
Mallory thinks a diary is something you write in daily, listing what happened. A journal is something you write when you feel like it about what you're feeling. I...always considered them the exact reverse. She hides her journal under her mattress.
Mallory inherited her nose from her grandfather and still think 11 is old enough for elective plastic surgery (a nose job).
Stacey and her mom moved in a week ago in this book, and we know that it's not late autumn, winter, or early spring since Mallory isn't sure if she'll be able to see into the McGill's back windows "when the trees are bare."
Dawn's "never rude." Just wait...
There's nice continuity regarding how Stacey got the moving boxes from the grocery store, and how the manager got sick and tired of seeing her.
Mallory calls Jessi every few diary entries (or should that be journal entries?) to discuss what she's read. She calls her WAY too much, which is what sparks some trouble between them in Mallory and the Dream Horse.
Dawn is "the world's neatest person." Remember that for RS#31 (Dawn's Wicked Stepsister) when Dawn thinks it's ridiculous to have separators in the silverware drawers.
Dawn's mom has been on twenty-five dates with Mary Anne's dad. Yes, you read that right, a whole 25 dates. Things are going to be moving awfully fast a moment here...
Their Families:
Mallory hates it when Vanessa speaks in rhyme. Fortunately, she hasn't for some time. (Sorry)
Bedtime is 10:00 for nine-year-old Pikes.
Emily Michelle has "another earache." I vaguely remember a Little Sister book in which Emily Michelle gets ear tubes because of her frequent ear infections, but I'm not sure if it got mentioned in any of the other series.
David Michael is still a champion whiner. And...hey, he and Emily have basically the same second name.
Mallory's brothers read Archie comics.
The Club:
Mallory says Mary Anne has yet to make a scheduling mistake, but she recently forgot to write down a job until Dawn reminded her (RS#27). Foul!
Mallory knows that Dawn called the Barretts "The Impossible Three" which means that either the BSC talks about it a lot or that Mallory's read the club notebook cover-to-cover. I wouldn't be surprised by either one.
Charlotte Johanssen pretty much gets in on the ground floor of helping solve mysteries. She's involved quite a bit in the Mystery series, and this as well.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Really, Mallory, of all people, shouldn't the aspiring writer know the "Us babysitters have discovered..." is grammatically wrong? I know writer doesn't have to mean editor, but a writer should know the subject of a sentence from the object. Especially given that just a few pages later, you know enough to write "...a girl a few years older than I" [am] rather than "...a girl a few years older than me."
Mallory also can't do math. She says the events in the diary happened over a hundred years ago. That's true now, in 2010, but 1989-1894=95, not more than 100. She should have said decades ago, because that's less specific and would still work today.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
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