#1- Kristy's Great Idea

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.