Super Special #1- Baby-sitters on Board!

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."

#11- Kristy and the Snobs

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."

#6 Kristy's Big Day

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!

#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.