Bradford Court

#13- Good-bye, Stacey, Good-bye

2013-08-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

How do you say good-bye to your very best friend?

Childhood Memories: I remember reading this one as a child and I know the basic story line but I don't remember all the details like I do with some books. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, it was just kind of there. I think I remember them throwing a good-bye party but that's about it.

Book Summary: The book begins with Stacey sitting for Charlotte Johanssen, and then a club meeting. After the meeting ends, Stacey's mom calls and tells her that she needs to get home. When Stacey gets home her parents inform her that the branch of the company that her father works out is closing and that they must move back to New York. Stacey has conflicted emotions about moving but decides to call her best friends Laine and Claudia. Claudia insists that Stacey comes to her house right away. They discuss Stacey moving and try to come up with any other options besides Stacey moving to New York. When they realize the move is inevitable they discuss how much fun Claudia would have visiting. The next day at school, Stacey tells the rest of the club that she's moving. When she leaves to discuss moving with one of her teachers, they discuss throwing a party for Stacey and what the club will do without her there. Mary Anne babysits for Jeff Schafer and they discuss him wanting to move back to California. While getting ready to move, Stacey decides to have a yard sale to get rid of some extra things. She enlists the BSC to help sell the things and they can keep a share of the money. The club decides to use the money to plan a surprise party for Stacey. Stacey is still conflicted about moving to New York. Claudia has a sitting job with the Pikes and thinks about possibly adding Mallory as a member but decides she's too young. The club gets together to organize the yard sale. They decide to sell other items and Stacey discusses with Claudia that she hasn't told Charlotte that she's moving. Kristy babysits for her younger siblings and has a run-in with Morbidda Destiny. Stacey breaks the news to Charlotte that she is moving. She gives Charlotte a gift and tries to make her feel better by showing all the things they're packing up and telling her about the yard sale they're holding. While babysitting for the Barretts, Dawn helps them hold a yard sale and comes up with the brilliant idea to invite babysitting charges to Stacey's party. The girls hold their yard sale which is a huge success and earns them a lot of money. Stacey's party goes great, all the kids have fun playing games and drawing Stacey a mural, they even make her all farewell cards. Stacey attends her last club meeting and the girls decide to invite Mallory Pike to be a junior member of the club. Moving day comes and Stacey says a sad goodbye to all her friends. Claudia gives Stacey a special letter that she reads on the way, they both decide that they will remain the best of friends.

Snarkable Moments: Let's start off with the book dedication: "With Love to Peanut Butter From Jelly" What the heck is that supposed to mean? Does Ann M. Martin have a secret lover? Is she a lesbian? I've always wondered this. Next, let's discuss how sucky Stacey's diabetes is. I've known diabetics and none of them have had to completely cut sugar out of their lives, in fact sometimes they have to eat sugary foods to bring their blood sugar levels back to normal. Can you imagine going through PMS and not being able to eat any chocolate. Stacey is my new hero. I love how everybody treats Mallory like a baby because she's two years younger. Two years is not that much of a difference, honestly my best friend is two years younger than me and there's never been a problem with our ages being different. Another thing, why is their yard sale so late and so long? Like all the yard sales I've seen start at 8:00 and go until noon but theirs starts at 10:00 and goes until 4:30. One of the games they play at Stacey's party is Musical Rug. What the crap is that? Doesn't a rug destroy the point of Musical Chairs? Also what kind of a middle name is Read? Even Dawn's parents hate her.

Claudia's OOTD: I decided to switch things up a bit today and not do a Claudia outfit (many because her's included a wide purple belt with a telephone belt buckle. Seriously Claud, how am I supposed to find that?). Instead we have:

"She was wearing a very short kilt, an over sized red sweater, and yellow socks over red tights. On her head was a red beret with a sparkly initial pin attached to the side."

Super Special #1- Baby-sitters on Board!

2013-08-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

It's the baby-sitting adventure of a lifetime!

Childhood Memories: I never read this book as a child. I do remember always wanted to read it and they supposedly had it at my local library but it always showed that it was checked out. I never saw it. Is it possible that this book was so popular that it was checked out constantly for a good 7 years? I doubt it. To whoever stole this book from my library and never returned it: thanks, you jerk.

Book Summary: This book starts with Kristy explaining how the whole club is going on vacation including a cruise through the Bahamas and three days at Disney World. They fly to Florida and begin their cruise. Dawn, Kristy, and Claudia share a room, Kristy and Dawn immediately start arguing over how clean they need to keep it. Dawn wanders off and runs into the man of her dreams. While exploring the ship, Mary Anne meets a very sophisticated girl named Alexandra, and finds somebody that might be a stowaway. Mallory decides to be a spy during the trip and ends up seeing a lot of interesting people, including somebody she thinks is a member of her favorite band. Karen goes on an adventure by herself on the boat, getting a manicure and a Coke when she was just supposed to go to her cabin and get some earplugs. Claudia has a secret admirer who ~~stalks~~ follows her around when they dock, he even buys her an expensive pair of earrings. Stacey meets a little boy with heart condition named Marc that must ride in a wheelchair. Kristy meets and old widower that she decides would be perfect to date her Nannie. She continues fighting with Dawn over keeping their room clean. The Pike boys and David Michael go on a treasure hunt while they are docked at Treasure Cay. Dawn spends the next couple of days with the man of her dreams, who's name turns out to be Parker. Mary Anne becomes friends with Alexandra and feels a special connection with her because they both have lost parents. Stacey spends more time babysitting for the Pikes and her new friend Marc. While searching for her secret admirer, Claudia meets a cute boy named Timothy who she agrees to hang out with while they are in Disney World. Kristy goes exploring their new hotel and sees her old man friend checking out of the hotel. She convinces him to stay until the end of the trip. Karen insists on going on the Haunted Mansion ride and then believes there is a ghost following her around. Dawn spends the day in Disney World with Parker, she buys a glass unicorn charm for her special bracelet but is heartbroken when she realizes she lost the bracelet. Parker buys her another unicorn charm and kisses her on the cheek (too much hot action for me). Mallory decides to spy some more in Disney World. She discovers that Alex is not an orphan and that her parents are famous singers. Mary Anne confronts Alex about her lying. Alex ~~stalks~~ follows Mary Anne around the park for the rest of the day. The Pike boys and David Michael continue their treasure hunt at Disney World, they get very excited when they find a gold bracelet. It turns out to be the bracelet that Dawn lost. On their last day at Disney World, Karen goes to a special breakfast with the Disney characters. She lies and says it's her birthday so everyone will sing to her. Then she gets lost and decides that the ghost that has been following her is a nice ghost and that it will come home to Stoneybrook with her. Stacey spend the last full day of vacation at the Epcot Center with Marc and his parents. She finds out that he is scheduled to have a major heart surgery in a few weeks that might not end well. Claudia finds out that her secret admirer is really Timothy and that he is Alex's little brother. Timothy kisses her (seriously these girls get more action than me. My life is pathetic.) The club decides to make a scrapbook/journal of their trip as a thank you present to Kristy's parents and the Pikes. Everybody says goodbye to their new friends at the airport and the club arrives back in Stoneybrook. A few months later, Stacey receives a letter saying that everything went well with Marc's heart surgery.

Snarkable Moments: There's so many of them in this book but I think that just comes with it being a Super Special. First off, why does the whole club have to do everything together all the time? I get that Watson's a nice guy and all but I can't believe that he would pay for Claudia and Dawn to come just so the club wouldn't have to be separated. Next, I love that this is still one of the books that Ann M. Martin wrote and not one of the ghost writers. How do I know? It has I Love Lucy references and the flight attendant is a male (Ann M. Martin loves to switch up traditional gender roles). Another thing, I've never been on a cruise so someone will have to clear this up for me, but do they really throw confetti at you when the ship leaves the dock for the first time. This sounds like fun but highly doubtful. I have a few other questions. First, why does Mallory's signature have an animal face? This has always confused me. Second, they talk about going on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, did somebody really die on that? Every time we go to Disneyland, my mom talks about how someone died on that and I refuse to go on it because of this reason. Someone clear this up for me, will you? Third. How does Mallory get away with using the word retarded? I'm pretty sure that was politically incorrect even back then. Kristy is going to be pissed when she finds out. And last but not least: Why do I hate Dawn so freaking much? She complains constantly about how Disney World isn't that exciting because she's already been to Disneyland (I don't care how old you are or how many times you've gone, you still get as excited as a 4 year old on cotton candy when you go to Disney World. That's just the way it works.). Then she goes off about how selfish Parker is for not liking that his dad got remarried. (Hello pot, it's kettle. Remember when you threw a crap fit because your dad got engaged and you ended up flying cross-country. Yeah, that happened.) Dawn also talks about never having seen an R-rated movie. Lies. I distinctly remember you watching European Vacation in The Ghost at Dawn's House. Suck on that, blondie. Also, I hate that Karen and Byron have their own chapters. Mostly Karen. I can't stand that child, she's up there with Dawn on my hit list. Somethings I did like about the book is that they were only on vacation for one week instead of their usual two weeks (who goes on vacations for two weeks?). Another thing is that they kept with the whole scrapbook theme and had pictures throughout (albeit they looked like they were drawn by a 3 years old, or a drunk Ann M. Martin spending a Saturday night with her cat, Mouse, watching I Love Lucy reruns and drawing pictures.)

Claudia's OOTD: Check out this little beauty. Not going to lie, I would wear this if the colors matched better.

"I put on my new blue-and-white bikini and over that, a pink sundress with spaghetti straps at the shoulders and big blue buttons down the front. Then I accessorized I tied a pink-and-blue scarf around my waist, knotting it in the middle, added my snake bracelet and feather earrings, wound my hair up on top of my head, and finally put on these white sandals with long laces that you crisscross up your legs and tie in a bow."

#12- Claudia and the New Girl

2013-08-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

Claudia might give up the Club- and it's all the new girl's fault!

Childhood Memories: I remember when I read this book as a child, I thought that Ashley was this horrible person for trying to take Claudia away from the club. Looking back, I kind of side with Ashley. Claudia should be able to take her art career seriously because it's more likely that she'll grow up to be an artist than continue being a babysitter in Stoneybrook for the rest of her life. Also, I was in love with Ashley's outfit on the cover. Now, not so much.

Book Summary: The book starts with Claudia daydreaming in English class. In walks a new girl named Ashley Wyeth. Claudia talks to her and finds that they are both interested in art and that Ashley wants to be a sculptress when she grows up. At the next meeting, Claudia asks the club members if they know Ashley but they do not. The next day, Claudia goes to a sculpting class and is pleased to see Ashley there. They show each other their portfolios and Ashley tells Claudia she has lots of talent. Claudia thinks Ashley's work is absolutely amazing and learns that Ashley studied art at a famous institution in Chicago. The teacher announces that there will be an art show in four weeks that they can display their projects at. Claudia originally thinks she won't have enough to start a new piece and finish it in time for the show but Ashley starts to convince her otherwise. Claudia goes on a sitting job at the Rodowskys and is surprised when Ashley comes over from next door. Ashley asks why Claudia is babysitting and not devoting all her time to her art. Claudia decides she wants to be more serious and grown up like Ashley. The next day Claudia eats lunch and goes to an exhibit with Ashley. She shows up late for a club meeting and it is clear that everyone is upset with her, especially Stacey. While babysitting for the Perkinses, Dawn receives a phone call that her brother is in trouble at school. She has to pack up the girls and go get her brother. Claudia walks around town with Ashley in a search for inspiration on their sculpting projects. Claudia ends up missing a meeting but remembers to call to the let the members know she will be gone. They leave her notes telling her what her sitting jobs are and that everyone at school thinks Ashley is weird. Claudia misses another club meeting and the other girls discuss how much they miss her and are upset with her. At school, Claudia, Ashley, and the BSC members have a showdown, the members ask if she is going to quit the club. Claudia still can't decide what to sculpt for the show. When Claudia misses another meeting, the girls get angry. They leave mean notes, eat her junk food, and short sheet her bed. They decide that Ashley is only friends with Claud because she's an artist and doesn't care about Claudia's other interests. A few days later, Claudia is babysitting for the Rodowskys. Ashley comes over and they end up getting in a huge fight. Claudia realizes that Ashley was trying to control and finally decides that she is going to do a sculpture of Jackie for the art show. Claudia goes over to the Rodowskys' the next day to get some sketches of Jackie for her sculpture, she discovers that Mary Anne is babysitting. Ashley comes over, her and Claudia get in another fight. Claudia and Mary Anne semi-makeup. Claudia starts to get her life back in order, she explains things to Ashley, apologizes to her friends, starts catching up on her schoolwork, and decides not to enter any pieces in the art show. Claudia apologizes to the whole club at the next meeting. They accept and are friends once again. She also apologizes to Jackie and tells him that she won't be able to enter the sculpture of him in the art show. He is okay with this and still allows her to sculpt him. Claudia receives a phone call the day of the art show from her teacher explaining that she entered Claudia's piece as a work in progress. It ends up winning an honorable mention. Claudia and Ashley make up and end up being sometimes friends.

Snarkable Moments: First up, Ashley. I'm pretty sure Claudia has a lady crush on her. Like to the point of obsession at the beginning of the book. I love how she compares Ashley's style to that of a gypsy and then says her mom would call it Bohemian. I've never thought of gypsy and Bohemian as the same thing but it kind of makes sense. I love how offended Stacey gets about Ashley's bell bottom blue jeans, stick around a few more years Stacey, they'll be in style. Probably your seventh time through 8th grade. Claudia asks Ashley if she's related to Andrew Wyeth because they share the same last name, I wanted to know who this Andrew Wyeth was and if he was a real artist or just a creation of Stoneybrook like Cam Geary. He's real, I'm not such a huge fan of his work but I do like this piece:

Next, can I just say how much I love junior high fights? The insults are amazing. Examples "In my breadbox of friends, you are a CRUMB.", and the classic:

"Traitor, Traitor,

Claudia- we hate 'er!

Traitor, Traitor.

So long, see you later!

Good-bye Claudia."

Regina George ain't got nothing on them. Overall, it was a pretty immature book, like I felt the fights were more elementary school but whatevs.

Claudia's OOTD: There were so many good outfits here between Claudia and Ashley so I'm giving them one each.

"I was wearing a very short pink cotton dress, white tights, and black ballet slippers. I had swept all of my hair way over to one side, where it was held in place with a piece of pink cloth that matched the dress. Only one ear showed, and in it I had put my big palm tree earring."

"She was wearing a puffy white blouse, a blue-jean jacket, a long blue-jean skirt, and those hiking boots again. Beaded bracelets circle both wrists, and she'd tied a strip of faded denim around her head, like an Indian headband."

And then I had a brilliant idea....

2013-08-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
So I don't remember if I told you this before but I'm doing these books in chronological order which means there might be a Super Special thrown in here sometime soon (wink wink) Just thought I would let you know that because those were always my favorite and I just got done writing my review for it so be sure to come back here to check it out.
Also, I've been debating how often I want to write posts. It's impossible to do one post a day but that doesn't mean that I can't be consistent. Which made me think, what would Kristy do? Post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30! Of course! Really, I just didn't want to post on weekends but I still wanted to post a couple times a week and it worked out that posts this week would be on M, W, and F so I decided to change my previous publishing time from 6 AM to 5:30 PM and call myself the BSC.
Anywho, just thought I would let y'all know so you can know when to expect posts.
Love always,
Sabrina Bouvier

#11- Kristy and the Snobs

2013-08-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Nobody's going to tell Kristy what to do- especially not the Snobs!

Childhood Memories: I never read this book as a child. I remember reading in later books what happens in this one and how Kristy got Shannon in this book but I didn't read this one for the first time until about a year ago. It was kind of disturbing when I read it then with Louie dying and all. Definitely one I would hide from my children.

Book Summary: Kristy starts off ranting about how much she hates snobs while she gets ready for school. David Michael shows her that Louie is limping, she shows her mom and then leaves for the bus stop. While waiting for her bus, she gets in a fight with some snobs. At a club meeting that afternoon, Kristy takes her first sitting job for somebody in her neighborhood, the Papadakises. The next day, Kristy and her brothers take Louie to the vet. The vet tells them that Louie has arthritis and can't see very well. Kristy realizes that Louie won't be getting better, this upsets her so she decides to talk a walk. On her walk she meets Shannon Kilbourne and Amanda Delaney. She gets in a fight with Shannon. Kristy goes on her babysitting job for the Papadaskises, all is going smoothly until Shannon calls saying there's a fire in the Papadakises' upstairs window. Kristy rushes the kids out only to discover there is no fire. To get back at her, Kristy sends a diaper service to Shannon's house. Mary Anne babysits for the Perkinses. Jamie Newton insults Gabbie and Mary Anne throws a tea party to make her feel better. Kristy babysits for the Delaney children (aka Satan's spoiled spawn). The kids boss her around and make fun of Louie for not being a purebred. Shannon pranks Kristy again into thinking that one of the Papadakis kids is in trouble. Dawn babysits for her little brother, Jeff. They get into a fight and Jeff screams that he wants to move back to California. At the next club meeting everybody is in a bad mood about different things going on in their lives. Kristy goes home only to find out that Louie is in worse condition than she originally thought when he was an accident on their Oriental rug. Stacey volunteers to babysit for the Delaneys the next time they call the BSC. Using reverse psychology, she is able to get the kids to clean their playroom, and clean up after their afternoon snack. The kids learn to be less bossy. The next time Kristy babysits for them she uses reverse psychology as well. In the middle of her sitting job a pizza delivery man comes saying he has a pizza for her. It turns out Shannon ordered it and she sends the pizza guy to Shannon's house. Shannon comes over to yell at Kristy but they end up laughing over it and almost becoming friends. Claudia has a sitting job for the chicken pox-infested Pikes. The following Friday, Kristy misses the BSC meeting because she's so upset about Louie. His health declines so much that he can't walk on his hind legs and ends up dragging himself around by his front legs in a panicked mode (this scene terrifies me). The family decides to put him down the next morning so he won't suffer any longer. After putting Louie down, the family holds a funeral, some of the neighbors including Shannon attend. At Kristy's next job with the Delaneys, Shannon comes over with a surprise. She wants to give Kristy one of her puppies to make up for Louie dying. Kristy asks for permission to keep the puppy and invites David Michael over to meet the puppy. At first David Michael is hesitant about getting a new puppy but he warms up quickly and decides to name it Shannon. The next time the club is hanging out they decide to invite Shannon to be an associate member, she accepts and they all become friends.

Snarkable Moments: Kristy starts off the book by talking about things she can't stand, one of which includes squirrels. Who doesn't like squirrels? I mean honestly. They're cute with their little chunky cheeks and their fluffy tails. Don't be hatin', Kristy. The thing she hates most is of course snobs. She says she didn't meet many snobs in her neighborhood during the summer because they were all away at "fancy camps" and talks about how lame camps are. Sorry Kristy, but you're going to be eating your words in like 20 books when you go to Camp Mohawk. Maybe Camp Mohawk isn't fancy so it doesn't count, I don't know. Moving on, Kristy talks about babysitting for the Papadakises a couple of times. I have always wondered what race they are. I know it isn't imperative to the story line but I just really want to know. What do you guys think? I'm going with either Greek or Indian. I only say Indian because the youngest daughter's name is Sari. Also, just wondering if Karen ever describes what Hannie looks like in the Little Sister series. For some reason in my head, I always pictured Hannie as a red head. One thing I love about the Papadaskises, they have a poodle... named Noodle. Let's add that to things I need to continue surviving life. So back to my problems with Kristy in this book, at one point she talks about staying late at school and catching the late bus home. That just sounds weird to me. Like my school only had one bus time, if you didn't make it, you were screwed, no late bus for you. Also it seems like Kristy already had to bend the rules to stay at SMS and not go to Stoneybrook Day, I seriously doubt there would be a bus to take just one kid to a neighborhood way the crap out of the way. Also, as part of a prank Kristy orders a diaper service for Shannon. She sees the diaper truck deliver a box of diapers to Shannon's door and leave. Really? Who's paying for this? Diapers are pretty expensive so I doubt Kristy would spend that much on a prank and they wouldn't just leave them on Shannon's doorstep for free. Dangit Ann M. Martin, get your crap together. One thing I did like about this book is that I think they accurately captured what it's like to put down an animal. Kristy talks about her conflicted feelings but keeps going back to the fact that she knows it's what's best for Louie.

Claudia's OOTD: This book does not mention a single Claudia outfit but it did however mention a Gabbie Perkins outfit so here you go.

"She was wearing one of her mother's slips, a necktie belonging to her father, a feather boa, a straw hat, sunglasses, and snow boots."

#10- Logan Likes Mary Anne!

2013-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mary Anne has a crush- on a boy baby-sitter!

Childhood Memories: This was another favorite growing up. I remember being so jealous of how cute Logan and Mary Anne's romance. Not going to lie, I still am. Whatevs. A few things stick out in my head. I remember Mary Anne throwing a little girl fit because they gave her a surprise cake, not a surprise party mind you, but a cake. And of course the famous cities outfit. Who could forget that? Beautiful. You don't even know how badly I wanted/still want that outfit.

Book Summary: The book starts with a club meeting the night before school starts (which makes me wonder when their school starts because as we all know meetings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). Mary Anne has a huge crush on Cam Geary and shares this bit of information with the club. The next morning, Mary Anne was to school with Claudia and Stacey. It's a pretty normal first day of school until Mary Anne spots Cam Geary's look-a-like at lunch. She's jealous that Stacey knows so much about him but decides that she's in love with him. At the BSC meeting the next day, the girls decide to advertise in Kristy's new neighborhood and they discuss the new hottie named Logan Bruno. A few days after the girls start advertising, things get out of control and they are scrambling to set up all the jobs during their lunch break. Logan overhears this and volunteers to help them. They agree to let him come to the next meeting. The meeting is pretty awkward to say the least. During the meeting they receive a call from a new client named Mrs. Rodowsky. They decided that they will let Logan sit for them as a test run but only if one of the other sitters can come along. It turns out Mary Anne is the only sitter available that day. The sitting job at the Rodowskys is a little bit of a disaster but what else would you expect with Jackie Rodowsky "The Walking Disaster"? In the end it all turns out okay and Mary Anne decides that Logan is a decent babysitter. Claudia babysits at the Perkinses where she has to go pick up Myriah at the bus stop (Myriah has been at her creative theater classes held after kindergarten like all children at the age of 5). Claudia decides to take the Perkinses dog Chewbacca (coolest dog name ever.) along for the walk. Disaster arises when Chewy gets loose but she finally catches him before the job is over. At the next club meeting, the girls discuss whether or not they should let Logan be a member of the club. They decide to be honest with him and tell him that they think he's a wonderful babysitter but that the meetings with him would just be too awkward. They give Mary Anne the task of calling him and telling him this. When Mary Anne calls, he tells her that he doesn't want to be a part of the BSC and then he asks her to the Remember September dance. A few days later Stacey babysits for Charlotte Johanssen and they decide to plan a party with a surprise cake for Mary Anne. They figure that Mary Anne would hate a surprise party but a surprise cake wouldn't be that bad. A few days before the dance, the girls go shopping for outfits to wear (hello infamous city skirt). They end up cancelling the meeting before the dance so they can get ready and they all ride to the dance together. The dance goes smoothly until Mary Anne kicks her shoe off and gets super embarrassed. She spends the rest of the night hiding out on the bleachers and not dancing. Despite Mary Anne's bad attitude, Logan still seems to like her. Dawn and Kristy have a sleepover the following weekend. They babysit for Kristy's younger siblings and discuss school drama and Stacey's party for Mary Anne. Mary Anne finally asks her dad for permission to go to Stacey's party and invites Logan to go with her. Everything goes great at Stacey's party until they bring out the cake for Mary Anne. Mary Anne has a panicked moment and runs out without blowing out the candles or opening her gifts. The next morning, Mary Anne asks her dad for a cat. Her father agrees and she calls Logan to apologize and invite him to come pick out a kitten at the local animal shelter. Logan comes along and she picks out a gray tabby cat named Tigger. Logan shows that he truly forgives her by giving her a silver bracelet for her birthday and inviting her to a dance the following month. The next day the club members come over after apologizing, they bring Mary Anne her presents and some cake. They finally come to the decision that Logan can be a part of the club as an associate member, that way he can help babysit but won't have to attend meetings.

Snarkable Moments: I really saw in this book some similarities between Mary Anne and I. First her crush on Cam Geary, I remember distinctly when I was 13 having the biggest crush on Patrick Stump and being obsessed with him. Sadly, there was never a Logan Bruno in my life that looked like Patrick. Next, and I know this one is stupid, we totally had the same locker number (132) in junior high. I'm just saying. Last, Mary Anne has an antique doll named Lila, I have a stuffed llama named Lila. It's uncanny. So I also wanted to pick out a few problems I have with good old SMS. First, they won't let you hang anything in your locker with tape, instead you have to use gum. I'm sorry, but gum seems much more damaging than tape on a locker. Second, students attend 8 classes a day. That seems a bit overdone. I only had 5-6 classes a day in my school career. Lastly, they hold a graduation at the end of the school year for the 8th graders. Maybe my school just wasn't cool but we never did that. Not that it really matters because we know the girls are going to be in 8th grade for the next 10+ years. Continuing on with snarkable moments, I don't remember everyone being in love with Logan. Not that I have a problem with this, I mean they are 13 year old girls and at least in my middle school, as soon as there was a new boy, every girl was on him like a hobo on a ham sandwich. Makes Stoneybrook feel a little more real. Some things I do have a problem with though is when Mary Anne talks about wearing small hoop earrings (what about that whole scene when they go to summer camp and she almost pierces her ears?) and when she goes to adopt Tigger the lady at the shelter tells her that it's not really kitten season. Do kittens have seasons? I'm pretty sure cats are skanks and get it on at all times of the year. Maybe I'm wrong, Someone should research this and let me know. My last thought is a little off topic but semi-related. This is the first book in which Jackie Rodowsky appears. I'm just wondering if anyone else noticed in Easy A when Rhiannon is talking to Olive at one point she mentions somebody named Jackie Rodetsky. I'm sorry but I feel like those names are too close to not be related. Whoever wrote that script was totally a BSC fan. Please somebody else tell me they noticed this so I don't feel too stupid.

Claudia OOTD: Finally, what you've all been waiting for. I apologize for this post being so long but since y'all have stuck with me this long I'm going to treat you with 5 OOTDs.

"A full white skirt with the words Paris, Rome, and London, and sketchy pink and blue pictures of the Eiffel Tower, the Tower Bridge, and other stuff scrawled all over it. She matched it up with a pink shirt and a baggy pink sweater... we found white slip-ons with pink and blue edging that matched the pink and blue in the skirt."

"Claudia was wearing short, tight-fitting black pants and a big white shirt that said BE-BOP all over it in between pictures of rock and roll dancers. She had fixed a floppy blue bow in her hair."

"Stacey was wearing a white T-shirt under a hot pink jumpsuit."

"Dawn was wearing a green and white oversized sweater and stretchy green pants."

"Kristy was wearing a white turtleneck shirt under a pink sweater with jeans. We just couldn't seem to get her out of blue jeans."

#9- The Ghost at Dawn's House

2013-07-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Creaky stairs, spooky noises, secret passages- it must be a ghost!

Childhood Memory: This book wasn't one of my favorites growing up. I remember it always freaked me out when they talked about the secret passage and Dawn discovering it. I also remember secretly wanting there to be a secret passage in my room. Who didn't? I also had no concept of what the Underground Railroad was but looking back on it, that makes the passageway so much cooler and I really like that Ann M. Martin added that little bit of history in there.

Book Summary: The book starts off with a club meeting at which the girls recapping their vacations they just got home from (except Kristy because her family is lame and doesn't go on vacations. Score one for Dawn making sure to mention that.) They talk about the children they babysat and set up babysitting jobs. After the meeting Dawn goes home and has dinner with her family, she decides while reading ghost stories that her house must have a secret passage because all old houses do (obviously). The next day Dawn invites the whole club over to help search for a secret passage. After searching all afternoon and scaring each other multiple times, they find nothing but a suspicious hollow sound in one of Dawn's walls. Mary Anne babysits for the Perkinses for the first time and discovers that she likes them despite their living in Kristy's old house. While babysitting for the Pikes, Dawn notices that Nicky is having a hard time fitting in with the triplets. When he feels left out, he leaves the house to be by himself (don't worry the Pikes have a rule that he can be by himself as long as he stays within a two block radius.) Dawn starts to get worried when he doesn't return as quickly as she thought he would, she finds him covered in dirt and sweaty and has no idea where he was. The next day, Dawn decides to go out in her barn to read (I kind of love the idea of reading in a barn for some reason). When she finally gets settled in, the floor beneath her collapses. She realizes that she was on a trapdoor and has discovered a secret passage. She follows the passage and discovers that it leads to her room. Inside the passage she finds a button, a buckle, and a key. Kristy babysits for her younger siblings and gets freaked out by a story that Karen tells about Ben Brewer haunting their house. (Who would really be scared by a 7 year old's story? I feel like Kristy just wanted to pretend that her house was scary too.) The same night, Dawn is babysitting her brother Jeff. She shows Jeff the secret passage and convinces him that the passage is haunted because they found a nickle and ice cream cone that weren't there before. Thoroughly scared, Dawn calls her mom home from her date. They try to convince Dawn that there are no ghosts. Dawn refuses to sleep in her bedroom and finds a book in her living about the history of Stoneybrook. In it, she reads a legend about Jared Mullray a young man that refused to move out of his house when his family moved. Dawn becomes convinced that Jared Mullray is the ghost haunting her secret passage. Claudia babysits for Jamie Newton and has a hard time getting him to sleep. Dawn shows the secret passageway to Mary Anne, she tells her the ghost story. They hear thumping noises coming from the passage and find a book that wasn't there before. Stacey babysits for the Pikes and once again Nicky goes missing. Dawn finds him and walks him back to the Pikes' house. A few days later, Dawn babysits at the Pikes's house. When another fight breaks out between Nicky and the triplets, Dawn decides to follow Nicky. She discovers that he is the one that has been in the secret passage making noises and leaving things behind. She tells Mrs. Pike who agrees that Nicky can continue going there. Dawn holds a sleepover for the club and shows them all the passage.

Snarkable Moments: Dawn talks in the beginning of the book about how the club members haven't seen each other in two weeks. Maybe I was just antisocial but I went a lot longer than two weeks without seeing my friends when I was that age. Dawn talks about how on the plane ride to California they watched European Vacation, I've never been on a flight where they show a movie but don't they usually choose something that's family friendly? European Vacation is rated R, why are her and Jeff watching this? So y'all know that Dawn is not one of my favorites but one thing that really bugged me in this book was that she refers to her dad as a Disneyland Daddy meaning he just spoils her the whole time she's staying with him and that he doesn't act like much of a father. I'm sorry, when did going on trips to Disneyland become a bad thing? Another thing that got on my nerves but was also slightly entertaining was watching the power struggle between Dawn and Kristy, while I dislike both of them, I like to see Dawn put Kristy in her place a couple of times and boss her around. It's a nice change of pace. A few other great things in this one; hollow books (is it sad that when I actually found one of these I bought purely because it had always been a dream of mine to be more like Claudia), Calladew's Perfection Shampoo (what kind of shampoo won't rinse out after 12 times?), Dawn eating a tuna fish sandwich (what happened to being a vegetarian you little hypocrite?), and the fact that nobody notices a 7 year old running rampant through everyone's yard and hiding out in barns. Another thing I want to touch on, what exactly does Cam Geary look like? I think this the first time he's mentioned and I kind of want to marry him if he's as dreamy as he seems. For the record, I'm picturing him as Zac Efron because 13 year old me would have loved that and considered him the most attractive person ever.

Oh that Cam Geary, so hot right now.

Claudia's OOTD:
This book was another one that didn't mention any outfit in particular. All it mentioned was a dragon head ring and a Hawaiian shirt so I used my imagination.

I Keep My Promises...

2013-07-30T00:52:00.002-07:00

I just wanted y'all to know I have every intention of keeping my promise of more posts coming. As a matter of fact, I've slaved over a hot keyboard all day and have two ready to go for this week. The Ghost at Dawn's House will be available Wednesday and Logan Likes Mary Anne! will be available Friday. Here's the proof, my lovely lappy, books, and plenty of notes. Enjoy!

Long Time No See.. Or Hear.. Or Read... Whatever.

2013-07-29T13:44:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I know that I promised like 8 months ago that there were more blog posts on the way. I lied. Honestly at the time I didn't know I was lying, I had every intention of writing a blog post a day but things change and that didn't work out. I think the main problem was the whole format of how I was writing them before. I read through my old posts and they don't even make sense to me. So starting now, I'm changing things up. From now on there will just be my childhood memory, a summary of the book, random things I noticed/things that bothered me, and of course Claudia's OOTD. Because let's face it, those are the only things that matter anyway.
Another thing I've debated doing is a vlog review, sometimes the idea of talking instead of having to write everything out is more appealing to me. Let me know what y'all think of that. The only problem with that is I feel it would ruin the whole secret of Sabrina Bouvier. Maybe I could just wear a ski mask and it would still be a mystery. Oh wait, I should just wear my favorite pageant dress and shoot the video from the neck down. Because that wouldn't be creepily seductive at all. Maybe I could wear and Alan Gray mask. I loves me some Alan.
Anyway, let me know what you think, I love getting feedback and would love to hear from anyone. Fans, haters, doesn't really matter, I just want to know if anyone is out there listening to my rants.
Stay classy,
Sabrina

Hey Y'all

2012-12-16T22:26:00.002-08:00

Sorry about the long absence, you know me, I was just off to another dance with Alan Gray and competing in Little Miss Stoneybrook again. I loves me a good beauty pageant but I promise that more posts are on their way and I know that you can barely wait. While you're waiting, enjoy some of my favorite BSC memes.

#8 Boy-Crazy Stacey

2012-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Who needs baby-sitting when there are boys around!

The Jessi: This was one of my absolute favorites, I read it so many times growing up that it started falling apart and is now missing pages. Every first day of summer I would read either this or Mary Anne and Too Many boys, or both. I loved the Sea City books. They always made me want to go to the beach and I would read them in the middle of winter when I needed a little beach time.

The Mal: This book starts with Stacey being nervous about going over to Kristy's new mansion. When she gets there she realizes it's still the same Kristy as ever and everybody has fun at their party. They talk about their vacations that they're going on. Stacey and Mary Anne are very excited to accompany the Pikes on their trip to Sea City as mother's helpers. When Stacey and MA arrive at the Pikes the morning of the trip everything is hectic. Once things are in order, they set out on the road. Of course with 8 children, the car ride is not peaceful and there is a war between the two cars. They finally arrive in Sea City. As they go for a walk on the beach, Stacey spots the most gorgeous lifeguard ever. The next morning everyone goes to the beach. Mary Anne notices a boy mother's helper and Stacey keeps her eye out for the hot lifeguard she saw the night before. They both notice that Byron won't really go in the water. In the afternoon, the hunk of a lifeguard makes an appearance and Stacey talks to him. The rest of the day Stacey spends fawning over Scott and doing favors for him. The next day Scott isn't on duty so the girls take the kids into town. While there they visit Burger Garden, the boardwalk and Ice Cream Palace. They also discover that Mary Anne has developed a serious sunburn. The next day Stacey spends worshiping Scott again. Mary Anne gets mad and yells at her but Stacey doesn't understand why she would be mad because she's in luv. Kristy has a sitting disaster when her younger siblings wash her stepdad's car with steel wool. A few days later, the Pikes give Mary Anne and Stacey the night off. They decide to visit the boardwalk. While they're there Stacey buys Scott an expensive box of candies and almost immediately after buying it finds him making out with another girl. She is heartbroken and runs home crying. The next day, Stacey is too embarrassed to go to the beach and face Scott so she pretends to have a headache and stays home. Byron decides to stay home with her. They go for a walk in the afternoon and talk about Byron's fear of water. They both decide to face their fears and go back to the beach. A few days later, Stacey meets another boy and falls in luv. His name is Toby and he is the cousin to the boy mother's helper that Mary Anne has been talking to. At the end of the week Mary Anne and Stacey go on a double date with Toby and Alex. They all have a great time and Stacey gets her first kiss in the Tunnel of Luv. They return to Stoneybrook and think about the wonderful time they had.

The Stacey: Number of times Stacey falls in LUV- 2, Amount of money she spends on chocolate for Scott- $10, Number of times I've read this in my life- Enough to know that Gurber Garden has the best Crazy Sauce on this planet.

The Dawn: The whole Stacey falling in love multiple times in 2 weeks screams teenage girl. I know everybody thinks Stacey is this little skank but she's one of my favorites and I love when her and Toby finally get together in the Tunnel of Luv. Totally makes me wish those things were still around. I also like that we get to learn more about Byron in this one because I feel like with the triplets they just seem to be one character without any separate identities but in this book they expand and show their different sides.

The Claudia: Stacy says "Mary Anne couldn't find anything of her own that she really liked, so I loaned her my yellow pedalpushers, a yellow and white striped tank top, and an oversized white jacket." I always thought this outfit was so cute when I was younger and it's about time we featured a Mary Anne outfit on here.

The Mary Anne: When they go to Kristy's house at the first of the book, she is siting on her porch reading People. I don't see Kristy as a People kind of person, it just doesn't fit her. I doubt she cares about the celebrities in it but whatever. I love all the postcard writing going back and forth. I always wanted to write people postcards while I was on vacation but it never happened. Curse me being born at the beginning of the technology era. I will forever think of Sea City as the original Jersey Shore. I remember in like 7th grade my friend used Sun-Lite in her hair and I was so jealous because she was one step closer to being Stacey than I was. Is it just me or does a Crazy Burger sound good? I always wanted one really badly, which is weird because I don't even like hamburgers, I think it was just the idea of it. When it tells about Mary Anne's sunburn I flinch every time. Probably because me, being the little albino skinned girl that I am, have suffered waaay too many painful blistering sunburns in my life and know exactly how she's feeling.

The Kristy: I don't think I can even tell you how much I love this book. I can't even tell you why I love it so much. I just do. So to avoid this being a little gush-fest we're just going to rate this a 9,328,895,238 out of 5. Ok? Sounds good.

#7- Claudia and Mean Janine

2012-10-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Claudia's sister makes everything impossible-- even baby-sitting!

The Jessi: This was another one that I somehow missed as a child but I'm pretty sure I would have loved it based on the description on the back. Except for the whole Mimi having a stroke part. I just loved when the girls held playgroups, it made me think of the movie. Plus Claudia's sweater on the front? You know it's going to be good.

The Mal: The story opens with Claudia and her sister arguing one morning. That day the BSC has a meeting and Kristy decides they should extend their play group until at least August. They make plans for it and decide to hold it in Stacey's backyard. While they go around recruiting regular clients to come, they agree to let Mallory Pike work with them as an unpaid helper. That night, Claudia, Janine, and Mimi play a trivia game that results in Claudia and Janine fighting and Mimi going to bed early because she's very tired. A little while later while Claudia and Janine are arguing again, they hear a thump from Mimi's room. They run in to find her in a heap on the floor, unconscious after having a stroke. They call an ambulance and she is rushed to the hospital. The next morning the BSC holds its first day of their play group, besides some trouble with Jenny P. everything goes smoothly. Claudia also has a babysitting job that afternoon with the Newtons. She takes Jamie over to her house to show him that Mimi is gone. While there, she gets in another fight with Janine and calls her mean and says she doesn't care about Mimi. When Claudia goes to visit Mimi for the first time in the hospital, she gets freaked out and ends up running out of the room. The second time she does better and even comes up with a way for Mimi to communicate by blinking her eyes. Slowly Mimi starts to improve but Claudia begins feeling more and more guilty and thinks that she caused Mimi to have a stroke. She decides to quit the play group so she can spend more time with Mimi and help her with her therapy. Mimi progresses steadily and is allowed to come home. Claudia spends each morning quizzing her on things around the house in the hopes of improving her memory and word skills. One day, Claudia has a babysitting job scheduled so Mary Anne comes over to take care of Mimi. After going through flashcards, Mimi gets frustrated and yells at Mary Anne. While Claudia is at Lucy Newton's christening she realizes that she loves Janine and that Janine must love her too but just doesn't know how to show it. Claudia and Janine have a heart to heart and learn that they're both jealous of each other. Claudia lets Janine spend more time with Mimi and agrees to be nicer to Janine. Claudia apologizes to Mimi for being mean and giving her a stroke. Mimi forgives her and tells her that the stroke wasn't her fault.

The Stacey: Number of pages:145, Claudia's age: 13 (thus making this the first book with any of the members being 13), How much Charlie makes each week driving Kristy to meetings: $3

The Dawn: The main drama in this book is too sad to make fun of. I feel horrible for Claud, I know what it's like to watch one of your grandparents suffer through all kinds of health concerns. A less serious drama going on is the one with Jenny Prezzioso. For some reason Karen tells Jenny that Andrew is a monster. Jenny believes Karen and does everything that Andrew tells her to do. The babysitters go along with this and even have Andrew tell Jenny things to do. I thought it was kind of funny and probably something that I would have come up with as a child but at least it solves their problem with Jenny.

The Claudia: "I finished dressing in my favorite art class outfit-- black jeans, a giant bright blue T-shirt, and a snake bracelet that I wore above my elbow."

The Mary Anne: Claudia talks about Janine going to Stoneybrook University. When did Stoneybrook get a university? I thought they just had a community college. When Claudia talks about her mom working at the library, she tells us how she never goes to the library because they don't have Nancy Drew books. Weren't Nancy Drew books kind of popular back in the day? What kind of library wouldn't carry them? Only in Stoneybrook... Initially, Kristy offers Charlie $2 for each meeting he drives her to. According to my calculations that's $6 a week. Yet they only pay $5 a week in dues... Plus they have to contribute to Claud's phone bill. This isn't adding up. Is it just me or are Stoneybrook parents always gone when something important or scary happens. In this book, Claud's parents are out to dinner when Mimi has her stroke. I kind of want to see how Stacey French-braided Louie the dog's hair. I need ideas for my own dog.

The Kristy: Although this book was pretty sad, it did have a fairly happy ending and Ann did a good job of keeping things light by adding the Jenny and Andrew subplot. I give it a 3.9 out of 5.

#6 Kristy's Big Day

2012-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Kristy's a baby-sitter-- and a bridesmaid, too!

The Jessi: A few things I remember about this book is how cool I thought it was that they had a little day-camp type thing. I thought it would be so cool to be one of the leaders of a group at one of those. I also remember one of Kristy's cousins having a broken leg and Stacey taking some kids to Mary Poppins. These books seriously have an obsession with Mary Poppins. I think I really liked this book when I first read it.

The Mal: Mrs. Thomas and Watson announce that they've set a wedding date for the middle of September. A few days later everything changes when they find out their house has been sold and then have to be moved out by the middle of July. They now have to plan the wedding in 2 and a half weeks.At the next club meeting, Kristy announces that they wedding is soon and that she's going to be a bridesmaid. They discuss what she will wear and talk about going to the Final Fling. Kristy comes home from her last day of school to find her mother in hysterics. A bunch of family members are coming the week before the wedding to help get things ready. With them, they are bringing all their children, 14 in total. Kristy volunteers the BSC to watch all the children. Kristy, Sam, and Charlie have a discussion about what having a new stepdad will be like. Kristy calls an emergency meeting of the club and they plan out their day camp groups. On Sunday (6 days before the wedding) all of Kristy's relatives arrive and she realizes how much she is going to have to work to earn her 120 dollars that her mom promised her. The rest of the week is spent babysitting and finishing wedding plans. Everything goes perfectly with the wedding and Kristy comes up with the perfect wedding gift for her mom and Watson.

The Stacey: Number of children in the playgroup- 14, Days they have to plan the wedding- 17ish, Number of times I would like to punch Karen Brewer in the throat- A Morbidda Destiny times Ben Brewer.

The Dawn: Most of the drama is Kristy whining about how she doesn't want to move across town and how she doesn't want her mom to marry Watson. I think she needs to grow up a little. I understand that it would be hard to move away from your childhood home but she's only moving across town, it's not even like she has to transfer schools. I'm sick of hearing her complain.

The Claudia: Kristy talking about Claudia "She was wearing one of her usual outrageous outfits: a black leotard and skintight red pants under a white shirt that was so big it looked like a lab coat. Claudia's a wonderful artist and she had decorated the shirt herself, covering it with designs painted in acrylic. She had pinned her long, black hair back at the sides with red clips." Do you know how hard it is to find a lab coat with acrylic paint designs? Impossible.

The Mary Anne: Kristy says that Watson can be a jerk sometimes. Really? When? I've never seen him act rude to anyone. Methinks Kristy is a lying sack of potatoes. The girls are so awestruck because they'll be making $120 working full time for a week. That sucks. Can I just say, even though I hate the color pink I would probably die of happiness if I was the owner of the Pink Clinker. Quick somebody come up with a cool nickname for my car. It's gray. The Gray Slayer? Yeah that's still not as cool as the Pink Clinker. So Kristy is all excited because she gets to wear her first pair of heels. Apparently my mom was super liberal because I was wearing heels when I was like 9 or 10, maybe it was just because I had such big feet I had to shop in the women's section already. Can we just talk about the title for a second. Kristy's Big Day? I'm sorry, I guess I was under the impression that the wedding day was usually the bride's big day but obviously Kristy proved wrong and showed it's all about the bridesmaid. Only Kristy.

The Kristy: This was not a favorite of mine. It's a Kristy so that could be the main contributing factor. Also, and I know this is going to sound weird, I don't like it when there's a lot of babysitting in the books. This book was full of babysitting, I could be reading the wrong series I just realized. What kind of BSC fan hates babysitting? We all just know I'm in it for Alan Gray. Love him!

#5 Dawn and the Impossible Three

2012-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dawn thought she'd be baby-sitting- not monster-sitting

The Jessi: I never read this book as a child, I know that's weird because I read all the other books in the early part of the series but somehow this one got missed until a few months ago. I remember when I was younger, thinking Dawn was gorgeous on the front cover and being so excited that there was a new member from California but I guess I never cared enough to read it.

The Mal: Dawn has a babysitting job at the Pikes. While there, Buddy and Suzi Barrett come over and they all meet for the first time. At the next club meeting, Dawn agrees to a regular sitting job with the Barretts because their family situation sounds a lot like her own and she feels she can relate with the kids. On Saturday, Mary Anne and Dawn go through some of Dawn's things from California so they can redecorate Mary Anne's room. Kristy comes over to help out but is a little standoffish to Dawn. The next day during lunch, Dawn realizes Kristy doesn't hate her, she's just jealous. Dawn's first job with the Barretts starts out a little shaky but she gets them to clean by telling them they can set a record. After they get done cleaning, they have a discussion about divorce which leads to Suzi getting mad and storming out. A few minutes later, she realizes Suzi had an accident in the bathroom and helps her get cleaned up. Mrs. Barrett comes home and tells Dawn how wonderful she is. Kristy takes a sitting job with Karen and Andrew. Karen is as animated as ever with her games of Let's All Come In and stories of Morbidda Destiny and Ben Brewer. One day, while Mary Anne is babysitting, Dawn invites Kristy over. They play in the hayloft at Dawn's barn and get along. Kristy ends up asking Dawn if she wants to be the Alternate Officer. Their fight is over. The next Saturday, Dawn is sitting for the Barretts again. Claudia and Stacey plan a big picnic for the Barretts and the Pikes. At the picnic, Dawn tries to feed Marnie Barrett a brownie, Mallory Pike yells at her to stop because Marnie is allergic to chocolate and will get very sick if she eats it. Dawn gets mad that Mrs. Barrett never told her that and plans to talk to her when she gets home. She forgets to talk with her when Mrs. Barrett starts praising Dawn. When she finally does get around to talking to Mrs. Barrett she asks if there's anything else she should know. Mrs. Barrett tells her to never let the kids talk to their father on the phone and not to tell him that Mrs. Barrett is gone. Several more occurrences happen where Mrs. Barrett should be around more for her children but instead Dawn is. At a club meeting, Kristy reveals how upset she is about having to move across town. The club tries to think of solutions on how they can get Kristy to meetings when she's in her new house. Dawn's mother has a barbeque on Memorial Day and invites Mr. Spier, her parents and a bunch of other people. Kristy, Dawn, and Mary Anne watch as they all interact and they are pleased that Dawn's grandparents treat Mr. Spier so kindly as they disapproved of him when he was a teenager. Mary Anne babysits for the Barretts and they are a disaster. While she is there, Mr. Barrett calls and asks to speak with the children. Mary Anne tells him they are at a friend's house and he hangs up on her. The next time Dawn goes to babysit it's raining. When it finally clears up, she lets Buddy go outside to play while she gets Marnie and Suzi ready to go outside. When she comes out a few minutes later, he's gone. In a panic, she calls Mrs. Pike and they search for Buddy. They can't find him so they call the police. Soon a whole search party is out looking for Buddy. A little while later, they get a phone call from Buddy, turns out his dad had picked him up because it was his weekend with the children. He took Buddy in the hopes that it would scare Mrs. Barrett, little did he know she wasn't even home and it was a poor babysitter that got stuck worrying. Dawn has a talk with Mrs. Barrett and they agree that Dawn will keep babysitting on a trial basis and she tries to tell Mrs. Barrett how she can be a better mom.

The Stacey: Year published- 1987, Number of children that go missing- 1, Number of ham faces made- enough to put a pig farm out of business

The Dawn: As with almost every BSC book, there are two dramatic situations going down in the Brook. First, Dawn is babysitting regularly at the Barretts. Mrs. Barrett is irresponsible and doesn't give Dawn enough instructions to help her out. Dawn starts cleaning the house to help Mrs. Barrett out and then it becomes expected of her. When Buddy goes missing, Mrs. Barrett finally realizes that she's been doing wrong. It kind of bothers me how non-confrontational these girls are about important things like the Barretts but then over the stupid things, they're confronting all over the place. The second bit of drama is that Kristy is jealous of Dawn. I always thought Kristy was stupid for hating Dawn but I kind of see her point now. I would hate if some pretty little thing from California came in and took my best friend. I think this is one of the few times I will ever sympathize with Kristy. Don't get use to it.

The Claudia: Dawn talking about Stacey "She was wearing a simple pink T-shirt under a baggy jumpsuit with big pink and red flowers all over it." I love me a hot little jumpsuit number. Especially floral ones. Too bad I couldn't actually find a floral jumpsuit so you're going to have to use your imagination on this one.

The Mary Anne: Dawn talks a little bit about why her parents got divorced. She says a lot of it was because of her mom's untidy habits. I know that marriages end all the time but just because somebody is a little messy they get divorced? That seems a little extreme to me. Janine tells Dawn that something she says is redundant this totally made me have a flashback. I was in an AP Euro History class my sophomore year of high school and for some reason there was a junior in that class. Only one. And he thought he was super cool because he had been gone for half the school year at an internship in Washington D.C. He was also a mouth-breather. Honestly, I could not stand that kid. Then he had to read one of my essays and he went off on how redundant it was and blah blah blah. Now every time I see or hear the word redundant I think of that and it makes me angry. Stupid mouth-breather. Everybody always talks about how everything Dawn eats is sooo California. Maybe I went to the wrong part of California but I didn't see all that many healthy places to eat. I saw more fast food places than where I live. Something that bothered me, when Dawn gets the Barrett kids to clean the kitchen the first time, Marnie sits down and starts eating some M&Ms, isn't she supposed to be allergic to chocolate? Yet she doesn't get sick? Ok... One thing that I liked about this book is Dawn eats salt water taffy and chocolate like a normal person and isn't as self-righteousy about eating healthy like she is in the later books.

The Kristy: This definitely isn't one of my favorites, I don't hate it but I don't feel attached to it like I do some of the others. I would have to give it a 1.9 out of 5.

#4- Mary Anne Saves the Day

2012-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mary Anne's on her own. Can she take charge?

The Jessi: I only read this book once and it was when I was a little older. I don't remember a lot of the details but I remember Mary Anne sitting for that brat Jenny Prezzioso, all the club members being in this huge fight where they hold meetings at separate times just so they don't have to see each other and because of this Mary Anne ends up eating lunch by herself and meets Dawn. It wasn't one of my favorites and I didn't care if I read it again.

The Mal: A fight breaks out during a meeting when Kristy takes a job without offering it to the other members first. Soon things blow up and everyone is yelling at each other. Mary Anne runs out crying. After thinking about the fight, Mary Anne decides to make up with Kristy that night. However, Kristy has other ideas and shuts her blinds so that she and Mary Anne cannot communicate with flashlights like they usually do. The next day, Mary Anne decides she's not mad at Claudia so she writes her an apology note but she forgets to give the note to Claudia because she eats lunch with the new girl Dawn instead. The next morning, Mary Anne goes to Kristy's house so they can walk to school together and make up before the club meeting that evening but she ends up having the door slammed in her face. She fights back to this by making sure Kristy sees her going to Dawn's house after school. Mary Anne and Dawn watch The Parent Trap and have a fun time together. At the meeting, things are tense between MA, Claud and Stace. Kristy doesn't show up at all. Mary Anne and Claudia make up, they both agree to talk to Kristy and Stacey to figure out what's going to happen with the club. They decide that one person will meet to answer phones and take as many jobs as possible, the other jobs will be offered to the other members. This will make it so they don't have to be by each other or talk to each other. Mary Anne takes a job babysitting for Jenny Prezzioso which turns out not being so bad despite Jenny being a little brat and spilling on her brand new white dress. Later, Mary Anne tries to talk her father into giving her a later curfew, when he refuses, she blows up at him. She decides to go talk to Claudia's grandmother, Mimi because she feels like Mimi would understand her. When Mimi accidentally slips and calls Mary Anne "My Mary Anne" Claudia overhears it and gets very mad. Thus making the only peaceful relationship in the club ridden with anger. At Mary Anne's next turn to answer phones, Mrs. Newton calls and asks if all the girls will help at Jamie's 4th birthday party, they all agree to. Then Mary Anne and Kristy must take a sitting job at the Pikes with each other because there are too many children to just have one sitter. They manage to communicate through the children by playing Telephone, this way they don't have to directly talk to each other. The next day, Dawn comes over to Mary Anne's house, they end up looking at her father's old yearbooks and discover that their parents used to date in high school. A few days later, Mary Anne is babysitting for Jenny again. Jenny is quiet and falls asleep shortly after Mary Anne gets there. When Mary Anne feels her forehead she is burning up. Panicked, Mary Anne calls everyone she can think of but nobody answers. Finally she gets Dawn to come over and they get Jenny to the hospital via an ambulance. It turns out that Jenny has strep throat. Everyone congratulates Dawn and Mary Anne on taking care of Jenny. When they get back to Mary Anne's house Dawn catches Mary Anne sticking her tongue out at Kristy and figures out that Mary Anne was using her to get back at her friends. Dawn gets mad and storms out. Mary Anne's father finds out about her helping Jenny and agrees to let her have a later curfew, wear her hair down, and change her room a little. Mary Anne makes up with Dawn. Jamie's birthday party is almost turned into a disaster when the girls start fighting again so Mary Anne calls an emergency meeting for right after the party. At the club meeting the girls all make up and everything is good again. Mary Anne holds a party at her house. Dawn has her mother drop her off for the party and her mother and Richard set up a date for the next night. Dawn is then officially instated into the BSC.

The Stacey: Number of times Mary Anne bangs things around while preparing dinner after the fight-8, Number of chapters- 16 (this beats the usual books which only have 15) Number of rules Mary Anne's father has- enough to keep a 12-year-old in penny loafers and braids until the apocalypse.

The Dawn: Oh baby, I loves me a good pre-teen fight. I especially loves me one in the first chapter. This one does not disappoint. Apparently Kristy is a bossy know-it-all (ok, so we already knew that), Claudia is a job hog, Stacey is a stuck up New Yorker, and Mary Anne is such a baby. I kind of agree with these statements. Not so much the Claudia one but then again she's so close to perfect they had to find something stupid to pick on her for. Most of the drama focuses on Mary Anne dealing with her overprotective father. I seriously feel bad for Mary Anne about the lack of communication and openness there is between her and her father. I can't imagine how that would feel to not be able to talk to your parent. I know I'm lucky to have the parents I do, and this book reminded me of that. Also, why does Mary Anne's dad talk like a robot, has the man never heard of contractions? Doesn't he know that you can combine words and nobody will get offended? Seriously, this is 1987 Richard.

The Claudia: Mary Anne says "I'd like to go to school wearing skintight turquoise pants, Stacey's 'island' shirt with the flamingos and toucans all over it and bright red high-top sneakers. I'd like to create a sensation." Oh honey, a sensation you would create with that. So, I couldn't find a shirt with flamingos and toucans but I did find this bathing suit with toucans and a flamingo scarf. I feel like it's a good compromise. It's still sensation creating so it's all good.

The Mary Anne: I love how the early books talk about a lot of details that were in the books before the current one. For example, in this book Mary Anne is finishing the scarf that she started in the previous book. I know it's just a minor detail but it's something that the ghostwriters leave out. In this book, they talk about the Thomases' regular sitter quitting which totally backs up my whole Cathy/Baby-Sitters Agency theory. Mary Anne frequently talks about the meals her and her father have. They kind of sound fancy for a weekday, like the time they have pot roast, maybe it was just my family but we only had pot roast and special foods like that on Sunday. I thought it was so sweet how Mary Anne's dad still prays for her mom even though she's dead, Mary Anne seemed a little put out by it which is strange because she's supposed to be the sensitive one. When Mary Anne was describing her room, it sounded exactly like my room growing up and I could relate with her 150%. I hated pink and everything in my room was pink and ruffly. One more example of Mary Anne not being as nice and sensitive as she is always depicted, she describes Dawn as "she wasn't exactly pretty, but she was pleasant" Coppertone, rub it on, you just got burned Dawn! I sensed a little foreshadowing when they both decided to watch The Parent Trap. Methinks they're about to do some parent-trapping themselves. One thing that kind of bugged me, Mary Anne invited Dawn to come over and bake cookies or make fudge. Not only does Dawn agree but she is excited about it. Isn't Dawn supposed to be super health conscious and not eat sugar? Whatever. Mary Anne tells a nursery rhyme about a little girl with a curl, my mom used to always tell me that rhyme when I would get mad. Let's face it, that happened a lot and I have that rhyme memorized. There was another reference in this book to the wild kids at the mall. Maybe I've been going to the wrong malls but that was never where the wild kids my age hung out. I love that one of the suggestions for a play by the Pikes is Chuck Norris. So ahead of their time. I know that the Prezzioso's love their daughter and stuff but aren't they at all concerned about how much an ambulance ride and an ER visit is going to cost them. I know these things aren't cheap and it's not like she was dying or anything. Oh, pizza toasts. Do you know how much I've always wanted to have one of those? Too bad I don't like pizza and I'm pretty sure I couldn't find anyone on this planet to do it with me. Life stinks when your best friends are fictional characters.

The Kristy: This book isn't as bad as I remember it. I thought a lot more of it focused on Jenny being sick than it really did. I did get sick of the little feud though. I just wanted them all to suck it up and move on with their lives a lot sooner than they did. I give it a 3.8 out of 5.

#3- The Truth About Stacey

2012-10-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Stacey's different... and it's harder on her than anyone knows.

The Jessi: I remember reading this on a road trip. Did your family ever just go on road trips to different states, not on like a vacation or anything, just to like drive there? Maybe it's just my family. Anyways, I remember reading this all in one day and it was the first chapter book I ever read in one shot. I was pretty proud of myself. I remember feeling super bad for Stacey because she couldn't eat candy. I still think that would suck.

The Mal: During a club meeting, the girls are discussing what to do when Mrs. Newton goes into labor. While planning, Janine rushes in the room with a flier advertising a new baby-sitting business called The Baby-Sitters Agency. Not only are the people from the agency older, they can sit later, and there is a whole network of them. The girls decide to prank call them to find out how they work. The agency answers calls, takes down information, and calls a list of sitters, they come up with several sitters and let you choose the one you want. The girls get very concerned when they hear this and feel like they can't compete with that. Stacey goes home and starts thinking about the past year and when she found out that she had diabetes. She thinks about how her and Laine stopped getting along when she got sick and that she didn't tell Laine that she had diabetes. She thinks about her parents and how they're so overprotective of her because they found out they can't have anymore children and they want her to be around as long as she can. She also thinks about learning to give herself injections and how they finally ended up moving to Stoneybrook, partly because her dad was transferred and partly because of her not having any friends left in the city. Stacey's mom comes to talk to her about seeing a new doctor in New York for 3 days, Stacey gets upset about missing school and having to see another doctor. Kristy calls an emergency meeting the next day and they discuss ways to improve the BSC. First is doing household chores at no extra cost. Second is offering special deals to their best customers. Thirds are Kid Kits. Four is lowering their rates and five is hiring older siblings aka Janine. They come to the conclusion that they will use the Kid Kit idea and the special offer one but the rest are a little over the top and will only be used as a last resort. Stacey babysits for Charlotte, they go into town and visit the candy shop, Stacey almost eats candy but stops herself. On their way home, they stop at the playground where Charlotte is teased for being a teacher's pet. Then they run into Liz Lewis, head of the Baby-Sitters Agency, who is handing out balloons with the agency's information on them. Later on, Kristy and Stacey go to Kristy's house to find Jamie Newton there with Mrs. Thomas. Jamie's mom had gone into labor and they dropped Jamie off with Mrs. Thomas on their way to the hospital. After Mrs. Thomas goes back to work, Kristy and Stacey decide to throw a Big Brother party for Jamie to make him feel better about having a little sister. After a little while, Stacey finds Jamie in the laundry room crying about Kristy not being his sitter anymore because his mom hired someone from the agency. The next day at school, the agencies is recruiting members. The BSC decides that to keep up with them, they must recruit some eighth graders. During Thanksgiving break, Stacey's parents tell her that instead of having to go to Dr. Barnes for 3 days she will now have to go for 5. Stacey is very upset and tells Dr. Johanssen about him. Dr. Johanssen tells her that Dr. Barnes is a quack and she will try to help Stacey out. Kristy shows up on Monday with a new way for the BSC to advertise and get new members. She makes all the members walk around with sandwich boards on them with all the club's information. The only one to have any success is Kristy and she recruits two new members. Stacey gets asked to the Snowflake Dance by Pete Black who isn't afraid to talk to her even with her embarrassing sandwich board sign.The club goes to visit the Newtons. Mrs. Newton explains why she wants older sitters to watch Lucy. The club holds its first meeting with its new members, the new members accept two jobs. At the next meeting, the new girls never show up, then the clients they were supposed to sit for call and say that the girls never show up. The club confronts them at school and they just laugh it off saying that they work for the agency. Stacey takes a babysitting job for the Newtons. While she is there, Jamie seems sad, she finds out that his other babysitters aren't good and one of them burned a whole in a cushion with a cigarette. She encourages Jamie to tell his parents about his sitters and that he doesn't like them. That same night, Stacey takes a last minute job with Charlotte. While she is there she finds out Charlotte has had other sitters as well and they haven't been very good. She tells Charlotte the same thing as she told Jamie. Then Stacey has a talk with Dr. Johanssen about seeing a new doctor in New York and Dr. Johanssen gives her a recommendation for a good doctor and writes a note to Stacey's parents explaining why she thinks Stacey should see that doctor. The next day on their way home from school, the girls see Jamie playing out by the street in the snow without any winter clothes on. They discover that he's supposed to be being babysat by one of the girls from the agency. When Mrs. Newton gets home, they tell her about what happens and she decides to warn other parents about the agency. Stacey visits Dr. Barnes who gives her several weird tests. Then she surprises her parents with a visit to Dr. Graham. Dr. Graham tells them that Stacey is as healthy as can be and the best thing for her is to not keep switching doctors. They decide to not keep seeing Dr. Barnes. Laine and Stacey make up and become friends again. Charlotte decides to skip a grade and the Baby-Sitter's Agency goes out of business.

The Stacey: Number of pages: 167 (this is the longest book in the series), Number of months the BSC has been in business: 2, Number of times Stacey talks about New York: enough that if every mention was a person it would fill every apartment building in New York.

The Dawn: There are two very dramatic situations in this book. First, Stacey is trying to deal with her parents being so overprotective of her and her diabetes. I can understand both sides of the problem. I used to only sympathize with her but now I kind of see that her parents had a reason to worry and they were right to search for a miracle cure. I'm sure if I had a child with a disease I would do everything I could to make them better and in the mean time watch their every move. The second drama is the BSC's struggle with The Baby-Sitters Agency. The Baby-Sitters Agency? How clever. I thought the girls who started it were older and supposedly smarter. Couldn't they have at least picked a name that wasn't one word away from their rivals. While for the most part I am totally against them and think it's lame of them to steal the BSC's business, I can see their point. I don't think the BSC should have a total monopoly on the babysitting jobs either. It would free up more of their time and I would get to hear about more boy drama and Claudia outfits. I do like how the BSA has older girls. Looking back, there's no way I would hire a 12-year-old to watch my newborn child, maybe a 17-year-old but only after I gave them a test-run and saw them in action.

The Claudia: Since this book doesn't describe one specific outfit, I thought I would just take certain pieces that Stacey talks about and mash it up into one outfit.

The Mary Anne: Stacey talks about Stoneybrook being a small town and only having one middle school. What about Stoneybrook Day School where Shannon goes? Does that not count? The girls are talking about Liz and Michelle, Claudia says that they're sassy and a bunch of different things and "They hand around the mall. You know, that kind of kid." Since when did you become that kind of kid from hanging out at the mall? Oh, Claudia. When Kristy calls the Baby-Sitters Agency she discovers that they hire boy sitters. She is so appalled by this fact. What about when Logan joins the club? Isn't he a boy? Make up your mind Kristy! This is the book where the Kid Kit makes its first appearance. When Stacey and Charlotte go to the candy store it names a bunch of different candies, one of them is my personal favorite, Mary Janes. You guys ever tried those? AMAZING. Go eat some. Right now. Mrs. Thomas must be pretty cool and have a super flexible job if people can just drop their child off in the middle of the day and her boss doesn't even care. Is it bad that I really want to name my daughter Lucy Jane after this book? Too bad. It's the truth. I love it how Stacey doesn't even know what Black Friday is. I thought she was supposed to be this mega shopper. When Kristy has all the girls walk around school with their sandwich board signs none of the teachers say a word. Really? Are the adults around here blind? How did Mrs. Newton not smell cigarettes when she walked in her house? If neither her nor her husband smoke how did she not notice this? It's not like cigarettes have a faint fragrance, they're pretty strong. I love when Stacey goes to the movies and complains about her popcorn AND drink costing $1.75 and that it's so expensive. Show me where that theater is Stacy! Lastly, in this book they talk a lot about a sitter named Cathy Morris, is this the same Cathy that is David Michael's sitter in the first book? Now that I think about it, how weird would it be to babysit at somebody's house when you're the same age as them, assuming Cathy is in high school with Sam and Charlie. Isn't there always a chance that she would run into them while babysitting, I guess it's just me but I would find that super awkward.

The Kristy: My opinion, I kind of felt like this book had too many storylines going but yet it still seemed to drag. I got bored hearing about Stacey and her diabetes. I know that is horrible to say. I did like hearing about New York and it was really cute when Pete asked her to the dance but I would have liked to hear more about the dance. Overall, I give it a 2.1 out of 5.

#2- Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

2012-10-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Claudia's not sure she wants to find out who's on the other end of the line.

The Jessi: I remember being absolutely scared out of my mind reading this as a child. Honestly this and Beware, Dawn! are two of the scariest things of my childhood besides that episode of Boy Meets World where Shawn kills everyone. The first time I watched When a Stranger Calls, I totally thought of this book, except that ended a lot differently than this.

The Mal: There's the Halloween Hop coming up at SMS and Claudia spends her time daydreaming about who she'll go with while she's supposed to be doing her homework. After her homework is done, Stacey calls and they talk about boys and the dance. They decide the club should hang out together on Saturday. Saturday rolls around and the club finds themselves together with nothing to do. The newspaper comes and they read about a robber that calls the houses he's going to rob before he robs them. If nobody answers if he figures that nobody is home and he goes ahead and robs it but he has also been known to rob the house while people are in it. This freaks the girls out and they hold an emergency meeting right away to discuss what they can do if the robber calls them while they're babysitting. They work out this code they could use on the phone in case they have to call somebody for help but don't want to say that there's a burglar in the house. In the end, that doesn't work out because nobody can keep the code straight and remember what they're supposed to say. Then they figure out burglar alarms, such as stacking cans in front of the doors so that when the burglar comes in the house, they will hear him. While at school, Claudia is staring at her crush, Trevor Sandbourne, when somebody runs into her from behind, it's Alan Gray. He teases her about Trevor. Claudia is awestruck and can't figure out how Alan knew that's who she was looking at. At lunchtime that day, Claudia's friend tells her about her grandmother getting robbed in a nearby town called New Hope. This relieves Claudia because at least he's not robbing houses in Stoneybrook. Claudia babysits for Jamie Newton and suggests that they play outside, that way if the Phantom Phone Caller calls, they won't hear the phone ring. While they're outside, a light turns on inside the house but it's too early to be Jamie's parents. Then they hear the phone ring and footsteps coming up the driveway toward them. Turns out to be Kristy who was just dropping off a casserole. Except for the phone call remains a mystery. The next day, Claudia hears an announcement that the Phantom Phone Caller has been captured. She's very excited and feels safe for the first time in weeks. While babysitting the next night, she hears another announcement that the man thought to be the Phantom Phone Caller was not the real criminal. After the announcement is over, the phone rings. Nobody says anything when Claudia answers. Claudia spends the rest of the sitting job in fear. Kristy sits for Karen and Andrew and gets a mysterious phone call as well. Stacey sits for Charlotte. They watch scary movies, the power goes out, and they hear weird noises that end up just being the Johanssens' dog. Mary Anne babysits for David Michael while the rest of the family goes to dinner. She rigs up a bunch of burglar alarms that end up being worthless except to scare the Thomases when they get home. At their next meeting, the girls discuss boy drama, and Claudia taking jobs without offering them to the rest of the girls first. Claudia's neighbors get robbed, freaking everyone out. Kristy and Claudia take a joint babysitting job at the Newtons. While they are there, they get several creepy phone calls and then they hear someone outside. They call the police and the cops find the prowler to be none other than... Alan Gray! Turns out he was just trying to find a way to ask Kristy to the Halloween Hop. All the creepy phone calls were from him and Trevor Sandbourne. Alan would copy the babysitters' schedules everyday and give a copy to Trevor so he could call Claudia. In the end, everything works out and Kristy goes to the dance with Alan, Claudia goes with Trevor. They all have a wonderful time.

The Stacey: Number of hot lobster earrings- 2, number of traps Mary Anne set up for the burglar- 3, number of times Claudia talks about her obsession with Trevor- infinity times nausea

The Dawn: Claudia gets mad at Kristy one time for thinking she told everyone about her crush on Trevor. Let's not forget all the suspense of when Alan is creeping around outside the house.

The Claudia:

Claudia's outfit "I'm wearing purple pants that stop just below my knee (those are called shorts or capris) and are held up by suspenders, white tights with clocks on them (I couldn't find clocks so you'll have to settle for peace signs), a purple-plaid shirt with a matching hat (not exactly matching but it was the best I could find), my high-top sneakers (she didn't specify what color but I felt like Claudia would go for either yellow or orange for this ensemble), and lobster earrings (I searched and lobster earrings do not exist, the best I could do what this lobster necklace.).
*Note that the things in the parentheses are my own personal thoughts, not Claudia's

The Mary Anne: Back to the whole When a Stranger Calls thing. When they first talk about the burglar, they talk about how he's been known to break into the houses when the people are still home. It totally made me think of the part where the cops are like "We traced the call, it's coming from inside the house." I get chills just thinking about how creepy that would be. In this book, Claudia talks about how she has to have somebody sit with her until she finishes her homework. This seemed a little extreme to me at first but then I thought more about Claudia and it made sense. I'm so glad I never had to do that. Something that made me laugh in this book was all their talk about burglar alarms and phone calls with secret messages. Really? How is setting up cans in front of a door going to save you from a robber? Or calling another 12 year old girl? Not saying I wouldn't have thought of those ideas and tried them when I was that age, but still. Another not so bright idea, Claudia decides when she's sitting for Jamie Newton that if they play outside she won't be able to hear the phone ring. While this is true, it doesn't really solve the problem, if anything it creates one. If the robber were to call, he would for sure think they weren't home and be more likely to come over. Oh Claud, you should just stick with your stellar outfit ideas. Can I just say that I am totally shipping Kristy and Alan. Ok maybe not Kristy with Alan so much as just Alan with anyone. I love Alan. Honestly, I'm thinking of moving to Stoneybrook just to meet him.

Kristy: I love this book because it always puts me in the mood for Halloween and since Halloween is only a few weeks away, it was a perfect time to read it. I really like reading from Claudia's perspective because I feel like she's one of the more real characters and I can relate with her more. I was alot like her when I was 13 and it makes me think of the good old days. Overall, I give it a 4.3 out of 5

#1- Kristy's Great Idea

2012-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

So once again, I would like to welcome you all to this legendary corner of Heaven known as Bradford Court. The sole purpose of this blog is to review each and every little ounce of happiness in the Baby-Sitters Club series. Starting with Kristy's Great Idea and going chronologically to the very end. I know that this has been done several times but I hope to share my opinion, bring to light new details and of course you want to hear my side of the story, I'm Sabrina Freaking Bouvier! Another way this blog will be different (and 300% cooler) is the format in which I'll be writing these posts. I've divided each post up into 7 different sections.

The first section I've named "The Jessi", in this section I pretty much tell my childhood memories of the book and any over the top attachment I might have to it. I named it "The Jessi" because it seems like Jessi talks about her childhood a lot more than the other girls and she has a severe attachment to her BFF Mal. These will also be written before I reread the book.

The second section I like to call "The Mal". This is simply a summary of what happened in the book, main plot and subplot. I call it "The Mal" because we all know our favorite ginger is the only one that loves writing in the club notebook and telling what happens.

The third section will be "The Stacey". Stacey is our prime math geek and we have her to thank for this section. This one will contain any random facts that can somehow have a number attached to them.

The fourth section I call "The Dawn". This section will discuss any themes, recurring emotions, drama in the book. Why? Because as much as Ann M. Martin claims that Mary Anne is the overly sensitive one in the books I stick to the fact that Dawn is. She gets so uptight about things and is constantly talking about her emotions.

The fifth section is "The Claudia". Oh Claudia, you're our favorite fashionista. This section will feature my favorite outfit in the book. (I'm allowed to make those kinds of decisions because I am Sabrina Bouvier and I was in the Little Miss Stoneybrook Pageant.)

The sixth section will be "The Mary Anne". This will contain all kinds of trivia/continuity/any sort of pop culture references/random details that stick out to me. Why "The Mary Anne"? Because we all know Mary Anne got the job of club secretary by her astute attention to detail... or her handwriting. Either way.

The seventh and final section is "The Kristy". What? How can "The Kristy" be last? I'll tell you why. I never really liked Kristy and since I'm writing this, I'll put her last. "The Kristy" will nonetheless be an important section. In "The Kristy" I will state my honest-to-goodness opinion of the book because as every Chapter 2 will tell you, Kristy has no trouble telling you her opinion.

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin!

The Jessi: I remember reading this book when I was about 6 or 7. My sister was 9 years older than me and I remember watching her reading these and thinking that they must be so cool and have so many mature stories in them. As soon as I learned how to read, I started reading the BSC series starting of course with Kristy's Great Idea. I always remember the story with the dogs, I think one of their names was Pinky. Whenever I read this, it made me want to start a club of my own, of course I was always too young and my parents wouldn't give me my own phone line like Claudia :( Being 6 is so hard.

The Mal: This book starts when Kristy, MA, Claud, and Stace are in 7th grade and 12 years old. Kristy gets in trouble for getting excited when school lets out and has to write an essay about the importance of decorum in the classroom. She walks home with MA and finds David Michael waiting for her since it's a Tuesday. Tuesday is Kristy's day to take care of her little brother (her and her older brothers take turns watching him one day a week each and then they have a sitter come in on the other days). Mary Anne and Kristy babysit David Michael and discuss many important subjects like Claudia, babysitting for the Newtons, and their secret code where they signal each other with flashlights from their bedroom windows. Kristy's mom comes home bearing gifts of pizza and they all know something is up. Turns out their babysitter had to cancel for the next day and she needs one of her kids to fill in. They all end up being busy. So while Mrs? Ms? Thomas starts making phone calls they eat their pizza. After several phone calls, Kristy starts thinking how much easier it would be if her mom could call one number and reach several different babysitters. This sparks a fire and the rest is history. She organizes the club and they vote on who should hold what office. Kristy is obviously president, Claudia is vice president, Mary Anne is secretary, and Stacey is treasurer. They advertise and their first meeting is a success. Their first jobs include one for David Michael, which Stacey takes, the next is for Mrs. McKeever that goes to Kristy and last is for Karen and Andrew that Mary Anne agrees to. Sam prank calls during the whole meeting, and Stacey suspiciously refuses to eat any treats. Kristy goes on her first job through the club and discovers that it's not for child like she thought but for two dogs named Buffy and Pinky. The dogs wreak havoc everywhere and she decides the club will no longer do dog-sitting. Claudia babysits for Jamie Newton and three of his cousins. When the kids start getting rowdy, Claudia calls Stacey for help and she tells her to pretend to ignore the kids. This works like a charm and the job goes smoothly from then on. Next, Stacey sits for David Michael. Sam shows up and the two of them hit it off and Stacey is in LUV. Mary Anne is the first to babysit for Karen and Andrew. Even though Karen is a little lively, she finds them adorable and tells Kristy she should give them a chance, just because Kristy doesn't like their father dating her mother doesn't mean she should hate the kids. At another meeting, Claudia gets a job sitting for the Marshalls and they try to plan a pizza party which Stacey mysteriously can't go to. Kristy comes home from the meeting to find Watson at her house and her mother tells her to change into a dress. Kristy is not pleased but complies. Watson and Kristy's mom announce that they are planning on getting engaged. Kristy is not excited and just hopes her mom will get out of the relationship before it's too late. The girls plan a pizza party for the coming Saturday but everybody's plans end up falling through for different reasons and it gets canceled. Then there's an emergency and Kristy has to watch Karen and Andrew. She discovers they aren't that bad and ends up bonding with them. At the next meeting the girls get in a fight because Stacey has been acting weird, Claudia defends her and calls Mary Anne and Kristy babies. Kristy's mom and Watson get officially engaged and the families meet each other. Everything goes well. At the next club meeting, everyone apologizes and makes up. Stacey tells her big secret that she has diabetes. Everything ends happy.

The Stacey: Year published- 1986, Number of pages- 153, Number of awesome outfits described- 4, Number of budding romances- 2,

The Dawn: Oh the drama. So many issues to discuss. First, and this is my personal favorite, Kristy and her daddy issues. Where's Barney Stinson when you need him? He would eat Kristy for breakfast. Kristy is totally against Watson which makes absolutely no sense. He's a millionaire, her mom is finally happy, and he's a millionaire. I mean, honestly! Kristy, just because you're dad left you when you were little doesn't mean Watson will leave you again, all of you random children make a great tax break, there's no way he's leaving. Suck it up. There's a lot worse things it the world than having a millionaire stepfather. Second, the club fight. Do you remember how dramatic fights were during middle school and elementary school? I swear I've had that exact same fight with my friends at some point. Good times. They seemed so epic at the time but I look back on them now and think, "Oh honey, if you only knew.."

The Claudia: Kristy describing Claudia's outfit "She was wearing short, very baggy lavender plaid overalls (mmmm I love me some plaid overalls), a white lacy blouse (that actually sounds kind of cute), a black fedora, and red high-top sneakers without socks (stinky, that's so gross Claud. Just kidding, I'm totally guilty of doing that)."
*Note parentheses are my thoughts

The Mary Anne: 1. Decorum. Really? I still have no idea what that means. I'm such a disgrace to the English language. 2. Every time I read the part where Kristy is babysitting David Michael, I crave lemonade. Like super badly. 3. The original Bradford Court triangle. I always wanted there to be a little triangle on my street growing up but of course there was only old ladies next door and across the street from me, I should pull a Mallory here and complain about how hard it is to be 8 but I'll spare you guys. That would be soooo stale. 4. Mary Anne and Kristy's flashlight code. Do you know how happy/prone to fits of rage if the kids in my neighborhood decided to have a flashlight code. I would be thrilled if I was still in my childhood but if I was an adult seeing flashing lights all over the place right when I'm about to fall asleep, I would be pissed. 5. The whole Claudia-ignoring-children-while-babysitting thing. I'm not sure, but I think that's kind of the opposite thing you're supposed to do while somebody is trusting you to watch their child and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work. I've used that technique on my dogs but I'm pretty sure children are a little different than dogs. 6. Spaghetti-os and Gatorade vs. Twinkies and Fried Chicken. I obviously haven't eaten today because the Spaghetti-os and Gatorade sounds amazing right now. Twinkies and Fried Chicken however, that sounds like barf to me. 7. Everyone thinking Stacey is anorexic instead of diabetic. I can see where they could get confused about this one but I didn't know they were allowed to talk about anorexia in a children's book. It just seems like a recipe for disaster.

The Kristy: As much as I want to hate this book, I can't. It's the original one that started my biggest obsession. I aspired so much to be like these girls during childhood and their were my idols. I wished I could be as cool as Stacey and go to a babysitting job and end up with a date. I still kind of wish that one. I also wish I could have Claudia's room stocked full of junk food besides the cleanliness issues this would brings, it sounds delightful. Overall, I give this a 3.7 out of 5.

Welcome!

2012-10-17T01:59:00.001-07:00

Welcome all, to our favorite little street in Stoneybrook, Connecticut! If you happened to stumble across this beauty of a blog, you are obviously a die hard Baby-Sitters Club fan and you're not alone. Let your BSC freak flag fly! Nobody here cares if you're 30 and still reading about America's favorite girls. So stick around while we relive these happy moments of our childhood one Claudia outfit or one Mary Anne emotional breakdown at a time.