Mallory

Books narrated: 13

#14 Hello, Mallory! (no ghostwriter)
#21 Mallory and the Trouble with Twins (no ghostwriter) my favorite Mallory book
#29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary (no ghostwriter)
#39 Poor Mallory! (no ghostwriter)
#47 Mallory on Strike (ghostwriter: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#54 Mallory and the Dream Horse (gw: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#59 Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#69 Get Well Soon, Mallory (gw: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#80 Mallory Pike, #1 Fan (gw: Suzanne Weyn)
#92 Mallory’s Christmas Wish (gw: Peter Lerangis)
#108 Don’t Give Up, Mallory! (gw: Jahnna Beecham/Malcolm Hillgartner)
#126 The All-New Mallory Pike (gw: Ellen Miles)

M#3 Mallory and the Ghost Cat (gw: Ellen Miles)

Portrayed by Mehgan Andrews in the TV show and Stacey Lynn Ramsower in the movie (sharing not only Stacey's first name, but Claudia's middle name!). None of the TV episodes are centered around her.

Mallory-3  (tied for fourth with Jessi)
Toby, Ben Hobart, unnamed boy she meets in a writing workshop while at boarding school

Only Mallory and Claudia don’t move from their original houses during the series; Mallory ends up spending most of the academic year at boarding school. She becomes an honorary member as her school is in Massachusetts.

Mallory has blue eyes. Depending on the book her hair is either brown with red highlights or fully red. It’s always thick and curly.

When Mallory got her ears pierced in Mallory and the Trouble with Twins her parents expressly wanted her to enjoy wearing “fun” earrings but in Poor Mallory! she’s only allowed to wear studs or hoops (before her dad’s laid off, too).

Mallory is taller than Kristy. She's about 5' 2".

Mallory knows calligraphy, and how to sew.

Mallory’s favorite vegetable is artichoke. She also likes bagels.

Mallory is always cold.

Mallory has had chicken pox twice. The second bout left her with scars in "unmentionable" places.

Mallory talks in her sleep.

When calling, Mallory lets the phone ring seven times before giving up on either a person or an answering machine picking up. My dad taught me the exact same thing.

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

The most difficult school subjects for Mallory are science and math. Obviously, she does well in English and writing classes. She plans to make enough of a living with her writing to one day pay for a nose job.

Mallory joins an archery team during the series and remains interested for most of the rest of the books. She is also the sixth grade treasurer for a while, but no need to replace her is mentioned when she transfers schools.

Mallory seems to correct Claudia on her spelling issues and other things more than the rest of the BSC. On the one hand, it’s sort of rude when she interrupts as Claudia’s speaking; but on the other, at least someone is helping Claudia spell things right on the posters she makes for the club.

In the Friends Forever book Stacey’s Problem, it’s implied that Jessi and Mallory are drifting apart.

Mallory’s Family

Mallory lives with her parents John and Dee, and seven younger siblings: triplets Jordan, Adam, and Byron; Vanessa, Nicky, Margo, and Claire. All the Pikes have blue eyes (Vanessa, Nicky, and Mallory are near-sighted). All but Mallory have brown hair, and some books describe hers more as having a reddish tinge to the brown. When the Pikes are first introduced, it’s mentioned they have a cat named Sarge. But by #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter, the Pikes are described as having always been pet-less. They get a hamster (Frodo) in that book, and in #71 Claudia and the Perfect Boy they take in Pow from the Barretts after Marnie develops an allergy to the basset hound. In #104 Abby’s Twin, Pow is overweight, which is especially bad for his breed.

From Boy-Crazy Stacey: Byron loves to eat and is sensitive, Margo gets carsick (she's also later described as bossy), Claire is silly, Vanessa rhymes and is a slowpoke, Mallory is romantic, Nicky feels overlooked and ignored, Jordan plays piano, and Adam's only trait is that he's a triplet.

Depending on which book you read, the only food all the Pike kids like is either spaghetti or some monstrosity called Daddy Stew. Other books indicate that they all enjoy breakfast foods, too, although Jordan doesn't like waffles. Margo seems to be the only younger Pike to really enjoy vegetables.

Several of the Pikes know how to knit, judging from the gifts they give in Mallory’s Christmas Wish.

Mallory’s family goes to church at least semi-regularly, enough that they participate in the Christmas pageant every year.

All the Pikes like to read. Good job, parents. On the other hand, it’s Mallory who reads them bedtime stories…

The Pike kids all get an allowance, but the amount isn't specified.

The Tooth Fairy leaves a quarter for each Pike tooth. Twenty baby teeth times eight kids times twenty-five cents…forty dollars total. If you think that makes the parents cheap, my brothers and I got a dime each and there are only three of us: six bucks.

Mrs. Pike makes all the kids lunches for school every day.

Mallory’s mother’s maiden name is Bennett. She’s the second of five children.

Mrs. Pike is good with computers and enjoys using them.

Mrs. Pike is one of the library trustees. She also volunteers for Meals on Wheels every Monday. She also does temp work sometimes.

Mr. Pike is a corporate lawyer. He’s laid off for a while but finds another law job. It took a while for the Pikes’ finances to recover. Depending on the book, he’s named John or Daniel.

Since Jeff Schafer refers to the triplets as JAB and they’re usually named in that order, I’d assumed the birth order went Jordan, Adam, Byron. Beware, Dawn! vaguely hints that Adam is the oldest triplet, then Byron, then Jordan. The All-New Mallory Pike states that Jordan is the oldest triplet and Stacey’s Problem that Byron is the youngest. Claudia and the Lighthouse Ghost says that Adam is forty seconds younger than Jordan. While it is possible to not have a c-section with triplets, the forty second gap leads me to suspect they were a c-section birth.

If the triplets were indeed a c-section, it’s likely given the time frame of the books that the rest of the Pikes would have been c-sections, since VBACs were uncommon in the eighties and nineties (and even in some areas now). A lot of OBs will recommend no more than five c-sections as more than that increases the chances of complications. The triplets, Vanessa, Nicky, Margo, and Claire make five c-sections. So perhaps Mrs. Pike had her tubes tied during the c-section with Claire, or Mr. Pike had a vasectomy after Claire.

The Pike triplets play on a hockey team with Jeff Schafer, at least until he moves back to California.

The triplets start playing The Wandering Frog People game in #9 The Ghost at Dawn’s House.

Jordan plays piano. He’s also very ticklish.

Byron is established as the big eater way back in #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day.

Byron gets along with Nicky better than Adam and Jordan do. After Mallory leaves for boarding school, Byron becomes sort of the odd man out among the triplets, mostly because he’s more mature.

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. She’s a deep sleeper, so wants to avoid opening her eyes as long as possible.

Vanessa takes ballet.

Nicky sunburns easily, like Mallory.

Nicky likes coin collecting.

Nicky Pike’s finger remains slightly crooked from when he broke it Hello, Mallory.

While Margo is described as being uncoordinated, she can peel a banana with her feet.

Margo and Claire know how to sew, at least a bit.

Claire always wears a watch on her right wrist, despite not being able to tell time. In earlier books she threw amazing temper tantrums, but seems to largely outgrow it as the series progresses.