#12 Claudia and the New Girl (or The Traitor and the Threat to the BSC and its Existence)

At last the fates have smiled upon the faithful readers and I drew a Claudia book, probably one of my least favorite in the series.  My 11-year-old has been reading my books before I snark them and after she read this one she said to me, “Mom, I’m glad I don’t have friends like this.  These girls are mean!”  I guess I don’t have to worry about her joining any cultish clubs when she’s 13. 

The cover is unremarkable and there’s no indication who did the artwork.  What is interesting is the dedication.  It’s “for the loyal readers of The Babysitter’s Club series.”  Well, if you’re not a loyal reader, go jump in a creek; this book’s not for you.

The book starts with Claudia watching a fly during English class instead of paying attention.  She admits she doesn’t care about or try hard in school, even though she acknowledges that the teacher is trying to make things interesting.  She gets cold called (teacher speak for calling on a kid out of the blue to draw them back into class discussion) and her lack of enthusiasm or effort results in a surprise spelling test.  During the test, a new student is ushered into the room and introduced as Ashley Wyeth.  Claudia is instantly shocked to see that Ashley is dressed like a hippie and has three pierced earrings in each ear! C’mon Ann, go for the real shock effect and give the girl a nose or eyebrow ring.  Better yet, say she has a nipple piercing and leave us all wondering how Claudia can see that at first glance.  Claudia can’t get over her looks or her name – she may be related to a famous painter with the same last name. Squee!!!  At the end of class, Ashley asks Claudia how to get to her next classroom and as Claudia shows her, she asks Ashley about her name.  Well now, what do you know?  They’re not related, but Ashley’s an artist too.

They have no more classes together that day, but Claudia does a brief intro of the club and its members before it’s time for the meeting.  She chats with Mimi for a few minutes while she waits for the club members (back when they still rang the doorbell before barging in) and mentions that she thinks she and Ashley might become friends.  FORESHADOWING!  Not subtle either.  The girls all arrive and they have a good meeting, with Claudia scheduling a job with the Rodowsky boys.  More foreshadowing when she says she doesn’t know what she’d do without her friends or the club.  Have a life?  Do schoolwork?  More time for art?

Claudia goes to her art class the following day and finds Ashley is there as well.  She is blown away by Ashley’s portfolio of work and Ashley is quite complementary of Claudia’s work as well.  The teacher announces a new art gallery is opening in Stoneybrook and that there is a sculpture competition. They are encouraged to enter as there is a grand prize of $250 and their pieces will be on display the week the gallery opens.  Claudia wants to enter, but isn’t sure she has time.  Ashley insists she does.

Sitting chapter!  Claudia’s at the Rodowsky house.  Jackie drops Rice Krispies on the floor and locks himself in the bathroom with his hand stuck in the tub drain.  An eventful sitting job.  They’re outside playing when who should stop by but Ashley.  Turns out she lives next door and she manages to needle Claudia into committing to the art show.

The next chapter starts with an explanation that in the previous year, the members of the BSC had their own separate groups of friends they ate lunch with, but once Dawn arrived they kind of grew together and this school year they started sitting together.  Well, Ashely wants to sit with Claud and discuss art. Alone. Claudia politely lets her friends know she’s sitting elsewhere for the day, although she’s worried about what everyone would say about her “defecting.”  Seriously?!  She can’t have one lunch period with someone else without your self worth being questioned?  Anyway, they decide to go to an art gallery that afternoon and Claudia ends up being 15 minutes late for a BSC meeting.  Everyone’s there and they grill Claudia about why she didn’t call and why she was having fun with someone other than them.  Wow.

Another sitting chapter.  Dawn sits for the St. Perkins family and ends up having to go to school to get Jeff because he’s in trouble.  This is where she meets Ms. Besser.  Things aren’t looking good for Jeffrey.

Claudia is sitting with Ashley at lunch again and missing the BSC across the room.  Ashley interrupts her thoughts by saying she’s going to sculpt an inanimate object and she thinks Claudia should too.  They spend the afternoon looking for inspiration in items around town.  Claudia gets drawn in, and decides to miss a meeting of the BSC.  She calls Dawn to let her know. 

The next chapter starts with a notebook entry calling Claudia a traitor.  Honestly, these girls …I can’t even put into words.  How is she a traitor?  It’s not like she’s sharing “club secrets” with the enemy or passing off clients to another business.  SHE’S WORKING ON AN ART PROJECT.  What I want to know is why Claudia didn’t just decide to take a little time off from the club like Mallory did when she had her writing contest.  The club members certainly understood about that.  It’s not like they’re overwhelmed with business at the moment; she could take a little time off.  But no, she’s a traitorous bitch, intent upon ruining the club and spending time with someone who wears BELL-BOTTOM JEANS TO SCHOOL.  Stacy starts crying, as she thinks Claudia doesn’t like her anymore, so of course MA starts crying too.  This I can understand; they’re hurt and don’t understand why Claudia’s pulling away.  But to call her a traitor….

The next day the BSC confronts Claudia at her locker while Ashley is there and Claudia’s “friends” basically argue about her responsibilities; to her art, to the club and such.  MA states that Claudia has plenty of time for her art and Claudia muses that her friends really don’t get it.  Perhaps that sentence speaks volumes in and of itself.  Why spend time with people who don’t get you?  They establish that Claudia is not quitting the club and that she is working on a sculpture.

But of course, Claudia misses another meeting and the girls get nasty.  Apparently she was supposed to be working on late English assignments, but she just can’t say no to Ashley and ends up looking for inspiration again.  She ditched Stacey to do homework, bur when she calls Dawn, she tells her where she is. So the girls write mean little notes and hide them around her room, short sheet her bed and eating all her junk food.  After that, I’d lock the door to my house and room and tell them to take a flying leap.  Abusing my personal property?  No, thank you.  The girls muse at the end how good of a friend Ashley is to Claudia, because she seems to only like Claudia because she’s an artist.  Aren’t they doing the same thing?  They’re calling her a traitor and vandalizing her room because she’s placing a personal interest in front of the club.  I wonder if Ann really thinks that what she wrote in this chapter is justified.  Hey, if I don’t like what my friend is doing, I can just leave her some nasty notes in her room (or FB wall) and eat her junk food.  That’ll learn her.

Claudia is sitting for the Rodowsky boys again.  She has just finished digging socks out of the vacuum cleaner when Ashley arrives.  They begin to argue about how Claudia doesn’t take her art seriously enough and how she should be grateful to Ashley for mentoring her.  There are several quotes here that are applicable to Ashley, yes, but also the BSC members.  Quote 1: “You think I owe you something?  Friends are friends because they like each other, not because they’re in debt.”  Perhaps the best friends she’ll ever have should also remember that before they start to graffiti her walls.  Quote 2: “You shouldn’t make up conditions for friendship.”  Self explanatory.  After her argument with Ashley, Claudia realizes what a lousy person she is for having a hobby and friend outside of the club.  Granted, she did shirk some responsibilities and was a little mean to Stacy, but I would not expect her to practice self flagellation over that.  She settles the boys in front of the TV (GASP!) while she tries to figure things out.  Jackie comes in, needing help with his shoelace and Claudia decides she wants to sculpt him.

She arrives the next afternoon while MA is sitting to talk to Jackie and make sketches of him.  While she’s doing that, MA starts asking questions about if Ashley is Claud’s best friend now and what’s she up to.  While Claud is sketching, Ashley comes over AGAIN and interrogates her about what she’s entering in the show and how her choice is awful.  Claudia basically tells her that she’ll sculpt what she wants and Ashley lets her know that she thinks Claudia’s ruining her career before she storms out of the house.  MA asks if Claudia is coming to the meeting, but she’s behind in school and needs to get things done at the library.

That night Claudia makes a list of things she needs to do, starting with calling Ashley, Stacy and Kristy.  She explains herself to Ashley; Ashley hangs up on her.  She explains herself to Stacy; Stacy forgives her.  She explains herself to Kristy; Kristy is short with her and gets off the phone soon.

The next list is for the art show.  She talks to her parents and her art teacher; with homework, she’s just not going to have enough time to finish her sculpture of Jackie, so she’s not entering the art show.

The last list is schoolwork and she tackles that the best she can, while finding a note in her pencil jar likening her to Benedict Arnold and the Wicked Witch of the West.  Nice.

Monday Claudia’s at the meeting and makes a big apology to everyone for being so terrible.  Now, as I stated before, Claudia did some things wrong, but she is not the only one who needs to apologize.  Her friends were terrible to her and nowhere in this chapter do they say they were wrong or that they’re sorry.  Sigh.  At the end of the chapter Claudia says, “If we didn’t like baby-sitting, we would still be friends.”  I say no, probably not.  Aside from Stacy, you have little in common with the other girls besides baby-sitting and in this one dimensional world, it’s not enough.

Claudia gets a surprise phone call from her art teacher informing her that she’s entered Claudia’s partially finished sculpture.  The BSC and the Kishis go to the show.  Ashley won grand prize, of course, for her sculpture of a fire hydrant.  Claudia is surprised to see she got an honorable mention for her work and her teacher feels that had she finished, she would have won.  Yay Claud!

The next day at school, Claudia sees Ashley alone at lunch and invites her to sit with the BSC.  They all tolerate each other (although Ashley’s clothes are weird again) and Claud muses that she and Ashley did become friends.  Sometimes these things just happen.  And now I will go hug my daughter and thank her for her common sense.

#4 Mary Anne Saves the Day

Well, it’s the luck of the draw that I land another MA book.  Mary Anne saves the day.  Hoorah.  I think this is one MA book that I liked because she wasn’t too overly smarmy.

Cover: MA sitting by an ill Jenny P, looking at the thermometer concernedly.  I’d be concerned too in a house with that striped of a couch and nothing on the walls.  It’s actually a scene in the book, so Hodges got it right.  Oh, wait, it isn’t Hodges, it’s Joel Iskowitz.  Excellent.

The book gets right into it.  They are all at their meeting and are offering around jobs when the Newtons call and BAM!  Kristy accepts the jobs without offering it to anyone else.  Suddenly all the girls are fighting with each other, accusing each other of job hogging, being conceited, bossy and (of course) a shy crybaby.  Well, that does it.  MA tells everyone off and walks out.  Yes, the shy crybaby.  I’ve always hated how MA is portrayed as being shy and timid, but she’s assertive when she wants to be (or when the plot line calls for it).  Most shy people don’t tell of their friends and storm out, do they?  I’m not shy, so if you’re shy, help me out!

MA slams home and starts dinner.  She manages to calm down and compose herself before her dad gets home and they start to eat dinner.  Boo-Boo Alert  MA’s mom is referred to as “Abigail” in this book; it is changed to “Alma” in other books.  I think I like Abigail better.  The previously mentioned error is nowhere near as painful as the dinner scene.  Eeesh.  Mommy Moment:  Richard has no idea how to talk to his daughter.  He has no idea who she is.  If I were to die, I would hope my husband would make more of an effort with the kids, although they’re boys, so he might get them better.

MA ponders her room (the inside of a cotton candy machine) and how she loves her dad but she wishes things were different.  Well, duh.  Who wouldn’t wish their mother was alive?  Hmmm…don’t answer that.

The next day at school MA tries to be friendly to Kristy, which backfires.  All of them are still mad at each other.  MA writes a nice note to Claudia, which she plans to deliver later.  She sits alone at lunch time, until a blonde girl named Dawn joins her.  They get to talking and MA can tell from the corner of her eye that Kristy is getting angrier.

The next day MA tries stopping for Kristy and gets a door slammed in her face.  Best friends you’ll ever have.  MA gets back at her by waiting for Dawn and smiling at her.  Lovely. THis is likely why Dawn has trouble getting along with Kristy in book 5.  MA heads over to Dawn’s house and they spend the afternoon watching The Parent Trap (The original is the best) and getting to know each other.  Boo-Boo Alert – MA’s mother apparently grew up in Maryland, not Iowa as is portrayed in later books.   I’m thinking Maryland might be more plausible for her and Richard to meet than Iowa, but Bonnie’s from WI and her husband’s from WA, so what do I know?

 MA leaves and arrives at Claudia’s in time for the meeting.  It was another exercise in painful, with Kristy not bothering to show up and the girls drawing straws for jobs.  MA leaves her note for Claudia and they talk later that evening about what they should do.  They each decide to talk to Stacy and Kristy.  MA has to talk to Kristy and is super nervous, but manages to say what needs to be said, so they work out how the club will work while they’re all mad at each other.  (I accidentally typed Krusty instead of Kristy, since the u and i are next to each other…I kind of like it.  Maybe if I snark a Kristy book I’ll do it as Krusty).

MA has a job sitting for Jenny Prezzioso and in this case she actually does act like a brat. Mommy Moment: I don’t have any daughters, but what would posses any mother to dress their daughter in lace dresses all day every day?  They must like doing laundry...or have an excellent dry cleaner  When MA gets home, she decides to bring up a later sitting time with her dad….who just lost a case.  Needless to say, it doesn’t go well.  Common Sense Moment: MA, you need to learn to read the signs and figure out a better time to talk to him about it.  MA decides to talk to Mimi about it and during their conversation, Mimi calls MA “My Mary Anne” just in time for Claudia to hear it…and that is the end of their truce.

MA and Kristy sit for the Pikes together.  It’s tough, since they’re not talking to each other.  The Pikes are late and MA doesn’t get home until after 9pm.  She again asks if he will allow her to sit later, but again he says no.

MA spends the next day with Dawn and they discover that their parents used to date.  They try to guess why they broke up but can’t come to any conclusions.

MA sits for Jenny P and she is quiet and listless.  She falls asleep as MA is reading and MA takes her temperature at 104.  Mommy Moment: I can’t believe Mrs. P didn’t realize her daughter wasn’t feeling well.  104!?  That right there is one heck of an epic fail.  MA calls Dawn, who suggests calling 911 since MA can’t find an adult to drive them to the hospital.  Jenny has a case of strep and the meds start working before her parents arrive. 

MA and Dawn go back to her house and Dawn catches MA sticking her tongue out at Kristy through the window. That, of course, sparks a fight that ends in Dawn leaving in a huff.

MA is so upset by all of this that she doesn’t tell her father about the experience with Jenny until Mrs. P calls to tell him about it.  They have a heart to heart moment and Richard realizes his daughter is growing up before his eyes.  He allows her later sitting privileges on the weekend and he’s even going to let her redecorate her room a little. Common Sense Moment: Did MA ever ask her dad before if she could redecorate or did she just assume?  Remember kids, when you assume, you make an ass of u and me.

The next week starts and MA apologizes to Dawn and they make up.  She also leaves a note for Kristy in her locker apologizing, but Kristy never says anything to her about it.  Earlier, the girls had agreed to help at Jamie Newton’s 4^th birthday party, but none of them are talking to each other.  As the party starts, they start snotting at each other, and then all four of them start pushing and shoving at the bottom of the stairs about who gets to check on baby Lucy.  At this point, Mrs. Newton’s all like, “what the heck, mature my foot” but is apparently so flustered by the 4 year old party guests that she just picks a sitter to check Lucy and doesn’t drop kick the girls out of her house, which I would have done.  As Mrs. Newton goes to get the cake, MA starts pouring punch…all over Kristy.  Claudia picks up a wet napkin and flings it into Stacy’s face, who in return grabs a wet napkin and smushes it into Claudia’s face.  Enter Mrs. Newton with the birthday cake (I will assume she downloaded a pattern for the cake from pintrest, then proceeded to pull her hair out while she tried to make it look like the supermom’s) to see her child with tears running down his cheeks and her “sitters” having a mini food fight.  Mommy Moment:  At this point, I’d say, “Get out, don’t expect to get paid, don’t expect me to call for a sitter ever again.”   MA gracefully gets them through the sticky moment and they’re on their best behavior until the end so that Mrs. Newton doesn’t think they’re “immature” or “irresponsible.”  Newsflash: you are both of those things.  You’re 12. 

MA calls an emergency meeting of the club and declares they are going to the Kishi’s.  She takes a deep breath, remembers how totally awesome she’s become and charges forward.  She declares they either need to make up or break up the club.  Everyone declares that they love each other and apologizes for their flaws…well, they count 1,2,3 and yell “I’m sorry!”  Because they're 12.  Then they apologize for their personality traits that will soon become the epitome of their characters because the ghosties are too lazy to make them dynamic, interesting people.  Sorry, I digress.  They’re all happy and the club is in good shape.

MA dashes home from the meeting in time to catch a call from Dawn.  Apparently she found a prom picture with her mom and MA’s dad.  MA resolves to ask her dad about it at dinner.  After some small talk, she springs the name “Sharon Porter” on him and he chokes on his carrots.  He explains about how they dated, but Sharon’s parents didn’t think he was good enough for their daughter because his family didn’t have much money.  MA subtly asks if he would be good enough now, but he brushes off her comment.  MA calls Dawn back and tells her about the story.  She also asks if Dawn has done much sitting in Cali because she was pretty awesome at Jenny’s and she promises to get back to her the next day.

So MA has a BSC party at her house, including Dawn.  Her dad actually said yes, and came home to help her organize.  There’s an incident where MA spills soda on her skirt and carrot peels on the floor, which is perfect timing because the doorbell rings and it’s Dawn and her mom.  Sharon and Richard are just standing there staring at each other, and Jack Schafer can quit blaming his divorce on Sharon being disorganized and blame it on the fact that she’s been in love with another man for years.  MA hustles Dawn into the kitchen and they eavesdrop at the door, which is great because they hear the two of them make a date.  For the next evening.  Dinner.  Ooo lala.

MA gets cleaned up and calmed down as everyone else arrives and they troop to her room to talk. MA asks if Dawn can join the club.  They ask her some questions about her experience, how late she can stay out and any emergencies she handled.  They vote her in and run downstairs to get their pizza.  They have a pizza toast (a hamburger patty for Stacy, because the processed cheese on pizza will kill her…according to the ADA, diabetics can eat cheese, but they recommend watching portion size due to saturated fats) and Dawn squees over being accepted into the BSC.  Just you wait, Dawn.  Just you wait.