I must be lucky. Not
only did I draw another Claudia book, but I got one that was one of my
favorites as a kid…then I read it again and kind of went, mrrr? This is a good one for some parenting failss.
The cover is pretty normal, but it gives away what the bad
joke results in. I guess the mystery is
in how we get there. The walls look
pretty sick too…not sure I’d want to stay in that hospital.
The books starts with Kristy wishing to get hit in the face
with a pie. The girls plus Logan are at
a slapstick film festival (apparently Logan
invited MA as a date and she invited everyone else…I don’t think that’s what he
had in mind, MA) and Kristy’s all about wearing food. I’m amazed Claudia hasn’t jumped on this
bandwagon. She gets right into the introductions and I realize that this old
copy has hash marks that show the beginning and end of what has now become the
chapter long section of information on the girls. For your skipping ease, of course.
The next day is a club meeting and, after an indepth look at
how the club runs, we have the actual meeting.
There’s a call from a new client, Mrs. Sobak, looking for a sitter for
little Betsy, her daughter. Claudia
takes the job, but is confused because she knows the kids who usually sit for
Betsy. Kristy admonishes her not to
knock it, but that maybe they’ll get a new client out of it. She then proceeds to squirt disappearing ink
all over MA’s white sweatshirt…amazingly enough, she’s the only one laughing.
Claudia and Dawn hang out for a bit after the meeting (Dawn
is lonely since she’ll be the only at her house…I kinda have to go with Tory on her scathing review of Mrs. Schafer’s decision to move back to Connecticut) and
then Claudia helps Mimi finish dinner.
“The Genius” comes home and is sober, because life is tough as a
genius. They have a nice dinner before
it’s time for homework time. Now this
has been a rule for Claudia for awhile, but in the last book I snarked they
must have been on vacation or Claudia wouldn’t have fallen behind so much. Anyway, she finishes the homework and then
gets a crank phonecall….prank season in Stoneybrook has begun!!
It’s the day of Claudia’s sitting job with Betsy and she’s
getting nervous. She’s talked to the
other kids who used to sit for her and they all quit because she is a horrible
practical joker, to the point she doesn’t know when to stop. At first Claudia is optimistic, because Betsy
seems nice and her mother, while strange (her name is Cookie, which Ann puts in
italics…why name your own character something you can’t believe) is also
nice. But the jokes start right away
with a dribble glass and a fly in an ice cube.
Then she tricks her with some pepper gum, which really angers
Claudia. This is the kind of job you go
to and when you look at the clock only 10 minutes have passed. She agrees to go outside with Betsy to get
her mind of jokes and they sit on the swingset to swing. Claudia suggests a swinging contest in spite
of some funny looks by Betsy and soon they’re going pretty high…and the bottom drops
out of Claudia’s swing and she lands on the driveway. Her leg’s at a pretty funny angle and she
knows it’s broken. She calmly instructs
Betsy to call 911, then the Sobaks and then the Rodowsky home before her own
parents (what?). Dawn and Mallory arrive
before the ambulance and Dawn calls Claudia’s parents, who will meet her at the
hospital. The ambulance arrives and Dawn
rides along with Claudia. Her leg is in
pain now and she is given some pain killers so most of the procedures are hazy
to her. She wakes up in the hospital
with her leg in traction. The break was
apparently bad enough that she’ll have to stay in the hospital for a week and
home for a little longer before she can go back to school. She starts thinking about what would have
happened if she had broken her arm or hand, which potentially could end her art
career. Perhaps she should quit the club
because sitting is too dangerous.
Her hospital stay is fairly eventful, with lots of visitors
and flowers. Her roommate is “a big
baby” about her broken elbow and has no friends. Nice, Ann.
(although I’d probably have said the same thing at that age). Claudia begs for her friends to sneak her
some junk food and Dawn has pity on her and sneaks some in. MA also sneaks Tigger in, which twigs Claudia
out a bit. During one of her phone calls
to Stacy, she confesses that she might quit the club…dun, dun, dun!
A sitting chapter. MA
and Jessi sit for the Pikes and are inundated by practical jokes.
Claudia is ready to go home from the hospital and is finally
released. She is greeted by friends and
family in a hustling bustling flurry and then everyone leaves for work or
school. She has breakfast with Mimi,
receives a phone call from her homeroom at school and enjoys a little Wheel of Fortune. Since she’s an art fanatic, she’s also spent
time decorating her cast. At the BSC
meeting that day, her friends have a few little autographs too: God
made rivers, God made lakes, God made Claudia, well we all make mistakes. Guess who wrote that one. MA’s confused me at first until my mom
pointed out that the car is supposed to be auto. Then it makes sense. Claudia springs her fears about sitting on
the rest of the club and tells them she might want to quit. She promises to think about it for awhile
when suddenly the phone rings and it’s Mrs. Sobak, looking for another sitter
for Betsy. Ballsy, that woman is. Claudia is (and rightfully so) upset that
Mrs. Sobak calls for a sitter and I would have called her back and said,
“sorry, we can’t help you” but these girls are fixers, so they are going to
“fix” Betsy. The best way to fix
her? By waging a joke war, of course. Mallory volunteers for the first wave of
attack, especially since her siblings are all about the jokes right now too.
Which brings us to Mal’s sitting chapter. Betsy hides on Mal; Mal gives her sneezing
powder. Betsy gets Mal with a bloody
tooth; Mal scares her with a slug. Betsy
scares Mal with a rubber snake; Mal scares her with a rubber rat. Betsy scares Mal with her cockroach and Mal
runs out of jokes just as Mrs. Sobak arrives home. Score in the joke war: 0-0
Dawn sits for Betsy next.
Betsy slimes Dawn’s kid kit; Dawn “faints.” Betsy gets Dawn with a pooh-pooh cushion;
Dawn pretends to see a mouse. Betsy
squirts Dawn with a fountain pen; Dawn pulls out a spider. Betsy pulls out a rubber toad and Dawn is out
of tricks. They get into a game of
Monopoly and end up having a late lunch.
Betsy apologizes and makes sundaes as a peace offering…only Dawn’s is
made of shaving cream. Score in the joke
war: Betsy 1, BSC 0
Claudia is currently still stuck at home and is starting to
worry about missing so much school. She’s also worried about having to repeat 8th
grade (doesn’t she get sent back in later books?) but Mimi helps her calm
down. She asks if Claudia has made up
her mind about whether or not she’s going to stay in the club, but Claudia
still doesn’t know. Then Stacy calls and
Claudia heads upstairs to talk to her.
She asks if Claudia has made up her mind about whether or not she’s
going to stay in the club, but Claudia still doesn’t know and is slightly
annoyed about being pestered about it.
The rest of the club arrives for the meeting and the first official
order of business is to demand if Claudia is going to be in the club still or
not. Claudia is irritated, but promises
to have her decision in a week.
Kristy is the next to sit for Betsy and she claims she has
won the joke war. She and Betsy go to a
viewing of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Kristy makes Betsy promise NO MORE
JOKES. Betsy instantly pulls out the joy
buzzer, so it’s on. They get into the
theater and Betsy asks for popcorn.
After she leaves to get it, Kristy switches seats and Betsy can’t find
her. During the middle of the movie,
Kristy slips a bloody thumb onto her finger and carefully slides it into the
popcorn box. Betsy screams loudly and
some of her schoolmates (whom she joked as well) start to laugh. Betsy is angry and says Kristy embarrassed
her. Kristy points out that’s what most
of Betsy’s jokes do and that’s why people don’t like her jokes or Betsy herself
for that matter. Betsy asks how Claudia
is and asks if she can go and apologize to her, even though she had sent her a
note of apology. Claudia is at home and
is frustrated over some math she has to study when Kristy and Betsy
arrive. She apologizes to Claudia in
person and then Kristy takes her home.
Later Kristy comes back and asks Claudia about the club and Claudia says
that she’s going to stay; Betsy’s apology made her change her mind.
The book ends two months later with Claudia getting her cast
off. Her leg is pretty atrophied and she
has to have crutches for a little while longer.
There’s another meeting that afternoon and Jessi says that Betsy has
another joke catalogue, but didn’t play any jokes on her. Then there’s a call for a sitter and it’s in
a few weeks, when Claudia can sit again.
Hooray! And the book closes with
Kristy still wishing she could get hit in the face with a pie.
Ok, parental fails: Sobaks, your kid is a practical joker, to the
point you have a hard time keeping a regular sitter. Now she’s played a joke that resulted in
someone breaking their leg. It’s past
time to take care of this issue. At
least Betsy wrote an apology note.
Kishis, this is an actual legitimate lawsuit. I have a really hard time believe you did
nothing besides meet your daughter at the hospital after she broke her
leg. At the very least, bang down the
Sobak’s door and demand an apology.
Sitter fails: Do you really think you can “fix” a child who
has no parental discipline in this issue?
#1. It’s not your place #2. it’s going to take more than a few jokes to
change and attitude. But then, this is
Stoneybrook, not the real world.
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