Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Dawn is back in Stoneybrook for the summer, and for once Jeff is visiting too. He and the Pike triplets are itching to earn money, and ask to be made BSC members. They come along to some of the jobs with different members, and often cause more problems than they solve. Making things worse, most of the BSC is trying to raise money to earn a reserved spot on the SMS summer trip to Hawaii, and they're having to split their pay with the boys. Dawn's able to make it because the school needs at least 50 people so they're willing to take non-students after students sign up. The boys end up not enjoying sitting enough to join the club, but do learn enough about it that they're helpful around kids. And the sitters are able to earn enough cash to pay for the trip plus some spending money.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Twinkies in her closet, mini Snickers under her bed, Nestle Crunch bars, Heath bars, Milky Way bars, Mallomars, Milk Duds, Ring Dings, and pretzels
Mary Anne has pierced ears? She's also apparently shrunk, since she had previously grown taller than Kristy and Mallory, at five-foot-one, is taller than Kristy, yet Mary Anne is described as just over five feet tall.
Oh, Shannon. No one cares that you can't come to the next Super Special because of summer camp. You barely count.
Their Families:
Dawn describes Richard Spier as "my stepdad" rather than "Mary Anne's dad," which implies that she feels part of the same family.
On the other hand, maybe she's trying to distance herself from her stepmother Carol, who offers cold cereal served over juice (I'm pretty sure she's serious). I once accidentally poured water on my cereal instead of milk and it was gross. It also wasn't my fault: I was around 8 and Dad would set out a bowl of cereal, a cup of milk on the left, and a cup of water on the right. I wasn't really awake one morning when they were switched.
The Club (and clients):
So honorary BSC members(who get sitting jobs) don't have to pay dues, but Claudia owed them for her time in the hospital, physically incapable of baby-sitting, recovering from the broken leg directly caused by baby-sitting. Nice.
At a meeting: "'Sit!' Kristy barked." My daughter, who will be two in late November, orders us to "SIT!" like that. Mostly when she wants us to sit next to her under a blanket, or across the room to play catch, or occasionally at the library so she can run away while we're sitting.
SMS:
School is out for the summer...for the ninth time.
PSA Time:
When changing a diaper, put the clean one under the dirty one. If there are any leaks, the new diaper will catch them.
Misc:
This is Dawn's last book of the regular series.
This is the first book that I didn't read as a kid. I remember seeing the preview blurb for it at the back of Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby and noticing that it had the F word. No, not that one. Fart. I was appalled and losing interest anyway, so I never bothered to read it or any others until I was finishing college, about a decade later.
I always, always, every time, without fail, read the word "matinee" (an afternoon showing of a movie) as "manatee" (an aquatic mammal).
On page 110 the first-person narration briefly switches from Dawn's perspective to Stacey's. And on page 130, Mathew Hobart's name is spelled wrong, becoming the more common Matthew.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 9
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 56
Students (other than the BSC): 183: 118 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 119
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
9/15/12
Kristy and the Middle School Vandal (M#25)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Cary Retlin challenges the BSC to a mystery war: he will leave a trail of eight clues that the BSC has six days to solve. If he wins, he gets Kristy's watch. If the BSC wins, he'll stop bugging them. It's actually pretty fun to try to figure out the clues before the BSC does.
That's the not the real mystery, of course. The Michief Knights have moved beyond simple pranks; SMS is actually being vandalized. But the trademark MK is written in green, not red like it has been in the past. This all comes at an especially bad time: the teachers are trying to negotiate a new contract and the school board is using the vandalism as proof that the teachers don't deserve a new contract. There might even be a strike. Conveniently, the last bit of the BSC's challenge is to find out who the fake Mischief Knight is, and when they do, the members of the school board who were using the vandalism as an excuse to avoid negotiations back down. The strike is averted, and so is the threat of school extending into the summer.
Subplot (or third plot?): the BSC arranges a scavenger hunt for the kids.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: mint chocolate M&Ms, all-natural potato chips
Kristy outright tells us that her bossiness is a way to be sure people don't ignore her, something she thinks would happen since she's so short.
Their Families:
Kristy's the only short one in her immediate biological family.
The Brewer-Thomas household has hamsters? Since when? No mention of Emily Jr; maybe that was supposed to be a rat. Or it's something that happened in a Little Sister book.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
Kristy's still the shortest student in her grade.
Claudia seems to be having more trouble with school than usual.
Despite having finished about zero chapter books back in Mary Anne Misses Logan, Cokie knows the difference between principle and principal.
New-to-us student: Troy Parker (8th)
New-to-us SMS staff: Mr. Milhaus, a janitor
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Page 86: "It's number is one sixty-nine." It's = it is; its = possesive. Bad editor, bad!
What sort of nonsense...? Kristy, describing things that go poorly together, uses the analogy of having both sugar and salt in a recipe. Hasn't she made cookies from scratch? Most baked goods have a few teaspoons of salt in them, and a few cups of sugar.
The book is only fourteen chapters long.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 56
Students (other than the BSC): 183: 118 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 119
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Cary Retlin challenges the BSC to a mystery war: he will leave a trail of eight clues that the BSC has six days to solve. If he wins, he gets Kristy's watch. If the BSC wins, he'll stop bugging them. It's actually pretty fun to try to figure out the clues before the BSC does.
That's the not the real mystery, of course. The Michief Knights have moved beyond simple pranks; SMS is actually being vandalized. But the trademark MK is written in green, not red like it has been in the past. This all comes at an especially bad time: the teachers are trying to negotiate a new contract and the school board is using the vandalism as proof that the teachers don't deserve a new contract. There might even be a strike. Conveniently, the last bit of the BSC's challenge is to find out who the fake Mischief Knight is, and when they do, the members of the school board who were using the vandalism as an excuse to avoid negotiations back down. The strike is averted, and so is the threat of school extending into the summer.
Subplot (or third plot?): the BSC arranges a scavenger hunt for the kids.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: mint chocolate M&Ms, all-natural potato chips
Kristy outright tells us that her bossiness is a way to be sure people don't ignore her, something she thinks would happen since she's so short.
Their Families:
Kristy's the only short one in her immediate biological family.
The Brewer-Thomas household has hamsters? Since when? No mention of Emily Jr; maybe that was supposed to be a rat. Or it's something that happened in a Little Sister book.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
Kristy's still the shortest student in her grade.
Claudia seems to be having more trouble with school than usual.
Despite having finished about zero chapter books back in Mary Anne Misses Logan, Cokie knows the difference between principle and principal.
New-to-us student: Troy Parker (8th)
New-to-us SMS staff: Mr. Milhaus, a janitor
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Page 86: "It's number is one sixty-nine." It's = it is; its = possesive. Bad editor, bad!
What sort of nonsense...? Kristy, describing things that go poorly together, uses the analogy of having both sugar and salt in a recipe. Hasn't she made cookies from scratch? Most baked goods have a few teaspoons of salt in them, and a few cups of sugar.
The book is only fourteen chapters long.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 56
Students (other than the BSC): 183: 118 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 119
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
9/8/12
Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby (RS#97)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Claudia's cousin is finally born! Her aunt and uncle, Peaches and Russ, name her Lynn for Claudia Lynn Kishi, and ask Claudia to be her godmother. Claudia is ecstatic about Lynn, and wants to spend time with her and help out however she can. Pretty quickly, she goes overboard. Peaches and Russ don't really know how to tell her that they need space. Tensions rise and all parties overreact. Conveniently, Claudia finds herself dealing with an overbearing classmate on a school trip to Philadelphia. Like in a sitcom, it helps her understand the situation and everyone gets along by the end of the book.
Subplot: Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold are getting terrified by illicitly watching horror movies, but are cured after seeing a making-of documentary and realizing it's fake.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: pretzels behind some shoe boxes in her closet
Shannon's on the debate team.
Claudia points out that while Logan teases Mary Anne for getting so emotional at movies, he actually likes it because the more she cries, the more she snuggles.
Stacey has injected herself with insulin in front of Claudia and Claudia says it's not gross. Good friend! The rest of the BSC is all "EW! Your necessary for living routines are disgusting!" Although, where does Stacey inject the insulin? I had a teacher with diabetes and he told us that the injections had to be in his backside (it was relevant).
Their Families:
Hmm...it's not entirely clear whether Lynn is breastfed, bottlefed, or a combination. And Claudia gives Peaches advice on feeding techniques.
The Club (and clients):
Quick way to convince eight-year-old kids a movie is fake (if that is indeed the only reason it scares them): ask if Jurassic Park was filmed with real dinosaurs. The end. And yes, the movie was out before this book was published.
SMS:
Ms. Bernhardt's a jerk. She calls on Claudia, who makes an honest attempt to answer the question, and LAUGHS at her when she gives the wrong answer. No wonder it's hard to motivate Claudia to try in school. Oh, and I mean "jerk" as in mean person, not as in fool like the BSC uses it.
New-to-us students: Melissa Banks and Lily Karp (8th)
PSA Time:
Any time you go to visit someone in the hospital, have a nurse check to see that the patient isn't asleep or having a procedure done or something. It's rude to just barge in.
If you or your significant other goes into labor and you don't want visitors, don't tell anyone. It's easier to keep people away when they don't know. It sounds obvious, but I made that mistake, and some people just won't understand "I don't want you there" because they think you're trying to accomodating of their schedules. On a related note, if someone you know is in labor and she says not to come, don't! You can meet the baby later when it's cleaned up and its mother isn't all tired and sweaty and stuff.
Lactose intolerance is more common in people (or peoples? Janine?) of Asian descent, so it wasn't totally unreasonable for Claudia to think of it. Just unreasonable of her to butt in so much.
Misc:
Claudia describes an ultrasound image of her cousin. It sounds like she might be describing a 3D ultrasound. The technology was developed in 1987, so maybe possible...
With my daughter, I had labor induced due to preeclampsia. It took a while for things to get started. I remember telling my parents at one point that it was fine if they headed home (no more than 10 minutes away) and my dad said, "But what if she's born right after we leave?" At this point, I had been at the hospital with a Pitocin drip for more than twelve hours. I told him, "Then go! If that's all that's holding her up."
A common question I've heard about this one is how Claudia can be a godmother so young. In the Catholic church, a godparent must be at least 16, not the child's parents, and a practicing Catholic. Also, godparents aren't also guardians in the case of the parents' deaths unless specified in the parents' wills. But the Kishis aren't Catholic, so whatever kind of church they attend (although this is the first time we've seen Claudia's family do so) obviously has different rules. Now, the real question: Lynn is baptized at a Congregational church. Anyone know their rules on godparents? Or if they even practice infant baptism?
Ms. Bernhardt, you jerk, the police probably WERE thrilled when you called back to say Claudia and Melissa had been found and were safe. Police tend to like it when missing people are safe and sound. (Page 127, she yells "I had just called the police! Then I had to call them back to say 'Never mind.' Do you think they appreciated that?")
Near the end of the book, Abby asks "Are we in Hawaii yet?" Foreshadowing!
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 182 117 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Claudia's cousin is finally born! Her aunt and uncle, Peaches and Russ, name her Lynn for Claudia Lynn Kishi, and ask Claudia to be her godmother. Claudia is ecstatic about Lynn, and wants to spend time with her and help out however she can. Pretty quickly, she goes overboard. Peaches and Russ don't really know how to tell her that they need space. Tensions rise and all parties overreact. Conveniently, Claudia finds herself dealing with an overbearing classmate on a school trip to Philadelphia. Like in a sitcom, it helps her understand the situation and everyone gets along by the end of the book.
Subplot: Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold are getting terrified by illicitly watching horror movies, but are cured after seeing a making-of documentary and realizing it's fake.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: pretzels behind some shoe boxes in her closet
Shannon's on the debate team.
Claudia points out that while Logan teases Mary Anne for getting so emotional at movies, he actually likes it because the more she cries, the more she snuggles.
Stacey has injected herself with insulin in front of Claudia and Claudia says it's not gross. Good friend! The rest of the BSC is all "EW! Your necessary for living routines are disgusting!" Although, where does Stacey inject the insulin? I had a teacher with diabetes and he told us that the injections had to be in his backside (it was relevant).
Their Families:
Hmm...it's not entirely clear whether Lynn is breastfed, bottlefed, or a combination. And Claudia gives Peaches advice on feeding techniques.
The Club (and clients):
Quick way to convince eight-year-old kids a movie is fake (if that is indeed the only reason it scares them): ask if Jurassic Park was filmed with real dinosaurs. The end. And yes, the movie was out before this book was published.
SMS:
Ms. Bernhardt's a jerk. She calls on Claudia, who makes an honest attempt to answer the question, and LAUGHS at her when she gives the wrong answer. No wonder it's hard to motivate Claudia to try in school. Oh, and I mean "jerk" as in mean person, not as in fool like the BSC uses it.
New-to-us students: Melissa Banks and Lily Karp (8th)
PSA Time:
Any time you go to visit someone in the hospital, have a nurse check to see that the patient isn't asleep or having a procedure done or something. It's rude to just barge in.
If you or your significant other goes into labor and you don't want visitors, don't tell anyone. It's easier to keep people away when they don't know. It sounds obvious, but I made that mistake, and some people just won't understand "I don't want you there" because they think you're trying to accomodating of their schedules. On a related note, if someone you know is in labor and she says not to come, don't! You can meet the baby later when it's cleaned up and its mother isn't all tired and sweaty and stuff.
Lactose intolerance is more common in people (or peoples? Janine?) of Asian descent, so it wasn't totally unreasonable for Claudia to think of it. Just unreasonable of her to butt in so much.
Misc:
Claudia describes an ultrasound image of her cousin. It sounds like she might be describing a 3D ultrasound. The technology was developed in 1987, so maybe possible...
With my daughter, I had labor induced due to preeclampsia. It took a while for things to get started. I remember telling my parents at one point that it was fine if they headed home (no more than 10 minutes away) and my dad said, "But what if she's born right after we leave?" At this point, I had been at the hospital with a Pitocin drip for more than twelve hours. I told him, "Then go! If that's all that's holding her up."
A common question I've heard about this one is how Claudia can be a godmother so young. In the Catholic church, a godparent must be at least 16, not the child's parents, and a practicing Catholic. Also, godparents aren't also guardians in the case of the parents' deaths unless specified in the parents' wills. But the Kishis aren't Catholic, so whatever kind of church they attend (although this is the first time we've seen Claudia's family do so) obviously has different rules. Now, the real question: Lynn is baptized at a Congregational church. Anyone know their rules on godparents? Or if they even practice infant baptism?
Ms. Bernhardt, you jerk, the police probably WERE thrilled when you called back to say Claudia and Melissa had been found and were safe. Police tend to like it when missing people are safe and sound. (Page 127, she yells "I had just called the police! Then I had to call them back to say 'Never mind.' Do you think they appreciated that?")
Near the end of the book, Abby asks "Are we in Hawaii yet?" Foreshadowing!
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 182 117 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
8/31/12
Abby's Lucky Thirteen (RS#96)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Abby and Anna are preparing for the Bat Mitzvah, a ceremony which marks a Jewish woman's entry as an adult member of the faith. It's one of the few times that religion is mentioned in the BSC books, so it's an interesting read. I'm not Jewish so I don't know how accurate the book is, but there is an acknowledgement page that indicates some research was done. At any rate, it takes a lot of hard work and studying, which should precede any major decision.
Abby's worried that she hasn't devoted enough time to her Bat Mitzvah. She's spread pretty thin between school, the BSC, soccer, and her religious obligations. Math in particular has been giving her a hard time, so she's thrilled when a fellow student offers to sell her a study guide for the upcoming test, which counts for a quarter of her math grade. When the test is passed out, Abby realizes she actually bought a copy of the test. Panicking, she completes the test anyway, without telling the teacher what happened (she and the teacher aren't on good terms). Four other students are in the same situation, and all are suspended for three days. Feeling guily, embarassed, and indignant, Abby decides to hide her suspension from everyone but Anna. It almost works too, until her mom spots her out of school. She punishes Abby, but does believe her about the study guide. At school the next day, Abby sees Mary Anne buying one from the same student, and they go to the math teacher (Mary Anne takes math in a different class period) and things get sorted out. The Stevenson family has a huge party to celebrate the Bat Mitzvahs.
Subplot: the parents of several of the BSC charges ban television. The kids whine for a while, then use their imaginations to have fun and don't even miss TV.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
It's implied that Abby's birthday was recenly, which makes Abby the youngest of the eighth grade club members. Previously, Mary Anne had the latest birthday, mentioned in Logan Likes Mary Anne!
Abby's allergies would actually make keeping Kosher easier, if her family does that. She's allergic to shellfish, which aren't allowed. She's also allergic to milk and cheese, and under Kosher rules dairy can't be eaten with meat.
Their Families:
Claire has almost grown out of her "nofe-air" tantrums.
A criticism of this book is that Abby gets off lightly when her mom punishes her. She's grounded for a month, but can still baby-sit, play soccer, and I think attend BSC meetings. She can't have friends over or go visit, and no phone calls. I can see that her mom didn't want to punish the soccer team or the BSC for Abby's mistakes, but I would have been a little stricter, like she can only do the sitting jobs that are already lined up, she can't go to meetings, and if there any optional soccer practices she can't go to them.
According to Abby, her mother is an only child.
The Club (and clients):
Jessi still keeps her kid-kit stocked with office supplies, which she started back in Keep Out, Claudia!.
SMS:
SMS has soccer in the spring (this book takes place in April). I'm used to fall soccer, but not all schools or districts do it that way. In fact, fall football (American football, that is) makes it more likely that at least boys' soccer will be in the spring, and we know from Logan's books that SMS has a football team.
Ms. Frost is still one of the SMS math teachers.
New-to-us 8th grader: Brad Simon
PSA Time: nothing stood out apart from the obvious moral.
Misc:
Abby says her rabbi calls the speech she will have to give a "sermon." Ann M. Martin and the ghostwriter, Nola Thacker, had help with the Bat Mitzvah descriptions from friends and colleagues who had had Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, so I guess that's accurate? I've just never heard "sermon" outside of the context of a Protestant church service.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 180; 115 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Abby and Anna are preparing for the Bat Mitzvah, a ceremony which marks a Jewish woman's entry as an adult member of the faith. It's one of the few times that religion is mentioned in the BSC books, so it's an interesting read. I'm not Jewish so I don't know how accurate the book is, but there is an acknowledgement page that indicates some research was done. At any rate, it takes a lot of hard work and studying, which should precede any major decision.
Abby's worried that she hasn't devoted enough time to her Bat Mitzvah. She's spread pretty thin between school, the BSC, soccer, and her religious obligations. Math in particular has been giving her a hard time, so she's thrilled when a fellow student offers to sell her a study guide for the upcoming test, which counts for a quarter of her math grade. When the test is passed out, Abby realizes she actually bought a copy of the test. Panicking, she completes the test anyway, without telling the teacher what happened (she and the teacher aren't on good terms). Four other students are in the same situation, and all are suspended for three days. Feeling guily, embarassed, and indignant, Abby decides to hide her suspension from everyone but Anna. It almost works too, until her mom spots her out of school. She punishes Abby, but does believe her about the study guide. At school the next day, Abby sees Mary Anne buying one from the same student, and they go to the math teacher (Mary Anne takes math in a different class period) and things get sorted out. The Stevenson family has a huge party to celebrate the Bat Mitzvahs.
Subplot: the parents of several of the BSC charges ban television. The kids whine for a while, then use their imaginations to have fun and don't even miss TV.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
It's implied that Abby's birthday was recenly, which makes Abby the youngest of the eighth grade club members. Previously, Mary Anne had the latest birthday, mentioned in Logan Likes Mary Anne!
Abby's allergies would actually make keeping Kosher easier, if her family does that. She's allergic to shellfish, which aren't allowed. She's also allergic to milk and cheese, and under Kosher rules dairy can't be eaten with meat.
Their Families:
Claire has almost grown out of her "nofe-air" tantrums.
A criticism of this book is that Abby gets off lightly when her mom punishes her. She's grounded for a month, but can still baby-sit, play soccer, and I think attend BSC meetings. She can't have friends over or go visit, and no phone calls. I can see that her mom didn't want to punish the soccer team or the BSC for Abby's mistakes, but I would have been a little stricter, like she can only do the sitting jobs that are already lined up, she can't go to meetings, and if there any optional soccer practices she can't go to them.
According to Abby, her mother is an only child.
The Club (and clients):
Jessi still keeps her kid-kit stocked with office supplies, which she started back in Keep Out, Claudia!.
SMS:
SMS has soccer in the spring (this book takes place in April). I'm used to fall soccer, but not all schools or districts do it that way. In fact, fall football (American football, that is) makes it more likely that at least boys' soccer will be in the spring, and we know from Logan's books that SMS has a football team.
Ms. Frost is still one of the SMS math teachers.
New-to-us 8th grader: Brad Simon
PSA Time: nothing stood out apart from the obvious moral.
Misc:
Abby says her rabbi calls the speech she will have to give a "sermon." Ann M. Martin and the ghostwriter, Nola Thacker, had help with the Bat Mitzvah descriptions from friends and colleagues who had had Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, so I guess that's accurate? I've just never heard "sermon" outside of the context of a Protestant church service.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 180; 115 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
8/26/12
Mary Anne and the Silent Witness (M#24)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
The BSC gets a new client, the Martinez family, who live near a park that a local businessman wants to develop. The Martinez house has some fire damage, which might be the work of arsonist. Their house also happens to be in the way of the planned development. Hmm...
The Martinez children were home with their former sitter when the fire started, and Luke, the older one, still seems shaken up about it. He also starts getting what seem to be threats warning him not to talk about the fire. After some sleuthing, they discover that the girl who used to sit for the Martinez family had her boyfriend over briefly, and he tossed out his cigarette butt in the garage, which started the fire. Worried that Luke would tell, the boyfriend had been threatening him.
While Fowler wasn't behind the fire, the BSC still isn't happy with him. They start a grass-roots campaign to halt the development. They also investigate his past, suspicious of his intentions. They uncover hints that he's using an assumed name, and has an estranged twin brother. Plus, the twin saw the fire, and blackmailed the boyfriend into vandalizing property to try to stop the development project (which made the boyfriend more concerned about Luke telling about the fire). As this is revealed, Luke shows the town council blueprints he found which prove Fowler wants to industrialize all of Stoneybrook. The council halt the development of the park.
Then the BSC gets a letter from the Stoneybrook Parks Department: in honor of their efforts, an area of the park will be renamed Baby-sitters Walk. Except, as Janine, points out, there is no Stoneybrook Parks Department. Cary Retlin is at it again...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: jelly beans
The door to Dawn's room is closed. I hope it's not like that all the time, or it's going to smell pretty musty when she visits.
Mary Anne and her dad now keep a mostly vegetarian diet.
Their Families: nothing stood out
The Club (and clients):
New clients: the Martinez family, eight-year-old Luke and three-year-ol Amalia. Luke is friends with Cary Retlin's younger brothers, Steig and Benson.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
The Martinez family has a Lion King sing-a-long video. My younger brother had that!
Wow, the BSC mystery writers have never heard of Occam's Razor, huh?
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 34 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
The BSC gets a new client, the Martinez family, who live near a park that a local businessman wants to develop. The Martinez house has some fire damage, which might be the work of arsonist. Their house also happens to be in the way of the planned development. Hmm...
The Martinez children were home with their former sitter when the fire started, and Luke, the older one, still seems shaken up about it. He also starts getting what seem to be threats warning him not to talk about the fire. After some sleuthing, they discover that the girl who used to sit for the Martinez family had her boyfriend over briefly, and he tossed out his cigarette butt in the garage, which started the fire. Worried that Luke would tell, the boyfriend had been threatening him.
While Fowler wasn't behind the fire, the BSC still isn't happy with him. They start a grass-roots campaign to halt the development. They also investigate his past, suspicious of his intentions. They uncover hints that he's using an assumed name, and has an estranged twin brother. Plus, the twin saw the fire, and blackmailed the boyfriend into vandalizing property to try to stop the development project (which made the boyfriend more concerned about Luke telling about the fire). As this is revealed, Luke shows the town council blueprints he found which prove Fowler wants to industrialize all of Stoneybrook. The council halt the development of the park.
Then the BSC gets a letter from the Stoneybrook Parks Department: in honor of their efforts, an area of the park will be renamed Baby-sitters Walk. Except, as Janine, points out, there is no Stoneybrook Parks Department. Cary Retlin is at it again...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: jelly beans
The door to Dawn's room is closed. I hope it's not like that all the time, or it's going to smell pretty musty when she visits.
Mary Anne and her dad now keep a mostly vegetarian diet.
Their Families: nothing stood out
The Club (and clients):
New clients: the Martinez family, eight-year-old Luke and three-year-ol Amalia. Luke is friends with Cary Retlin's younger brothers, Steig and Benson.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
The Martinez family has a Lion King sing-a-long video. My younger brother had that!
Wow, the BSC mystery writers have never heard of Occam's Razor, huh?
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 34 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
8/24/12
Portrait Collection: Mary Anne's Book
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jeanne Betancourt
Synopsis:
This is Mary Anne's autobiography. It's organized into chunks:
Birth to six years: Mary Anne briefly discusses her mom being ill, seemingly right from the start, and living with her grandparents for a while. She goes in to more details as she has more memories, like how her dad would take her out to restaurants to eat once a week, so Mary Anne would learn how to behave in public (love that idea, by the way). Mary Anne starts preschool with Kristy and Claudia, and they continue to kindergarten and first grade together. Mary Anne is close to them and Mimi from a young age.
The Tea Party: This may be Mary Anne's first crisis that could have been resolved by just talking to someone. Her first grade class is going to have a Mother's Day Tea. The teacher says if any student's mother can't come, another special person is welcome. But the other kids (except Kristy and Claudia) laugh at Mary Anne for planning to bring her father, so she invites Mimi. Both her dad and Mimi show up, but it works out. The teacher even says some really nice to Mary Anne about the important roles her dad fills. I remember my senior year of high school, when we had a Mother's Tea. One of my friend's mothers died when he was ten, and he brought along an aunt he's especially close to. We all read letters to our mothers, and he read one to his as well as to his aunt.
Stage Fright: During summer break, Mary Anne, Kristy, and Claudia take ballet at the YMCA. Mary Anne is nervous about performing in a recital that she throws up backstage. It's then that her dad realizes how much she hates it (she'd been hiding her fear), and lets her skip the recital since it's causing her too much stress.
E is for Eyeglasses: In fourth grade, Mary Anne makes friends with an April Livingston, who wears glasses. Mary Anne wants glasses too, and tries to fail an eye exam.
Exploring My Secret Past: This starts with a recap of Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic, the mystery book in which Mary Anne learns about her grandparents' raising her for a time. Then we get details about her visit with her grandmother in Iowa. She's clearly still very much in mourning for her husband, and spends a lot of time talking about Mary Anne's recently-deceased grandfather. She also shows Mary Anne things from her time there, thinking and hoping Mary Anne will remember, but no such luck. Finally, they have a talk and start getting to know each other as they are, rather than as they expect each other to be. They finish a quilt that was going to be a birthday present for Mary Anne's mother, and it wins a blue ribbon at the fair.
Mary Anne gets an A+.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy:
Stacey still feels torn between her parents. I wonder if they still put her in the middle.
Mary Anne seems to have been formula primarily or exclusively as an infant. I wonder if that's just Ann M. Martin's weirdness with not mentioning breastfeeding or due to the illness that killed Mary Anne's mother.
Mary Anne gets sick to her stomach when she's nervous.
You'd think Mary Anne, Kristy, and Claudia would have mentioned taking ballet to Jessi at some point, but you'd be wrong.
There are pictures in the Portrait Collection books, like in the Super Specials. Even at young ages, Kristy is shorter than Claudia and Mary Anne.
At first I was surprised by the last-minute travel arrangements for Mary Anne to visit her grandmother, but if Dawn can fly across the country on a whim, can't her step-sister go halfway?
Mary Anne loves sewing? I guess she's gotten over her home ec issues from Kristy and the Missing Child.
Their Families:
Spoiled kitten Tigger gets wet food for breakfast. Our two cats only get it for dinner.
Richard Spier loves organizing "even alphabetizes cereal boxes and the bottles on the herb and spice rack." Cereal boxes do seem a bit out there, but the spice rack is normal to me. It's easier to find things if you know the basil's near the top.
Richard also knows how to braid. The first time I really grasped that men and women were different was when I asked my dad to braid my hair for a preschool recital and he didn't know how. I ended up wearing a head band (Mom had been at work and met us there).
Janine can read and walk at the same time, which Mary Anne finds very impressive.
Claudia's mother's favorite color is purple, and Mimi's was blue.
Mary Anne's mom wasn't even 25 when she died. And Richard Spier was in middle school 28 years ago...let's say he was 12; that would make him 40, minus 13 is 27. So he was couple years older than Alma, but not a huge gap.
The Club (and clients):
Kristy starts fantasizing about being a baby-sitter just before fourth grade.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Often, biological relation makes families. But not always. For example, there is sometimes a difference between a person's mother and a person's Mom.
Misc:
The eye test chart in the book is missing the numbers on the edge that tells you what line is 20/20 or 20/40 or 20/whatever vision.
Why do kids in books and TV shows so often act like glasses are a bad thing? Mary Anne is the only one excited about the idea, but only until she actually needs them. I got glasses in third grade and no one cared except for me and my parents. And I was thrilled. I had no idea you could see leaves on trees from the car! My parents only concern was that I take care of them properly.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jeanne Betancourt
Synopsis:
This is Mary Anne's autobiography. It's organized into chunks:
Birth to six years: Mary Anne briefly discusses her mom being ill, seemingly right from the start, and living with her grandparents for a while. She goes in to more details as she has more memories, like how her dad would take her out to restaurants to eat once a week, so Mary Anne would learn how to behave in public (love that idea, by the way). Mary Anne starts preschool with Kristy and Claudia, and they continue to kindergarten and first grade together. Mary Anne is close to them and Mimi from a young age.
The Tea Party: This may be Mary Anne's first crisis that could have been resolved by just talking to someone. Her first grade class is going to have a Mother's Day Tea. The teacher says if any student's mother can't come, another special person is welcome. But the other kids (except Kristy and Claudia) laugh at Mary Anne for planning to bring her father, so she invites Mimi. Both her dad and Mimi show up, but it works out. The teacher even says some really nice to Mary Anne about the important roles her dad fills. I remember my senior year of high school, when we had a Mother's Tea. One of my friend's mothers died when he was ten, and he brought along an aunt he's especially close to. We all read letters to our mothers, and he read one to his as well as to his aunt.
Stage Fright: During summer break, Mary Anne, Kristy, and Claudia take ballet at the YMCA. Mary Anne is nervous about performing in a recital that she throws up backstage. It's then that her dad realizes how much she hates it (she'd been hiding her fear), and lets her skip the recital since it's causing her too much stress.
E is for Eyeglasses: In fourth grade, Mary Anne makes friends with an April Livingston, who wears glasses. Mary Anne wants glasses too, and tries to fail an eye exam.
Exploring My Secret Past: This starts with a recap of Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic, the mystery book in which Mary Anne learns about her grandparents' raising her for a time. Then we get details about her visit with her grandmother in Iowa. She's clearly still very much in mourning for her husband, and spends a lot of time talking about Mary Anne's recently-deceased grandfather. She also shows Mary Anne things from her time there, thinking and hoping Mary Anne will remember, but no such luck. Finally, they have a talk and start getting to know each other as they are, rather than as they expect each other to be. They finish a quilt that was going to be a birthday present for Mary Anne's mother, and it wins a blue ribbon at the fair.
Mary Anne gets an A+.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy:
Stacey still feels torn between her parents. I wonder if they still put her in the middle.
Mary Anne seems to have been formula primarily or exclusively as an infant. I wonder if that's just Ann M. Martin's weirdness with not mentioning breastfeeding or due to the illness that killed Mary Anne's mother.
Mary Anne gets sick to her stomach when she's nervous.
You'd think Mary Anne, Kristy, and Claudia would have mentioned taking ballet to Jessi at some point, but you'd be wrong.
There are pictures in the Portrait Collection books, like in the Super Specials. Even at young ages, Kristy is shorter than Claudia and Mary Anne.
At first I was surprised by the last-minute travel arrangements for Mary Anne to visit her grandmother, but if Dawn can fly across the country on a whim, can't her step-sister go halfway?
Mary Anne loves sewing? I guess she's gotten over her home ec issues from Kristy and the Missing Child.
Their Families:
Spoiled kitten Tigger gets wet food for breakfast. Our two cats only get it for dinner.
Richard Spier loves organizing "even alphabetizes cereal boxes and the bottles on the herb and spice rack." Cereal boxes do seem a bit out there, but the spice rack is normal to me. It's easier to find things if you know the basil's near the top.
Richard also knows how to braid. The first time I really grasped that men and women were different was when I asked my dad to braid my hair for a preschool recital and he didn't know how. I ended up wearing a head band (Mom had been at work and met us there).
Janine can read and walk at the same time, which Mary Anne finds very impressive.
Claudia's mother's favorite color is purple, and Mimi's was blue.
Mary Anne's mom wasn't even 25 when she died. And Richard Spier was in middle school 28 years ago...let's say he was 12; that would make him 40, minus 13 is 27. So he was couple years older than Alma, but not a huge gap.
The Club (and clients):
Kristy starts fantasizing about being a baby-sitter just before fourth grade.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Often, biological relation makes families. But not always. For example, there is sometimes a difference between a person's mother and a person's Mom.
Misc:
The eye test chart in the book is missing the numbers on the edge that tells you what line is 20/20 or 20/40 or 20/whatever vision.
Why do kids in books and TV shows so often act like glasses are a bad thing? Mary Anne is the only one excited about the idea, but only until she actually needs them. I got glasses in third grade and no one cared except for me and my parents. And I was thrilled. I had no idea you could see leaves on trees from the car! My parents only concern was that I take care of them properly.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
8/15/12
Kristy + Bart = ? (RS#95)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Kristy and Bart have been friends for a long time. Kristy even confides to us that they've kissed a few times. But lately Bart's been getting more serious. He introduces Kristy as his girlfriend, and he's more into making out than kissing. Kristy does like Bart a lot, but she's not entirely sure if they're on the same page. She's even less sure of it after her mom and stepdad catch them making out and she ends up grounded. After a lot of thinking and talking, Kristy and Bart end up friends and nothing more. While they like each other a lot, they're simply not at the same stage emotionally, and things can't progress beyond friendship.
Subplot: Kristy organizes the kids into a competition to make up and set crazy records. The kids love it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Abby is studying for her Bat Mitzvah (Anna is too).
Kristy thinks New York City is "the coolest place." That's news to me.
Kristy has a TV in her room.
Mallory has the decency to quietly tell Claudia that a couple words on some signs she made are spelled wrong. Embarassing at the moment, yes; but Claudia now has time to fix it before the public sees the signs.
Their Families:
Is there a genetic component to allergies? I know that they run in families, like asthma can. Would one identical twin have a higher chance of having allergies or asthma if the other twin had them? Anna doesn't have either.
Margo Pike still peels bananas with her feet.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Kristy calls early March "weeks away" from baseball weather. In Washington, high school teams start practice the first week of March. From what I can tell, Connectict high schools have games the first week of April, so practices probably start no later than mid-March.
"Gaol" is not a synonym for jail. It's a different spelling. Even at the age of eleven, when this book came out, I knew that, and it bugged me.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Kristy and Bart have been friends for a long time. Kristy even confides to us that they've kissed a few times. But lately Bart's been getting more serious. He introduces Kristy as his girlfriend, and he's more into making out than kissing. Kristy does like Bart a lot, but she's not entirely sure if they're on the same page. She's even less sure of it after her mom and stepdad catch them making out and she ends up grounded. After a lot of thinking and talking, Kristy and Bart end up friends and nothing more. While they like each other a lot, they're simply not at the same stage emotionally, and things can't progress beyond friendship.
Subplot: Kristy organizes the kids into a competition to make up and set crazy records. The kids love it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Abby is studying for her Bat Mitzvah (Anna is too).
Kristy thinks New York City is "the coolest place." That's news to me.
Kristy has a TV in her room.
Mallory has the decency to quietly tell Claudia that a couple words on some signs she made are spelled wrong. Embarassing at the moment, yes; but Claudia now has time to fix it before the public sees the signs.
Their Families:
Is there a genetic component to allergies? I know that they run in families, like asthma can. Would one identical twin have a higher chance of having allergies or asthma if the other twin had them? Anna doesn't have either.
Margo Pike still peels bananas with her feet.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Kristy calls early March "weeks away" from baseball weather. In Washington, high school teams start practice the first week of March. From what I can tell, Connectict high schools have games the first week of April, so practices probably start no later than mid-March.
"Gaol" is not a synonym for jail. It's a different spelling. Even at the age of eleven, when this book came out, I knew that, and it bugged me.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
8/4/12
Abby and the Secret Society (M#23)
Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
In order to relieve her February doldrums, Abby gets the BSC into helping start up Stoneybrook's Greenbrook Country Club. It's housed in what used to be the Dark Woods Country Club, which was very exclusive, to the point of being racist. There were also rumors of extortion. The new owners are excited to reopen it to the whole community.
Naturally, it isn't long before odd things start happening. Sgt. Johnson, the police officer who often helps the BSC, tells Abby about his longtime friend who was working on a newspaper report about the seedy underbelly of the Club when he died mysteriously. A strange car is seen circling the premises. Then the BSC starts finding cryptic notes around the place. They eventually figure out that Sgt. Johnson's friend left a trail, and follow it to where he kept his notes uncovering the illegal dealings of several prominent Club members (complete with the former president being a creep). They are side tracked for a bit thanks to Cary Retlin.
While this is all going on, the BSC is also trying to help the new owners' son settle in to Stoneybrook. He's having a tough time because not only is he new, he's shy and feels uncomfortable about his biracial heritage (Korean and Western European). His own grandfather has never met him, because the last time his grandfather and mother spoke was when his mother announced she was marrying a Korean man. The grandfather had been in the upper echelon at Dark Woods. In the end, we find that the strange car belongs to the grandfather, who had been wanting to meet his grandson but felt too awkward given his deplorable behavior earlier.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Pringles
Abby and Anna make spaghetti sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, despite Kristy and the Dirty Diapers informing us that Abby's allergic to both raw and cooked tomatoes (some people are allergic to only one or the other). I'll bet that if these books were written today, Abby would have celiac, and it would be handled as well as Stacey's diabetes is.
Abby's able to sprint a good distance without using her inhaler first. I understand that her asthma is largely allergy-induced, but that still seems odd.
Claudia gets to be the one who's level-headed and logical TWICE in this book. I love when that happens!
Their Families:
Abby's mom used to be into fancy cooking and baking, but not so much since Abby's dad died.
Like many in the BSC, Abby's a fan of things before her time, oldies rock'n'roll in particular. But in her case, she specifies that it's her mom's music.
Everyone calls Sharon Schafer-Spiers's parents Granny and Pop-pop. Almost everyone calls my granny Granny as well (exceptions are Granddad, my mom, her siblings, and their spouses).
The Club (and clients):
A four-year-old named Brian Williams makes an appearance long enough to ask Mallory when she'll sit for him again, but I've never read of the BSC sitting for that family.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Misc:
When the BSC decides to show Sgt. Johnson the clues, Abby narrates that they take all of them except a trophy, from which Kristy had copied a note. But they also found a note on a floorboard, so I guess they ripped that up and hauled it to the police station.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
In order to relieve her February doldrums, Abby gets the BSC into helping start up Stoneybrook's Greenbrook Country Club. It's housed in what used to be the Dark Woods Country Club, which was very exclusive, to the point of being racist. There were also rumors of extortion. The new owners are excited to reopen it to the whole community.
Naturally, it isn't long before odd things start happening. Sgt. Johnson, the police officer who often helps the BSC, tells Abby about his longtime friend who was working on a newspaper report about the seedy underbelly of the Club when he died mysteriously. A strange car is seen circling the premises. Then the BSC starts finding cryptic notes around the place. They eventually figure out that Sgt. Johnson's friend left a trail, and follow it to where he kept his notes uncovering the illegal dealings of several prominent Club members (complete with the former president being a creep). They are side tracked for a bit thanks to Cary Retlin.
While this is all going on, the BSC is also trying to help the new owners' son settle in to Stoneybrook. He's having a tough time because not only is he new, he's shy and feels uncomfortable about his biracial heritage (Korean and Western European). His own grandfather has never met him, because the last time his grandfather and mother spoke was when his mother announced she was marrying a Korean man. The grandfather had been in the upper echelon at Dark Woods. In the end, we find that the strange car belongs to the grandfather, who had been wanting to meet his grandson but felt too awkward given his deplorable behavior earlier.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Pringles
Abby and Anna make spaghetti sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, despite Kristy and the Dirty Diapers informing us that Abby's allergic to both raw and cooked tomatoes (some people are allergic to only one or the other). I'll bet that if these books were written today, Abby would have celiac, and it would be handled as well as Stacey's diabetes is.
Abby's able to sprint a good distance without using her inhaler first. I understand that her asthma is largely allergy-induced, but that still seems odd.
Claudia gets to be the one who's level-headed and logical TWICE in this book. I love when that happens!
Their Families:
Abby's mom used to be into fancy cooking and baking, but not so much since Abby's dad died.
Like many in the BSC, Abby's a fan of things before her time, oldies rock'n'roll in particular. But in her case, she specifies that it's her mom's music.
Everyone calls Sharon Schafer-Spiers's parents Granny and Pop-pop. Almost everyone calls my granny Granny as well (exceptions are Granddad, my mom, her siblings, and their spouses).
The Club (and clients):
A four-year-old named Brian Williams makes an appearance long enough to ask Mallory when she'll sit for him again, but I've never read of the BSC sitting for that family.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Misc:
When the BSC decides to show Sgt. Johnson the clues, Abby narrates that they take all of them except a trophy, from which Kristy had copied a note. But they also found a note on a floorboard, so I guess they ripped that up and hauled it to the police station.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
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