Jessi

Books narrated: 14

#16 Jessi’s Secret Language (no ghostwriter)
#22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter (no ghostwriter)
#27 Jessi and the Superbrat (ghostwriter: Jan Carr)
#36 Jessi’s Baby-sitter (no ghostwriter)
#42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom (gw: Ellen Miles) my favorite Jessi book
#48 Jessi’s Wish (no ghostwriter)
#55 Jessi’s Gold Medal (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#61 Jessi and the Awful Secret (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#75 Jessi’s Horrible Prank (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#82 Jessi and the Troublemaker (gw: Nola Thacker)
#103 Happy Holidays, Jessi (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#115 Jessi’s Big Break (gw: Peter Lerangis)

#8 Jessi and the Jewel Thieves (gw: Ellen Miles)

Jessi’s Crushes-3 (tied for fourth with Mallory)
Daniel, Curtis Shaller, Quint Walter

Portrayed by Nicholle Rochelle in the TV show and Zelda Harris in the movie. The TV episode "Jessi and the Mystery of the Stolen Secrets" is centered around her.

Jessi joins the BSC in #14 Hello, Mallory and quits in the Friends Forever Super Special Everything Changes when she’s accepted into a more serious ballet program.

Every morning, Jessi wakes up at 5:29, just before her alarm goes off, to practice ballet. The dance school Jessi attends puts on only parts of ballets, per Hello, Mallory! Considering how often an eleven-year-old gets major roles in complicated ballets when most eleven-year-olds are only just going en pointe if they've even gotten that far, at least she's only doing parts of ballets.

Jessi’s birthday is September 13.

Jessi wears reading glasses.

Jessi is very good at learning languages. She is a self-confessed terrible letter-writer, though she makes an effort to keep up written correspondence. She writes Dawn a very sweet letter in Farewell, Dawn so she seems to have overcome that.

In Kristy and the Baby Parade, Jessi doesn't know what colic is. But in The Baby-sitters Remember (published later) her most vivid memory is of Squirt having colic. Perhaps he should have had a different ailment...

Jessi has a collection of ceramic horses and of stuffed animals.

Jessi envies Claudia’s wardrobe.

Deep, dark secret: even though they're not little kids, Jessi and Mallory still play pretend that they're horses.

Jessi is taller than Kristy.

Jessi hordes her money, like Kristy.

Jessi will very occasionally narrate something like “I prayed that…” instead of hoped or wished. She seems to be at least tiny bit religious. Her family attends church when they’re back visiting in New Jersey.

Jessi loves going to zoos. Yay! I’ll go with you, Jessi.

Jessi takes French classes.

Jessi is the only African-American in the sixth grade at SMS.

Jessi has long eyelashes which she must have inherited from her father, as her mother has short eyelashes and long eyelashes are dominant.

Jessi prefers to wear pastels to compliment her complexion.

In FF#10 Stacey’s Problem, it’s implied that Jessi and Mallory are drifting apart.

Jessi’s Family

Jessi--short for Jessica--moves from New Jersey with her family in #14 Hello, Mallory.She lives with her parents John Philip Sr and Janice (according to the BSC wiki), younger sister Becca (Rebecca), and baby brother Squirt (John Philip Jr). In #36 Jessi’s Baby-sitter, her paternal aunt Cecelia moves in with them to help around the house after Jessi’s mom gets a job. The Ramseys also acquire a hamster named Misty in #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter.

Jessi’s parents had two late miscarriages, probably even late enough to be considered stillbirths, between Becca and Squirt. The pregnancies were lost far enough along for them to know that one was a boy and the other a girl. Jessi’s mom would have had to undergo surgery or even induced labor depending on the gestational age, with the knowledge that there would be no baby to raise after. How heartbreaking.

When Jessi wakes up for ballet practice, her mom does too.

Jessi’s mom knows how to sew.

When Jessi’s aunt Cecelia comes to live with them, it’s heavily implied that she’s been recently widowed. But no one ever expresses sympathy or sadness at her husband’s death. Cecelia has an adult son, Michael, who is married and lives in New York City.

Aunt Cecelia is Mr. Ramsey’s older sister. There are two brothers older than she; no word if Mr. Ramsey is the youngest of four or if there are other siblings.

Aunt Cecelia has a husky laugh per #82 Jessi and the Troublemaker. #107 Mind Your Own Business, Kristy! reveals that she smokes, so this makes sense.

Becca has terrible stage fright. Later on, Becca is in the same Christmas pageant as the Pikes are in Baby-sitters’ Christmas Chiller. So not only has she gotten over her stage fright, it seems she and her family attend the same church as the Pikes. Jackie Rodowsky is also in the pageant, for what it’s worth.

Becca, at age eight, still believes in Santa, which isn't unreasonable.

Becca’s favorite TV show is The Cosby Show, like Charlotte Johanssen. She's also very interested in the fictional series P.S. 162, the one that Derek Masters is in.

Becca has a rock collection, of rocks she thinks are interesting rather than specific types.

Becca has a good appetite, and especially likes tacos.

Squirt was very tiny when he was born, which is how he got that nickname (maybe prematurity or intrauterine growth restriction played a role in the miscarriages/stillbirths). His full name is John Philip Ramsey, Jr. But when Jessi writes a letter to her dad in Baby-sitters’ Summer Vacation, she addresses it to Alex Ramsey.

Squirt amuses his sisters by doing fake sneezes. My younger brother used to do the same thing, and my older daughter has recently learned the same trick.

Squirt gets Goodnight Moon as part of his bedtime routine. I have that book memorized.

The Ramseys have cable.

The Ramseys took a vacation to Mexico at some point before Jessi’s introduction to the books.

Most of Jessi's extended family lives in Oakley, NJ; many within walking distance. She's always been pretty close to her cousin Keisha.