#79 Mary Anne Breaks the Rules

Summary

Jake Kuhn is still pretty depressed over his parents' divorce. Mary Anne thinks it might help him to have a guy around, so she invites Logan over to play with him while she's sitting at the Kuhns' house. It seems to do the trick; Jake is much happier, and Mrs. Kuhn compliments Mary Anne on the change in Jake's mood. Mary Anne tries to tell her that it's actually Logan who's helped Jake, but Mrs. Kuhn doesn't give her a chance. Logan continues to visit Jake, and Jake continues to enjoy the new friendship. Then, Mrs. Kuhn comes home early one day and finds him there. She's not happy that Mary Anne invited her boyfriend over, and Mary Anne doesn't want to tell her the truth. She thinks doing so will offend Mrs. Kuhn.

Mary Anne heads to a BSC meeting right after that, and before she can confess what happened, Mrs. Kuhn calls the BSC. She's pretty mad, and the other members of the BSC aren't exactly happy, either. As usual when a member screws up, the club is sure Mrs. Kuhn is going to tell all their clients and the BSC will go out of business. Also as always, the club seems to get far fewer calls in the days following Mary Anne's little mistake, and Mary Anne feels awful. Then, Jake and his mother show up on Mary Anne's doorstep one day. Jake had explained everything to his Mrs. Kuhn regarding Logan, and she wants to apologize to Mary Anne. They straighten everything out, and BOTH Logan and Mary Anne are invited back to the Kuhns'.

Meanwhile, there's a haunted house war going on in Stoneybrook. One group of sitting charges sets up a gross haunted house with help from Alan Gray, and one group sets up a funny one with help from Logan.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• It's been well-discussed that Mary Anne should have just asserted herself and told Mrs. Kuhn the truth from the beginning, but...Mary Anne should have just asserted herself and told Mrs. Kuhn the truth from the beginning. :)
• Poor chubby Jake...couldn't Hodges at least drawn a coat on him that fit well?
• This book is classic Lerangis...lots of stupid puns and comments about vomiting.
• More discrepancy between the 11 year olds in Stoneybrook: Tiffany Kilbourne is going trick or treating as a ballerina, when Jessi and Mallory have been too old for trick or treating for awhile now.
• I went trick or treating through middle school; I was short, so I could get away with it. :)

Shannon's Story

Summary

It's been established that Shannon doesn't have the greatest home life, and this book gives us a deeper look into exactly what the problems are. Her dad is always off playing golf or at work (maybe he and Ed McGill should make friends?), and Shannon, Maria, and Tiffany are always off doing the own things. Shannon doesn't even feel like her family is one cohesive until, but a bunch of people who just happen to live in the same house. Mrs. Kilbourne is the only one who seems to have any time for anyone else, but she's taking it to the extreme. She's WAY too involved in Shannon's life, and has been bossing her around like she was still a little kid. She also goes to Maria's swim meets and spends way more time talking to the coach than any of the other parents. There's also a ton of tension between the Kilbourne parents; Mr. K. even forgets Mother's Day, and gives his wife an emergency gift that he'd had in his office at work for times when he forgets special occasions...complete with a birthday card. Lucky for Shannon, she can escape to school, school activities, and the BSC pretty much all the time.

Speaking of school, Shannon is super excited about the trip to Paris that her French class will be taking right after school ends. All of her friends are going, and they've been practicing their French nonstop (pommes frites, anyone?). Then, disaster strikes; Mrs. Kilbourne has accepted an offer to be a chaperone on the trip! Shannon is really unhappy. She was looking forward to the week away from her mom, and now that won't be happening. Shannon decides that there's no way she's going on the trip if her mother is, so what does she do? Purposely flunk her French final. That brings her average down below where it needs to be to qualify for the trip, so there won't be any Paris for Shannon. She tells her friends that she just didn't study hard enough and choked, and they seem to believe it. Her mother doesn't, though, but she doesn't seem to get that she herself is the reason Shannon flunked that test.

Mrs. Kilbourne puts Shannon in charge of the house and the younger girls during the day while she's gone. At first, handling everything is a challenge, but Shannon pretty much gets the hang of it after a few days. Then, she gets bored, and finds herself bossing her sisters around and trying to get involved in their lives in EXACTLY the way that Mrs. Kilbourne had been doing. Shannon starts to understand her mother a little better, and when she gets back from Paris, they have a talk. Mrs. Kilbourne admits that she's been feeling lost, and Shannon suggests that she get a job. Mrs. Kilbourne had been thinking the same thing. Life isn't perfect for the Kilbournes, but things run a little smoother.

Rating: 3

Thoughts and Things

• I found myself really into all the Kilbourne family drama, but totally bored by anything BSC-related. I wish there had been more Shannon books. Maybe even a separate series, a a la California Diaries?


• Who thinks that Tiffany will end up growing something a little more interesting (and a little less legal) than vegetables and flowers in her garden in a few years?


• The difference in the way that 11 year old Tiffany (sitting charge) and 11 year olds Jessi and Mal (sitters) are treated is really obvious in this book.


• This one was published out of order, I think. It's May in this one, but it was fall in the previous book and will still be fall in the next few books. It's almost like it was written around the same time that the Logan books were, but held back until this point in the series.


• I totally understand that Shannon wanted that Paris trip to be "hers," but there's no way I would have given up a trip to Europe just because my mom was going, too. Shannon could have always done what Stacey did in SS#15 and try to stick with groups that were led by other chaperones.
• I take back what I said about Ed McGill and Mr. Kilbourne being friends; they'd be too busy working to hang out!

#78 Claudia and Crazy Peaches

Summary

There's big news in the Kishi family: not only are Russ and Peaches (Claudia's favorite aunt and uncle) finally having a baby, but they're moving back to Stoneybrook! Since their new house won't be ready for month, they're invited to stay with the Kishis. Claudia is really excited about both the move and the new baby; she even asks Mary Anne to give her knitting lessons so she can make a blanket for her new cousin.

At first, Claudia loves having Peaches around. They go shopping for baby stuff together, and then decide to go to the movies on the spur of the moment. Claud is more than happy to put off doing her homework to spend time with her aunt...at least at first. Then, it starts to happen all the time. First, Peaches wants to cook a gourmet dinner for the Kishi family, and she wants Claudia's help with the grocery shopping, planning, cooking and serving. Then, Peaches needs Claud to look at baby catalogues with her, and to help her with pre-natal excersises. Claudia's worried about her grades, but she just can't say no to Peaches. The last straw comes late one Friday night, when Peaches wakes Claudia up at 11:30pm and asks her to go for a pizza. They go, but don't leave a note for the Kishis. When they get home, Claudia's mother is up and FURIOUS. The bulk of her wrath is directed at Claudia, about not only leaving in the middle of the night without leaving a note but for her slipping grades as well. Claud finally snaps; she yells that she's trying to keep up with her homework, but that every time she tries to sit down and study, Peaches needs something. Claudia runs off to her room without giving anyone a chance to reply.

Things are cordial but tense between Claudia and Peaches after Claudia's outburst, but Peaches doesn't really stop asking Claud to do stuff with her. Peaches can see that Claudia is stressed out, and calls her a "sulky teenager" and tells her to get over herself. After that, Claudia doesn't even want to finish the blanket she started, but Mary Anne encourages her to keep working on it, even though she's mad at Peaches. After all, the blanket is for the baby, and Claud isn't mad at him/her.

Claudia eventually realizes that she's not being a particularly good friend and niece to Peaches, so she comes home from a sitting job, intending to apologize. When she gets there, she finds the house empty except for a sad Janine. Mr. and Mrs. Kishi and Russ and Peaches are all at the hospital; Peaches had a miscarriage. Claudia feels awful; she's sure her outburst made Peaches so upset that she los the baby. When Peaches comes home from the hospital the next day, Claudia apologizes to her. Peaches assures her that it's not her fault, and that those things just happen sometimes, as sad as it is. Claudia shows her the blanket she'd been working on, and tells Peaches that she'll save it for the next baby.

Subplot: the BSC has just started sitting for Natalie Springer, who has friendship issues. She doesn't seem to have any her own age, and she clings to the members of the BSC instead. The club comes up with ideas to help her make friends, but when they watch Natalie interact with other kids; it's obvious why she can't make any friends on her own. Natalie is bossy and demanding, and tends to get shut out of activities because of it. The girls come up with some ways of helping Natalie overcome her bad friendship habits, and by the end of the book, she's bonded with Becca and Charlotte.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• The company that helps Peaches and Russ move into their new house is Bohren's Movers. Kristy wore a Bohren's t-shirt way back in #7. There's some continuity for you!


• I had to have pizza for dinner last night after reading this book.


• When Claudia first tells Mary Anne that she wants to make a blanket, Mary Anne tells her that a blanket is too tough and that she should try booties instead. I don't know much about knitting, but wouldn't a blanket actually be easier? After all, you have to knit booties into an actual shape; a blanket is just square. Maybe someone out there who knits can set me straight....


• When Claud tells the BSC about Peaches' pregnancy, they all decide they're going to help her by taking her for walks, playing classical music for the baby, and speaking French to it. Do they really think a pregnant woman that most of them don't even know is going to want the help of a bunch of 13-year-olds?


• Are Peaches and Russ supposed to be rich? It seemed like Peaches spent an awful lot of money in this book...

M#16 Claudia and the Clue in the Photograph

Summary

Claudia is taking summer school math again, and as a compromise, her parents are also letting her take photography. She's really into it; her dad (who was also, at one point, into photography) has even let her borrow his fancy camera. Claud is even the one who comes up with the BSC's latest "get Dawn back to Stoneybrook" project. The BSC members and some of their charges are going to put together a "Day in the Life of Stoneybrook" photo album, in imitation of the popular "A Day in the Life of America" book they've all seen (which sounds like the 24-7 series we have in real life). The day of photography turns out to be pretty fun; the kids are pretty creative, and Claudia is really inspired by some of the building facades in downtown Stoneybrook. The bank particularly intrigues her, and she shoots a ton of pictures of just that one building. That comes in handy later...

At the next BSC meeting, a special announcement comes over the radio. Apparently, some serious cash is missing from the bank, but there's no sign that a robbery took place at some point. Claudia wonders if (just maybe) she caught something in one or more of the pictures she took of the bank that weekend, but when she develops them, they don't show anything unusual. There's a woman with a baby carriage that appears in quite a few, and a man in a suit who Stacey thinks looks like a banker. He is; Claudia, Stacey, Becca, and Charlotte head down to the bank one afternoon for some detective work, and while Stacey is turning in some penny rolls, she sees the man talking with other bank employees. Later, during a BSC stakeout of the bank, Shannon finds out that this man in Mr. Zibreski, vice president of the bank. Snce the police now think that the robbery was an inside job, and that it probably happened while Claud and the kids were there, taking pictures of the bank, the BSC is suspicious. Claudia tries calling the tip line that the police have set up, but they think she's a prank caller and won't listen. So, the girls take some of their photos down to the police station. The officer at the front desk is just about to write them off when - TA DA! - Sergeant Johnson comes to their rescue. He looks over the pictures, but he agrees with the other officer; the pictures don't really show anything that could be used as evidence in court.

One day, not too long after, Claudia is working on developing some more pictures of the bank from the robbery day when someone opens the door to the darkroom. Claud can't see who it is, and when she runs out of the darkroom, no one's there. The pictures are ruined, and she's convinced that the culprit is Mr. Zibreski. She thinks he's onto them, and wants to foil their plans. Claud is also pretty disappointed by the loss of the pictures, until she remembers that Mary Anne also took some. Claudia develops those, and at first, she doesn't see anything suspicious. Then, she notices something: there's a light on in one of the offices in the bank, even though it was Sunday and the bank was closed. They go to see Sergeant Johnson again, and he admits that the police are suspicious of him, too, but don't have any proof.

When Claudia is helping the kids decide which pictures to put in Dawn's book, she notices a few pictures that she think contain another clue. They all show the same woman getting PILES of cash out of an ATM, and they think that maybe she rigged it to give her as much money as she wanted. Janine points out that this theory probably isn't likely; the largest bills found in ATMs are usually $20s, so even if all the bills the woman is pictured with WERE $20s, she'd only have $1,000, max. The BSC members are disappointed...until Claud gets another idea. She enlarges various parts of the different pictures, and asks the BSC to come over early for their meeting to check them out. Stacey notices that Mr. Zibreski, even though he has a fancy pocket watch, keeps checking the wristwatch he's wearing. Then, Jessi notices that the time on the fancy pocket watch never changes. Claudia thinks he might be hiding a key to a safe deposit box in the watch, and she's right. Sergeant Johnson is questioning Mr. Zibreski when the girls bring their new photos down to the station, and the BSC members listen as Zibreski makes a full confession. Mystery solved. Also, it was Janine who opened Claudia's darkroom door, not the criminal. She'd ruined Claud's pictures once before by doing that, and was too embarrassed to admit that she'd made the same mistake.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• The rating for this one probably would have been lower if it hadn't been for all the photography talk. I like photography, so I was interested in that aspect of it, but not in anything else.


• I'm about 80% sure that this is the first time that Sergeant Johnson has helped the girls with one of their cases, but Claud says that she'd seen him around when they'd dealt with the police before. Ten points to anyone who can find a reference to him in a past mystery!


• Speaking of Sergeant Johnson, he should have been fired about 456345 times during the series. In this book alone, he lets the girls in on the fact that the police ARE investigating Zibreski, and then lets them into the interrogation room when he confesses. What police academy did he graduate from???


• Speaking again of Sergeant Johnson, I've decided to picture him as really hot. That will make the rest of the mysteries a little more bearable. ;)


• I feel like this particular summer in BSC land has lasted forever. It kind of has, considering it's covered the last 5 books including this one.

#77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever

*This book marks the official halfway point in this little project of mine!*

Summary

The We Love Kids Club is meeting one day when they get a call from a new client, Mr. Cater. He wants to hire a sitter for his daughter for the next few weeks, until her day camp starts. The catch? Whitney is 12 years old, with Down's Syndrome, and her parents have told her that Dawn is her new friend, not a sitter. Dawn gets the job, and she's pretty curious about Whitney. She's never met anyone with Down's before, and she's not quite sure what to expect. Whitney is friendly, though, and she likes to do lots of the same things that most girls her age would. She even wants to baby-sit! Dawn takes her to visit Sunny "at work," sitting for Clover and Daffodil Austin, and Whitney is great with them. Dawn is impressed by how responsible she is, but the fact that Whitney is, in fact, different, really hits home as their walking back to the Caters'. Whitney gets scared when they come to a busy intersection, and only crosses the street comfortably when Dawn takes her arm.

One afternoon, Whitney decides she wants to go the mall. She and Dawn have a good time, and just as they're about to leave, Whitney goes into one last store and comes out with a "Best Friends" necklace, half of which is for Dawn. Dawn is really touched by the gesture, and realizes that Whitney isn't just a sitting charge anymore; she's a friend, too. On another of their afternoons together, though, things take a bad turn. Whitney decides she wants an ice cream sandwich, but her parents have told her not to snack. Dawn tells her no, but nothing's going to come between Whitney and her ice cream! Finally, Dawn lets it slip that she's the baby-sitter, and that Whitney has to do what she's told. Dawn feels awful once she realizes what she said, and Whitney feels even worse. Not only has she been working really hard to prove to her parents that she's grown up, but she honestly thought that Dawn just wanted to be her friend. The next couple of days that Dawn goes to stay with Whitney, Whitney won't even speak to her.

Dawn is sitting for Clover and Daffodil Austin on a hot day, and she goes inside to get the girls some juice. When she comes back, though, the girls are missing. Dawn checks the Austin's yard, house, and street, but there's no sign of the girls. One boy says he saw them walking with a lady, so Dawn calls the police. A huge search is organized in the neighborhood, so Dawn decides to leave the neighborhood to cover more ground. She ends up at this carnival that's been set up nearby, and to her surprise, there are Clover and Daffodil on the ferris wheel, with Whitney Cater! Whitney had come by and taken the girls out, to prove how responsible she could be. The girls thought it was okay to go with her since she's not a stranger, and she told them she was baby-sitting. Dawn gets everyone home and calls off the search. Later, she talks things out with Whitney, and all is well in that department.

Meanwhile, Dawn's dad is dating up a storm. After he gets to know the women a little, he includes Dawn and Jeff on one of the dates. They go on date after date with women who are clearly not a good fit, until they all finally realize how good they had it with Carol. She and Jack get back together and get engaged again. Back in Stoneybrook, Mrs. Barrett and Mr. DeWitt also get engaged.

Rating: 1

Thoughts and Things

• It really, really, bugged me that nearly everyone Dawn encountered when she was with Whitney was rude and awful, as if the whole world was out to get people with Down's Syndrome. That's not very realistic. Plus, just because someone stares a little too long doesn't mean they're having mean thoughts. Some people are honestly curious. In my case, I tend to notice people with Down's Syndrome because I worked with a girl that had it years and years ago, and I always wonder what happened to her...
• This book contains the best meal in the entire series, IMHO: endive salad, asparagus, three-cheese macaroni, and raspberry crisp. It's really the macaroni and the crisp that sounds good; I could care less about the endive salad and asparagus. The food that the Schafers plus Jack's date have at a picnic sounds good, too.
• One of Jack's dates calls him "Richard." :D
• Another one of Jack's dates has a daughter named Alana that goes to Dawn's school. Dawn says that this girl is the only person she knows named Alana. What about that older sufer that Stacey hung out with during SS#5?
• I really want an ice cream sandwich.

SS#11 The Baby-sitters Remember

It's still summer, and the BSC is having a sleepover at Kristy's. All of the SMS students have been told to write a "What I Did Over the Summer" essay, and all the girls (except maybe Mallory) are kind of dreading it. They all agree that the topic is boring, and start throwing out some other ideas. Jessi is the one that comes up with the "most vivid memory" suggestion, which gives all the club members a lot to think about over the next few weeks.

Kristy remembers the first time she ever baby-sat for David Michael, when she was 10. The Thomases had this housekeeper at the time who was less than reliable, and one day, neither she nor either of the boys were free to watch David Michael after school. Kristy begs to be allowed to sit, since it'll only be for a couple of hours, and Mrs. Thomas agrees. She recruits the neighbors to call and check in on the kids; Mimi even comes over. Kristy does well, and the rest is history.

Stacey's memory is from the beginning of 6th grade. She's full of big plans for the school year; she's going to get good grades, join the soccer team, and make new friends. At first, everything seems to be going well. There's a new girl at school, and she and Stacey start getting pretty friendly. Stacey even invites Allison to have lunch with their group, much to Laine's dismay (she's usually the one who approves new group members). There's one problem, though; Stacey hasn't been feeling quite right lately. She's been super hungry and thirsty, but in spite of her appetite, she's lost weight. She and her parents just chalk it up to a growth spurt, and don't think anything of it (Stacey doesn't tell them that she also feels shaky and dizzy) Then, disaster strikes (well, disaster for a 6th grader). Stacey's group of friends gets together for a slumber party one night, and because there isn't room for everyone's sleeping bags on the floor, Stacey and Laine end up sharing the bed. In the middle of the night, Stacey wets it. Laine wakes the whole house, and Stacey ends up calling her parents to take her home. The following week, the McGills take her to a shrink, who figures out that she has diabetes. Once they have a diagnosis, Stacey misses a lot of school, and her "friends" certainly won't let her forget the bed wetting. That's why Stacey doesn't mind at all when her parents tell her they'll be moving to Connecticut. Since her New York friends reacted so badly to her illness, Stacey decides to keep it a secret from her new friends. The BSC members turn out to be such good friends, though, that Stacey eventually comes clean.

When Claudia was six, her art teacher assigned her class he task of drawing a self portrait at home. Claudia draws a butterfly, using as many of her crayons as possible, but when the teacher looks at her picture, she scolds Claud for not following directions. Every other kid drew a literal picture of themselves, and Claudia is embarrassed. She cries to Mimi about it when she gets home from school, and Mimi marches her right back there and tells the teacher that Claudia was the only kid who truly understood the directions.

Jessi's memory comes from the summer after 4th grade. The Ramseys are awaiting the arrival of Squirt at this point, but Jessi has a secret; she doesn't want another baby. She doesn't want to say so, though, since her parents are looking forward to it so much. They'd had two misscarriages after Becca, and they're still keeping their fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong with this one. Mrs. Ramsey ends up going into labor early, so Jessi, Becca, Aunt Cecelia, and Mr. Ramsey have to kick things into high gear to get them ready for the new baby. When Squirt first gets home, things are just as bad as Jessi thought they'd be. The worst part is that he cries ALL THE TIME. He's got colic, and when Jessi reads that it can last three months, she's not happy. At first, she tries to ignore Squirt by tuning him out with her Walkman. One day, though, she realizes that she's the only one around who's hearing him (Mrs. Ramsey is asleep). Jessi goes and picks up her little brother and sings him to sleep. They bond.

Logan remembers meeting and falling for Mary Anne. Basically, his chapters are Logan Likes Mary Anne! from Logan's perspective.

When Mallory was 10, her favorite author was Amelia Moody. Mrs. Pike takes Mal to a book signing at Washington Mall to meet Ms. Moody, and Mallory is totally prepared. She picks a bouquet of flowers from the Pikes' yard, and has this whole speech planned out. When she's face-to-face with her favorite author, though, Mal loses it. All she can do it cry. Plus, the flowers look horrible compared to the fancy bouquets that others kids brought. Mallory is disappointed that she couldn't manage to say all the things she wanted to, but she never forgets seeing what kind of impact an author can have on a reader.

Shannon's memory happened at the beginning of 8th grade. Sally White had just transferred to SDS, and she caused quite the buzz. She's rich, knows all sorts of famous people, and just seems awesome. Over the first few weeks, Sally chooses one girl to be her particular friend, basically ignoring everyone else. When it's Shannon's turn, she's just as flattered as all the other chosen ones were. Even though she's supposed to be studying for the astronomy club's entrance examination, Shannon spends most of a day at Sally's. When Sally calls the next day and asks Shannon over again, Shannon manages to refuse. That's the end of Shannon's time as "chosen one"; by the time the next week rolls around, Sally's moved onto someone new. That kind of turns Shannon off to new girls in general, hence her early treatment of Kristy.

Dawn remembers her parent's divorce, and her subsequent move to Stoneybrook with her mom and Jeff.

When Mary Anne was 8, she was used to be being baby-sat. After all, her dad worked quite a bit, and not even in Stoneybrook are 8-year-olds allowed to stay alone. Most of the sitters are weird, so when Richard tells Mary Anne that he'll be going away for a whole weekend, leaving her with a sitter, she begs to stay at Kristy's or Claudia's. No dice, but Richard does allow her to have her friends spend that Friday night with her. Mrs. Tate (the sitter) is waiting for Mary Anne when she gets home from school, and she definitely doesn't look any different from the other old lady sitters her dad usually hires. When she won't let Mary Anne have a brownie as an after school snack, since she's having pizza for dinner, Mary Anne escapes to Kristy's to complain. Kristy is outraged on her behalf, and decides to get revenge on Mrs. Tate later at the sleepover. First, they put pepper in her salad. Rather than get mad, though, Mrs. Tate just makes another one. Then, they nail her slippers to the floor. Again, no anger from Mrs. Tate. After that, they hang a scary mask over the light in the refrigerator to try and scare her. By this time, the girls aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're playing pranks. After all, Mrs. Tate seems to be enjoying them, too. She even tells the girls about the old plastic wrap over he toilet seat gag, and gets them good the next morning when she tries to serve them a breakfast of junk stew.

Rating: 4.5

Thoughts and Things

• At the beginning of the book, Kristy says that the essay they've been assigned is two pages. By the end of the book, though, it's changed to only one page.


• I was always a bit surprised by how informal Mary Anne is with Richard in this book, considering how things were for her in #4, before he loosened up.


• The back of the book says that Dawn's memory is meeting Mary Anne. She mentions that, but as a footnote to all the divorce/moving drama.


• I know that lots of people think the Logan chapter is boring, but I like seeing #10 from his viewpoint.


• Remember when I said that SS#9 was the last one to be published that was written by Ann? I think I might have lied. This book doesn't list a ghostwriter, either. It's dedicated TO Jahnna and Malcolm, but it doesn't say that the author thanks them for their help in preparing the manuscript.


• The ad for this book that was in the back of the last one said that it was supposed to come with a pin. Did anyone actually get a pin? Mine had a necklace....
• It was nice of Mimi to defend Claudia and everything, but I highly doubt that Claud was trying to be all abstract and deep when she drew a butterfly as a self-portrait. I think she just didn't understand the directions.

M#15 Kristy and the Vampires

Summary

Derek Masters is filming a movie called Little Vampires in Stoneybrook, and naturally, the family needs a BSC member on set with him all day. Lucky Kristy, who had been expecting a boring summer, is the one who gets the job. At first, being on a movie set is exciting. There's a lot for Kristy to learn, and getting a behind the scenes glimpse of it all is pretty cool for her. She's also impressed by Derek's acting talent; he keeps upstaging Carson Fraser, the star of the project. Then, the accidents start to happen, and they all seem to involve Derek. The first couple are just due to apparent clumsiness on his part: stumbling when he gets out of his car, dropping a lamp. The third accident, though, is far more serious. Derek, who usually does his own stunts, is due to perform one where he falls through a pane of glass. The propmaster ordered special breakaway glass for the shoot, which won't harm Derek when he falls. Then, Todd Masters (Derek's little brother) accidentally kicks a rock into the glass and breaks it. That's when everyone discovers that the glass was real, and Derek would have been badly hurt if the stunt had gone ahead. The propmaster is sure he ordered breakaway glass from Rockaway and Sons (a local glass company), and has no idea how the real stuff got there. It doesn't matter; he gets fired anyway.

Kristy is pretty determined to figure out how the glass got switched. She convinces one of the movie staffers to show her where the receipts for purchases are kept, but she doesn't uncover any clues. The next day, another stunt is supposed to take place, but this time, Derek is taken out of it in favor of a stunt person. He's pretty bummed, since it involves flying on wires. It's a good thing (for him) that he didn't do the stunt, because as they're hoisting the stunt woman up on the wires that Derek WOULD have been using, they break and she falls. She's okay, just bruised and shaken up. Kristy calls an emergency BSC meeting so the club can try and figure out who might be out to get Derek. First on the list is the star, Carson Fraser. He's not happy about all the attention Derek is getting, and the girls think he (or his creepy agent) might be willing to go to great lengths to change that. Second on the suspect list is Zeke, the prop guy who was fired. He'd have obvious motive to want to sabotage the movie. Third is Sheila Mayberry, publicity person extraordinaire. She's said quite openly that ANY publicity for the movie is good poublicity, and she's been eating up all the accidents that have been happening. The BSC thinks it's possible that she's causing the mishaps in order to have more to write about.

Not long after the meeting, Kristy seizes the chance to "inspect" Carson Fraser's trailer to see if she can come up with any evidence. There's nothing much there except some postcards he's writing to a friend of his, plus some roses and note from a rather enthusiastic fan of his who had been hanging around the set all day. There's definitely nothing that would prove that Carson had anything to do with Derek's accidents. NONE of the sleuthing that the BSC has done has gotten them any closer to solving the mystery, until Kristy overhears a conversation between Sheila Mayberry, a reporter from Variety, and that fan of Carson Fraser's who's note and flowers Kristy had seen in his trailer. The girl's name, as it turns out, is Lindsay Rockaway, and she's a member of the family who supplied the glass. That's when Kristy starts to put two and two together. Lindsay is a BIG Carson fan; maybe even big enough to try and harm Derek for stealing her favorite actor's spotlight. She also would have had access to the glass that was supposed to be used for that stunt. On a whim, Kristy follows her. She's distracted for a moment and ends up losing sight of Lindsay, and when she catches up again, Lindsay is looking awfully disheveled and dirty. Kristy follows her downtown to a convenience store, where she watches Lindsay buy a soda. On the way out, something falls out of her pocket; it's a car repair manual, and the page on brake malfunctions is dog-eared and highlighted. Uh, oh...

Kristy races back to the movie set, worried that Derek might be in danger. At first, she doesn't see Derek, his driver, or the car that they'd been using. She's worried that she's too late, but then, she sees them. Kristy tells the driver what she suspects, and he gets out of the car to investigate. Sure enough, the brake line had been cut, and if they'd tried to drive anywhere, there would have been major trouble. By that time, quite a crowd had gathered around...including Lindsay Rockaway. Kristy accuses her point blank of the crime, and she confesses. She's taken into police custody, and is shipped off to a rehab facility for trouble teens.

Also, Claire Pike is terrified of vampires, so NONE of the Pike girls can go to the set to watch filming. She gets over it by dressing as a witch in order to scare the vampires right back.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• This movie set had the worst security I've ever seen. Half of Stoneybrook could just come and go whenever they pleased, to the extent that it sometimes disrupted filming. No one really questioned it when Kristy wanted to look at those receipts, and if there had been better security (not to mention people to test stunt equipment), this book wouldn't have even been necessary!
• Carson Fraser=Robert Pattinson. :)
• I kind of love that Mallory gets picked by the director for a walk-on role after what happened to her in CA. What a boost for her self-esteem!
• Look at the cover...I can't believe that Richard let Mary Anne out of the house wearing a skirt that short and tight!
• Kristy says in the beginning of the book that it's a couple of weeks after the end of school. I guess it really depends on your definition of a couple, but that's approximately when the last book was taking place, too. Stacey's definitely not on vacation in this one, though.