Dawn

Books narrated: 25

#5 Dawn and the Impossible Three (no ghostwriter)
#9 The Ghost at Dawn’s House (no ghostwriter) my favorite Dawn book
#15 Little Miss Stoneybrook…and Dawn (no ghostwriter)
#23 Dawn on the Coast (ghostwriter: Jan Carr)
#31 Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister (no ghostwriter)
#37 Dawn and the Older Boy (gw: Mary Lou Kennedy)
#44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#50 Dawn’s Big Date (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#57 Dawn Saves the Planet (gw: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#64 Dawn’s Family Feud (gw: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#67 Dawn’s Big Move (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#72 Dawn and the We ♥ Kids Club (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever (gw: Nola Thacker)
#84 Dawn and the School Spirit War (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#88 Farewell, Dawn (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#98 Dawn and Too Many Sitters (gw: Peter Lerangis)

M#2 Beware, Dawn! (gw: Ellen Miles)
M#7 Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs (gw: Ellen Miles)
M#12 Dawn and the Surfer Ghost (gw: Ellen Miles)
M#18 Dawn and the Halloween Mystery (gw: Ellen Miles) my favorite Dawn mystery
M#26 Dawn Schafer, Undercover Baby-sitter (gw: Ellen Miles)

Dawn’s Book (gw: Jeanne Betancourt)

Dawn, Diary 1 (no ghostwriter)
Dawn, Diary 2 (gw: Jeanne Betancourt)
Dawn, Diary 3 (no ghostwriter) my favorite Dawn CD

Portrayed by Melissa Chasse in the TV show and Larisa Oleynik in the movie. The TV episodes "Dawn and the Dream Boy" and "Dawn Saves the Trees" are centered around her.

Dawn’s Crushes-5 (third place)
Travis, Lewis Bruno, Parker Harris, Price Irving, Richie Magnesi

Dawn joins the BSC in #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day. The event is celebrated with a pizza toast. She becomes an honorary member when she moves back to California permanently in #88 Farewell, Dawn.

Dawn hates dim rooms and has lots of lamps each with 100 watt bulbs. That seems odd for environmentally-conscious Dawn. It sounds like her room has only one little porthole for a window.

At first, Dawn simply avoids red meat. By #28 Welcome Back, Stacey! Dawn is fully vegetarian. But she eats chicken on the plane in Super Special 5 California Girls. The first time Dawn ever chewed gum was in #50 Dawn’s Big Date. It was sugarless, of course.

Dawn is neat, as in tidy, when introduced in #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day. In #5 Dawn and the Impossible Three, Dawn seems more distressed by messy things like spilled food than disorganized things like her house. That will fit better with the continuity, but not perfectly. #29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary describes Dawn as “the world’s neatest person.” But in #31 Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister, Dawn thinks it’s completely bizarre and nearly OCD to have separators in the utensil drawers to keep the forks, spoons, and knives separate from each other. By mystery #5 Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic she’s officially described as messy.

Dawn doesn't like little kids to play with toy guns, but doesn't mind other toy weaponry like swords. (Although in Dawn's Portrait Collection book, an elementary-school-aged Sunny disagrees with all violent play, including swords)

Dawn wears about the same size clothing as Claudia. In Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister, Dawn and Mary Anne trade clothes back and forth. But by Here Come the Bridesmaids! they wear clothes of completely different sizes. Dawn is taller than both Mary Anne and Mallory, which means she’s also taller than Kristy. She has blue eyes.

Dawn was born eight days after her due date. A while after that, Dawn was entered in a “Beautiful Baby” contest by her mom…and won.

Dolphins are Dawn’s favorite animals. She also seems to like unicorns. She bought a little unicorn charm for a bracelet in Baby-sitters on Board and has unicorn stationery in Dawn’s Big Date.

Dawn likes to sleep in late. On a related note, she likes to analyze dreams.

Dawn hates the cold.

Dawn knows what tequila tastes like.

Dawn has taken sailing lessons in California, before her parents’ divorce.

Dawn’s Family

Dawn is introduced in #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day, having recently moved from California with her mom, Sharon, and younger brother Jeff following her parents’ divorce. Jeff moves back to California shortly after, feeling too homesick and out of sorts in Connecticut. Her mom dated Mary Anne’s dad in high school, and upon meeting, their romance rekindles. They marry, making Dawn and Mary Anne stepsisters. Dawn eventually feels the same draw to California and moves back. Her father, Jack, remarries too, to a woman named Carol. The wedding takes place during an extended visit that Dawn has before permanently moving back. Carol later gives birth to a baby girl, Gracie.

Sharon marries Mary Anne’s dad when the two have been on about thirty dates (thirty since reuniting after high school). It’s unclear whether Dawn’s mother took Richard’s last name after they married. Her maiden name was Porter...same name as the neighbor that Karen Brewer thinks is a witch!

Dawn’s mom had never owned a vacuum cleaner until she married Richard.

Sharon is works as a real estate agent or for a small accounting business depending on the book, and later wants to get a degree in architecture. She volunteers with Meals on Wheels.

Sharon has short, curly blonde hair. She drives a Subaru Outback (she wanted an all-wheel drive car for the Connecticut snow, and Subarus come with AWD standard). She doesn't drink coffee per Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister. Sharon loves the movie It’s a Wonderful Life.

Sharon sees a kinesiologist.

Dawn describes Mary Anne as the world's best stepsister, but Richard only as a "pretty nice" stepfather. Funny.

The Schafer house in California is consistently described as a one-story U-shaped building, with a sort of courtyard in the middle. Dawn’s father’s house has a bright yellow door. The school she and Jeff attend there is called Vista.

Dawn's parents divorced in the fall, but her mom waited until after Christmas to move across the country. I've seen lots of criticism for such an upheaval, and I agree that it's a lot to put two kids through. At least she waited until the holidays were over, and moved the kids at what is usually the start of a new school semester.

Dawn’s dad might have been having an affair. In The Baby-sitters Remember Dawn recalls him staying out late and having inconsistent stories about where he was. The divorce was granted for “irreconcilable differences.” Dawn says her parents divorced because her mom is "disorganized and [her] dad just couldn't live with that." They were married for about fifteen years, like Stacey’s parents.

Dawn’s dad starts dating Carol in Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister. She’s a painter and drives a red sports car. Carol must not have much family or not be close with them or they were unable to travel, as no siblings or parents or anyone is mentioned attending her wedding.

Holy crap, Carol's OB ordered bedrest so strict she can't even get up to use the bathroom. I've heard of bedrest where the woman can only get up to bathe once every ten days. But Carol...she should almost be hospitalized for the remainder of the pregnancy if it's that bad. Between the bedrest and a long maternity leave, Carol had about a year off from work. She breast-fed Gracie, once in front of Ducky, which made him feel incredibly awkward.

Jeff loves making bad puns. He’s also a Grateful Dead fan.

Jeff didn't really get to know Richard before he married Sharon. It’s not even totally clear if they’d ever shared more than a few words before the wedding.

Dawn's brother play ice hockey with the Pike triplets.

Jeff has a weakness for chocolate cake.

Dawn's maternal grandfather is a banker.