#82 Jessi and the Troublemaker

Summary

Danielle Roberts's leukemia is in remission, and she's been feeling really good. She's got tons of energy, and her family and friends couldn't be happier. The BSC is glad, too, but they can't help but wonder if Danielle might be going a little too far. Jessi is the first one to experience the new Danielle. She's reading to Danielle's brother, Greg, when they hear a big crash in the study. They race back there, and find Danielle sprawled on the floor, wearing her mother's Rollerblades next to a knocked-over bookcase. Danielle's not hurt, so Jessi doesn't say anything to her parents when they get home. After all, the fact that Danielle is feeling good enough to skate at all is a good thing.

Mary Anne is the next one to sit for Danielle and Greg. It SHOULD have been Stacey, but she called Mary Anne at the last minute ans asked her to sub. Charlotte Johanssen and Haley Braddock come over to play, and Mary Anne catches them sledding down the basement stairs on an old crib mattress. No one gets hurt, but they DO get plenty dirty before Mary Anne finds out what they're doing and puts a stop to it. The BSC members talk about Danielle's antics at their next meeting, but they agree not to say anything for the time being. If her parents aren't worried about her behavior, they figure they shouldn't be, either.

Kristy is next up at the Roberts' house. This time, Haley, Charlotte, Becca, and Vanessa all come to play with Danielle. Things are pretty quiet at first, but quiet doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is staying out of trouble, as Kristy finds out. She's busy reading to Greg (he's sick with a cold) when she realizes that she's been hearing running water for WAY too long. Since Greg has fallen asleep, Kristy investigates. She finds the girls in one of the bathrooms...building a swimming pool. They'd sealed up the shower and just let the water run. They'd even put Easter egg dye in the water. There's a flood, of course, but Kristy and the girls get it all cleaned up before Mrs. Roberts gets home. At the next meeting, the girls agree that Danielle is going way too far with her hijinks, so Kristy gives her mother a call. Mrs. Roberts basically just brushes it off as "high spirits," so the girls leave it at that.

Jessi sits for Danielle and Greg again not long after that. Once again, it was supposed to be Stacey, but she flaked out. Charlotte, Haley, Vanessa, and Becca are over again, and Danielle announces that they're going to play a game called "Going on a Car Trip." Jessi thinks it's totally innocent...until she peeks into the garage to check on them and finds the girls and the car missing. She runs outside just in time to see the car slowly turning the corner, with Danielle at the wheel. She makes it to the driveway, but then the car rolls backward and she can't stop it. It smashes into another car across the street. Jessi races over, and although the girls are scared silly, the only one who seems to be hurt is Vanessa. A neighbor calls 911, and while another neighbor watches the other girls, Jessi and Vanessa head to the hospital. Vanessa is fine (just a little cut on the head), but Jessi is a wreck. As soon as her dad picks her up, she basically loses it.

As soon as Jessi gets home, she takes a nap. Then, she calls the Roberts house to check on Danielle, and both Roberts parents apologize for letting their daughter get so out of control. There are other, lasting effects from the accident, though. None of Danielle's friends will speak to her because she got them in so much trouble. Stacey helps them work through it when she's sitting at the Robertes (yes, she actually shows up for a job) by helping them see that they were all at fault, too. It was their choice to get in that car, even though they knew it was wrong.

Subplot: Jessi and Becca over hear Aunt Cecelia talking about a wedding with a (male) friend of hers, and they're convinced that the two of them are planning on getting married. The fact that Aunt Cecelia says nothing about it to anyone doesn't stop them from making plans. On the day of the supposed wedding, the girls dress up, ready to go watch their aunt get married. Too bad she and Mr. Major are IN a wedding, not having one of their own. Jessi is really embarrassed, because she told the whole BSC about the wedding. She doesn't want to have to admit that she was wrong, so she and Becca figure that they should just convince Aunt Cecelia and Mr. Major that they DO want to get married. They cook a romantic dinner for the two of them, but the not-so-happy couple tell the girls that they're just friends, and have no intention of ever marrying each other.

Rating: 1.5

Thoughts and Things

• Lots of foreshadowing of Stacey's defection....
• I actually liked the subplot; reading about the Ramsey family is usually pretty entertaining.
• Danielle on the cover looks an awful lot like a young Scarlett Johansson. She would have been about 11 when this book was published...I wonder if there's any chance that she was the model???
  

#81 Kristy and Mr. Mom

Summary

Watson hasn't been doing too well lately, and Kristy has noticed. He's been keeping himself awfully busy with work, and he seems to be getting tired very quickly. When Kristy sees Watson trying to shovel the snow in the driveway, she quickly takes over and sends Watson into the house to rest. He only makes it as far as the porch before he collapses; he's having chest pains. Kristy rushes into the house and yells for her mom and Nannie. She calls 911, and the operator promises to send an ambulence and tells Kristy how to keep Watson comfortable. When the ambulence arrives, Elizabeth and Nannie go to the hospital, leaving Kristy with David Michael and Emily Michelle. The kids (including Kristy) are worried. Shannon, Mary Anne, and Dawn all come over to keep them company, and to help Kristy take care of everything that needs to be done (notifying Sam and Charlie, getting stuff ready for school the next day).

Nannie comes home that night with good news: Watson did have a heart attack, but it was mild. He's been ordered to make some changes, though: better diet, more excersise, less hours at work. Watson doesn't seem to have any trouble with those orders; all he wants to do is spend time with his family, and he's become awfully emotional about doing so. In fact, Watson makes a big announcement at dinner one night. He's decided to turn over most of the day-to-day operations of his business to one of his vice presidents, and become a stay at home dad. This decision goes over pretty well with everyone...except Nannie. She starts to feel like she's not needed anymore, and surprises the family with her own announcement. She's found her own apartment and will be moving out.

Things go okay at first without Nannie there. Everyone misses her, of course, but the household runs relatively smoothly. Then, February begins. That's one of Karen and Andrew's "big house" months, and adding two other people to the mix just makes everything fall apart at the seams. The place is a mess, things aren't getting done, the kids are running wild, and Emily Michelle is sick. Plus, Watson is finding that he can't just give up on work like he had planned; it keeps creeping back into his life. When Kristy goes to visit Nannie in her new place, she confesses how bad things have gotten, and asks Nannie to move back. Nannie had wanted that all along, but didn't want to be in Watson's way. In the end, it's decided that Nannie will take over her old role in the house, and Watson will work from home three hours every day.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Marshall has created a difficult situation for the BSC. Dawn is the first one to encounter it; she goes expecting to take care of only Nina and Eleanor, but finds three other children there as well. Their mother and Mrs. Marshall are taking an exercise class together, and Mrs. Marshall had told her it would be fine to leave all the kids together. Nothing really awful happens to Dawn, but Mallory's experience is a little different. One of the kids falls down the stairs and cuts his lip, and the others are running wild. Mal has to call Jessi for backup, but when Mrs. Marshall comes home, she refuses to pay Jessi for her time. Stacey is the the next one to get a job with the Marshalls, and she brings Claudia along right from the start. When Mrs. Marshall again refuses to pay for two sitters, they both walk out. Later, they realize that Mrs. Marshall probably didn't know that the club has a rule about two sitters being needed for more than four kids, so Kristy calls and explains it to her.

Rating: 2

Thoughts and Things

• This book had an almost "early BSC" feel to it in some places, but I can't put my finger on why.
• The hot SMS gossip in this one is that Pete Black and Sabrina Bouvier went to the movies together. I have two things to say about that. First, I guess Pete must have run out of BSC members to date at this point. Second, I sincerely hope it's the 13 year old Sabrina he's dating, not the little pageant kid Sabrina.
• Why didn't the mother of the other kids offer to chip in for the sitter? Even though Mrs. Marshall was wrong to just expect the BSC to take care of all those kids for the same pay rate as taking care of just Nina and Eleanor, it was also wrong for Mrs. Phillips to just expect to leave her kids with a sitter for free. Some friend she is....

SS#12 Here Come the Bridesmaids!

Jack Schafer and Carol are getting married in CA, and Mrs. Barrett and Mr. DeWitt are getting married in Stoneybrook. Most of the BSC members are involved in one way or another...

Dawn is, of course, going to be a bridesmaid at her dad's wedding. Since Mary Anne is too (or so she thinks), Dawn ends up buying the dresses for both of them before Mary Anne comes out to CA for the wedding, but Mary Anne is not exactly pleased with things when she does get there. She hates the dress, she hates the idea of a beach wedding, and she hates the idea of being a bridesmaid and having everyone look at her for the duration of the wedding. Just as she starts getting used to the idea, though, she and Dawn BOTH get a big surprise: Dawn is going to be the maid of honor, and there aren't going to be any additional bridesmaids at all. Mary Anne is almost as upset about this as she was about having to do it in the first place. She gets all mad at Dawn for not considering HER feelings and HER wishes, but they make up in time for the wedding. Mary Anne even wears the dress that Dawn bought her.

Claudia is in CA, working off the cost of her plane ticket there. She's sort of a wedding consultant, and she's running around doing last minute errands for the wedding party. She also gets to take candid pictures at the reception.

Kristy also goes to CA for Jack and Carol's wedding, and while she's there, she helps the We Love Kids Club organize a farewell party for Dawn. They'd kind of had one planned, but of course, no one in CA can plan anything without the help of Kristy Thomas. :)

Jeff is not looking forward to having all of Carol's ugly furniture move into his house after the wedding. He's also worried about what will happen to Mrs. Bruen once Carol's living there. Then, the van full of Carol's stuff gets stolen, and Mrs. Bruen tells Jeff that Mr. Schafer wants to double her hours.

Stacey has become the Barretts' new go-to girl. Since she's gotten so close the them, Mrs. Barrett asks her to take the place of a bridesmaid who dropped out. Stacey agrees.

Shannon is one of the sitters hired to look after the Barrett-DeWitt bunch during the wedding. She spends most of it in the church nursery with little Ryan DeWitt after he starts crying because of the noise and won't stop.

Mallory is the other sitter hired for the wedding. She's so excited about the job that she forgets she agreed to take some kids caroling with Ben Hobart the same day. When she calls Ben to cancel, he gets mad. They don't speak again until Mal gets home from working the wedding. They agree to reschedule, and have a good time.

Jessi plays Santa Claus at Bellair's after their orignal Santa is cast in a movie.

Logan helps the Barretts and DeWitts move into their new house.

Suzi Barrett is scared that Santa won't be able to find them in their new house. She tosses around a few ideas before deciding to leave a trail of cookie crumbs from the old house to the new.

Rating: 3.5

Thoughts and Things

• I'm surprised that I like this book as much as I do, considering how light on plot it is.
• Jeff's chapters are, hands down, the most entertaining in the book. :)
• On the other hand, I could have done without Suzi, and Logan's one chapter was totally unnecessary.
• There's a nice contrast between the two weddings. You've got the laid-back, non-traditional, CA beach wedding, and then you've got the formal, traditional, fancy church wedding.
• I had to laugh when one of the Barrett-DeWitt kids got caught drawing a dragon in the church hymnal, and he tried to excuse his behavior by saying that it was St. George's dragon! Peter L. comes up with some good ones sometimes.
• This was back in the day when only one movie was shown to everyone on the airplane. When I flew last year, everyone got their own little screen and choice of movies (or games), and the headphones were free.
• Claudia's outfit on the cover isn't half bad, although the pants look tapered in one of the inside illustrations. Kristy's dress, on the other hand, couldn't be uglier.
• The title of this book is actually kind of misleading. There's really only one bridesmaid, and that's Stacey. Dawn thought she was one, but ended up being the maid of honor.

M# 18 Stacey and the Mystery at the Empty House

Summary

The Johanssens are off to Paris, and they've asked Stacey to look after their house (and Carrot) while they're away. It's a big responsibility, especially since Carrot likes to chew things up while no one is there, but STacey is enjoying herself. At least, she is at first. Then, the odd things start to happen. When Stacey goes to check on Carrot one afternoon, he growls at her. He's never done that before, and even though he calms down when he sees that it's someone he knows, Stacey is still a little shaken up. Then, Stacey finds a glass in the sink on two separate occasions when she's sure she didn't use one. Even though those things could be explained away fairly easily (Stacey thinks she just might have forgotten she used a glass), stuff keeps happening. The coffee pot is warm one morning, and there are some Kleenexes in a wastebasket that Stacey is sure she emptied. Carrot's leash is also hung up in a different place, and the house smells like toast at one point. Stacey tries to ignore all those little things, as creepy as they are, but she can't ignore the woman she finds in the bushes in front of the Johanssens' house. She's just a meter reader, but Stacey lets it slip that she doesn't actually own the house. Later, she sees the meter reader arguing with her husband and business partner. When she gets back after walking Carrot that same day, she notices that the newspaper is missing. That's when Stacey decides to get help from the BSC.

At the next club meeting, Stacey gives the others a rundown on what's happening. They agree that each one of those little events by themselves could be explained away, but when they're all put together, it looks pretty creepy. The girls decide not to take any action, since it doesn't seem like the house has been broken into. The next time that Stacey is at the Johanssens', though, things get even weirder. Her watch, which she'd taken off and left the previous time, isn't where she left it. Then, when she's looking for towels to dry off Carrot after a walk in the rain, she notices a hairbrush in the bathroom with red hairs in it. This discovery totally freaks her out. Not only did that meter reader have flaming red hair, but so does this escaped prisoner that's currently on the run. Stacey quickly gets Carrot back on his leash and runs to Claudia's in a panic.

Claudia manages to calm Stacey down, and they go back to the Johanssens' to take a closer look at everything. They notice something that Stacey didn't see before: there's a vase in the front hall that's been broken. Stacey figures that Carrot probably did it, so she decides to replace it. Claudia isn't so sure that Carrot is responsible, so she suggests calling an emergency meeting of the BSC. The girls decide that Stacey shouldn't be alone in the house anymore, so they work out a schedule so one of them will be with her on each of her visits. They also decide to stake out the house by having a slumber party at Jessi's that Friday (the back of the Johanssens' is visible from the Ramseys'). It starts snowing while they're there, so Claudia and Stacey decide to og and look for footprints. There are none, but there's something else: the vase that was broken is now sitting on the hall table, totally intact.

The next morning, Claudia and Stacey go over the Johanssens' together again. The message pad next to the phone is different than Stacey left it; the pages she used have been turned over, and there's a number written on the next page in handwriting that Stacey doesn't recognize. She calls the number, and it's a recording of train schedules. She gets the others together quickly and they head down to the station, sure they're going to figure out the identity of the mysterious, red-headed intruder. They DO see him down there...meeting the Johanssens as they get off their train. He's a friend of theirs from out of town who had an open invitation to use the house whenever he was in Stoneybrook. He left so early in the morning and came back so late at night that he never crossed paths with Stacey. He was also the one who broke (and later replaced) the vase.

Also, the sitters are planning a sleigh ride for their charges. They need snow to make it happen, though, and for awhile, it looks like it might not. Luckily, the white stuff arrives just in time.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• At one point, Stacey sees Carrot twitching and whining in his sleep like dogs do and kind of panics. The same thing happened to me once. I knew full well that dogs sometimes kick a little when they're "dreaming," but this dog was thrashing around like nobody's business. I seriously thought he was having a seizure.
• By the way...the escaped criminal is caught, and the meter reader and her husband make up after their fight (in case you care).
• Charlotte keeps trying to speak French at the beginning of the books, and she thinks that "thank you very much" is pronounced "mercy buckets." I am totally going to start saying that...
• So Mrs. McGill used to live in Paris and almost married a French guy? Cool.
• Claudia seems awfully excited about the museums in Paris in this book. I always wondered why she didn't really want to go on the Europe trip later in the series. Those playground jobs are NOTHING compared to London and Paris!

Stacey's Book

So...all SMS 8th graders have been given the assignment to write their autobiographies. Stacey is up first.

The Early Years

Stacey's first clear memory comes from when she was three, and her family moved from Greenwich Village to the Upper East Side. Next comes preschool, where some other kid put his muddy boots on top of Stacey's copy of Eloise in her cubby (she ends up friends with that kid later on). Mr. and Mrs. McGill take Stacey to the Palm Court in the Plaza Hotel for her 4th birthday, and everyone in the restaurant (including Luciano Pavarotti) sings "Happy Birthday" to her. After the meal, Stacey runs around the hotel pretending to be Eloise, and finally, her parents take her for a carriage ride.

When I Was Five

Stacey's now in kindergarten, and she's just getting to be good friends with Laine Cummings. She's also obsessed with Cinderella, so when her mom (a Macy's employee at that time) signs her up to ride on the Cinderella float in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Stacey is thrilled. She tells all of her little friends that she's going to be on tv. Just as her float is entering Herald Square and the presence of the tv cameras, Cinderella's crown falls off. Stacey reaches down to pick it up, and doesn't appear on tv at all. When she finds out that no one could see her, she worries that the other kids at school won't believe that she was even IN the parade. Luckily, Cinderella gave Stacey her crown after the parade, so Stace at least has that much proof.

When I Was Eight

Stacey and Laine aren't really allowed to walk around the city on their own, but there's this little store nearby where the girls are allowed to go alone when they want ice cream. They go one day, and without their parents' permission, walk a little bit further than they should to look in some other stores. They decide to get an apartment together, and the list they made of stuff they would need includes such useful items as a giant red crayon and a gumball machine. Not long after, Stacey's mom has news for her. Stacey is sure that her mom is going to tell her that she and Laine are going to be allowed to get their own place right then, but that's not it. Mrs. McGill and Mrs. Cummings have enrolled their daughters in a 6 week ballroom dancing class. Neither girl wants to go, so they ditch. They spend the first class in the cloakroom, laughing at the other kids and the goofy stuff they have to do. During the next class, though, they get a little adventurous. They head out to Madision Avenue, and get some candy at a deli. They go to Park Avenue as well, but neither of them find it all that interesting. They make it back to the dance school by the end of class. They successfully ditch two more dance classes, but things don't go so well during the one that follows. They decide to go to FAO Schwarz, but since it's so far, they take the bus. Traffic is so bad that they have to turn around and go back without even seeing the store, and they end up half an hour late. The police are there, and the girls are in major trouble. Not only that, but they're forced to see the dance class through to the end.

When I Was Ten

Stacey's family takes a vacation to Pine Island, Maine. It's really rustic there, and Stacey doesn't expect to have a good time. There's only one other girl there her age, Mara O'Connell, and they don't exactly get along at first. Then, Mara and her family help the McGills out of a jam when Mr. McGill falls and kreaks his ankle. Things are better between Stacey and Mara after that, and they end up having a good time together. They promise to write, but neither one of them ever does.

When I Was Twelve

Stacey is living back in New York again, and she's invited Claudia for a visit. Stacey goes out of the way to show Claud a good time, but Claud seems cranky and bored. Stace starts to think that her best friend doesn't really want to be her best friend anymore, but Claudia is just feeling bad because she doesn't think she belongs in Stacey's new life in New York. She's afraid Stacey doesn't need or want her anymore, since she's got so many great friends in the city. Stacey confesses that her "great friends" in the city really aren't so great, and that she's missing Stoneybrook. The girls patch things up just in time to have a nice day together before Claudia goes back home.

Rating: 3.5

Thoughts and Things

• The "When I Was Twelve" chapter should technically be titled, "When I Was Thirteen." Stacey's move back to New York happened during 8th grade, and she was definitely thirteen then.
• Someone in BSC land really likes the name Mara. First, there was Mara, the oldest of the kids living in the mall. Then there was Mara Semple, a classmate of Jessi's in Jessi's Horrible Prank, followed by the Mara in this book.
• The Portrait books aren't half bad; I'm glad I've gotten to that point in the series!
• Those pictures of Stacey in the "When I Was Twelve" chapter? Eeesh. Especially the one on page 160.
• Stacey gets an A on her autobiography, in case you were wondering. :)
  

#80 Mallory Pike, #1 Fan

Summary

Mallory's English class has been assigned a huge project. They're supposed to think about a career they're interested in, and come up with some sort of written project centered on that career. Mal knows she wants to write about being a writer, but she's having trouble coming up with a project. Since she wants to write for kids eventually, Kristy suggests she write a play and have the Kids Can Do Anything Club at SES perform it. Mallory loves the idea, and she's sure her teacher will, too. Imagine her surprise when Mr. Williams asks Mal to stay after class to talk about her project proposal. He doesn't feel that it's really career-oriented, and that Mal probably won't learn anything about being a writer just by putting on a play with the kids.

Mallory is pretty bummed when she gets home from school that day, but her mood quickly changes when she sees the mail that's waiting for her. She'd written her new favorite author, Henrietta Hayes, not long before that, and Ms. Hayes had already written back! Mallory's excitement is short-lived, though, when she reads the letter more carefully and realizes that it's just a form letter. She notices that the letter is postmarked Stamford, which gives Mal a new idea for her project: she's going to compare and contrast the life and experiences of Henrietta Hayes with her own life. Mal quickly writes another letter, explaining her project and asking for a real response. It doesn't work; she gets another form letter. Mallory writes a third time and gets yet another form letter. Does Mal give up? No; she looks up Ms. Hayes' address in the phone book and decides to pay her a visit. Mallory is pretty nervous about just walking up to her house, but she sucks it up and goes. Ms. Hayes invites her in, apologizes for the form letters, and even offers her something to drink. She even agrees to help Mal with her project, and when the interview is over, she offers to hire Mallory as her assistant for the next couple of weeks. Mal accepts.

Meanwhile, the Kids Club is pretty excited about working on Mal's play. At least, they are at first. Mallory has become convinced that every author HAS to write from their own life, so the play she writes is based heavily on the Pike family. Well, sort of: everyone but Mal ends up looking bad, and Mal writes herself as the long-suffering angel of the family. The other Pike kids are understandably NOT happy, and their friends who are acting in the play are on the verge of quitting. Mal convinces them to stay, until her mother has a chance to see the play. If Mrs. Pike thinks the play is insulting, then she'll let them quit. Mallory is confident that her play will pass the "mother test".....but it doesn't. Mrs. Pike suggests a rewrite, but not only does Mal not think the kids can learn a new play in only a week (Jessi points out that they don't know all their lines from the original one at the point), but she doesn't want to write an untrue play and make herself into a liar.

Mal's Henrietta Hayes project is going pretty well, but her teacher thinks she needs more biographical information. Mallory heads to the library, and Mrs. Kishi shows her the file she keeps on Ms. Hayes (the library has them for all local writers). Mallory is pretty surprised and dismayed by what she learns; Ms. Hayes' life doesn't at all match up with the lives of her book characters. Mal feels betrayed, as if her favorite author has been lying to her all along. The next time that Mallory is working for her, she bascially calls her a liar and tells Ms. Hayes that she's not being fair to the readers. Obviously, Ms. Hayes is mad. She suggests that Mal look up the meaning of the word "fiction," and then retreats into her study. Mal leaves Ms. Hayes a note, saying that she won't be returning to work and that she was wrong about how much she could learn from the job. What a brat! Mal eventually realizes that she was WAY too harsh on Ms. Hayes, and goes to her house to apologize. They talk things out, and Ms. Hayes helps Mal to see that good writing can be autobiographical, but it doesn't have to be.

Mal ends up rewriting her play, and the new version is much gentler than the old one. The audience, including Henrietta Hayes, seems to like it, and Mallory gets a fantastic grade on her project.

Rating: 1.5

Thoughts and Things

• The audience may have liked Mal's play, but it sound AWFUL to me. Also, where does she get off making herself look like such a saint in the first version she wrote?
• Um, Mallory? Writing three letters and then going to someone's house when you don't get the answer you want isn't determination, it's stalking.
• I'm surprised Mrs. Pike didn't stop Mallory from taking off for Henrietta Hayes' house. You think a parent would have some sense of appropriate boundaries when it comes to stuff like that, and Mrs. Pike was right there when Mal announced where she was going.
• Almost everything about this book irritated me; Mal was annoying, her stupid play was annoying, her disorganization when she worked with the elementary school kids was annoying, and the cover is annoying. Seriously; Mal looks like she's pushing 40!
• I must be losing my mind, but I could have sworn that this book was written by Nola Thacker, especially considering how many references to past books are in it. It's actually Suzanne Weyn, though.

M#17 Dawn and the Halloween Mystery

Summary

It's almost Halloween, and Dawn is out shopping with Carol. Dawn is done first, and as she's waiting in the car for Carol, she hears a commotion in a nearby store. Someone wearing a clown mask runs out, followed by a clerk from that store who yells that they've been robbed. The clown robber jumps into a nearby black Chevy Cavalier and drives away. Dawn is questioned by the police about what she saw, and about whether or not the "clown" saw her (he didn't). Dawn's pretty terrified by the experience, and bummed that the fact that robber wasn't caught. The Palo City parents have decided that it will be too dangerous for their kids to go trick or treating with a criminal on the loose, so they've instituted a curfew until he's caught.

Dawn is talking over the robbery with the other members of the We Love Kids Club, and they decide they need to catch the crook. Their first stop is the little variety store that Dawn had been shopping in before the robbery happened. It isn't the same place that was robbed, but they carry a lot of Halloween stuff, and Dawn thinks they might carry the kid of mask that the robber wore. They don't, but the salesperson points Dawn and the others towards another store that's only open during Halloween. The clerk there tells the girls that all three of those masks that they had in stock had been sold, and he describes the buyers: one was a high school guy with long, brown hair who left on a skateboard, one drove away in a van from a nearby flower shop, and one was a woman. Right away, the girls decide that the woman doesn't fit as a suspect, so they concentrate on tracking down the two male suspects. The guy at the flower shop bought the mask for his daughter, and it doesn't look like he borrowed it beforehand to rob any stores. The high school guy, turns out to be one of the nicest kids going: he does charity work, helps old ladies and pets cross the street, picks up litter, etc. The girls decide that he's probably not guilty, either, and they're left without any more leads. Actually, not quite: the car that was used in the robbery had a bumper sticker on it from a local fast food place, so the club decides to stake it out and see who comes and goes. The cashier is a blond woman who looks a bit older than most fast food workers (about 35), and the girls mention that they're looking for a boy who drives a black Chevy with a bumper sticker from the restaurant. The cashier tells them that the bumper stickers are free to all customers, so it would be hard to narrow it down based on that. The girls order sodas (no way any of them are eating hot dogs, which is what they serve there), and wait as long as they can to see if anyone suspicious comes in. The only weird thing that happens, though, is that the cashier keeps staring at them. Hmmmm.....

Dawn has been sitting for Erick and Ryan DeWitt a lot lately, and they've got a new friend. His name is Timmy Ford, and he and his dad have just moved in across the street. Timmy is nice, but really shy, and he's having some family problems. His mom isn't in the picture at the moment, and his dad is at work a lot. They're having money problems, too, and Timmy doesn't even think he'll be able to attend the We Love Kids Club Halloween party that's being held in place of trick or treating. Dawn (and the salesperson at the aforementioned variety store) help him put together a cheap costume, so Timmy can look forward to Halloween right along with his new friends. Since the robber hasn't been caught, it looks like the We Love Kids Club Halloween party will be the only celebrating they do that year. In fact, there's actually been another robbery.

On Halloween, Dawn is on her way to a sitting job when she notices the gate to the Fords' backyard sitting open. She goes to close it, and notices some footprints in the yard that match the ones left by the robber (the type of sneakers leaves a very distinct mark). She doesn't think much of it, since lots of people have that type of shoes, but when she passes by the Fords' garage, she stops in her tracks. Inside is a black Chevy Cavalier, complete with a bumper sticker from the hot dog place. Dawn puts two and two together, and figures out that Timmy's dad MUST be the robber. She hurries across the street to the DeWitts and tells Mrs. DeWitt what she suspects. They call the police, who take Timmy's dad into custody.

Since the robber has been caught, the Palo City parents decide that trick or treating can go ahead as planned. Dawn is in charge of taking Clover and Daffodil Austin, and Stephie Robertson around, and all three girls are having a blast. Dawn is a little creeped out, though; at one point, she thinks she sees someone creeping around through backyards. She figures Halloween is just getting to her, so she puts it out of her mind. Then, as they're passing the Fords' house on the way home, she's sure she sees someone back there digging. Not only that, but the mystery person is wearing an all black outfit and a clown mask. That's exactly what the robber was wearing when Dawn saw him. She rushes the kids over the to DeWitts and tells Mrs. DeWitt what's going on. The police had already determined that Timmy's dad wasn't the robber (he had a solid alibi for the time of the first robbery), so Dawn is mystified about who it could be. When the police arrive and umask the clown, it's Timmy's mother, aka the lady from the hot dog place. Guess they shouldn't have wrote off the idea of a female robber, should they?

Back in Stoneybrook, the DeWitts and Barretts are househunting. The parents find one that would be perfect for the family, except for one thing: it's in Greenvale, not Stoneybrook. The kids don't really want to leave all their friends, or their school, so they eventually agree on a house not far from SES. It's smaller than the Greenvale one (and sounds much less awesome, if you ask me), but the kids would rather have a smaller house in Stoneybrook than have to move.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• It really surprises me that Dawn, of all people, wouldn't consider that the robber could be female. I would pick her as being totally into equality.
• If I were Dawn, I would have been more scared of the clown mask than the fact that the person inside it had just robbed a store!
• "A clown is my friend. A clown will not bite me and throw me in the basement...."
• I like that this one took place at the same time as the last book, but it would have been nice if either book had referenced the other in some way.
• Dawn dresses as Pippi Longstocking for the WLKC Halloween party. She must have used a lot of wire and hairspray to get her hair to stand out to the sides like that. Plus, she must have had to walk in to rooms sideways!