Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake (SS#8)

Original Publication Date: 1992

Ghostwriter? No

Synopsis:

Watson Brewer's aunt and uncle are updating their wills, and considering leaving him their summer cabin at Shadow Lake. To decide, Watson proposes a two-week vacation to the cabin, and of course, the BSC--minus Logan and Shannon OF COURSE, as they have plans--is invited to come along (so do some friends of Karen's and David Michael's; Sam and Charlie decline to bring friends in hopes of meeting girls). Hmm, the whole club, a fortnight...you know what this means: Super Special. Here are the plots:

Kristy spends her time doing everything she can think to convince Watson to agree to be willed the cabin, including making everyone write in a journal about how wonderful it is. Watson does agree to have the cabin willed to him, and we never hear about it again (that I can think of).

Dawn is obsessed with finding the mystery of Shadow Lake. There was a family who owned and lived on the island in the middle of the lake, but suddenly disappeared, leaving no trace. One night, the BSC has a campout on the island, during which Dawn finds a gold locket that she thinks belonged to an eighteen-year-old who lived there and was engaged to a man Dawn met in town before the disappearance. Dawn gives him the locket.

Jessi finds herself potentially flirting with a boy named Daniel, and wondering about her allegiance to Quint. But it turns out that Daniel has a girlfriend, and was just being friendly.

Stacey is the unwilling object of Sam Thomas's attentions. He does a good job annoying her, until Charlie gives him some advice. Stacey and Sam end up dancing the night away at the lodge dance.

Mary Anne mostly just babysits. She doesn't get much of a plot.

Mallory gets eaten alive by bugs. And made fun of by everyone but Jessi when she covers up to defend herself against the onslaught. The best friends you'll ever have indeed! After the trip, she sends a letter to the bug spray company explaining its product doesn't work, and gets a form letter thanking her for her comments with two coupons for the spray.

Claudia decides to enter the cabin's small boat in a contest, decorated as a lake monster (there's talk of something like Nessie in Shadow Lake). Andrew and Emily Michelle help her come up with ideas. She wins a prize for "Most Spirit."

We are also "treated" to chapters narrated by the kids. It's Karen, Nancy Dawes, and Hannie Papadakis versus David Michael, Linny Papadakis, and Nicky Pike over who will create a better hideaway in the woods. The girls have found a shack they're converting to a playhouse while the boys want to build their own fort, which distracts Linny and Nicky from trying to impress each other. The girls win when the boys' fort collapses. Tragically, Karen was not injured.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Mallomars "under a pile of junk" (yummy)

Claudia still tutors Emily Michelle.

Mary Anne claims to not believe in ghosts. What about the secret passage?

Stacey still can't stand vomit.


Their Families:

I like how Charlie sometimes steps in with the kids while Sam remains a goofball. It's consistent with Charlie having had to suddenly take on more responsibility when their dad walked out.

Haha, Sam finds Karen annoying.

Charlie shaves, but Sam doesn't yet.

Emily Michelle occasionally uses a pacifier.

Watson refers to Kristy as his daughter. Aww...


The Club:

Remember the advice to ask a child "Tell me about your picture" rather than trying to guess what it is? Must be club policy, because Claudia's invoking it here.


SMS: Summer vacation (again)


PSA time: nothing new


Misc: nothing stood out


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 3

Halloweens in 8th grade: 2 (plus one in seventh)

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2

Summers after 8th grade: 3

BSC Fights: 6

SMS Staff: 26

Students (other than the BSC): 84; 59 8th graders, 2 7th grader, 11 sixth-graders, 11 unspecified

Clients: 29

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 60 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, candy hearts, Cheese Doodles, Cheetos, a chocolate bar, chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate marshmallow cookies, Chunky bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers (unspecified and whole wheat), cupcakes, dark-chocolate caramels, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, Fig Newtons, Fritos, fruit pie, gumdrops, Gummi Bears (regular and sweet-n-sour), Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, jellybeans, Kit-Kats, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, malt balls, marshmallows, Mentos, Milky Ways, mini candy bars, Necco wafers, Oreos (Double Stuf and chocolate-dipped), Planter's Peanut bar, popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, pretzel sticks, red hots, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, tortilla chips, Triscuits, Twinkies, Yodels)

Crushes: Claudia-8 (Guy, Terry, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Arthur Feingold, Woody Jefferson, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-5 (Travis, Lewis Bruno, Parker Harris, Price Irving, Richie Magnesi), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-7 (Toby, Kelsey Bauman, Pete Black, Ross Brown, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor), Mallory-1 (Ben Hobart), Jessi-3 (Daniel, Curtis Shaller, Quint Walter)