Why stare at the back
Of Jessi's knee, Jacques? Does it
Look like your dinner?
Summary
The Mancusis are going on vacation for a week, and they call the BSC looking for a pet sitter. Kristy pitches a fit at first; since she had a bad experience pet sitting, she doesn't want anyone else in the club to pet sit. Whatever, Kristy. Since Jessi's ballet school is closed that week, and the Braddocks (her regular, two-day-a-week clients) are on vacation, she volunteers to be the lucky zookeeper. What a zoo it is; the Mancusis have three dogs, five cats, birds, hamsters, two guinea pigs, a snake, some fish, some turtles and some rabbits.
In spite of feeling a little overwhelmed, Jessi does pretty well. She, Mary Anne, and the Perkins girls do manage to lose Barney the snake for a little while, bit thanks to Myriah's knowledge of the habits of cold-blooded animals, they find him pretty quickly. Jessi's only concern is about one of the hamsters. He's looking extra fat, and sleeps by himself, away from the others. By the end of her week with the Mancusis, Jessi figures that something must be wrong with the little guy, so she takes him to the vet. It turns out that the hamster is a she, not a he, and she's pregnant. The hamster ends up giving birth to 10 babies. One goes to the Ramseys (Misty), one goes to the Pikes (Frodo), and one goes to Jackie Rodowsky (don't know that hamster's name because we never hear about it again).
In club news, Kristy's bossiness is out of control. First, she tries to prevent anyone in the club from taking the Mancusi job. Then, she makes this checklist that's supposed to help her keep track of who's read the club notebook and who hasn't. The other club members minus Jessi and Mallory (they don't want to be involved in club fights), call Kristy out on her bossiness. It's that combined with the fact that the other girls are all sick of some aspect of their club jobs that leads them to decide to hold new elections. In the end, though, they unanimously vote each other back into their old offices, and Kristy promises to try not to be so bossy.
Thoughts and Things
- This book seems to get a lot of hate out in Fanworld, but I like it. I'm an animal lover, and I'd rather sit for a houseful of pets than a houseful of kids!
- Kristy drove me crazy. What right did she have to put that stupid checklist up on CLAUDIA'S bulletin board, over CLAUDIA'S pictures of herself and Stacey? Thank goodness the other club members didn't let her get away with it.
- If Jessi and Mallory really didn't want to risk anyone's anger by taking sides during this club fight, they should have just said so rather than hemming and hawing. That seemed to make the other club members even MORE frustrated with them.
- Taking care of all those animals is an awfully big job for an 11 year old who has to be in school all day long, too. I guess it's not the same as it would be if Jessi was working an 8 hour job and taking care of the pets, but still. I'm surprised Jessi didn't get there one afternoon and find that Pooh Bear and torn the house apart.
- Was it really appropriate for Jessi to let so many other people into the Mancusis' house to play with the pets? I don't think the Mancusis ever said she could invite people over...
I just wanted to thank everyone who's taken the time to read and respond to this blog. It's really flattering to know that people are getting some entertainment value out of it! I'm especially excited to see that some of the authors of my favorite blogs are reading and responding. Thanks, guys! Also, if you're out there lurking, feel free to comment. The more, the merrier!
Ugh, yes! It's always bugged me that Jessi let so many people into their house. And why was this job given to an 11-year-old girl? Do they not have adult friends? And even if it was too big a job to give to a friend, is there no adult in Stoneybrook who does jobs like this?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Mancusi's had time for friends. If you consider their large menagerie (three dogs, five cats, birds, hamsters, two guinea pigs, a snake, some fish, some turtles and some rabbits) that would require a lot of time and devotion. There' no way they'd have time to socialize if it didn't include their pets.
DeleteI don't think the Mancusi's had time for friends. If you consider their large menagerie (three dogs, five cats, birds, hamsters, two guinea pigs, a snake, some fish, some turtles and some rabbits) that would require a lot of time and devotion. There' no way they'd have time to socialize if it didn't include their pets.
DeleteSeriously, the best people to pet-site/housesit are 20-somethings who recently graduated from college, but are still living with their parents. NOT an eleven year old!
ReplyDelete"She, Mary Anne, and the Perkins girls do manage to lose Barney the snake for a little while, bit thanks to Myriah's knowledge of the habits of cold-blooded animals, they find him pretty quickly." Wasn't that kind of weird that a five year old figured out that stuff about snakes being cold blooded/gravitating towards warm areas? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Mancusis may be animal lovers but Jessi only came to that house twice a day. That means the dogs are pretty much alone all day. That just seems really awful.
What bothered me was that Jessi was only able to go to the Mancusi's house to feed the animals and walk the dogs and clean their cages/litters first thing in the morning and then in the afternoon after school. Just twice a day. But, then the animals, particularly the dogs, had no human contact and were cooped up until Jessi came back the next morning. That would mean that the dogs would have to hold it in for like 15 hours (4pm-7am). It's cruel to do that to a dog, who need to be let out one last time at night before bedtime. I'm surprised there wasn't urine and poop all over the place.
DeleteI agree that the best candidate should've been a college student, who would be old enough and able to spend more time with the animals and wouldn't have a curfew so they could let the dogs out at night. A housesitter would be more ideal, since they'd be living in the house for the duration of the Mancusi's trip.
What bothered me was that Jessi was only able to go to the Mancusi's house to feed the animals and walk the dogs and clean their cages/litters first thing in the morning and then in the afternoon after school. Just twice a day. But, then the animals, particularly the dogs, had no human contact and were cooped up until Jessi came back the next morning. That would mean that the dogs would have to hold it in for like 15 hours (4pm-7am). It's cruel to do that to a dog, who need to be let out one last time at night before bedtime. I'm surprised there wasn't urine and poop all over the place.
DeleteI agree that the best candidate should've been a college student, who would be old enough and able to spend more time with the animals and wouldn't have a curfew so they could let the dogs out at night. A housesitter would be more ideal, since they'd be living in the house for the duration of the Mancusi's trip.
It is! Most dogs will either need to go to the bathroom at some point, or they'll get bored and destructive.
ReplyDeleteEmily, this blog is great! Like there are a gazillion books I haven't read in this series, so this has helped me a lot.
ReplyDeleteBoarding your pet dog is an impressive method for them to continue their own "vacation" and you can possibly be certain they will be cared for and loved while you are far from them. You can merely rest and totally enjoy your holiday vacation resting assured that your vet hospital is taking excellent care of your pets.
ReplyDeletehttp://dogvacay.com/Chicago-IL-Dog-Boarding
What are you selling?
DeleteIt's a ad for the kennel
DeleteThis was one of my favorites. I had it at my local library but saved it for last because i do NOT like animals. But i was obessed with BSC so i had to read all of them so i read it.
ReplyDelete