BSC #3: The Truth About Stacey OR Rah, Rah, Rah! Sis, Boom, Bah! Something… Something… The Baby-Sitters Club! Hurray!



Cover Art:

Original: Stacey looks… not cute on this cover. She looks like she has a mullet. I think it’s the way the sunglasses pull her hair back, but still. It’s awful.

Newer: I like this cover better. Stacey doesn’t look 12, but she does look pretty.

I’m not even going to comment on the newest covers that don’t show the girls. I don’t approve of them. Do you guys know what I’m talking about?

Plot:

Stacy has diabetes!  For now, that’s as big of a deal as Jessi being black, but of course, we don’t know Jessi yet. Stacy’s parents tote her around from doctor to doctor trying to find a “cure” for diabetes. Silly, there’s no cure for diabetes. Just like there’s no cure for Jessi being black. Quit making it sound like the end of the world!

Stacey’s parents drag her back to New York for more tests. They want to see a “holistic” doctor – which does not mean “faith healer” Anastasia. Stacey ends up getting with Dr. Johanssen to make an appointment with a doctor who tells her that she’s perfectly healthy, except for the diabetes, but she’s handling it very well. By the end of the book, Stacy and her parents have a heart to heart and they agree to let go a little more.  

Subplot:

Uh-Oh! There are new sitters in town and they are out to get the BSC. Their clients anyway. Now introducing… The Babysitters Agency.  Kristy quickly changes the meeting to an emergency meeting of the BSC to discuss the Agency. The girls decide to add older members, but soon find out those older members are moles from the Agency. Jerks.  Sandwich boards, anyone? And really, this was more of the plot than the subplot, but the book was named for Stacey’s problem, so I’m assuming that’s supposed to be the main plot. Oh, who cares?

Bullet-Point Worthy Items!!!:

-          I like the flow of the first 3 books – they keep mentioning Mrs. Newton having her baby. Good continuity!

-          Mimi is able to tell Mary Anne that she was born at night. Mary Anne was upset in the last book because her dad doesn’t talk about when she was a baby and she didn’t know if she was born early, on time, or late.

-          Claudia was so upset about the Agency that she offered Stacey a piece of candy. And Mary Anne was so upset that she left the meeting a little late. Oh no!

-          I know you all know this one – Stacey is reeaallllllly thirsty and then finds out she has diabetes. Raise your hand if you ever suspected diabetes was the cause of your thirst!

-          Kristy is sitting in a desk chair with the visor and a pencil over ear. Mary Anne’s in the director’s chair. I wonder when Kristy shoved M.A. out of it and took it over. ?

-          Kristy’s ideas for beating out the Agency:

o   Doing housework

o   Special deals for the best customers

o   Kids Kits (!!!)

o   Lower rates

o   Take on late jobs or give jobs to older kids

-          Claudia is all, “Hell no! Uh-uh. I ain’t doin’ no housework or giving my jobs away.” The girls settle on the Kid Kits and special deals.

-          Stacey has a sitting job for her “almost sister” Charlotte Johanssen on a Monday. Dr. Johanssen should be back between 5 and 5:30. I should hope so! Those girls can’t have a sitting job during a meeting!

-          I don’t remember 2^nd graders being so mean. From what I remember, and see now with kids I work with, that 2^nd graders are friends with most everyone in their class. Then again, this is just a book. I need to keep telling myself that.

-          Mrs. Newton has her baby, and Jamie has a Big Brother Party. Nine-pound Lucy Jane Newton makes her appearance. Jamie’s upset because his mommy wants to start using the Agency instead of the BSC because they’re older. 

-          Kristy and Mary Anne weren’t present for the Monday BSC meeting because they were watching Jamie and cleaning up after the party. Interesting.

-          Ooh, a triple emergency club meeting!

-          Mary Anne mentions that they asked Stacey “all sorts of things” when they were deciding whether or not to let her join. If I recall correctly, Stacey volunteered that she babysat a lot and can stay out until 10. There wasn’t much of a debate on whether or not Stacey could join. We’ll see a debate later on with poor ass-hat Mallory.

-          Claudia’s handwriting is atrocious in this book. Way worse than usual.

-          Is Tab a soda? Stacey ordered it at the movies, but shouldn’t she have ordered Diet Tab?

-          Stacey takes a call from Mrs. Newton for a job. Somehow Claudia reads Stacey’s mind and is mad because she would have liked a job with Jamie AND Lucy, even though Stacey never said the job was for Lucy too.

-          Charlotte gets moved to 3^rd grade in this book.

-          I love Stacey’s cheer (the rah, rah, rah crap). Makes me wonder why the cheerleaders will choose to pass on her in book #70. I guess I’m not supposed to know that yet, though.

Outfits:

I’m sad to say that unless I completely spaced it, there were no outfits in this book.

 

BSC # 2: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls OR Have You Seen My Red Ribbon?

Cover Art:

My copy of the original cover has a price sticker right over Claudia’s face. Thanks for that, Seller. Her sweater is absolutely hideous (although, on Claudia, it looks fabulous!). And the child (Nina Marshall?) she is holding is huge.

The new cover is pretty good too. I like Claud’s outfit better. The child still looks weird – almost like a dwarf, which isn’t a bad thing if you ARE a dwarf…

Have I mentioned that I was excited about the new covers? I don’t really like that they changed the main picture, but I do like the pictures of the girls down the side and that each girl has a certain theme to their book.  I miss the back cover, though. I liked that it had each girls’ name and their job title listed.

Anyway, onto the first unofficial mystery of the BSC!

Plot:

Claudia starts us out telling us she has a thing for “the most gorgeous boy in the entire seventh grade,” Trevor Sandbourne. She professes that she’s IN LOVE. I wonder how closet hat is to being in “LUV?” This is convenient timing because the Halloween Hop is just weeks away.

Cut to ‘Phantom Caller on Rampage in Mercer.” Oh no! Mercer is only 20 miles from Stoneybrook! This Phantom calls random houses and hands up if someone answers. The Phantom breaks in and robs the home if no one answers. The girls worry that the Phantom is going to get them while they’re babysitting.

This terrifies them throughout the entire plot and they never think that THEY’RE ANSWERING THE PHONE, so the Phantom knows someone is home. Oh – but then they start worrying that the house could get robbed by anyone. Thus, the creation of their signal: “Have you found my red ribbon?” The person they call says, “No, the blue one.” Why not just say “no?” Then the called can either say, “Now I’m in for it” if there’s trouble or “that’s okay” if there’s no trouble. Sheesh girls! Of course, they can’t remember these simple lines, so Ms. President of the World Kristy Thomas has them study it during their free time… and then they still can’t get it right.

OK guys, let’s practice. I say, “Have you found my red ribbon?” Now you – “No, the blue one.”

Ding, ding, ding!

The entire book has the girls in “scary” situation at different jobs. All leading up to…

Claudia and Kristy are sitting for the Newton/Feldmans and someone is lurking outside the Newton’s house. Any guess on who it might be? The Phantom Caller or a pervy teenage boy? If you guess pervy teenage boy, you’re right! Alan Gray has been calling houses when he knows Kristy’s there so he could ask her to the dance. He kept losing his nerve and hanging up. He finally asks her to the dance and Kristy accepts.

Trevor later calls Claudia and admits that he was just too shy to ask her sooner, but wants to know if she would go to the Halloween Hop with him. Claudia accepts and all is well in BSC land again!

And to everyone’s relief, the Phantom Caller was caught in the last chapter. Phew!

Bullet-Point Worthy Items!!!:

-          Stacey whines that she doesn’t have many friends. Don’t worry Stace. By about your 4^th trip through 8^th grade, you’ll have plenty of friends. Really good ones – ones who drink, steal, and get you in all sorts of fun trouble.

-          Aww, they want to rent a movie for Stacey’s VCR. Um, what’s a VCR??  ;)

-          The first (of many) Emergency Meeting of the Babysitters Club happens in this book!

-          I have to agree with Claudia that the Shillaber twins are too old to dress alike. I don’t like when people dress toddlers alike, much less 12 year olds.

-          Claudia refers to the Phantom Caller as “PC.” I’m impressed that she knows to spell “phantom” with a “P” because she later spells “pharaoh” with an “F.”

-          Why did Trevor call Claudia when she was babysitting (he and Alan got the numbers from the record book) when her number is plastered all over town on the BSC fliers? KL5-2321

-          Kristy can’t believe Watson will be her stepfather next year – sorry Kristy. It’s happening sooner than you think and you’ll freak out about it in just a few books.

-          Karen wasn’t much of a brat during Kristy’s babysitting job, but she was super annoying. Enough with the witch hunt!!!

-          Mary Anne sets alarms at the Thomas house, but can’t manage to shut and lock the doors correctly. The wind blows open the front door, and Louie opens the back door because he knows how to get it open if it’s not latched right. I think she deserves to be robbed.

-          Claudia accepts a job from Mr. Willis and she has sat at his house before. I guess Ann hated that family because we never hear anything else about them. We also missed reading Claud’s terribly written account of the job in the record book.

-          Hahaha – Claud drops her lunch in Trevor’s lap. Ten bucks says that if it was Stacey, she would have offered to wipe it up.

-          Claudia and Kristy sit for Jamie Newton and the Feldmans. Kristy tells Rob, “One false move and I’ll punch your lights out.” Good technique, Kristy.

     

Outfits:

Claudia: “I’m wearing purple pants that stop just below my knees and are held up with suspenders, white tights with clocks on them, a purple plaid shirt with a matching hat, my high-top sneakers, and lobster earrings.”

BSC #1 - Kristy's Great Idea OR Sheep Are In!

    

Ah, the one that started it all! Dedicated to Ann’s childhood BFF (and the inspiration for Kristy), Beth McKeever Perkins.

Cover Art:

I ilke the original cover better because it’s the original and because the girls look 12… although I wouldn’t trust a one of them with my child. The new cover isn’t bad. I like that it gives us more of an idea of how Claud’s room really was and portrays the characters’ outfits better. I always liked the scrapbook pictures in the back of the newer books, but I wish they would change the pictures up every few books.

Plot:

I think we all know what this book is about – and the first of many GENIUS ideas from Miss Kristy Thomas – the creation of The Baby-Sitters Club! This book shows Kristy’s mother (right now her name is Edie; she’ll later be called Elizabeth) trying to find a sitter when her regular sitter backs out. Kristy watches as her mother makes phone call after phone call trying to find a new sitter. Kristy almost “chokes” when she gets the idea for the BSC. And thus, a monster is born.

Kristy recruits her friends, Mary Anne Spier and Claudia Kishi, to help with the club. She wants a third member, and luckily, Claudia knows just who to ask – Stacey McGill.

This book tells the story of each girl’s first babysitter job:

Kristy – her first job is for Buffy and Pinky McKeever – DOGS! I remember thinking it was funny when I first read this, but now I think it’s dumb. I don’t like bad dog owners and Mrs. McKeever sounds like one. Those dogs are crazy – sounds like they need some exercise and structure! And if they’re fine in the laundry room while someone’s home, won’t they be fine in there for a couple hours while someone’s not home? She makes $3.50.

Claudia – sitting for Jamie Newton, one of the most loveable characters in the series, I think. But it’s not just Jamie – it’s Jamie plus those 3 crazy cousins of his, Rob, Brenda, and Rosie Feldman. The cousins are monsters, but Claudia tames them by reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Where the Wild Things Are.

Stacey – her first job is for David Michael. Conveniently, “gorgeous hunk” Sam shows up and we see just how boy-crazy that “foxy chick” Stacey McGill is. Stacey’s wearing the gray outfit with yellow number 10s over it with silver whistles hanging from her ears. I remember that outfit so well!

Mary Anne – sitting for Watson’s kids! Karen – who is gigundoly annoying – and Andrew.  Karen’s only 5 in this book, and Andrew is 3. Not sure how he turned 4, but Karen turned 7. We also meet Mrs. Porter. I always felt kinda sorry for her.

The girls plan a pizza party with their babysitting money. Stacey, of course, tries to weasel her way out of it by saying she has to go to New York. Mary Anne later backs out because Mr. Spier won’t let her spend her money on a pizza party.  Claudia can’t go because her grades suck. This later works itself out, but causes the first fight amongst the club members because Stacey is a liar-liar-pants-on-fire.

Kristy ends up having to babysit for Karen and Andrew because Watson has an emergency with his ex-wife. Seth was out of town for the weekend, so Watson had to fill out paperwork at the hospital and help his ex-wife get home. Kristy ends up liking the kids. Good thing because Watson and Edie are engaged by the end of the book.

Bullet-Point Worthy Items!!!:

-          The girls are only 12 and in 7^th grade in this book.

-          Who else learned what “decorum” means from this book?

-          Whatever happened to Kathy once the BSC started?

-          I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know how to do the flashlight code Mary Anne created.

-          I never picked up on Watson never being home when his kids are visiting until I got older. Ms. Thomas has a date with Watson on Saturday night, and Watson is working Saturday morning – and he wants Kristy to babysit in the morning because his kids will be there. I get having to work, but did he also have to plan a date for that night? Spend time with your kids! Karen’s a MONSTER, but Andrew’s not so bad.

-          Watson brings Chinese over later (while his kids are visiting), but leaves his kids at home. Why not just bring his kids too? It can’t be because the Thomas’s house is small – Kristy later hosts a slumber party there.

-          Kristy waited until after school to talk to Mary Anne about the BSC – what, no lunch table chatter??

-          I don’t know why Stacey’s so weird about telling them she has diabetes – geez, Stace, it’s  not herpes.

-          Kristy (talking about Karen and Andrew) “I bet they’re brats.” I bet you’re right!

-          It cracks me up that the day the girls see their ad in the newspaper, Kathy is sitting for David Michael. Maybe Ms. Thomas wanted to give her a few more jobs before she completely dropped her?

-          Buffy and Pinky’s “mother” is named Mrs. McKeever – after Ann’s friend, Beth. Awww.

-          Claudia’s handwriting in this book is different than what we will come to know. And her spelling isn’t completely disastrous. Her terrible spelling is distracting in later books. I hate how dumb they make her look.

-          Mary Anne mentions Sarge (the Pike’s cat) in this book. Whatever happened to him??

-          Karen isn’t “’asposed” to talk about divorce and mommies and daddies because it upsets Andrew. He must be a pretty smart kid. I don’t know many three year olds who start crying over that kind of talk – they usually don’t understand. Andrew must be another Gabbie Perkins!

-          Oh memories – “Sheep are in.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget quote – or that Claudia said it “witheringly.”

-          It's nice that Chapter 2 isn't a "skip chapter" yet.

Outfits:

I didn’t fully appreciate all of them until I was older, although I was inspired a little by Claudia. I can’t remember which book it is, but Claudia says that she picks her clothes out of her closet with her eyes clothes. I tried that once. Not sure why her picks always made her look fabulous, but mine made me look like a retarded clown.

Claudia: Our very first BSC outfit! “She was wearing short, very baggy lavender plaid overalls, a white lacy blouse, a black fedora, and red high-top sneakers without socks. Her long black hair was carefully arranged in four braids.”

Claudia: “…wearing a baggy yellow- and black-checked shirt, black pants, red jazz shoes, and a bracelet that looked like it was made from a telephone cord. Her earrings were dangling jointed skeletons that jumped around when she moved.” Not too wild. I have skeleton earrings, but I only wear them around Halloween.

Stacey: “Stacey had on a pink sweat shirt with sequins and a large purple parrot on the front; short, tight-fitting jeans with zippers up the outsides of the legs; and pink plastic shoes.”

Stacey: “…was wearing a matching top and skirt made of gray sweat shirt material with big yellow number tens all over it. Her hair was pinned back with clips shaped like rainbows. Little silver whistles were dangling from her ears.”

My Blog!

I've never had a blog before, but a few months ago I started thinking about my beloved BSC collection I had a kid and the obsession started all over again! I wanted a way to share my memories with others, but I got online and saw that there were BSC blogs already. I'm sure my blog won't live up to the greats, but I wanted to try.
I'm going to start from the first book of the series and try to go through them all in order. I'm missing a few here and there, and don't have hardly any of the newer ones, but I'll do what I can - with the help of ebay!

I used to have almost every book (up to about 80 or 90), but I boxed them up and put them in the basement. My darling older brother moved the box to the section of the basement that often flood (not intentional, but still stupid), and my beloved treasures were ruined. Now I'm stuck ordering from ebay and used book stores and their books are not anywhere close to the near perfect versions of mine. Sigh.

Well, here I go. Wish me luck! Happy Reading!