Super Special #4 Babysitter's Island Adventure

This was my first super special as a kid.  I read this thing until the binding tore and the pages started coming out.  As an adult, I can’t help but seeing this as the worst parental fail in history.

Because of the awful nature of parental failing, I’m just going to summarize the story line and then go into the mommy moments and common sense moments and Claudia outfits.  We can’t do a snark without the Claudia outfits. :)

And what’s up with Claudia’s awkward arms and Kristy’s apparently mangled body on the cover??

This is Dawn’s Superspecial.  Claudia and Dawn take sailing lessons and their head sailing instructor has them have a sailing competition.  They tie, and decide to have a rematch.  Since they’ve been okayed to sail, but not alone, naturally they decide to take some of their sitting charges with them.  Brilliant!  They sail, a storm comes up, they’re blown off course, Dawn's boat breaks up, causing them to bail out and they all end up on an island. One of the kids (Jamie Newton) gets sick.  Food and water is low. There are search parties and finally they are rescued after two days.  Jamie goes to the hospital, but is released the next day.  The girls are lauded as heros and there are news interviews and newspaper articles galore.  What an adventure!

Mommy Moments

• No way in hell would I let my four-year-old go sailing with a thirteen-year-old who had *just been okayed to sail alone.
• No way in hell would I let my four-year-old who appeared to be coming down with a cold go sailing.
• Normally I find the Ramsey parents to be pretty good Stoneybrook parents, but we’re talking two major parental fails here: 1. Leaving an eleven-year-old in charge for the weekend and 2. Letting your eight-year-old go sailing with novice thirteen-year-old sailors.
• Sharon is not only concerned about her kids, but she’s stressing about losing custody of her kids.  If I was Jack, I’d definitely have this parental fail on my mind in future custody procedings.

Common Sense Moments

• For all the times MA is described as listening and patient and kind, she flies off the handle and is a real, well, bitch over the littlest things.  Not what I’d call a really kind, sensitive and emotional friend.  *at the end, she asks if her picture is in the paper.  I kind of agree with Dawn when she says, “You weren’t even on the island!”
• Didn’t anyone check the weather before sailing?  I know it’s the days before the internet, but with a storm of that severity, I think the meteorologists could have seen that coming the night before.
• At least the girls have enough sense to stay close together during the storm, especially since Dawn’s boat ends up in trouble and they need to bail out.
• Kristy calls an emergency meeting of the BSC because this is a club problem.  It just seems wrong.  What are they going to do that the coast guard isn’t doing?  I guess it's good to get together and comiserate
• Stacey gets mad at her dad because he won’t let her go home, but I see his point – what is she going to do at 8:30pm in rain?  The “it took me forever to get these theater tickets” doesn’t give him much credibility.  Still, might as well stay with her dad that she never sees and head home in the morning when she can help.
• I hate the stupid questions that reporters ask.  The kicker in this book is, “How do you [friend of the missing] feel right now?”
• Claudia’s street smarts really get them through on the island.  Not only does she think of a way to collect water, she keeps the kids calm and finds a mirror that they can signal with.

Claudia Outfits

• Tank top and baggy drawstring pants.  Over the top, a button-down shirt of her father’s with sleeves rolled up, buttons not buttoned.  Wearing big earrings she had made herself.

Just Weird and Awkward…

• What’s with the awkwardness on page 208/209?  Mallory looks like she’s going to eat Claudia and Jessi looks like a replica of the Crazy Horse monument.

SS #3 Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation (Baby-sitters' take a completely unecessary trip where not much interesting happens)

Well, this is one of the many ridiculous super specials in the series.  It’s also pretty boring; it’s the only SS I own that is NOT taped up.  In fact, the binding is hardly broken.  That is why it has taken over a month for me to get it snarked.

The cover is pretty unremarkable, other than the fact that if Mallory were to stand up, she’d be over 6 feet tall and Jessi looks like she’s hissing…and Claudia’s foot is bent a little unnaturally.  Plus, there's no way MA would be caught dead having a snowball fight.

We start off with MA’s point of view.  This book takes place before Richard and Sharon get married and after Stacey’s parents’ divorce, so we have an idea of where it falls in the series.  The SMS kids get to go away for a week to a lodge in Vermont for almost no cost because of their fundraising.  They do it every year and have their winter carnival there.    Now, why must they go all the way to Vermont for this??  The purpose for this Super Special is that poor Logan is going to Aruba with his family while the rest of the school goes on the trip.  MA doesn’t want him to miss out, so she’s keeping a detailed journal, with help from her friends, of course.  She and her friends meet at school to get on the buses to head to the lodge.  It’s time to start Mary Anne’s Magical Winter Adventure! (barf)

 Stacey

Stacey gets the third degree from her mom about her diabetes and the buses take off.  They stop at a giant cafeteria about halfway to the lodge and terrorize the people who work there.  Stacey says she thinks they’d be happy for the business; I say wait until you work in customer service and see how you like having three busloads of preteens traipse into the restaurant.  They head back out and discover it’s started snowing.  They continue on their way, and the roads become worse.  Stacey’s bus slides off the road a bit and gets stuck, but they are able to get it out and make it to the lodge.

Dawn

The girls get settled in and find out there are going to be other groups coming up to the lodge during the week.  As they’re getting settled in, Kristy finds herself stuck with Ashley Weyth as a bunkie.  Oh yes, I almost forgot!  You hate her because she dared Claudia to have a life outside the BSC.  ~le sigh. The girls unpack, find Mal and Jessi (who are separated due to age) and explore the floors.  AS they’re settling around the fire, the door bursts open with a man and woman stumbling in.  They’re from an elementary school and the bus overturned.  The woman’s arm is broken and the man is suffering hypothermia and possible broken ribs.  The lodge owners rush to call the police and rescue squad.

Kristy

When the lodge owners say that they’re going to head to the scene with a bus, Kristy volunteers the BSC to come along and help with the kids.  Yippee!  They arrive at the scene and split up the sixteen crying children among them. They get together and bring the kids back to the lodge.  Everyone settles in on the bus and Mary Anne asks the group to chip in some thoughts for her book, since this is turning out to be an unusual week.

Claudia

They arrive back at the lodge and the kids perk up.  They have dinner and Claudia harps about how the cook at Camp Mohawk kept serving sugary food when Stacey can’t eat it. Well, honey, she’s one kid of many that the cook needs to serve; she gets what she has for supplies and makes the best of it.  Anyway, they all eat while the lodge owners try to decide what to do; the teachers that came with the kids aren’t doing well but the weather is too bad to send the kids back to Maine.  The kids won the trip because of their read-a-thon and it seems a disappointment to send them back.  Claudia whispers to Kristy that the BSC could watch them and Kristy volunteers them.  The kids would be included in the winter carnival activities the girls are in.  The BSC is moved into a co-ed dorm with the kids and they work to get the kids ready for bed before they collapse into their own beds.  They don’t fall asleep until 11.

Mary Anne

Mary Anne wakes up the next morning, feeling a lack of enthusiasm for breakfast, the weather, everything.    She wakes everyone else up and they get ready for the day.  They arrive at breakfast, where dreaded gym teacher Ms. Halliday squirrels away the kids so the BSC has some time to themselves.  MA is pretty bored; since she’s not watching the kids and not participating in the winter carnival.  She wanders her way into the library, where she finds a book about a ghost of Liecester lodge.  She asks the cook if there’s a ghost at the lodge and he gives her a ho-hum answer.  She asks a few more people, who also give her inconclusive answers, so she goes to write a letter to Logan.  She imagines him on a beach in Aruba with a gorgeous girl who’s good in gym and eventually decides not to mail his letter.

Jessi

Jessi wakes up, excited and happy at the prospect of spending the day doing fun winter carnival things.  Kristy asks who is going skiing and Jessi almost jumps at the chance to ski, but suddenly the thought of never dancing again due to a broken leg.  For that matter, she can’t skate or even have a snowball fight.    She volunteers to stay with one of the kids, Pinky, who has a sprained ankle and can’t go out to play.  She tries to get to know Pinky (Priscilla), but Pinky is pretty closed off and a little rude.  Jessi brings out Memory and they play until Pinky accuses her of cheating.  Jessi gets frustrated, grabs a book and throws it at her and then stays on the other side of the room until the others get back.

Stacey

Stacey heads out to go skiing, but decides to stick to the beginner trails because a)she’s not that good and b) she volunteers to help with the younger kids.  They just get started getting dressed when there is a troupe of kids who need to use the bathroom.  However long later it takes them to get ready they finally make it onto the slopes.  Stacey goes off on her own on the beginner trail and makes it down ok.  The second time down there’s someone right behind her and she turns to yell at them, thinking it’s Alan Gray.  They crash…but the guy’s gorgeous so it’s all good.  He’s Pierre, fully French.  Ooo lala.  She spends as much time as she can with him and decides all past crushes are nothing compared to this one.

Mallory

So Mallory is spazzing out because there is going to be a dance at the lodge.  She hates dances because she’s afraid of dancing with boys.  She muses on how to get out of going.  Kristy stands and announces the ice skating contest at 10:30 and the sculpture contest is at 2:30p.  Jessi remembers that she needs to announce auditions for the talent show.  Once everyone is off on their activities, Mallory decides to play Harriet the Spy.  C’mon Ann, can’t you think of something new and interesting for her to do?  It’s the second super special that you’ve had her doing this dopy game.  The rest of her chapter is random notes from the chef wielding a knife and “poisoning” the soup to spying on Stacey kissing Pierre.

Dawn

After breakfast Dawn heads out to practice ice skating before the competition.  Things kick off with a speed skating challenge.  Halfway through her turn, Dawn hits a bump and falls; her team wins anyway.  During the relay, she drops the baton and falls on her face.  Her teammates are not amused, especially when they go through a tie-breaker and their team loses.  She decides she better go practice for the snowball fight.  This time Alan Gray hits her in the face with a snowball and he smashes one down her back.  Dawn leaves the fight and decides to go skiing, where more people make fun of her.  She falls trying to get on the chairlift and storms back to the lodge, where she expects MA to commiserate with her.  MA is too busy trying to figure out how far away Aruba is. She’s really empathetic, that one.  Dawn explodes at MA; MA explodes at Dawn and they fire each other as bunkies.

Mary Anne

MA starts her day by interviewing staff and asking them about the lodge’s “ghost”.  No one wants to talk; they clam up when she asks that question.  She decides to talk to Mr. George himself about it; he scoffs at the idea of there being a ghost at the lodge.  MA returns to the commons and day dreams about Logan, thinking about him.  She has her tiff with Dawn and storms off to sit in a corner.  She tries to work, but someone sits next to her.  Lo and behold it’s Ms.Halliday, dreaded gym coach.  Turns out Ms. Halliday is missing her fiancé, so MA commiserates about missing Logan.  Yep, that's right, obsessing over your teenaged boyfriend IS the same thing as missing your fiance. MA tells Ms. Halliday that she thinks she doesn’t like her because she’s bad at gym; Ms. Halliday tells MA that she wanted MA to work her hardest and do her best.  MA feels better.

Kristy

Kristy is busy running the winter war.  After the ice skating debacle, she rounds up some of the younger kids for a snowman building contest and drags Claudia over to help her judge.  Claudia takes a picture of each of the winning snowman and posts them in the common room.  After lunch, the snow sculpture competition starts and Claudia is once again the judge.  Of course, she chooses someone from the red team, which means that the blue team has to win every other even to win the winter war.  Kristy needles Claudia about her skiing, but deep down Kristy knows Claudia’s better. 

Claudia

Claudia knows Kristy is mad, so she heads to take a skiing lesson for advanced skiers.  Her instructor’s name is Guy and he is dreamy.  Claudia crushes on him as she works on her skiing.  He calls her a champion and she swoons.  She heads back to the lodge and gushes to all of her friends about her “older man”.

Jessi

Jessi decides to do the snow sculptures and she and Mal make a really nice pair of ballet slippers.  They are pretty bummed when a different team wins, but they move on to prepare for the talent show.  Jessi’s worried that no one will want to participate, but they have more than enough kids.  The auditions begin!  They have some talented kids and some not so talented kids.  They also include the younger kids, which makes Jessi really excited.  Her creative juices are flowing.  Hooooray!!!  Aaaaaaaaaaaand then we find that MA hasn’t written a skit for them.  Jessi gets a little po’d at her, but suggests an idea of them putting on a play about their school in Maine.  Everyone loves the idea…except Pinky.  Jessi calls her prejudiced; Mal doesn’t think so.

Dawn

Everyone wakes up the next morning in a bad mood, except for Mal and Jessi…and Stacey, spacey Stacey.  Claudia pulls MA and Dawn into the bathroom and lectures them about behaving in front of the younger kids.  Kristy and Jessi make more announcements and Dawn feels like a dud.  She doesn’t feel like participating and she’s not planning on the talent show.  She escapes after breakfast, hoping to find a book, but ends up running into Dori Wallingford (a forgotten friend from 7^th grade) who offers a game of Monopoly.  Dawn loses really fast and, to hide her tears, she heads to the bathroom.  She discovers Pinky there, bawling her eyes out.  Turns out Pinky is homesick, which is making her behavior less than optimal.  Dawn gives her a hug and takes her in search of cavity inducing, refined sugar saturated, sure to kill you instantly hot chocolate.

Mary Anne

Dawn approaches MA and they make up at lunchtime and become bunkies again.  After lunch, MA is alone while the snowball fight is taking place.  She tries writing numerous letters to Logan, but she either sounds desperate for marriage or like a stranger at the bus stop.  She ends up writing a skit for the kids’ show, which is a leeetle too mature for the kids.  It involves chauvinistic boyfriends and a feminist lead.  Yeah, maybe a bit much.  She goes back to Logan letter-writing, but is interrupted by a long distance phone call.  Turns out it’s Logan.  They love each other.  They phone smooch.  The bloody end.

Mallory

Mal’s journal writing isn’t going too well.  Stacey catches her spying on her make-out session with Pierre and her random assertions are wrong, except about Pinky.  She can tell she’s homesick.  How????  Another big storm blows in Thursday night.  They have hot chocolate and talent night, including spooky story telling.  Mal warns against it and Jessi pooh-poohs her.  Of course, this does not end well.  I’m amazed the teachers went along with it.  ANYONE who has an iota of experience with children knows you don’t tell scary stories when a)you’re in the middle of a storm b)it’s dark and almost bedtime and c) THEY’RE AWAY FROM HOME WITHOUT THEIR PARENTS!!!  The storm will pass; they will be able to go home.  This news, apparently, is enough to calm everyone down to the point that the scary stories continue.   Brilliant!

Jessi

After scary stories, the talent portion of the evening begins.  Everything goes well and at the end, Pinky apologizes to Jessi for being so mean because she was homesick.  Jessi is stunned.  There ARE people in the world who are mean for other reasons other than racism.

Claudia

Claudia is prepping for the big skiing competition by having a private ski lesson with Guy.  ~swoon.  Kristy gloats that they’re going to win the war and Claudia doesn’t really care.  She’s in LUV!  Still, she has an amazing run, but the blue team won the beginners and intermediates runs, thus winning the event.  Claudia’s too busy crushing on her older LUV, Guy.  Turns out he’s married with a kid.  Talk about crushing disappointment!

Kristy

Kristy gloats about Claudia’s crushing disappointment, but only for a little bit.  ‘Cuz you know, that’s kind of mean.  Kristy then goes to recruit cross-country skiers for her team.  She brow-beats a couple of kids into competing, one of whom BREAKS HIS ANKLE!  Yeah, probably not ever going to listen to Kristy Thomas again.  They end up losing the winter war.  Aaaaaaaaaaaand Kristy is more concerned about that than Jay, the kid with the broken ankle.  It finally hits her and she goes back to the dorm to have a good cry with MA.  She admits she pushes people around and MA says Kristy’s not as bad as she used to be.  Kristy is consoled by this; I don’t find it all that consoling.

Mallory

Mallory is hoping that ANYTHING will cancel the dance.  Jessi tells her to calm down, she’s never been to a dance and she’s looking forward to it.  Mal doesn’t know how to dance, so Jessi shows her some basic steps.  While they’re dancing, the little kids start imitating them and are pretty good.  Mal suggests they bring them along to the dance.  It’s okayed and the kids get all dressed up and ready to go.  Mal volunteers to watch them at the dance, but they hop right out onto the dance floor, leaving her alone by the punch bowl.  A boy named Justin asks her to dance and they spend the rest of the time together.

Stacey

Stacey wonders if this is what it’s like to be in love and her heart is breaking at the thought of saying goodbye.  They spend the night together, watching Mal have her first dance and seeing Kristy dancing with Jay, in spite of his broken ankle.  They decide not to say goodbye, but rather they write down their addresses and promise to write.

Mary Anne

They leave the lidge and make it home safely; Ann makes a fat joke about a girl named Ethel, who eats three Snickers bars while the boys are singing a fat song about her.  Niiiiiiiice, Ann.  MA says that the most important thing that happens is that she and Logan are reunited.  Barf~

The Rankings of Cover Outfits for the BSC

Check out the link and see if you agree!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-definitive-ranking-of-baby-sitters-club-cover-outfits

"These outfits are ranked definitively from worst to best.

-All 131 original Baby-Sitters Club series books are included.
-When more than one person appears, the cover is ranked based on the most noticeable/important outfit, as determined with a special secret science.

- Since Claudia Kishi is obviously a style icon, the bar is set higher for her and she has to work harder to compete with the other girls (at least when they actually put effort into their looks) to prevent her from just completely dominating the top 25. This is also known as the Dancing With the Stars rule."

#32 Kristy and the Secret of Susan

Her-be-der-be-der.  Kristy knows everything and tries to fix the world.  Dude, there are so many things so wrong with this book besides the blatant use of the word “retard”.

Kristy’s babysitting EM and DM to start and we hear how EM can’t speak much.  Bonnie referenced this in her last post: at first she was doing so well and now she’s not?  Regressing?  I don’t know.  Nannie comes home and Kristy goes to the meeting (because we’re idiots, we don’t actually know she’s Kristy until page 4, and then the paragraph itself is confusing).  Charlie gives her a ride in his car with the little yellow sign he made that says, “babysitter on board”.  Yeah, if you don’t want to be seen in a pink car with a tail hanging out the trunk, I don’t think you’re going to drive a car with a dorky, homemade sign in the window.  I digress.

When she arrives Dawn and Claudia are spying out the window on their new neighbors.  They’re “Aussies” (real politically correct, Ann) and have a few kids.  Blar-dee-blar, here’s the BSC.  It’s amazing and Kristy’s the amazing founder.  18 pages it takes to explain it all. 18 very looooooooooong pages.

During the meeting, they get a call from Mrs. Felder.  She has a daughter who is autistic and is home for a month from her school.  Mrs. Felder needs someone a few days a week for a couple of hours to stay with Susan.  Kristy is the only one who is able to do it so she takes the job.  Common Sense Moment: What I don’t understand is why Charlie needs to pick Kristy up from school and drive her to her job if it’s in her old neighborhood.  She used to walk home from school every day.  She calls Mrs. Felder back and ecstatically says she’ll take the job.  Mrs. Felder is hesitant and says Kristy should meet Susan first.

The next chapter starts with what autism is and I realize that this book was written 22 years ago.  So the definition that she has is childhood schizophrenia, withdrawn and acting out.  She looks up schizophrenia and it is defined as withdrawing from reality.  Well, no wonder miss Kristy thinks that she can fix Susan.

She arrives to meet Susan.  Susan is low functioning on the autism spectrum.  Mrs. Felding sits down with Kristy and explains autism to her and the understanding is a little bit better.  She explains all the special things Susan can do: sing and play piano by ear, knows the days of the week that correspond to dates in history.  Kristy is impressed but is angry with Mrs. Felder because she sends her child away like an outcast.  Mommy Moment:  I have friends with special needs children and there is nothing worse than somebody telling them what they’re doing with their child is wrong.  They’ve already had to deal with the fact that mommyhood isn’t what they’ve dreamed and imagined it to be; somebody telling them the heartbreaking decisions they’ve had to make are wrong is horrific.  Anyway, Kristy decides that she’s going to show the Felders that Susan can live a normal life at home and doesn’t need to go away to a special school like an outcast.  Sigh.  Mrs. Felder sets up the time and tells Kristy not to worry that Susan will be upset; she doesn’t have an emotional connection to her mother so it doesn’t bother her when Mrs. Felder leaves.  Mommy Moment: Poor woman.  To have to say that to a sitter, much less a kid who is thinking, “We’ll see about that.”    Kristy isn’t my favorite at the best of times but I really hate her in this book.  The end of chapter she says she has to fight for Susan.  Fight for what?  Her right to stay in a place where she has no chance to learn or thrive.  Did you not hear anything her mother said to you?

Mal and Jessi sit for the Pikes.  They decide to visit the new Australian family, the Hobarts, and offer them some nice neighbors and fun play time.  Mal starts crushing on Ben, who is 11 like her.  The other kids play together until some rude neighbor kids come by and start making snide remarks.

At the next BSC meeting, Kristy starts talking about Susan and more about what she’s like.  Kristy is sure that if Susan rode the bus to school every day and met kids in her neighborhood that she’d open up and be like the rest of the kids.  Kristy decides she’ll bring Susan over to meet the Hobarts.  She’s sure that if Susan has friends by the end of the month her parents won’t send her away.  Yes, Kristy.  You, a humble thirteen-year-old girl, will cure the disorder that has mystified the medical field and educational field alike.

Kristy’s next sitting job falls on a day when Susan is being difficult and stubborn for her mother.  Her mom pretty much tells Kristy to leave Susan playing the piano unless Susan tires of playing.  As soon as Mrs. Felder’s gone, Kristy forces Susan to stop playing and drags her over to the Hobarts.  She tries to get Susan to participate with tag, but Susan sits under a tree flapping her hands and clicking her tongue.  The neighborhood bullies stop by to tease the Hobarts and end up teasing Susan (who doesn’t care).  James Hobart, who is about Susan’s age, comes to her defense.  Kristy is excited; Susan has a friend!  Then she shows off how smart Susan is by telling them to give her a date.  Susan correctly identifies the day of the week every time and all the kids look at her like she’s a monkey in the zoo.  Kristy, however, is super proud of Susan.

Stacey sits for the Thomas/Brewer kids and they play Let’s All Come In.  Kristy arrives home and is pissed that Mrs. Felder hasn’t changed her mind about sending Susan away to school because Susan has a friend.  Mommy Moment: Yes, my teenaged babysitter telling me my child has a friend is going to change my mind that is backed by 8 years of parenting experience.  Kristy, I want your drugs; they make reality disappear. 

Kristy sits for Susan again and decides to let her continue playing piano.  As she watches Susan, Kristy notices how relaxed and content Susan looks while she’s playing and singing.  (Then leave her be, Kristy!!!!).  Suddenly the neighborhood bully arrives with song requests and dates they want Susan to match with days of the week.  Kristy brags about how special Susan is and tells him the days of the week she sits for Susan.  By the end of the day, she thinks Susan has another friend!  James Hobart stops by and Kristy coaxes Susan out for a walk. James is lonely for a real friend.  Kristy senses something’s wrong, but she’s not sure what. 

Kristy’s next day at school includes an assembly, where she sees the group of special ed students.  They’re being made fun of by other idiot kids, but she’s obsessed by the idea that Susan could be in a special education classroom in a regular school with friends and other people.  Common Sense Moment: Granted, we know more now about Autism Spectrum Disorders now than we did then, but each kid is different.  If Kristy’s so great with kids, why can’t she figure this out instead of trying to force Susan into a specific mold??

Kristy sits for Susan again and Mrs. Felder looks happy to escape.  Susan hasn’t slept in three nights and has been up screaming and crying all night long.  Kristy is about to drag Susan out to see the Hobarts when the doorbell rings.  She starts talking reeeeally slooooowly to try to help Susan “pick up some vocabulary.”  Riiiight, because her parents haven’t tried that before.  Oh, look!  It’s another bully (Zach) from the other day with a list of dates for Susan!  He must want to be her friend!  Uh-oh, has to run.  Lots of homework!  Another doorbell ring.  Oh, look!  It’s some random girl with another list for dates for Susan!  She must want to be her friend.  Uh-oh, has to run.  Hears her mother calling!  Another doorbell ring.  Oh, look!  It’s another random girl with a record to play for Susan!  Let’s play it and see if Susan can play it on the piano!  She even plays the skips!  What a retard!  Wait, a minute, what?  It takes that long for Kristy to realize that all these people aren’t here to be friends with Susan, but to see her tricks.  The tricks you threw out in front of them, like she’s a performing monkey.  Turns out the kids who came to see them the other day is charging a dollar to the kids of the neighborhood to see Susan.  Kristy chases him off and drags Susan over to the Hobarts.

Claudia is sitting for the Hobarts.  James confronts bully Zach and they end up getting ready to skateboard when Kristy arrives.  She tries to foist Susan onto James, but he’s busy playing.  Kristy puts her under a tree and vents to Claudia.  Claudia’s words of wisdom?  Maybe Susan does not “fit in” with “regular kids”.  Have you noticed that nobody else seems to be super excited about your idea Kristy??

Aaaaaaaaaand we’re back at Felder’s, helping Mrs. Felder pack.  Kristy is depressed because she failed in her mission to keep Susan home “where she belongs.”  But she doesn’t mention this to Mrs. Felder.  Common Sense Moment: The one thing she does right – keeping her mouth shut!  Can you imagine how the Felders would feel if they found out how Kristy paraded their child around the neighborhood on your little crusade?  Mrs. Felder tells her about Susan, how she was so bright and advanced before the autism set in around 2.  Susan quits playing piano and is moving around restlessly, so Kristy takes her out for a walk.  She runs into James and Zach; Zach starts to make a snide comment about Susan but James stops him.  Then Susan wets her pants.  Kristy is ashamed for Susan, because Susan “didn’t know enough to be ashamed for herself.”  She also feels ashamed for herself, but she doesn’t know why.  Maybe because you took up a cause that wasn’t one?  Because you tried to make decisions about someone else’s child?  Because you can’t fix everything?  Because you, her sitter, forgot to take her to the bathroom before you left the house? I don’t know.

The day arrives for Susan to leave and Kristy stops by to say goodbye.  She meets Mr. Felder, a large effusive man with a beard and curly hair, and they begin to talk.  She feels so open with him that she tells him about her crusade to keep Susan home.  What do you know, they looked into that.  But Susan was too low functioning for the local special ed classes, so they had to look elsewhere, which meant sending her away.  They’re really excited about this new school, which specializes in music, the only way they’ve been able to reach and connect to Susan.  Mommy Moment:  Well, looky there, they did do their job as parents and are making the best choice for their child.  Mr. Felder continues on, saying they’re having another baby, a little girl they’re going to name Hope.  Kristy instantly calls her Hopie, saying that’s what she’ll call her when she sits for her.  Mommy Moment: HA!  If they knew all the things that went on when they were gone, you can bet you’ll never sit for them again!  You know, they’re never mentioned again in the series either….

Mrs. Felder comes in and asks Kristy if she thinks she’s showing.  Kristy says yes, even though a person has to gain or lose 100 pounds for her to notice.  They load Susan’s trunk and then Susan into the car.  James Hobart shows up to say goodbye; Susan doesn’t really respond.  As the car drives away, James says he wishes Susan could say goodbye and Kristy says maybe someday she will; who knows what she’ll learn at her new school.

Kristy heads to Claudia’s a little early and they talk about Susan.  Kristy says she realizes that Susan needs more help than she can get from her family and the teachers in Stoneybrook.  Wow, that one little conversation with Mr. Felder really changed her mind, huh?  The others arrive and they talk about how the Hobarts are starting to fit in with their peers.  Stacey arrives and looks terrible so she crashes on the bed (foreshadowing…book #42?).  Krsity announces the Felder’s big news, Mal announces she has a date with Ben Hobart and shrieking ensues.  Kristy decides someday she might become a teacher and work with kids like Susan.  God help us all.

#26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye

Poor Claudia.  She gets the saddest books in this series.  She’s got Mimi having a stroke, her aunt having a miscarriage, racism, child abuse and this one.  The death of Mimi.  I drew the death of Mimi.

It’s really not a snarkable book; I’ll just hit some of the highlights and the mommy moments.  There aren’t really any AWESOME CLAUDIA OUTFITS in this book. L

Claudia starts by telling us how Mimi isn’t doing too well any more.  She’s forgetful and struggles with her words even more so than usual.  She’s also taken to wandering around in somewhat of a daze, confused about where she is and what she’s doing.  Claudia and Janine are spending more time helping, especially with dinner.

Mallory has a run in with Mimi, where Mimi yells at her, but then gives her a porcelain bird.  That very evening, Mimi faints out of her chair at dinner and an ambulance is called.  She spends the next few days in the hospital.  Claudia volunteers her time, but then is resentful.  It seems to me this has happened before, after Mimi had her stroke.  The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with her and run many tests, but the only thing that seems to work is a blood transfusion.

Mimi comes home and Claudia is even more resentful and ends up throwing magazines at her bed because she’s late for her BSC meeting.  She’s extremely sorry, of course, and can’t apologize enough.  Mimi’s also starting to give more things away.

Claudia has her art lesson in the basement (subplot) and Mimi comes downstairs to investigate.  She ends up fainting again and MA shunts the kids outside while Janine calls the ambulance.  This time Mimi is in severe pain, arching her back and screaming.  Unfortunately, the nurses didn’t put her gown on well and it ends up around her waist.  Finally the pain subsides and Claudia readjusts Mimi.  But the doctors still don’t know what’s wrong with her.  Since they can’t figure it out, they decide to send her home since she’s stable.  She talks to Claudia on the phone the night before she’s to come home, but signs off saying she doesn’t want to “confuse the muses.”

The next morning Claudia wakes up at 4:54am and hears her parents up and moving around.  Mimi has died.  The next few days are a blur for Claudia.  The BSC is there for support and even Stacey come up from NYC for the funeral.  But Claud’s in a daze and her grades start to slip.  She can’t stand to look at her painting of Mimi and moves it to the attic.

Things finally come to a head when she spots Janine in Mimi’s room going through her things.  She explodes and ends up saying she hates Mimi.  Her parents happen to hear her and they have a talk.  Claudia’s angry that Mimi died, that the doctors didn’t do more, that she’s sad and lonely.  Her parents and Janine talk and Claudia feels better.  They sort through Mimi’s things and find she has labeled many items to give away.

Claudia herself makes a collage in memory of Mimi and hangs it up in Mimi’s old room, now the guest room.  She returns Mimi’s portrait to her room.

Subplot

A newer client, Mrs. Addison, calls the club asking Claudia if she’d give her daughter Corrie art lessons.  Claudia decides to ask a bunch of the neighborhood kids to join as well and MA volunteers to help.

It turns out that Corrie gets dropped off way early and picked up way late.  Her parents seem to prefer to shuttle their children from one activity to another while they live their own life.  Corrie and her brother Sean feel abandoned and Corrie latches on to Claudia.

Claudia finally confronts Mrs. Addison about how the children feel abandoned and voila!  Mr. and Mrs. Addison magically decide to be caring and attentive parents.

The other students band together after Mimi’s death and make a large collage for her in memory of Mimi.

Mommy Moments:

• Mr. and Mrs. Kishi, we’ve been through this before.  You can’t just expect Claudia to take care of her ailing grandmother without a little teensy bit of resentment.  She’s a thirteen-year-old girl.
• I get that the BSC is correct in saying it seems that the Addisons are abandoning their children.  BUT if some thirteen year old kid told me I wasn’t spending enough time with my kids, I don’t think I’d magically change my life overnight.

Continuity

• In this book, Emily Michelle is doing wonderful.  She’s picking up the language so fast , is speaking clearly and is thriving in her environment.  Yet, in the next Claudia book EM suddenly is doing terrible and is no where near where she should be. Huh.

Happy Super Bowl win, Seattle!

So....

...just how rare are naturally conceived identical triplets?  Between one-in-a-million and one-in-ten-million pregnancies.  Mrs. Pike, aren't you just so lucky???  Tess, don't you wish that was you?

#28 Welcome Back, Stacey!

I hate the flu.  ‘nough said.

The fates seem to think that I need to snark books about divorce, so of course I draw this one.  Hoorah.  Suffice it to say, it’s hard to read.  Also, the title kind of ruins the book; she doesn’t actually make her decision to move back to Stoneybrook until toward the end.  There really isn’t any suspense when the title is Welcome Back, Stacey and you see her friends (very very awkward looking friends) welcoming her home.  Seriously, Hodges.  Claudia looks like Tiger Wood’s sister and (I’m just assuming here) Mary Anne and Kristy are standing REALLY close to Claudia and waving awkwardly.

The book starts with Stacey shaking herself back to reality while she’s sitting.  She’s worrying about her parents fighting again instead of paying attention to the children.  Terrific!  We get her babysitting background and how she is the only person in her whole building who likes to sit so she gets a lot of jobs.  She’s also moved twice in the space of a year and wasn’t too thrilled about that.  Now her parents are fighting.  Her charges’ parents come home, pay her and she heads back to her place. 

As soon as she steps off the elevator, she hears her parents fighting.  They are really going at it, fighting about how much time Mr. McGill spends at the office, how much money Mrs. McGill is spending at the stores, how she wants them to move out of the city and how he’s not moving and commuting.  Stacey decides to run and visit Laine; she can’t go into the apartment, not with her parents fighting.  She runs to her apartment, crying and scares the living daylights of her friend.  Laine tries to calm her down and recommends she call Claudia. 

The entirety of chapter three is the exposition of each member of the BSC.  The. Entire. Chapter.

She calls, Claudia answers and instantly knows something’s wrong.  She has a small argument with Kristy over the use of her phone during meeting time, and is back on.  Stacey pours out her story and Claudia has no words of wisdom for her, so she passes her off to Dawn.  Stacey feels a little funny sharing family business with her, but Dawn kind of weedles out of her what has been happening.  Stacey changes the subject and asks about Jeff.  Then she talks to Mary Anne, Kristy, Jessi and Mal before she has to head home.  Laine assures her that her parents are probably making up and having a romantic dinner.

Stacey arrives home and her parents are quiet, not talking, but then they ask to talk to her.  Bad sign.  They pretty much just say, “We’re getting a divorce.”  Not that it’s a total surprise.  They cite irreconcilable differences and say that they really don’t love each other any more and that their marriage counselor advised and amicable divorce.  Mommy Moment:  It’s really hard to snark this book.  As a parent and a second wife, I have some very firm beliefs about divorce.  Marriage takes work and it’s terrible when there are issues that make it necessary.  But I think in this throw away society people don’t work at it and throw it away.  You have to be willing to make changes to your own life, to give something up.  If you can’t think of why you’d want to do it, look at your kids.  I have three reasons to make changes to myself for the good of my family.  Ok, off soapbox.

Stacey locks herself in her room for the night, in spite of her parents’ continual attempts to come in.  She gets up, gets dressed (short red pants with purple suspenders 0ver a bright yellow and black sweatshirt, purple push down socks  and a pair of red high tops) and ignores her parents.  She dawdles to school but doesn’t get into trouble.  She surmises she’ll get special treatment for awhile and decides to take advantage of it.  She wanders around downtown and finally arrives home around 6.  She tries to avoid her parents, but there’s a note taped to her door telling her to go back to the living room to talk to her parents.  Mommy Moment: Whoo-hoo!  They tell her the arrangements of the divorce, including the fact that she’s going to be in charge of choosing who the live with.  Mommy Moment: Boo.  Don’t make her choose between the two of you!!  Her dad is staying in the city, but her mom is thinking about moving back to Stoneybrook.  Mommy Moment:  Now we know she’s really trying to get Stacey to live with her.  Stacey tells them she can’t decide until she knows where they’re going to live. 

After dinner she retreats to her room and calls her friends, starting with Laine.  Laine begs her to stay in the city.  She calls Claudia next, who, of course, begs her to come back to Stoneybrook.  Then she calls Dawn for advice, who advises her on what’s going to happen.

Stacey has a sitting job for the Walkers (Grace and Henry) and once they’re asleep, she starts to ponder where she’s going to live  While she’s thinking she realizes Dad will be hurt if she lives with Mom and vice versa.  Mommy Moment: Again, boo.  Don’t make her choose between the two of you!!!  As she’s thinking about that she decides it would be better if she didn’t have to make the decision if her parents were back together.

So she tries a bunch of ideas to get them back together, but they see through it and she ends up in trouble by the end.  Good try, Stace.

Her mom heads to Stoneybrook to look for houses and Stacey comes along.  Her mom recommends that she call Claudia to come along.  They all go house hunting, see a few houses, but none of them really grab them.  There’s a house at the end that they like, that’s a little out of the price range but right behind the Pikes.  They don’t make any commitments.

Stacey stays and spends the night in Stoneybrook having a sleepover with the BSC. She has fun, but misses New York and feels a little guilty about it.

A few days later her dad comes home announcing that he’s found a place.  Her mom is slightly stunned (I think perhaps it her officially that her marriage really is over) and Stacey cries that she didn’t think that they would really get a divorce.  Sigh…poor kid.

A few days later her Mom calls the real estate agent in Stoneybrook and tells them to put the house back on the market because she doesn’t know if she needs a place that big.  Stacey makes out her own pros and cons list and decides to move to Stoneybrook.  And she’s right; her dad is hurt. 

They pack and argue and get on with life.  Poor kid.  She says goodbye to all her friends and the kids she sits for, has one last NYC breakfast, courtesy of Laine (it’s not like she’s never coming back) and gets on the road with her mom back to Stoneybrook.

Of course, everyone’s there with a banner and to give hugs, but when the hubbub dies down, it’s just Claudia and Stacey together.  Stacey admits she’s not 100% happy to be back and she’s not sure she made the right decision.  Claudia very sensibly points out that Stacey didn’t be asked to be put in this position; her parents did that.  She did the best she could.  Go Claudia!

One week later, Stacey and her mom finally get the house unpacked, even though it looks pretty bare.  Stacey’s mom asks how school is going and things are going well. She leaves to sit for Charlotte J and then heads to a BSC meeting.  It’s pretty much the same old same old: Mal complains about being 11, Kristy turns dictatorial and they get some jobs.  As Mal and Stacey ride their bikes home, Mal asks if she’s glad to be back.  Stacey says she is, but she knows deep down inside that she’ll always miss her dad and that there will always be something missing.  Mommy Moment: and it never goes away.  Just ask my stepkids.