Jessi and the Troublemaker (RS#82)

Original Publication Date: 1995

Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker

Synopsis:

Danielle Roberts's cancer is in remission! Great news, but her parents are being overly permissive with her, which of course comes back to bite them. The BSC sees some of the exburance and its ill effects (rollerblading in the house, trying to make a swimming pool out the shower), but it's hard for them to rein her in. Understandably, too: this is a girl who has been fighting a life-threatening disease and is now feeling well enough to act up. The BSC does talk to her parents, but they dismiss the warnings. But then Danielle actually goes for a short joyride in her parents' car with Charlotte, Becca, haley, and Vanessa and crashes (slowly) into a parked car. Her friends are ticked off, and her parents realize they do need to set some boundaries. Apologies are made and eventually status quo reigns.

Tiny subplot of Becca and Jessi thinking that their aunt is engaged, but she's actually just IN a wedding.

Also, despite her big role in resolving the conflict between Danielle and her friends, Stacey's getting a little flaky. Hmm...


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: chocolate chip cookies, Frookies (for Stacey), pretzels

Dawn still packs her lunch in wax paper, which I don't see as all that different from plastic. At least she now also uses re-useable containers.


Their Families:

I'm honestly surprised that with Aunt Cecelia taking care of so many household chores that the Ramseys' house isn't a "no shoes inside" house.

Aww, Squirt gets Goodnight Moon before bed. So does my daughter (yes, I've memorized it).

Aunt Cecelia has a "husky" chuckle. In a later book, it's revealed that she smokes; the huskiness makes sense.


The Club (and clients):

It's implied that Shannon and Logan joined after Jessi and Mallory. This isn't the first time, either.

It's also implied that the notebook entries don't have as much details as the baby-sitting chapters, as Mary Anne recounts a sitting job and goes into details that weren't in her entry. Although it seems Kristy still does expect MOST of the details.


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time:

"It was enough for today that Danielle felt good." I understand that the difference between "well" and "good" can be tricky, but published books should have editors that catch these things. "Good" is an adjective; "well" is an adverb, except when used to describe one's physical health--then it's an adjective. Unless Jessi means that Danielle has a good sense of touch, she should have used well. I'm betting the author used good because Danielle and well rhyme.

Also: Stacey was...later than I. Not later than me. Why? Because the complete sentence would be "Stacey was later than I was." At least I haven't read "Us baby-sitters are blahblahblah" yet.


Misc:

I agree with Jessi, if it's going to be cold it should go ahead and snow.

Kansas isn't square. It's not a very good rectangle, either. Pick Wyoming or Colorado if you want square.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 7

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2

Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1

Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC celebrates it)

Summers after 8th grade: 7

BSC Fights: 9

SMS Staff and Faculty: 47

Students (other than the BSC): 165; 101 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified

Clients: 31

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 101

Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-8
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1