The Fire at Mary Anne's House (RS#131)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles. I'm a little disappointed there's a ghost writer for the last book of the series.

Synopsis:

The BSC decides to enter itself into a Best Sitter contest sponsored by a teen magazine. This allows them to reminisce about a lot of the adventures they've had. This plot hums along merrily until the main one comes along: Mary Anne wakes up to Tigger panicking and her dad calling for her as their house burns around them. Mary Anne, Richard, Sharon, and Tigger make it out safely, but the house is completely destroyed. (Dawn and Jeff were in California at the time; Dawn flies to Connecticut as soon as she can after hearing the news.)

The town rallies around Mary Anne's family, who will stay with Kristy's family for at least the meantime. While Mary Anne is grateful no one was hurt, it's so much to take in with everything being destroyed (like her mother's things). She feels mostly just numb, probably from such an overwhelming experience. She doesn't cry during the fire or when she's picking through the charred remains of the house, which confuses her a bit, and she's been having nightmares. Logan wisely suggests she consider talking to Dr. Reese, the therapist she's seen in the past. But Mary Anne just wants to be left alone, a difficult thing in Kristy's house. Further complicating things, Richard was recently offered a job in Philadelphia, and he and Sharon are thinking maybe they should just start over. Finally, one night Mary Anne can't sleep, and rides Kristy's bike over to the burned house, where she finally grieves for what happened. Dawn, who had followed, helps Mary Anne finally let out the emotions she didn't know she had.

The book--the series--ends without finding out if Mary Anne's family will move and without knowing who wins the best sitter contest.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: brownies and nachos (for Stacey) that she made herself, Twizzlers, Reese's peanut butter cups, Frookwiches

I disagree, Mary Anne. I'd be very surprised to see Abby in the Olympics running the 100 yard dash. It's the 100 meter dash, and when the US still used the Imperial system for track and field, the race was the 110 yard dash. I know Mary Anne's not an athlete, but with Logan on the track team and US schools using the metric system for track races when this was written, I find it funny.


Their Families:

Tigger (you know Mary Anne considers him family) keeps jumping on the pages of the magazine Mary Anne's trying to read. This is very accurate cat behavior. If you put any sheet of paper on the ground and tell my husband's cat, "This is very important," he'll come sit on it. However, Tigger likes having his belly rubbed, which, in my admittedly limited experience with cats, I find odd.

Sharon works for a small accounting business.

Stacey's mom makes a stack of sandwiches for Mary Anner's family and the firefighters while the house burns. That's very thoughtful of her.

Again, David Michael is very sweet: he offers all his bubble bath to Mary Anne when she heads to take a shower after shoveling through the debris. He also helps Emily Michelle draw a picture and learn a song to cheer up Mary Anne's family.


The Club (and clients):

Mrs. Prezzioso lends Sharon and Richard her cell phone in the aftermath of the fire so they call the insurance agent and so on.


SMS:

It's summer again. Mallory's still at boarding school, though.


PSA Time:

There's good fire safety information in this book, like touching the back of your hand to a closed door to see if it's hot before opening it, staying low to the ground to avoid smoke, not dawdling to grab things (like Mary Anne, I'd grab pets if they were in the room with me) as you escape the fire, regularly checking your smoke detectors, and continuing to move away from the fire itself until you're sure you're far enough from it.


Misc:

This is Mary Anne's last regular series book, and the last book period of the regular series.

The Prezziosos, Pikes, Braddocks, and McGills apparently live close enough to Mary Anne to wake up from the fire and come over in the middle of the night to offer help and comfort.



The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 5

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 12

BSC Fights: 13

SMS Staff and Faculty: 68

Students (other than the BSC): 213: 119 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 16 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 149

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Stacey's Movie (RS#130)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn.

Synopsis:

It's time for yet another round of Short Takes. This time, the classes will be taught by professionals in various fields. Stacey takes a class from a documentary filmmaker (Kristy and Logan are in it, too). The class is split up into groups of four, each of which will make a movie. Stacey's group, which also includes Pete Black, Erica Blumberg, and Emily Bernstein, decide to make a documentary after their attempts at a horror movie don't go so well. Kristy's in a group with Logan, Anna Stevenson, and Alan Gray. They make a documentary about the funny things BSC clients do or say. But Kristy causes troubles by following around Jackie Rodowsky, waiting for him to slip up. She's not subtle about it either and he ends up feeling pretty hurt. Kristy also steps all over Alan's assigned role as director. Stacey talks to Kristy, and she begrudingly lets Alan be in charge, only to discover that he's really good at it.

Meanwhile, Stacey's team is doing well getting a lot of information from different students at SMS. Interesting revelations including Abby's epiphany that she's a lot like her mother (trying to do too much at once), Jessi admitting that she feels out of place at SMS because with Mallory gone there's no one left that she has much in common with which emphasizes how different she is from most of the students in terms of both race and her love of dance, Cokie pointing out that the BSC can be just as exclusionary and stuck-up as any group, Claudia reacting to the pressure on her to do really, really well in school despite how hard it is for her (as in, not just pass but get great grades), Alan Gray wanting to be taken seriously, and most relevant to the plot, Mary Anne exploding that she gets angry with her mother for dying. Mary Anne really wants to remove her interview from the film, but the rest of Stacey's group think it's such a great one that they refuse. They do let Mary Anne have a moment to speak about how she really feels, which is also in the film after her interview.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: carrots (for Stacey)

Good continuity with Stacey liking Cinderella as a young child.

Abby's seeming sort of burnt out and stretched very thin between her various commitments.


Their Families:

Mary Anne considers Sharon a mother figure but not her mother, which I think is totally reasonable. My mom has a very nice stepmother who her father married when my mom was an adult (right around the time of my own parents' wedding) and Mom calls her by her first name, but my aunt who was still a minor at the time calls the same step-mother "Mom." It's all about what you're comfortable with and mutual respect.


The Club (and clients):

When BSC members are interviewed, they slip in references to the club. It's funny to me that they're so indoctrinated, but it also makes sense because it's a big part of their lives.


SMS:

This time students can sign up for what Short Takes classes they prefer.

Shouldn't the Short Takes teacher have told her class to secure written permission from anyone appearing in the films?

Alan Gray calls Kristy "Darth Vader" which amuses me more than it should.

New-to-us student: Sarah Gerstenkorn (probably 8th grade)


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

This is Stacey's last regular series book.

My copy of this book was sold at a used bookstore for fifty cents.

"[The documentary film maker] told us how she had gone into the Australian outback and spent time with a group of aboriginal people until they trusted her enough to talk about their beliefs..." There has GOT to be a better way to phrase that so it doesn't sound like she gained the trust of a group of animals.

Stacey mentions getting inspiration from an old Twilight Zone episode. From how she describes it--an upopular school-girl wishes everyone would leave her alone and her classmates disappear, only to return as zombies--I don't think she watched a real episode. I'm pretty familar with the Rod Serling era and since she specifies old, I'm pretty sure it's made up. It also doesn't sound like a Twilight Zone episode, which are, frankly, better written.

"You can't make math a career"? What nonsense. Math is intergral so many fields of study! I'm not a huge fan of it and I can admit that. Beyond the obvious like physics, medicine, and engineering, math is important in a ton of things like baking (if you want to halve a recipe for example), travel planning, budgeting...I've even used algebra to write knitting patterns.

Part of the book touches on something that annoys me, which is the insistence some people have to know EVERYTHING. Some things are okay to keep private, in my opinion, and not everything needs to be made public all at once.

Alan's interview raises a good question: would you rather be hated or ignored?



The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 5

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 13

SMS Staff and Faculty: 68

Students (other than the BSC): 213: 119 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 16 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 144

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Kristy at Bat (RS#129)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles

Synopsis:

Kristy and Watson are attending a weeklong father-daughter baseball camp in Delware run by a former MLB star who happens to be one of Watson's favorite players, Bill Bain. Kristy's excitement is overshadowed by learning that she's going to be on the second-string SMS softball team instead of first-string as she'd anticipated (and was...last year...which was still eighth grade...). She's put out in left field too, which is either a sign that Coach Wu doesn't have a lot of confidence in Kristy or does, since outfield positions see less action than infield positions and left fielders don't need to have as good throwing arms as other spots, but outfielders also need to be able to pay attention to everything and react quickly to make good catches and left fielders are more likely to get the ball than right fielders.

Anyway. Kristy still wants to make the best of camp, especially since Watson's so excited. And she does get into it for a while and has a fun time. She does have some trouble shaking the thought of having to play second-string, and is also dealing with conflicting thoughts wondering what her father would think of her sports talents now but feeling disloyal to Watson for it. Watson himself has a bit of a let-down when his sports hero turns out to not be very involved in the camp and rarely makes an appearance. But he's still enamored with the man enough that when Kristy calls Bain out on his neglect of the camp he gets angry with Kristy for being rude. He doesn't hold a grudge though, and is even more over it the next day when Bain shows up for the big game between the campers and admits Kristy was right. Kristy and Watson both do really well, including sharing a double play. After the game, Bain makes himself available for autographs. There's an awards ceremony and one of the several given out is to Best Coach, to Kristy for her help with organizing things when Bain was absent, which helps her realize that enjoying baseball and softball is more important than being the best at it. She and Watson end up with some really good bonding time out of the camp, too.

Back in the 'brook, David Michael gets seriously into collecting baseball cards and spends a few afternoons trading cards. But since he doesn't know the value of all of them, he find himself taken advantage of by a more knowledgeable kid. Abby steps in to show that a card's worth isn't limited to monetary terms, and that some might have sentimental value or other attributes. David Michael continues trading, but with a more relaxed group of kids.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Doritos

Foul: Chapter Two claims Anna's hair is longer than Abby's.

The cover correctly depicts Kristy in a left-handed batting stance.

Abby talks more about her dad in this book than any other (well, during a conversation; obviously he was mentioned in her Portrait Collection book). She has a rare baseball card that he gave her shortly before he died, of his favorite player.


Their Families:

According to Kristy, Emily Michelle doesn't talk as well as most two-and-a-half-year-olds, but she talks better than my two-and-a-half-year-old. My daughter understands most of what's said to her, but just doesn't seem too interested in talking. She picks up sign language really well though, and is starting to say the words as she signs them. Kids develop at different rates; one of my uncles didn't talk until he was three (probably couldn't get a word in edgewise being the youngest of four born in under than five years). My daughter can communicate, which is what matters.

David Michael gives Andrew a few of his baseball cards that he has doubles of. At some point Andrew needs to learn that life isn't fair, but he's only four now and this was very kind of David Michael. He's a good big brother. And really, since Andrew ends with only five cards to David Michael's dozens and he's appropriately grateful, he probably gets it on some level that he doesn't need everything of his to be the same as everyone else's and he can be happy with what he does have.

Wow, Watson hits a triple. That's really hard to do, because you have to hit the ball far enough to run three bases while the other team is trying to get you out, whereas with a home run the ball goes out of the field and you don't have to run as fast to make it to home plate (there are in-the-park home runs, but they're rare; Kristy also hits a triple during practice but she's younger and faster).


The Club (and clients):

Abby is president while Kristy is away. Considering how well that went last time, I wonder why no one suggested Claudia, as vice-president, take over, perhaps under the guise of being fair and sharing.


SMS:

The SMS softball team only practices a couple days a week. When I coached cross country, I handled the middle school and high school programs at the same time. High school practiced Monday through Friday and middle school practiced Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, with the option to come on Wednesday. Saturdays were optional practices if we didn't have a meet (middle school races were held at the same locations about an hour before high school races so this was feasible). We also did four days a week when I myself was on the middle school soccer and track teams.


PSA Time:

I do think it's great to play through the pain, but listen to your body if the pain is bad. Not that I played soccer on a torn meniscus long enough to ensure I'd earn a varsity letter or pole vaulted with a probably broken wrist for a few weeks and still have a sore knee or occasionally drop things randomly from that hand or anything...


Misc:

This is Kristy's last regular series book.

My copy of this book appears to have once been sold at a used bookstore for $2.25.

Back to coaching...I am so glad I coached cross country and track and field rather than other sports (well, I did help with a third-grade soccer team once, but just to train goalies). I would have a tough time deciding who was varsity and who wasn't. With the sports I dealt with, it's obvious, because you can clearly see who runs faster, throws farther, or jumps higher. I admire coaches of more subjective sports who work hard to make those tough calls.

That "'Put Me In, Coach' song" is called "Centerfield" and it's by John Fogerty; Kristy should know the title if not the artist. It's a very fun song to listen to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc

Yay! My Seattle Mariners get a mention! It's brief but I'll take it.



The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 5

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 13

SMS Staff and Faculty: 68

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 144

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Claudia and the Little Liar (RS#128)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn

Synopsis:

Claudia and the rest of the BSC are helping out with a basketball team aimed at elementary aged girls. Haley Braddock is one of the girls on the team, but Claudia's been having some trouble with her lately. Haley has been avoiding her homework and lying about whether it's done. She blames Claudia for "telling on her" when Claudia does her job and tells the Braddock parents what their daughter is doing. For example, Claudia mentions that Haley finished a specific book report and her parents recognize it as last month's assignment. Haley starts spreading the word that the BSC exists solely to tattle on the kids, and makes quite a few of the charges very wary of the sitters. She also tries repeatedly to get Claudia in trouble by lying to her parents about what Claudia does while sitting. Mary Anne suggests role playing, and it finally comes out that Haley's been avoiding homework because she's having trouble understanding certain concepts in school. Once the problem is out in the open, the Braddocks can work on solving that. Haley apologizes to Claudia for trying to get her in trouble.

Manwhile, Claudia's also finding that she and Josh don't seem to have much together, and they're drifiting apart. They agree to go back to being friends.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: carrots and celery (for Stacey), Ring Dings behind her dresser, Chhez Doodles under her bed

Stacey's still in the Math Club.


Their Families:

Claudia's dad celebrates his birthday in this book.

I guess Janine doesn't have a driver's license despite being 16, because Claudia indicates that she can't drive some art supplies over. Although she might have meant that there's no car available for her to drive.


The Club (and clients):

Ooh, good continuity: the Segers are still the Rodowskys' next-door neighbors.

But then all of a sudden the Braddocks aren't walking distance from the Kishis...


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time:

Guess what a Deaf seven-year-old can do to communicate with someone who doesn't sign? WRITE. Claudia could have avoided a difficulty if she or Matt had thought to communicate through writing. Even with the spelling issues.


Misc:

This is Claudia's last regular series book.



The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 5

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 13

SMS Staff and Faculty: 68

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 144

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Abby's Un-Valentine (RS#127)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker

Synopsis:

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and Abby couldn't care less. She's just not interested in romance. At thirteen, that's pretty realistic. Not everyone cares about Valentine's Day even as adults. But in BSC Land, this makes her an outcast. How dare she not like Valentine's Day! I'll be she doesn't celebrate Christmas, either--wait. (No, no one says that in the book; they just react over-the-top. Interestingly, no one cares that Shannon doesn't want to set up a date for Valentine's Day.)

Compounding things is the fact that Ross Brown--who Stacey once had a crush on--has a crush on Abby and wants to be valentines with her. If you look toward the bottom of my post, you'll see that Abby hasn't had a crush on anyone since her introduction, and she doesn't start now. She catches a lot of flack for it, and finds herself receiving unwanted advice about how to land a guy. Abby does bring some of it on herself, though: she's frankly pretty rude to people who are enjoying the Valentine festivities as SMS prepares for yet another holiday dance. Although I will give her points for trying to not lead Ross on and being honest with him without being a jerk, at least at first. She does have to be more abrupt when he refuses to take "no" for an answer, and evenutally realizes that Anna would actually be a really good fit for him. She tries to set them up, but Ross thinks that the twins are playing a prank on him by switching when it goes awry. The twins are able to apologize later, and Ross asks Anna out to a string quartet concert on Valentine's Day. Abby and Kristy (who is apparently still smarting over her past with Bart...or maybe missing Michel from Baby-sitters' European Vacation) go see a horror movie while the rest of the BSC is at the school dance.

Subplot: Kristy's family is just about finished training the guide dog, Scout. Poor Andrew seems to have never grasped the idea that they weren't keeping the dog, and has been thinking that since David Michael has Shannon and Karen has Pumpkin, he should get to have Scout. Since he's four, I can see that happening, especially since we know that the Brewer-Thomas household isn't one for explaining things as important as "we're adopting a little girl." Claudia makes some decent headway during a sitting job, and Kristy helps drive the point home. What really helps is David Michael stepping up and offering to share Shannon, since Shannon obviously loves Andrew. What a good brother.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: pretzels, Hershey's Kisses in Valentine wrapping, Snickers bars

Jessi prefers to wear pastels as they compliment her skin. Most women I've known with dark complexions prefer jewel tones for the same reason.

Shannon is the youngest member of her school's astronomy club (the only eighth grader) AND its president. Because that makes sense.

Shannon tans easily.


Their Families:

Okay, I had just decided that Abby comes from a Jewish family that doesn't keep kosher, but then she specifies that her mother gets takeout from a kosher deli. But then there's no description of what kosher means.

I need to add this to the list of things I'd punish Karen for that go unnoticed: when Scout is leaving for the final time, and Andrew is upset, she "h[olds] up her hands toward Andrew like a traffic cop. "Stop crying," she command[s]. "You'll upset Scout." I think the context around is suggesting that Karen's putting on a tough front because she'll miss Scout too, but geez. Andrew is four, and Karen needs to lay off and let him grieve the departure of a dog he very clearly loves deeply. No one even gives Karen a disapproving look or even suggests that Karen back off a little.

Kristy's family got Scout in early April, and was supposed to train her for ten months. Sure enough, Scout leaves on Valentine's Day.


The Club (and clients):

Mary Anne helps the Brewer-Thomas kids make pinecone bird-feeders, and a black-capped chickadee visits to eat. That strikes me as a surprisingly specific bird, but also accurate: it's a wide-spread bird that likes seeds, and is small enough to easily eat off a pinecone. My goddaughter likes them; I pointed out lots of birds to her when I watched her as a toddler and she started showing me the "chick-a-ees" after a while.

The tensions with the dance and whether Abby will have a date and some of the BSC trying to force a relationship between her and Ross lead to a short-lived BSC fight, number thirteen.


SMS:

New teacher: Ms. Colley, 8th grade English.


PSA Time:

Even if you're justing picking up fallen pinecones from neighborhood yards, you should ask permission before tromping around other people's properties.


Misc:

This is Abby's last book.

Valentine's Day is a Saturday in this book. It was a Friday in Stacey and the Stolen Hearts, which is the last time Valentine's Day was celebrated in Connecticut. However, it was a Saturday in California that year, according to that series. In 1999, Valentine's Day was a Sunday.

Valentine's Day was not created by Hallmark, although you could certainly say it's been taken over by the greeting card company. Same with Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Scout only gets fed once a day, at night. That seems like a really long time for any animal to wait for food. Anyone with experience in guide dogs have any insight?


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 5

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 13

SMS Staff and Faculty: 68

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 144

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

The All-New Mallory Pike (RS#126)

Original Publication Date: 1999

Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles.

Synopsis:

Mallory is off to Riverbend Hall, a boarding school in Massachusetts. She fits in very well there, surrounded by other girls who have similar interests to her and teachers who encourage the academic pursuits of their students. Unfortunately, the one person she doesn't click with is her roommate, Alexis. Alexis has been at Riverbend since the last school year started, and clearly wants to walk all over Mallory, smothering her with rules about how the roommate situation should work and not letting Mallory have any say in how they should share their space and time. She's really passive-agressive about it all, and even takes it so far as to snark to Mallory that she won't bother reading her journal again (without permission, of course; Mallory had made it clear that the journal is private) because it's boring. Mallory tries to deal with the issues on her own, and takes the advice of the senior girl who acts as a residence hall director, but she can't seem to resolve the tension between her and Alexis. It turns out that Alexis has already had two roommate who also didn't get along with her. The school thought that Mallory, being from a large family, would be able to room with her more easily. But Alexis takes things too far, trashing the room and defacing Mallory's pictures. The dean finally admits that the situation needs intervention. It turns out that one of Alexis's previous roommates is in a single rooom, and agrees to trade with Alexis. Frankly, I think the unstable behavior that Alexis displayed shouldn't have been rewarded with a single room and the school should have considered expelling her, but Mallory's happy with the solution.

In a subplot, the younger Pikes fight over what do with the room situation, now that Vanessa is on her own. Abby notices the Byron doesn't seem to care and just wants things to end, so suggests that he and Nicky share one room, Adam and Jordan share another, the three girls move in to the larger room that had been the boys' (and Mallory will join them there on school breaks). Problem solved!


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Hershey's Kisses under her pillow. She also makes chocolate chip cookies to put in a care package for Mallory.

I'd never noticed it until I saw their handwriting so close together, but Mary Anne and Jessi have very similar styles of writing. Jessi's is basically a stretched-out version of Mary Anne's.

Any time a BSC member is mentioned taking a language class, it's French. I know it's common middle school class in the US, but I'm surprised that no one takes Spanish, which is also very popular. In middle school, I took a quarter of French, and few quarters of Spanish, and a year of American Sign Language. My older brother took a quarter or two of Japanese in middle school.

The girls email each other. It's kinda weird to see modern technology in books that reference I Love Lucy so much.


Their Families:

This book implies a more reasonable explanation of the Pike parents' permissiveness: it's not that they have no rules, it's that they've realized certain battles, like insisting the kids all eat the same food at dinner, aren't worth the effort.

Apparently a record exists for the most strands of spaghetti sucked into a mouth consecutively; it's 27, set by Sam Thomas.

Mallory and Vanessa have had a morning tradition of Mallory telling Vanessa the weather in exchange for a poem. After Mallory leaves, Vanessa plans to pay Nicky a nickel a week for the weather report.

Jordan's the oldest triplet.


The Club (and clients):

Kristy organizes a little ceremony during Mallory's last meeting to make her an official honorary member. Don't tell Dawn! It's like a repeat of when Kristy officially inducted Mallory and Jessi in the club, having never done that for Dawn. (There's also a going away party after the meeting; the one at the end of the last book wasn't the official party)

The BSC also sort of apologizes for how they treated Mallory when she first joined, with the stupid test and all. They don't actually say "I'm sorry" but they acknowledge that they were being jerks.


SMS:

I wonder how the sixth grade will go about replacing Mallory as treasurer.

A point in favor of Riverbend over SMS: Mallory has learned the difference between "us" and "we." She says "We Riverbend students..." correctly, since it's the subject of the sentence instead of the common error in this book "Us baby-sitters..." (it's fine to use "us" if it's the object of the sentence, but most of the time it pops up in these books it's used incorrectly)


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

This is Mallory's last book. It takes place in January, at the start of the new school term in her boarding school.

Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa happened between this book and the last one (the last one mentioned the Winter Solstice too) but we saw no celebrations of them, so no change with the holiday counts.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 143

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Mary Anne in the Middle (RS#125)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn.

Synopsis:

This book is the one in which Mallory decides to attend a Massachusetts boarding school in response to the bullying at SMS and deals with the tensions between her and her friends, especially Jessi. For some reason, it's not told from Mallory's or Jessi's perspective, but Mary Anne's, because Mallory and Jessi have confided in her and she feels stuck in the middle of their argument. The main problem between Jessi and Mallory is that Jessi thinks Mallory is running away from her problems instead of trying to fix them (one point she has is that her family didn't run away from racism when they moved to Stoneybrook), while Mallory is upset that Jessi can't be happy for her to have been accepted--with a full scholarship--to an exclusive school. I'm willing to bet that part of Jessi is upset because if Mallory was going to up and leave for a boarding school, why did Jessi bother coming back from Dance New York? I can see why Jessi would feel hurt and abandoned, but she majorly crosses a line when she gets Mallory's siblings worked up about her leaving and turns them against her. Which honestly makes the scene in which Jessi's dance friends are excited for Mallory pretty funny. Mary Anne isn't laughing though; she's tired of being complained to all the time. She finally gets Jessi and Mallory to talk to each other and make up, just in time for the send-off party the BSC had arranged for Mallory.

Subplot: the BSC and several charges make new holiday decorations for the nursing home in which Mallory's great-uncle lives.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: none mentioned

Abby complains briefly that BSC members should be allowed to have lives when Kristy angsts about a party meaning all the members will be unavailable. Potential foreshadowing for the first Friends Forever superspecial?


Their Families:

Mrs. Pike is still temping and has a job over the holiday season.

Boo-Boo the cat is no more. There's a new kitten named Pumpkin in his place, a plot I understand is covered in a Little Sister book.

Mary Anne describes the Schafer diet well: they're basically vegetarian, which is pretty accurate considering how often we've seen Dawn eat chicken or Sharon be fine with picking meat out of or off something. So it's more that they prefer to not eat meat rather than never eating meat.


The Club (and clients):

The BSC elects to not replace Mallory, as they can't think of anyone good enough.


SMS:

Although Mallory will be attending Riverside after the winter holiday break, my running total for SMS students will stay the same because it doesn't include the BSC.


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

This book takes place in December and there are some holiday preparations happening, but none actually celebrated.

It strikes me as funny that the director of the nursing home describes some decorations as so ancient that, at thirty years old, they should be tossed. Because pretty much all of the residences are going to be at least twice that age! Of course I realize that people aren't things, but it's pretty funny to me all the same.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 143

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Stacey McGill...Matchmaker? (RS#124)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn. The book is dedicated to Ren  Roome and Ann Ross Roome.

Synopsis:

Stacey has been musing lately about how her mom has lost touch with most of the friends she had before the divorce, doesn't seem to have much time or inclination to meet anyone new, and hasn't been on a date since splitting up, although her dad, who works more hours, has a steady girlfriend. So when Stacey gets a sitting job with the Brooke family, which is headed by a single dad, she schemes to set him up with her mom. Mr. Brooke is a writer, and Stacey's mom turns out to be a fan of his books. Stacey and the adults are excited about the possibility of a relationship, but the Brooke children aren't. Their parents' divorce is fairly recent; their mom left to pursue an acting career. They haven't had time to really process what's going on yet. The kindergarten-age son is more accepting, but the older daughter...

Things come to a head when the Brookes come over for Thanksgiving dinner, but Stacey manages to have a nice heart-to-heart with the daughter. Still, even after the rest of the evening goes well, her mom tells Stacey that things aren't going to work in the long term between her and Mr. Brooke. Stacey thinks her mom is just making up excuses, but eventually realizes that she needs to support her mother, who knows better than Stacey what's best for herself. Stacey talks to the kids after the breakup, and agrees to be their honorary big sister. Not that we really hear about them again except in passing...


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Mallomars in her dresser drawer, carrots (for Stacey)

Stacey's still in the math club at school.

Stacey checks an ingredient list for fructose, among other things. Had this been written today, I'm sure she would have been checking for high fructose corn syrup.

Mallory's troubles at school have escalated to the point that she and her parents take a weekend trip to check out a boarding school in Massachusetts. The BSC as a whole is shocked; Jessi is especially less than thrilled.


Their Families:

Mary Anne's dad dated other women before reconnecting with Sharon. Somehow I pictured him just withdrawing from romantic attachments until one fell into his lap.

Stacey's mom still likes Vivaldi, like she did in Snowbound!


The Club (and clients):

The Brooke family brings the BSC client total to 38.


SMS:

The SMS soccer team seems to still be in its regular season three weeks before Thanksgiving. Usually fall sports are starting playoffs then. But the passage isn't entirely clear, so it could be playoffs.


PSA Time:

"Spaz" is actually a slur against people with cerebal palsy and similar conditions. It refers to the spastic motions they might make, due to issues with muscle control. It's more commonly used that way in Europe than the US, so a lot of people in North America might be unaware of this.


Misc:

I hate terms like "reverse snobbery" and "reverse racism." In my mind, it's just [whatever prejudice] from a different angle. An argument can be made for reverse racism, but reverse snobbery just sounds stupid.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 4

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 38 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 143

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Claudia's Big Party (RS#123)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Vicki Berger Erwin.

Synopsis:

Claudia's parents are going out of town for the weekend, and Claudia decides to have a small party while they're gone. She's been feeling pulled between her obligations to her BSC friends, her seventh-grade friends, and her boyfriend, so is looking forward to having a chance for everyone to get to know each other and hang out with all of them. Janine's also been wanting to spend more time with Claudia, which Claudia thinks is nice, but she can only be so many places at once. Janine agrees to help with the party, so Claudia's thrilled that everyone who wants a piece of her can be involved. Predictably, more people come than planned (it seems that some guests invited other guests) and things get a bit out of hand. Of course, during the party, Claudia's aunt and uncle show up. In the ensuing awkwardness, Janine and Claudia fight, but patch things up the next morning as they're cleaning.

Subplot is about Melody and Bill Korman. They keep getting in fights with each other (Bill seems to get blamed for more than his fair share, which I'm sure is part of the problem, but it's oddly never brought up). Jessi suggests doing something to force the two to work together, so Mary Anne, who has the next sitting job with them, pretends to lose the house key while on a walk and they work together to retrace steps and actions until they find where Mary Anne hide it in their baby sister's stroller.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: M&Ms, Snickers, and pretzels in her desk drawer, more M&Ms under her bed, a Hershey bar in a purse in her closet. She also likens her feeling of being stretched different directions to being a piece of taffy pulled apart.

Mallory's still being teased at school, and it's affecting her sleep.


Their Families:

Okay, Claudia might have a point about Janine using big words to show off her intelligence. Janine says that her ex-boyfriend was taking up her time "geometrically instead of arithmetically" as a way to say he was taking up too much of her time. That just sounds like gibberish; if she wanted to make a math pun then she should have stuck with something more like "exponentially instead of linearly."

It's been mentioned that Janine also has a sweet tooth, and true to form, the first night the parents are out of town, Janine makes a dessert of blondies topped with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Janine and Claudia change in front of each other. I suppose Vanessa and Mallory do as well, since they share a room. Maybe that's normal though; I don't have any sisters.


The Club (and clients):

Abby sometimes runs from her house to BSC meetings instead of getting a ride with Kristy. Still don't get why they don't just hang out with another club member for a couple hours or study or something after school...


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time:

While the Korman kids think they're locked out of the house, they wonder if they should break a window to get back in. My first thought was that one of them should wrap a hand in a shirt to protect the skin from broken glass, but Bill suggests a better idea: throw a rock or heavy shoe through the window. Far less chance of getting cut that way.


Misc:

So, at 13 and 16, Claudia and Janine have their first night at home without their parents. I've never spent the night at my parents' without them there, and I'm going to 29 this year. I went from home to the college dorms to an apartment with my husband (just before our senior year of college), and didn't even spend a night there alone until a while later when he worked an overnight shift. I was probably 22 or 23 before I was alone overnight. My older brother was probably 21ish, and my younger brother...I'm not sure he has yet! My parents did go out of town once when he was 18, and he had a small party with my parents' permission, but my husband hung out upstairs for the duration. My brother's quite a bit younger than I am, which is probably why my parents didn't do overnight trips when I was living at home.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 143

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Kristy in Charge (RS#122)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn.

Synopsis:

In an effort to encourage students to pursue teaching careers, SMS is putting on a three-day event in which students will take the places of their teachers for a class period, learning what it's like to organize lesson plans and be in charge of students and so on. Several BSC members do it: Kristy is assigned to seventh grade girls' gym, Stacey gets seventh grade math, Mary Anne gets seventh grade social studies, and in a confusing move, Mallory is assigned to eighth grade English. Since she's in charge of gym class, Kristy assumes she doesn't really need a lesson plan or much of a plan at all; she just knows that she'll do well. To make things even more interesting, Kristy will be working with Cary Retlin, who's assigned to seventh grade boys' gym. They let their animosity toward each other disrupt the (THREE DAYS) of gym, undermining each other and letting chaos reign. Someone gets a black eye, another person gets an adult tooth knocked out, and one student ends up with a broken arm (sort of reminds you of the Winter War in Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation, when Kristy is in charge of a team of competitors and a student she talks into joining the competition breaks his ankle). There's no good resolution; Kristy and Cary sort of learn to work together but not fantastically.

Mallory has a tough time of it, too. She's nervous about teaching students two years older than her, and a few mistakes, like dropping the stack of handouts, snowball when the class teases her. The regular teacher does what she can to keep the class in line, but the teasing spreads through the school. Even though she's able to get through to some students at the end of her final day, the teasing persists and is reaching levels that could be categorized as bullying.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: popcorn

Nothing really stood out.


Their Families:

There's a sub-subplot dealing with Vanessa bossing her younger siblings into playing school, with her as a poetry teacher.


The Club (and clients): nothing new.


SMS:

This is the eleventh time the same school year has started.

For some reason, there's no minimum grade requirement to do the teaching program, even though students will miss their own class periods while they're teaching.

New-to-us students: Anson (no last name given, 7th grade), Lane Reynolds (8th; a previous book introduced Jodi Reynolds who's also in 8th grade, but it's not mentioned whether they're related; he's referred as "Shane" by mistake once). There's a Parker mentioned, but it seems we're supposed to already know who he is, and given there's a male student with that last name, I'm going to assume it's him, especially since this is on the page following the Lane-Shane typo.

Will someone please tell me why SMS hasn't thought to divide gym classes into competitive and non-competitive teams for games? My tiny school (69 in my graduating class) always did this. If you knew how to play soccer or volleyball or basketball or whatever well, you went to one half of the gym or field, and if you didn't you went to the other half. The competitive students who knew the rules well could go all out, and the non-competitive students who were just learning could still get some exercise without being destroyed by better players.


PSA Time:

Get a good editor before you publish a book. The typos with the students' name are confusing.


Misc:

During the Chapter Two introductions, Kristy muses that Mary Anne could teach "secretarial sciences." Sounds like someone saw this short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoqtTrb3I0w

Curds and whey means cottage cheese.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 11

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 216: 122 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 30 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 143

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Abby in Wonderland (RS#121)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn.

Synopsis:

Abby and her family are headed to their grandparents' summer home in the Hamptons to help them prepare for the party they have every year to celebrate their wedding anniversary (the party is Alice in Wonderland themed this year, which inspires the book title). Although the party is shaping up to be fun, Abby's concerned about several family members who aren't able to come, since it seems to be bothering her grandmother more than Abby would expect. Something else is bothering her too, but Abby isn't sure what until she overhears a phone conversation and accidentally comes across some medical information while looking for something else for her grandfather. Abby's grandmother has either been diagnosed with breast cancer or is waiting for a definitive diagnosis. Neither grandparent is saying anything, but Abby wants to help without revealing what she knows. So she calls up the relatives who have declined invitations to convince them to come. The stress of keeping the secret gets to be too much for Abby, and she finally admits to grandmother that she knows. As it turns out, the biopsy results aren't back yet, and Abby's grandparents didn't want to worry everyone in case the lump in her breast turns out to be benign. The book ends before the results come in, but with Abby confident that her grandmother can handle what life throws at her.

The subplot is about the Pikes: they can't afford their usual summer trip to Sea City because of unexpected car repair cost. Dawn comes up with the idea to set up a beach in their backyard, using plastic pools for water and sand, decorations (including souvenirs from Sea City), and playing beach music and sounds.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: none mentioned

Dawn is still in town for the summer (it's August).

Kristy visits Abby's family for the anniversary party, but really adds nothing to the plot.


Their Families:

A great-uncle of Abby's was killed in action during World War II. Abby's great-grandmother came to the United States from Germany in the 1920s; nine of her twelve siblings were murdered in the Holocaust.

Abby's maternal grandfather is a bit like mine: he loves electronics and computer stuff. My grandad was an electrical engineer, among other things (for example: doctor, flight surgeon, navigator, colonel in the Air Force, college professor, crew team member for a senior rowing team; he's been in three or four bands...).

One of the foods served at the anniversary party is crab legs, which aren't Kosher. Imitation crab made from certain kinds of fish would be okay, I think. I know that not all Jewish people keep kosher, but it still seems odd that a Jewish character created for the BSC wouldn't keep Kosher.


The Club (and clients):

The Pike experiment with having the triplets act as one of the extra sitters is over; the BSC is now back to sending two sitters again.


SMS: summer break.


PSA Time:

First thing to do when a toilet clogs: turn off the water to that specific toilet. Look near the wall under the tank; there will be a knob. Turn it to shut off the water, then mop up the mess.

You can do breast self-exams to look for lumps, and should monthly, in addition to getting mammograms when recommended based on your risk factors. Men can get breast cancer too, and can also do at-home checks and, if they meet certain risk factors, should also get mammograms.

Since formula-feeding seems to be the norm in BSC books, I think it's worth mentioning that breast-feeding reduces a woman's risk for breast cancer. So if you have the opportunity to breast-feed, it's another reason to do so. Also relevant to the BSC: having a baby before the age of thirty reduces breast cancer risk.


Misc:

There's no such thing as a seagull. They're just gulls. Herring gulls, California gulls, mew gulls, et. al.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 141

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-2
Abby-0

Mary Anne and the Playground Fight (RS#121)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Dianne Molleson.

Synopsis:

Summer break is coming up, and that means another whirlwind trip sponsored by SMS. This time it's to London and Paris, a nine-day trip. Those nine days happen to fall in the middle of another summer event that catches the BSC's interest: working at a playground camp. A lot of the girls want to do both, despite the fact that they'd be missing a week of the camp, because they're the BSC and who wouldn't want them to work at the camp (which is a pretty entitled attitude). Add to that there's only six spots available, and a dozen other SMS students are also applying. Nine BSC members are applying; everyone but Shannon, because does Shannon even exist anymore? It's not long before they start sniping at each about who has a better chance or is more qualified, or whether those who want to go to Europe should be able to miss a week of work (Dawn, Mary Anne, and Logan have elected to stay in the USA for the summer). The eighth grade BSC members score job interviews, but Mary Anne and Dawn have legitmate concerns about whether the ones planning to do the Europe trip will be honest about their intentions. While they wait for the results of the interviews, they continue to steam at each other, and even start to reenact the fight they had at Jamie Newton's birthday party in Mary Anne Saves the Day at a goodbye party for Victoria Kent. They catch themselves before going too far, at least, and apologies are had all around. Then they find out who made the cut: Mary Anne, Dawn, Logan, and Claudia will be camp counselors. That leaves Kristy, Stacey, Abby, Jessi, and Mallory free to enjoy Europe.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: M&Ms, Ring Dings, sour cream and onion potato chips, salt and vinegar potato chips, Cheeze Doodles, tortilla chips

Mary Anne says she "always looks forward to summer because that's when...Dawn visits." But their parents got married during the eighth grade school year, and Dawn moved back to California in the fall of eighth grade, so Mary Anne shouldn't know that Dawn always visits in the summer. And this is why having the BSC repeat the same year over and over and over gets fun.

Claudia's favorite potato chip flavor is sour cream and onion. That's tied with sour cream and cheddar cheese for me.

Shannon loves to wear red.

Dawn's room has hardwood flooring. It's not specified if the rest of the house does.

Claudia and Stacey go with Mary Anne, Richard, and Sharon to pick up Dawn and Jeff at the airport. They stop at Dawn's favorite restaurant (Cabbages and Kings) to eat on the way home. Mary Anne narrates that Claudia doesn't like a lot of the food there, but she's polite enough to not say anything. Pay attention, Dawn. Claudia is also very honest and forthright in her application for the summer camp, which I like.

Shannon will be at camp all summer.

Dawn seems to have gotten over her resentment of and forced emotional distance from her little sister. Good.

Kristy hates to cook even more than Mary Anne does.

Abby's allergic to tomatoes, cooked or raw. I know people who are only allergic to raw ones. Cooking them changes their chemical properties enough that these people can be fine with tomato soup or tomato sauce, but will get hives from raw ones. Incidentally, that same change that comes with cooking makes the nutrients in tomatoes more easily accessible to the human body, so cooked tomatoes are healthier than raw (until you add a bunch of junk to make a sauce). Same with carrots.


Their Families:

No, Mary Anne's father relaxes his rules for her in seventh grade, not eighth grade.

Abby's mom did her junior year of college in England.


The Club (and clients):

Victoria Kent is about to go back to England. For her remaining time, she wants to be called Vicki, which the BSC does a lot of eye-rolling over behind her back (they do at least act decently in person). Rude. It's hard to remember when a person wants to be called by a different name, but it's only respectful to listen to a person's wishes about what name is preferred. Forgetting is one thing, being dismissive is another.

Hey, in this book, Jessi and Mallory bring some food a meeting (fancy hummus platter in honor of Dawn's return). Claudia's hospitatlity skills are rubbing off on the other members. They also use it as their "Welcome Back, Dawn" present, which is smart because of how often the BSC ends up giving Dawn presents.

Mary Anne kisses Vicki goodbye after a sitting job. Maybe it's because I'm all about personal space, but I've never kissed a sitting charge, not even when I watched my then-infant goddaughter. If the kid wants a hug, sure, but a kiss is waaay too familar for me.


SMS:

Dawn has sent Mary Anne pictures of Gracie, who was born June 17. Mary Anne is still going to school after having received them. SMS goes late into June! I'm used to public schools being done about the middle of the third week of June (I went to private school, and we'd usually be out by June 10 or so; we had fewer days off during the school year).

Abby and Mary Anne still have the same math teacher, which is consistent with Abby's Lucky Thirteen, but take it at the same time, which is inconsistent with the same book.


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

The lighthouse from the twenty-seventh mystery book makes a brief cameo.

Vicki Kent buys some movies to take back to England with her. I'm assuming they're VHS copies, not DVDs. Although one is Toy Story, so who knows. I know that DVDs from one region of the world won't always work in another; I wonder if she'll be able to watch her movies in Europe.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 11

BSC Fights: 12

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 141

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

Stacey's Ex-boyfriend (RS#119)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn.

Synopsis:

Stacey and other SMS students have been noticing that Robert is acting oddly. He's sort of in a perpetual fog, and losing interest in things he used to enjoy. At the urging of his younger sister, Stacey talks to him and soon it's clear that there's level of clinical depression going on. Stacey tries to pull him out of it, but fortunately realizes before too long that she's in over her head, and encourages Robert to talk to a trusted adult. The book ends without him being 100%, but feeling better about life in general.

There's a pointless subplot about picking strawberries and having a strawberry festival.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: none mentioned

Stacey wishes she had Abby's hair.


Their Families:

Nicky Pike seems to sunburn easily.

Stacey gets along well with her dad's girlfriend.


The Club (and clients):

Abby brings snacks (strawberries) to a meeting! For once Claudia can relax a bit. However, I hope Abby didn't eat any, because as Anonymous pointed out in the comments section, Abby has been established in both Stacey the Math Whiz and Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade as being allergic to strawberries (thank you for catching that!).

I've read a lot of criticisms about how the BSC takes over for parents. But I think they have to. Case in point, this sentence: "Parents had to ask Shannon and her sister to set a two-cake limit [at the strawberry festival] so that their kids wouldn't make themselves sick." Hey, parents? Take responsibility for your own kids and watch what they eat yourselves. When I took my toddler to a festival at my church that included lots of from various nations, I didn't expect anyone but me (my husband was at work, otherwise him, too) to keep an eye on how many cookies she had.


SMS:

The SMS baseball team is doing really well, and on its way to winning a regional championship.

A teacher who has previously only been seen teaching Short Takes classes, Mrs. Boyden, also teaches homeroom for some students (including Robert).


PSA Time:

Stacey claims "you can always use a plain white blouse." Just remember that white becomes see-through when wet. Figured that one out the hard way in a lake...

Assuming you have a car, keep an old towel in the trunk. You'll know why I say this when you need it.


Misc:

A bit of trivia inspired by Claudia painting black stripes on a white leotard to make zebra stripes: zebras are black with white stripes. You can tell because their noses are black.

Kristy uses the internet in this book. Weird!


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 139

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer (RS#118)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker. Special thanks is also given to Michelle Saunders and Anne Aldrich.

Synopsis:

Kristy's family decides to raise a guide dog for the blind. The program has families take care of puppies for a year, getting the dogs used to people and different situations, then returning them to be trained. Kristy's family will actually only train their puppy for ten months, because they're stepping in to replace a different family who is suddenly moving out of the country. They all accept the responsibility happily, and learn a lot about guide dogs as they progress with the dog's training.

They're spurred to this because a seventh-grade student at Shannon's school named Deb Cooper has recently gone blind from glaucoma. The BSC sits for her younger brothers several times, and Deb is home while they do. Understandably, Deb is having a hard time adjusting and is pretty angry at the entire universe. Her brothers, eight and four, are confused too. Kristy is able to get through her facade a bit after Deb tries to walk to a nearby store on her own (she doesn't have a cane or other means of assistance, and is too young for a guide dog) and ends up in the middle of a fairly busy street. The situation gives Kristy the opportunity to tell Deb that yes, what she's going through sucks, but she's making it worse by lashing out and alienating everyone. By the end of the book, Deb is still frustrated with a lot of things, but more open to learning how to cope with her new world and the idea of still being part of her old world.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: home-made chocolate chip cookies (made by her mom's coworker), Cheez Doodles

Kristy is still the shortest person in eighth grade. She also mentions that Mallory is taller, which we knew, and also that Jessi is.


Their Families:

Watson is still watching his diet, to lower the risk of another heart attack.

Ah, Boo Boo is still alive. At least for now!

I like that Kristy and Watson are comfortable calling her his daughter, especially considering what an absymal job Kristy's biological father has done as a dad. It's nice to see the stepchild/stepparent relationship in such a positive light.

Claire seems to be maturing a bit. Both this book and the one before have moments during which a BSC member thinks she'll have a tantrum but instead Claire just accepts whatever frustration.


The Club (and clients): nothing new (the Coopers don't become long-term clients).


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time:

The book has a brief PSA about getting your pets spayed or neutered.

I have to say I'm impressed with Deb's brothers. They don't try to do everything for their sister, but instead give her help by saying things like "Your plate is in front of you on the table," so that she can still do things for herself. A good thing to remember for dealing with anyone, especially those with physical limitations. (The BSC learns quickly, from a mistake, to announce that they're coming or going to someone who can't see that happening, another thing to keep in mind in the real world.) Her brothers want to save up money to buy Deb a guide dog, too; they later find out that they're free to those who need them. I'm sure part of this is the pregnancy hormones, but aww! They're so sweet!


Misc:

This book takes place in early April. I think Stacey's birthday is in April...I'd complain about how we almost never see birthdays in the books, but I guess they're avoided because of how many times the girls repeat the same school year.

I've "known" three guide dogs, and none of them have been for people with visual problems. One was a hearing dog, some sort of poodle mix, who could alert his Deaf owner to anything from the doorbell to a car honking to a baby crying (if she'd had a baby, but she didn't). Another was a black Lab and gave his owner stability, since he had ceberal palsy. Another black Lab aided her human with a variety of things, like switching the laundry, which was difficult for her do to with her severe fibromyalgia. The last dog could be "off-duty" sometimes and we could play with her then, but the other two were pretty much working all the time.

I realize this book was written fifteen years ago, but are people really that stupid about guide dogs as to demand someone with a guide be kicked out a grocery store and arrested? My faith in humanity is wavering...


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 139

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

Claudia and the Terrible Truth (RS#117)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles.

Synopsis:

Claudia goes to sit for the Nicholls, the family who moved into the Addisons' place. Right away, she notices that the two boys are almost too polite, and seem worried about upsetting their father. More odd is that their mother has the same worry. And they react so fearfully to making small mistakes, like putting a little tear in a kid-kit book. Then Claudia hears their dad screaming at them, saying some nasty stuff that parents tend to avoid. The kids themselves do some name-calling casually, as if they're used to it. Claudia thinks it's all very strange, but doesn't quite connect the dots beyond thinking the father is unusually strict. She's confused by how nice their father acts when she's around (which is actually pretty creepy when you think about how abusers are, and I'm glad it was included in the book). But cracks start to appear in the act.

As Claudia's leaving a sitting job, she hears the father hit one of his sons (he thinks Claudia's left, but she forgot her jacket). She goes back to the room where they are desperate to do something, but can't think of what to do and just stutters out a goodbye and leaves. Now, obviously, she should have called the police as soon as she had a chance, but she is only 13 and hasn't had any real experience with this sort of thing; she's unprepared. She does at least consult the BSC right away, and the girls all talk to Claudia's mom together. Her mom then talks to Mrs. Nicholls, who works with her at the library, and also calls a social worker friend of hers. But Mrs. Nicholls denies everything, and the family stops using the BSC, calling Erica Blumberg instead.

But Erica calls Claudia when she's sitting for the boys, asking for help. The boys have several bruises and an unconvincing story to explain them. Claudia calls her mom, who goes to the house with Mrs. Nicholls. Claudia shows up to give Erica moral support...and sees Mr. Nicholls's car in the driveway, too. There's a very loud fight going on inside. A moment later, the door opens and the boys come out with their mom, Erica, and Claudia's mom. They all pile in to Mrs. Kishi's car and take off for Mr. Kishi's office (after dropping Erica off with her mom), because Mr. Nicholls won't think to look for them there. They call social services, and eventually the police to get a restraining order. Claudia keeps the boys occupied while her parents get the mom set up for a long drive to her sister's, even filling up her gas tank for her and getting food ready. If I were in a crisis, I'd want the Kishis helping me. The book ends without all the loose ends tied up, but with the reassurance that the boys are safe.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Junior Mints, Milky Way bars, Chips Ahoy, Oreos, Sour Patch Kids, peanut M&Ms, Triscuits

Claudia used to "fingerpaint" with her baby food. My toddler was fingerpainting with the frosting on a doughnut we got after church; maybe she'll be artistic like Claudia. She already has a sweet tooth!


Their Families:

Claudia's aunt and uncle (Peaches and Russ) leave Lynn with the Kishis for a week. The baby is six months old. My toddler is 27 months old and hasn't been away from us over night yet (but soon will, I hope). While this is a bad idea for a nursing mother, they leave formula for Lynn so either she's been weaned by now for any of a variety of reasons or she was on formula from the start--which isn't necessarily a bad thing; some women can't produce milk well or need medications that would passed through the milk.


The Club (and clients):

The BSC invites Erica to the meeting after all this goes down, which is nice of them. It gives her a bit of closure.


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time:

At one point, Claudia refuses the offer of a ride home from Mr. Nicholls based on intuition (it's before things really escalate). Listening to your intuition is often a good idea, as long as it doesn't prevent you from living a normal life, for example, if it slips into paranoia. Most reasonable people are correct when they have a sense that something isn't right.

If you have a reason to suspect abuse, report it. Better safe than sorry. And don't assume someone else will take care of it; too many people do that and then nothing gets done. The book is right when it points out that it's a serious accusation, but the police or whoever you report it to will know how to investigate and will take the proper steps. You can report anonymously, too.


Misc:

I 100% agree with Claudia: there are few things better than a baby falling asleep on your chest. My own goddaughter did that a lot when she was a baby (I watched her three days a week for a while).

St. Patrick's Day happens during the course of this book. By the way, the proper response to "Top of the morning to you!" is "And the rest of the day to yourself."


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 4

St. Patrick's Days in 8th grade: 1

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 138

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

Abby and the Best Kid Ever (RS#116)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker

Synopsis:

The Addison family is moving to Seattle, WA (yay, out-of-control Sean is coming live near me). While they help the family pack, the BSC also has to deal with Sean being convinced they hate him and are happy to be rid of him. The BSC throws the Addisons a going-away party. The Nicholls family moves into the Addisons' old house.

At the same time, Lou McNally is moving back with her older brother and aunt and uncle. (She's the star of Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever, who was in foster care with the Papadakises. She acted out due to the immense stress of her situation.) Lou is now constantly on her very best behavior and almost never acts like a kid. While she's easy to watch, the BSC is concerned that she's unable or unwilling to be herself. There's also the way that a little mistake, like spilling a glass of water, sends her into a panic. After talking with her brother, it seems that Lou is worried that if she messes up, her aunt and uncle might not be able to keep them or something might happen to them. Abby tries to convince Lou that she's not in any danger, but it doesn't really take until Abby explains what's going on to Lou's aunt and uncle.

This book takes place in February, which in the US is Black History Month. For a school project, Abby gets some of the BSC charges involved in a documentary she makes about the Underground Railroad (Nicky Pike inspired the idea).


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: garlic nugget pretzels, M&Ms, trail mix, an apple (for Stacey)

There is a sewing machine at Mary Anne's house but it's unclear if it's primarily Mary Anne's, Sharon's, or Richard's. I'm betting it belongs to Mary Anne.

I don't know why Abby passed off her tears as allergies when she was talking to Jay (Lou's older brother) about his father dying. I bet he and Abby could have helped each other, having had the same sad experience. Even if she didn't want to talk about it, it would make more sense to me for her to say something like, "My father passed away too, and it makes me emotional to think about it, but I don't like to talk about it."


Their Families: nothing new.


The Club (and clients):

I do think it's weird that the girls refer to themselves as BABY-sitters when they usually watch older kids. I've watched kids for at least a decade and a half in various capacities from minding my younger brother to being a five-day-a-week nanny, and I refer to myself as a sitter unless there actually is an infant. I've known little kids for whom it's very important that they not be implied to be babies.

The Addisons move away but the McNallys settle in Stoneybrook, so the number of BSC clients is unchanged. The Nicholls family, who moves into the Addisons' house, has two kids and might call on the BSC for sitting services soon. The BSC notes that Mr. Nicholls is pretty strict with his boys, but think it's from the stress of moving.


SMS:

EDIT: Oops...I confused which part means what, so ignore most of the following! It was correctedin the comments. Abby was still wrong, though.  Abby, the reason your history teacher dismissed your idea of having a city named Philasororia to be the "City of Sisterly Love" in answer to Philadelphia (the "City of Brotherly Love") is because your knowledge of Greek is awful. Your city name would mean something like "brother-sister" because it's the Phila- part that means brother and the -delphia part that means love. You want something like Sorodelphia. (Although your teacher is wrong that it would be a good name for a dinosaur; it makes no sense unless it's a new species discovered by a brother-and-sister team of paleontologists, and would probably be the second part of the name, like the "rex" in "Tyrannosaurus rex.")


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

Is it foreshadowing that Abby and her charges mention the name of Mary Anne's street is odd, Burnt Hill Road? Maybe. The name certainly makes more sense once we get to the last regular series book (it's in 27 more books; one Super Special, four mysteries, seven California Diaries, and fifteen regular series).

Was anyone else confused as a child to read that Mary Anne and Dawn's house was part of the Underground Railroad despite being in Connecticut? I know now that many escaped slaved went all the way to Canada to avoid extradition back to the South, but when I was a kid and read about the secret passage I only knew about slaves trying to get north of the Mason-Dixon Line (CT is north of that and therefore didn't have slavery). Maybe it was just me, but I think that with how much the BSC books overexplain things there could have been a mention back in The Ghost at Dawn's House when the passage is first introduced, rather than waiting until this book!

Mrs. Addison is correct, you don't get very dependable snow in the Seattle area. We had none this year, but last year there was a snow and ice storm that shut some stuff down for a few days (steep hills+cars/drivers that aren't equiped for snow+ice+not a lot of equipment to get rid of the ice and snow=dangerous driving conditions).


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 136

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

Jessi's Big Break (RS#115)

Original Publication Date: 1998

Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis

Synopsis:

As the title would suggest, Jessi gets a big break in this book. After an audition, she's invited to a three-and-a-half week ballet course at Dance New York, a prestigious company. She stays with her (adult) cousin Michael and his wife, Marian (Aunt Cecelia's son and daughter-in-law). And who is in the same program but Quint, the closest thing Jessi's had to a boyfriend. She's worried that he wants to heat up again. He is operating under the assumption that since they're spending so much time together, they can go ahead and be in a relationship, but Jessi explains that she's just not ready for a boyfriend. He's willing to wait until she is, at least for now. Back to dancing. Jessi does very well under the watchful eyes of her teachers, well enough to earn a second audition and an invitation to join the program full-time. Aunt Cecelia really comes through for her; she jumps at every opportunity to help Jessi be in the New York City school and really wants to see her niece succeed at her dream. Jessi thinks long and hard about it, and agrees that she also wants to take advantage of this opportunity, but not just yet. She can wait several months and the offer will still be there, so she vows to enjoy the life she has now while working to become an even more accomplished ballerina for when she returns to the program.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Snickers

Jessi briefly imitates her dance teacher and of course he catches her in the act. She worries over a bit more than you'd expect, were it not for the plot of Jessi's Horrible Prank.

Mallory loves bagels.


Their Families:

Becca's all melodramatic and egocentric like she was in Jessi and the Jewel Theives. Squirt's sad too, but he just misses Jessi (and same with Mallory); he doesn't make it all about how terrible things are for him.

This book confirms that back in Jessi's Baby-sitter poor Aunt Cecelia was dealing with not only adjusting to living with a new family who hadn't really hashed out any rules, but the very recent death of her husband. Cecelia's married name, by the way, is Parker.

Jessi's father has two brothers older than his sister Cecelia, but no word if he's the youngest of four or if there are more siblings.

Cecelia thinks that her son Michael should be doing more with his. Jessi muses that she wanted him to become the first African-American president (of the US, of course: African-American). Leaving aside that you have to be at least 35 to run and I don't think he's old enough, he missed that boat! This book was published ten years before Obama won the presidency. In actuality, Cecelia's sad that Michael and Marian didn't follow their artistic dreams.

While Cecelia does make her daughter-in-law nervous and act a little bratty to her son, I have to give her credit that when she sort of complains about them not having a home-cooked meal ready, she directs the blame to her son and not her daughter-in-law, and not in a way that implies women should do all the cooking.

This book implies that Jeff didn't move back to California until after Richard and Sharon married.


The Club (and clients):

Claudia still has to take a sitting call outside of BSC meeting times now and then.


SMS: Jessi's in NYC for the most of the book; she has a tutor there.


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

This is Jessi's last book in the series.

Between pages 40 and 41 the description of two characters changes from past tense to present. It's not quite a mistake the way it's done but it's really awkward to read.

One of Jessi's dance friends explains to Mallory (who visits for a weekend) that dancers can't help being physical. My best friend did ballet for a long time, and she's confirmed that. She told me that you're so used to physical contact and studying the human form that you're very comfortable with touching people after years of ballet. I'm very happy that she's so understanding of my personal space because for the most part I don't like touching.

Jessi's cousin's apartment is described as having a downstairs. It's also explicitly stated to be a very nice apartment. How common are two-story apartments in New York City? They live in Brooklyn, for what it's worth.

This book references E-mail, with the capital E. That used to be standard back in the olden days. Now most people use lower-case (unless beginning a sentence, of course).


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-5, Hanukkah-2, Kwanzaa-3

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 134

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0

The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier (RS#114)

Original Publication Date: 1997

Ghostwriter? Yes, Suzanne Weyn

Synopsis:

When Mary Anne's dad lends her his credit card to do Christmas shopping (...yeah), she quickly overspends and finds herself owing her dad more money than she has available. There's a little lesson/PSA about credit card debt and interest payments. Her solution is to get a parttime job as an elf in a Santa village at the mall. In a shocking turn of events, this one job in New England that actually requires its employees to be 16, unlike where Laine and Logan work. But another girl, Angela, helps Mary Anne disguise the 13 she's already written as a 16 (not sure how...) on her job application, and the two co-workers hit it off. Fortunately (?) for Mary Anne, who wants to keep her job a secret, she has to dress in an elf costume, complete with a giant fake head. She and Angela get to know each other better, and eventually Angela reveals that she's no longer welcome in her family's home, because she won't toe the line of her upper-crust, intolerant parents. Angela is trying to raise funds to pay her way to California where she can live with her friends (Angela is 17). When her parents won't even speak to her during the holiday season, Mary Anne invites Angela to her house for Christmas, at Dawn's suggestion. She also comes clean about her secret job, but not until after the last day.

Subplot is about the BSC helping a defunct toy drive.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: none mentioned

Mary Anne buys both Kristy and Abby catcher's mitts for Christmas. For those who don't know, a catcher's mitts is different from a regular baseball mitt. As far as I know, neither Kristy nor Abby are much interested in playing catcher. I hope Mary Anne at least remembered that Kristy is left-handed when she bought them.

Dawn (and Jeff) are visiting from California for Christmas, and Dawn has grown a bit distant. Not a ton, but you can tell she thinks of herself as visiting rather than at home.


Their Families:

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I thought Sharon shouldn't be sneaking things that Richard doesn't like into her cooking, but in this book he makes stew with beef in it for him and Mary Anne and tofu in it for Sharon. Because the meat juices won't get all over the rest of the ingredients at all.

Hunter Bruno is the only one to recognize Mary Anne in her elf costume.

Sharon loves It's a Wonderful Life. Smart woman.


The Club (and clients):

The club notebook is a spiral notebook, not a binder as I'd imagined. I wonder how many they've filled up at this point, eleven years after Kristy's Great Idea was published.

Mary Anne nearly books Stacey for a job when Stacey's not available (Stacey had forgotten as well) but catches herself just before Stacey accepts the sitting job.


SMS: nothing new.


PSA Time: nothing stood out.


Misc:

The BSC is surprised at how late some people are Christmas shopping. Some Christians exchange gifts on Epiphany, which is January 6. Plus some people don't have their Christmas get-togethers until a few days after the calendar day. So even after December 25 a few people will be looking for Christmas presents.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 10

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate in the plot of a book, not just reference): Christmas-4, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-2

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 214: 120 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 29 7th graders, 48 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 134

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-11
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0