#1 Kristy's Great Idea

Returning to the earlier books is always interesting, since they're just so different from the later ones. The girls actually seem 12, they're voices are realistic and distinct, and their lives outside of baby-sitting seem a little more well-rounded. I actually wish they'd kind of kept to the groups of friends that they hung out with during these earlier books; some good plots could have come from that. Onto the book...

Summary
It's a hot Tueday afternoon at the beginning of seventh grade. Kristy is chomping at the bit to get home to her air-conditioned house, and when the bell finally rings, she jumps out of her seat and cheers. Her teacher asks her to stay after class, and the famous essay on decorum is born. :) I remember thinking that 100 words was brutal when I was younger; little did I know. Later that night, Kristy's mom is having trouble finding a sitter for David Michael. It's then (as Chapter 2 tells us in EVERY SINGLE BOOK) that Kristy gets the idea for the BSC. She tells Mary Anne about the club via their flashlight code, and they meet with Claudia and eventually Stacey. They put up fliers, put an ad in the paper, and then gather for their first official meeting. It's cute how excited they are; I would have been the same way at 12. The girls notice something odd about Stacey, though; she never wants to share the treats the Claudia passes around, and she's caught lying about being at home over a weekend that she claims to have been in New York. She finally confesses the truth at the end of the book; the diet isn't anorexia, as Kristy thinks, but diabetes.

Meanwhile, Kristy's mother and Watson are getting more and more serious. Kristy doesn't like Watson much, and won't have a thing to do with Karen and Andrew until she's forced to baby-sit for them in an emergency. By the time that Watson and Elizabeth (or Edie, according to this book) get engaged, Kristy's mostly okay with the idea, and has even promised to be Karen and Andrew's main baby-sitter until the wedding.


Stuff I Noticed

• First Claudia outfit: "She was wearing short, very baggy lavender plaid overalls, a white lacy blouse, a black fedora, and red high-top sneakers without socks." I totally would have worn that...
• First jobs through the BSC: Kristy sat for Pinky and Buffy, the Saint Bernards (and developed her hatred for pet-sitting), Stacey sat for David Michael (and fell in LUV with Sam Thomas), Mary Anne sat for Karen and Andrew, and Claudia sat for Jamie Newton and the Feldmans.
• Did you know that sheep are in?
• Kristy confronts Stacey about her lies, which leads to the first BSC fight (it's patched up in about 24 hours).
• "I hoped that Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, and I - the Baby Sitters Club - would stay together for a long time." Is more than 20 years long enough for you, Kristy? ;)

That's all for now...I actually have the first three books read and ready for recapping, so look for #2 soon!