#50 Dawn's Big Date

Summary

Dawn has been writing to Lewis Bruno (Logan's cousin) since the end of book #37. He's finally scheduled to come for a visit in mid-January, and Dawn is pretty nervous.
She made a New Year's resolution to "get a boyfriend," and she decides that Lewis would be the perfect test case. If Dawn can get him to like her, maybe she'll be able to find a local guy as well. Since Dawn has never been particularly popular with boys, she decides she needs a new image in order for that to change.

Mary Anne finds Dawn as she's thumbing through some fashion magazines that she borrowed from Stacey. Mary Anne is into the idea of doing a makeover, so she helps Dawn fix up her hair and makeup, and then takes a couple of pictures of the new Dawn. Next, Dawn revamps her wardrobe so it looks a little more cool. She cuts, sews tie-dyes, you name it. Finally, it's all about the attitude; she talks back to one of her teachers in class (igneous rock!!!) and even angers Queen Kristy by popping her bubble gum during a club meeting. The other BSC members aren't exactly thrilled with the new Dawn. They don't think her new look is right for her, but it's the changes in her personality that they dislike the most. Dawn figures that they're just jealous. After all, if it's okay for Claudia and Stacey to be cute and cool and have unique senses of style, why not her?

Finally, the big day arrives. Dawn and Mary Anne head to the airport with the Brunos to get Lewis, and Dawn is more nervous than ever. She's decked out in a brand-new outift from Zingy's, and even though she feels a little overdone (that should have been her first clue that this new image wasn't exactly working), Dawn is sure she's going to make a good first impression. Ummm....not exactly. When Dawn first sees Lewis, she's convinced she's in love. Lewis, however, isn't as taken with her. The car ride home is really awkward, and Mary Anne is not exactly thrilled with Dawn's sudden lack of conversational ability. She gives Dawn some ridiculous magazine article about you-directed conversation, telling Dawn to read and learn before the two of them go out with the Bruno boys the next night.

The date is a disaster, to say the least. Dawn is so worried about taking all the dating advice articles she's read to heart that she ends up looking and sounding like an idiot. Plus, she cries during the movie (Gone With the Wind), causing her massive amounts of eye makeup to run. Mary Anne doesn't make the night any easier; she keeps trying to "save" the date by pinching Dawn every time she does something that Mary Anne doesn't like, and trying to get the conversation going in more amusing directions. Dawn is pretty frustrated by her stepsister by the end of the night; not only does she blame Mary Anne for the date being a failure, but she's also frustrated with her for trying so hard to get her to change. Dawn is beginning to feel that nothing about her is okay as it is.

Dawn decides she needs to see Lewis again, without Mary Anne around. She calls him one afternoon and asks him to meet her at a nearby cafe,w hich he agrees to do (not very enthusiastically). When they get there, Dawn happens to get a look at herself in a mirror, and realizes how ridiculous she's been. She doesn't like the way she looks, she doesn't like the way she's been acting, and she's done. Dawn apologizes to Lewis for everything, and they agree to start over. Dawn runs home, showers, and puts on one of the few outfits she owns that she didn't cut to pieces, and throws together a bunch of health food. By the time Lewis arrives, she's ready. Since no boys are allowed in the house when her parents are gone, Dawn takes Lewis for a walk around the property, and shows him the barn. Once Richard gets home, Dawn takes Lewis inside and has him try the health food she made earlier. To his surprise, he likes it! They agree to get together for another date in couple of days.

Later that evening, Dawn has a talk with Mary Anne. She tells her how frustrated she's been that Mary Anne seemed so determined to change her, and Mary Anne apologizes. They hug, cry, and agree to make the date on Thursday another double. This one goes much better than the first: they go bowling (unathletic Mary Anne actually gets the highest score), have dinner at Cabbages and Kings, and then do a little window shopping. Mary Anne makes some excure for dragging Logan away so Dawn and Lewis can have some time alone, and (ta da!) Lewis kisses Dawn. This is when Dawn realizes that she doesn't want a local boyfriend; she just wants Lewis. Ah, young love!

Meanwhile, the club has been sitting for Sarah and Norman Hill. Norman is seven and considerably overweight, and his family isn't exactly doing a great job of dealing with the issue. They make him feel awful, like he's unlovable the way that he is. Once again, though, the BSC comes to the rescue by suggesting that Norman talk to his parents about how he's feeling. He decides to try losing weight by pretending he's Stacey, and will get really sick is he eats anything sweet.

Rating: 5 (this is my favorite book in the series!)

Thoughts and Things

• Oh, man...that creepy postcard Dawn sends to Lewis! If I were him, I probably would have cancelled my trip after reading it.
• As a kid, I totally tried cutting up my clothes after reading this book. Let's just say that the results were not attractive.
• I think I'm in the minority here, but I've always liked Norman Hill and this subplot. Even back in the day, when I'd sometimes skip reading all the sitting chapters, I never skipped these.
• Food alert: lots of good stuff at Mary Anne and Dawn's New Year's Eve party at the beginning of the book.
• The BSC definitely has a habit of freaking out whenever any of the members changes, or makes a new non-club friend, but I think they were justified in calling Dawn out this time. She really wasn't being herself. Still...I would think that Dawn would remember how she felt in this book when Mary Anne gets her own makeover later one, and maybe not be so awful to her.
• Lewis is supposed to be 5' 10". That seems awfully tall for a 14 year old boy (pretty sure he's 14 and not 13...).

SS #7 Snowbound

Summary

The Stoneybrook weather reports have been full of snow predictions for days. Since no snow has actually fallen, the sitters are pretty skeptical when yet another storm is predicted. To their surprise, the Big One hits.

Mary Anne and Mallory are sitting for the Pike kids. Mr. and Mrs. Pike are heading to New York for a very long day to visit friends, so they'll be on their own for almost 24 hours. When the snow hits, the Pike parents aren't able to get home. The problem? There's no food in the house. Mrs. Pike had left them enough money for school lunches, and enough food for the meals they'll need to eat while the parents are away, but when the kids end up alone over night, Mary Anne and Mal quickly realize that they could be in trouble. Luckily, Logan comes over once the snow has stopped falling with a backpack full of food.

Kristy invites Bart over to watch some movies and have dinner with her family. Once the snow starts to pile up, Elizabeth and Watson decide that Bart should just spend the night. Kristy is pretty horrified by this; she doesn't want Bart to see her in (gasp!) her pajamas with (horrors!) messy morning hair, so she sleeps with her door locked for part of the night, and sets her alarm for 5:30 the next morning. She gets up early, showers, shaves her legs for the first time, curls her hair, and puts on makeup. It takes her an hour and a half to do all this, but the effort is worth it in the end, since Bart tells her she looks beautiful.

Stacey heads out to Washington Mall to get her hair permed for the big Winter Wonderland dance that's coming up. By the time she's done, the snow has really started to fall. She and her mom start for home on the highway, but Maureen eventually decides that the side streets would be better. Before too long, their car is stuck in the snow. The heater even stops working! Then, out of nowhere, a man drives up and offers to take the Mc Gills back to his place for the night. Stacey is freaked out; she's convinced the man is going to murder them. In the end, she and her mom do go with him, and her turns out to be a legitimately nice guy. His name is Ken Schiavone, and he and his wife and baby are more then welcoming to the stranded Mc Gills. In fact, they get along so well that they almost don't want to leave the next day.

Jessi is in Stamford, rehearsing for her dance school's production of The Nutcracker when the storm hits. Before long, she and the rest of the students find out that none of their parents will be able to get to the school to pick them up, so they'll be spending the night there. Jessi is worried, though; Quint is supposed to be arriving in Stoneybrook that day to visit with the Ramseys and attend the Winter Wonderland dance. She has no idea where he is or what happened to him...until he shows up at the school in one piece. When Mr. Ramsey didn't show up to get him at the train station, he walked to the dance school.

Claudia is sitting for the Perkins girls, and ends up in a situation that's similar to the one that Mal and Mary Anne found themselves in. The Perkins parents are out visiting friends and can't get home, so Claud gets to baby-sit overnight. It's pretty uneventful, other than thinking Chewy was lost for a little while (he was in the basement).

Dawn and her mother end up spending the night at the airport. Jeff was supposed to fly in the day the storm hit, but he ended up getting rerouted through Washington D.C. He makes it to Stoneybrook safely the next day.

Rating: 4

Thoughts and Things

• If Quint (who had probably never been to Stamford before) could walk all the way from the train station to the dance studio, and Mr. Spier could walk all the way over to the Pikes to check on Mary Anne and Mallory, why couldn't Bart walk the few blocks home? Oh...wait...I know. Kristy wouldn't have had a plot in this book if he'd done that.
• Speaking of Bart, he didn't seem all that enthusiastic about going over to the Thomas-Brewer house in the first place. He seemed perfectly happy to spend the night, but Kristy kind of had to push him into the whole idea of movies and dinner.
• It seems a little odd to me that the Ramseys would be okay with their 11 year old daughter's "boyfriend" staying in their house. I can't see them being okay with Jessi even HAVING a boyfriend at her age!
• I love the Schiavones, and I wish we could have seen more of them!
• Dawn's freaking out over Jeff's flight issues got really annoying. I never noticed all the panicking before.
• Mallory says she hopes the Winter Wonderland dance isn't postponed, because she and Ben can't wait that long. Ummm....what exactly do they have planned???

M#2 Beware, Dawn!

Summary

Some of the kids at SES have decided to hold a "Sitter of the Month" contest. Of course, every single member of the BSC wants to win, even though they agree not to get too competitive (yeah, that'll last long). Even so, they all kind of kick it into high gear on their sitting jobs. Dawn is no exception, and she thinks she has a pretty good shot of being the very first sitter of the month. At least, she thinks so until Mr. X starts wreaking his havoc on everything.

Dawn's first encounter with Mr. X happens during a sitting job at the Prezziosos. First, the phone rings and nobody's there. Then, the doorbell rings, but there's no one on the other side. Dawn does find a note, though, and it's pretty threatening. She decides that she won't tell anyone about the note; she thinks it'll hurt her chances of being named "Sitter of the Month" if anyone were to find out that things weren't going smoothly for her. The same things happens the next time Dawn sits at the Rodowskys (phone calls, the note). At first, Dawn suspects Alan Gray, remembering his role in the whole Phantom Phone Caller mystery. She even calls his house, but he's out with his dad. It's definitely not Alan...

Dawn isn't the only one getting visits from Mr. X. Jessi gets a lovely bouquet of dead flowers (with a note) while she's sitting at home, and Mary Anne and Mallory get a note threating the Pikes' freaking HAMSTER while they're sitting together at Mal's. As it turns out, everyone in the club has been getting notes from Mr. X. Everyone, that is, except Kristy. Dawns gets (understandably) suspicious. Kristy is awfully competitive, and Dawn is afraid that she's doing the whole Mr. X thing to try and ruin everyone else's chances at being the first "Sitter of the Month."

The BSC decide to put their "Sitter of the Month" competitiveness aside and work together to figure out the identity of Mr. X. The trouble is, they have no clues or suspects. Things fall into place one day while Dawn is sitting for Jamie and Lucy Newton. Dawn suggests that they take a walk, but Jamie tells her that they have to stay home, since Mel Tucker will be coming by to do a secret baby-sitting check. Dawn fills the rest of the club in on what she found out, and they decide that they'll set a trap for Mr. X, whether it's Mel or not. Dawn lets everyone know that she'll be sitting for a (fictional) cousin of hers at her house one night. The rest of the BSC sneaks over, and as soon as they hear suspicious noises in the secret passage, Dawn opens the entrance. Bingo: it's Mel Tucker. He takes off running, hoping to escape through the other end of the passage, but half the BSC is waiting in the barn for him.

Kristy and Dawn walk Mel home, and he confesses to everything. He got mad at the BSC after Dawn let Mrs. Hobart know that Mel and his friend Zach were still calling the Hobart boys "Croc." Mrs. Hobart called Mel's parents, and Mel got grounded. He found out where everyone would be sitting by letting other SES kids think that it would help with the sitter of the month contest. Kristy wasn't targeted because she'd been sitting in her own neighborhood lately; it would pretty tough for Mel to sneak out of the house and get all the way over there. Kristy and Dawn have a talk with Mel's parents, and they decide to send him to a child psychologist for some help.

As for the "Sitter of the Month" contest? A 7-way tie. :)

Rating: 2

Thoughts and Things

• This book was so effing boring; I can't believe the Mysteries lasted for another 34 books after this !
• I can't believe the BSC fooled themselves into thinking they could avoid getting competitive. Haven't they read the rest of the series? ;)
• Man, the SES kids were sure little manipulators. They totally held their "Sitter of the Month" votes over the heads of the BSC members in order to get them to do stuff, and the BSC fell for it! Seriously...did Dawn really think that the Thomas/Brewer kids would vote for her over Kristy, and did Claudia think that Charlotte would pick her over Stacey?
• Mrs. Newton was apparently helping the kids out with the contest. That seems strange, since it was run by SES kids and neither of hers are old enough to go to school there.
• I wonder why we never heard about another sitter of the month contest?

#49 Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street

Summary

Claudia gets a (somewhat) long-term job sitting for Rosie Wilder. Rosie is...difficult, to say the least. She's incredibly talented, both academically and performance-wise, and she has a busy career as a child actor. She's also sort of cold and unfriendly, and manages to make Claud feel like the stupidest person in the world. Claudia doesn't even want to go back to the Wilder's a second time, but she sucks it up and goes. When Rosie needs help with her homework, though, Claudia calls in Janine to work with her.

On the few days that Claudia can't be with Rosie, other BSC members take her place. Stacey goes, and ends up having to read a soap opera scene with Rosie while she auditions for a tv show. Jessi tries to get Rosie to talk about dance (something they have in common), but Rosie has to practice for a crossword puzzle competition that she's going to be in at school. Jessi ends up calling in Janine as well, and (just like Claud, Stacey, and Jessi), Janine ends up getting frusrated with Rosie's attitude. Before Jessi leaves, Rosie makes a surprising request: she only wants Claudia to sit with her from then on, because she likes Claudia the best. That's a pretty surprising statement from a kid who doesn't seem to like much of anyone or anything.

Claudia finally realizes that Rosie acts the way she does because she's unhappy. She's doing too much (the girl is only 7), and she doesn't really like all of her activities. Claud encourages Rosie to talk to her parents, and they agree to let her pare down her list of activities to the ones she enjoys most. One of those activities is going to be art; that's why Rosie was so adamant about wanting only Claudia to sit for her. Rosie liked watching Claudia work!

Subplot: Claudia is getting ready for an art show (in her garage) of some Andy Warhol-inspired paintings of junk food.

Rating: 3

Thoughts and Things

• Is it just me, or were the BSC members too hard on Rosie? She had a bit of an attitude, but she wasn't that bad. The Delaneys were a heck of a lot worse when they first appeared in the series, but no one really dreaded sitting for them like Claud did for Rosie.
• Another Ironic Quote: "I don't want to be part of any audition," said Kristy. "I'd die." Well, she's about three Super Specials away from proving herself very, very wrong. ;)
• The junk food paintings project is probably my favorite project of Claud's from the entire series. I wonder why she didn't think of it sooner! I also wonder what her parents thought of it, seeing as they don't want her eating that stuff. They had to know that she was using real subjects.
• I had fun trying to come up with the crossword clues as Rosie was working on her puzzles. I got most of them right, too! :)
• Man...I never realized how boring most of the books in the late 40's through early 50's are! The one notiable exception would be #50, which is one of my personal favorites in the whole series. Other than that...I think I'm in for a rough few weeks. Thank goodness for the Super Specials!

#48 Jessi's Wish

Summary

Becca Ramsey is bummed out. Not only is there a distinct chance that her Kids Club (sort of an after school community service group for older SES kids) will have to shut down while one of the faculty advisors is out of town, but one of the former members of the club is in the hospital with leukemia. This scares Becca; Danielle is only a year older than her, and she's scared that something like that might happen to her, too. Jessi makes her feel a little bit better about the whole leukemia thing, but Jessi herself feels bad about the Kids Club having to disband. Then, she gets an idea: Jessi herself will take the place of the missing teacher for as long as the teacher is out of town!

Jessi brings up her desire to volunteer at the next BSC meeting. The other members love the idea, and decide to come up with their own volunteer projects for the next month or so. Even Kristy's into it, in spite of the fact that they'll have to run the BSC meetings with a skeleton crew of who ever can make it on any given day.

Jessi meets Becca at SES after the next meeting of the Kids Club. She offers her services to Mr. Katz, who agrees to give her a trial run of four meetings. The very first project Jessi helps the kids with is answering some letters written by kids in the hospital. They're mostly thank you letters for some toys that the club donated, and one happens to be from their former club member, Danielle. Danielle herself shows up several meetings later, and the kids are full of questions (once they get over being afraid of her). Jessi introduces herself to Danielle, and they chat. This when Jessi finds out about Danielle's wishes: she wants to graduate from SES, and she wants to go to Disney World. That weekend, the BSC is having a casual meeting in the Schafer barn to talk over their volunteer projects. Jessi tells the others about Danielle and her wishes, and Mary Anne tells her about Your Wish Is My Command. It's a "Make A Wish Foundation" type of group that grants wishes to sick children. Jessi gives them a call, and they encourage her to have the Roberts family submit their Disney World wish. Later on, the wish is granted; Danielle and her family are off to Orlando! They have a great time, and Danielle is full of stories when she gets back.

On Jessi's last day with the Kids Club, Danielle is absent. As it turns out, she's back in the hospital. The kids are pretty upset; Becca and Charlotte end up in tears, and Jessi has to hide her own emotions in order to comfort them. Danielle's just in the hospital for tests, since she hadn't been feeling well, but Jessi knows that there's a lot of uncertainty still. So, Jessi makes her very own wish: for a safe and healthy recovery for Danielle.

Rating: 2

Thoughts and Things

• I feel so, so bad for giving the "kid with cancer" book such a low rating, but I did so for two reasons. First, the sheer number of grammatical errors and awkward sentences, particularly during the first half of the book. Second, Ann really laid on the sentiment with a shovel. It was irritating rather than touching. That being said, I like how they handled all of the other kids' questions for and about Danielle, and I like Danielle herself.
• Quote time: "You guys are so lucky," I said to Dawn and Mary Anne. "How come you don't live in the barn?" Well, their house hasn't burned down yet, for one.....
• Why do I feel like the whole "BSC volunteers" subplot is used again, later in the series?
• I can't freaking believe that Kristy was so in favor of the BSC essentially taking a month off from sitting to volunteer, and that she was so okay with people not coming to meetings during that time if they couldn't make it. I know Kristy was a little more anal about things later in the series, but this felt out of character even for early Kristy!

#47 Mallory On Strike

Summary

Mallory is pretty excited when her creative writing teacher, Mr. Dougherty, tells her class about the school's upcoming Young Authors Day. She's planning to enter a story into the "Best Overall Fiction for the Sixth Grade" category, and has big plans to devote herself completely to the project for the four weeks prior to the big day. From day one, though, things don't exactly work out the way Mal would like them to. As soon as she walks in the door after school on the day that Young Authors Day is announced, she has to solve one family crisis after another. She can't even get to her homework, let alone start on her story, before rushing off to a BSC meeting.

The next day, Saturday, Mal gets up really early to finish her homework so she'll have the rest of the day to work on her story. Once again, her plans are foiled. Mal pays Vanessa to stay out of their bedroom so she'll have privacy, but it's her parents who keep interrupting her with requests. By the end of the day, she's no further along in her writing than she was when she first sat down at her desk after breakfast. When Mr. D. asks to see what she's written so far in class later that week, she doesn't have much to show and feels awful for disappointing her teacher. So it doesn't happen again, Mallory makes a schedule for herself from that day up until Y.A.D.

Sticking to the schedule proves to be tough. That Friday, though, she manages to write five whole pages without being interrupted...until she looks at the clock and sees that it's 5:30 on the nose. Mal resents having to stop writing in order to go to the meeting; she doesn't even apologize when Kristy scolds her for being late. She even turns down two jobs in order to have more time to write, and gets another scolding from Kristy about not being available to sit 100% of the time. After a disasterous sitting job at the Barretts (one that was scheduled before Mal knew about Y.A.D.), Mallory decides she needs to be demoted. She doesn't feel like she's qualified to be a full club member anymore , and wants to be made an associate member...or she'll quit. Kristy is a heck of a lot more understanding than she was when Mal turned down the jobs before; she suggests that Mal take a leave of absence until Y.A.D. is over, and Mal agrees. She's sad, but she knows it's the right thing to do.

That weekend, Mallory decides that enough is enough; she's not going to put up with another whole day of interruptions, requests, and family stuff. She makes herself a sandwich board, and announces to her entire family at breakfast that she's going on strike. Miraculously, the rest of the Pike crew actually leave her alone. In fact, when her parents have to leave for a little while, they call Dawn and Mary Anne to come over rather than bother Mal. Mary Anne suggests that Mallory have a talk with her parents once they get home and tell them how she's been feeling. Mal does just that, and her parents apologize for taking advantage of her. They even offer to give her a day for herself, to do whatever she wants. She chooses the next day, and decides that she wants to spend her special day at the mall with Jessi. They have fun, but Mal actually misses having her brothers and sisters around. She decides to come up with a special surprise for them, to make up for being so cranky lately.

It's finally Young Authors Day, and Mal is nervous. She sits through a talk by a famous author, a puppet performance, and the rest of the awards before finally learning that she's the big winner. For days, people come up to her at school and congratulate her on her award, making it one of the best weeks in Mal's life. She's also back in the BSC, and some things have changed at home. Her parents have decided that she can work at the desk in their bedroom if she needs private time, and that she can put a "do not disturb" sign on the doorway. Mallory and Jessi also take the Pike kids out for their surprise adventure: a day of fun that finishes up with a scavenger hunt in the park.

Rating: 3.5

Thoughts and Things

• Mal's creative writing class doesn't make sense. She mentions that there are ten people in it, but one page later, when Mr. D. asks everyone who's writing something for Y.A.D. to raise their hands, Mal says that "ten of us" did so. Then, Mr. D. writes everyone's name down. The way that Mal states how many people raised their hands, and the fact that Mr. D. had to write everyone's name down, makes me think that Ann forgot how many people were supposed to be in the class. :) Otherwise, Mr. D. could have just handed over the class list rather than writing everyone's names down. Also, the class meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. What does Mal do on the other three days? Does the class meet after school or something?
• Young Authors Day was also a little confusing. Were there "Best Overall Fiction" categories for 7th and 8th grades, too?
• I actually participated in my very own Young Authors Day when I was younger. It wasn't a contest like Mal's was; we basically got to go to a bunch of workshops, and then we broke into groups and each of us read the story we'd brought. Mine was about unicorns getting lost in a shopping mall. I'm totally, completely serious about that....
• This book makes me want to go write something in the same way that Claudia and the New Girl makes me want to go do something aritistic.
• I don't blame Mal at all for being resentful about the way her parents relied on her. Doing chores and helping out at home is fine; expecting your 11 year old to help you run the house is not.
• When she's older, I can totally see Mal writing books like Ann's earlier ones. Think Ten Kids, No Pets, Me and Katie (the Pest), etc.

M#1 Stacey and the Missing Ring

(Quick note: As of this book, I'm officially one quarter of the way through the series!)

Summary

So...Princess Stacey has decided that she wants a diamond birthstone ring. When her mom says no, Stacey actually gets mad, and doesn't seem to understand why Maureen won't shell out a bucketload of money for a piece of jewelry for her 13 year old daughter. Sheesh. She escapes to the mall with the rest of the BSC, where she sees an even more expensive birthstone ring in another jewelry store. She tells the club how much she wants a ring like that, and how her mom won't buy it for her. To Stacey's surprise, no one jumps in and agrees with her that her mom is mean not to rush out and get it for her. Sheesh again.

At the next BSC meeting, the club gets a call from some new clients, the Gardellas. Stacey ends up with the job sitting for their baby, Tara, and although she thinks Mr. and Mrs. Gardella are a bit weird for fussing more over their cat and dog than their baby, everything seems to go well during the job itself. That's why Stacey is so surprised to get a phone call from Mrs. Gardella bright and early the next day. She'd woken up to discover that her diamond ring, which she had meant to wear the evening before, was missing. She accuses Stacey of taking it, and then says that she'll be calling other BSC clients to let them know what happened. Stacey calls Kristy right away, and Kristy schedules and emergency BSC meeting for that afternoon.

When Stacey fills them in on what's happened, the rest of the club believes her innocence right away. It soon becomes apparent, though, that some of the BSC clients don't. At the next meeting, they only get one job call. The next few meetings after than aren't much better, and they even have a cancellation. The Prezziosos end up leaving a dinner party early after meeting up with the Gardellas there, costing Claud an evening of sitting money. At least they didn't come home early because they believed the Gardellas; they came home because they believe in the BSC, and were upset at what the Gardellas were saying about them.

After her sitting experience that wasn't, Claud heads over to Stacey's. Right away, though, Stacey notices that something is off with her best friend. Claudia is distant and distracted, and she seems to be awfully curious as to the contents of Stacey's jewelry box. It doesn't take Stacey long to figure out what Claud is doing; she's searching for the missing ring. I guess not everyone in the club believes that Stacey is innocent. The girls fight, and Claudia leaves.

At the next club meeting, Stacey decides to take some action. She wants to clear her name, so she decides to offer to sit for the Gardellas for free until the ring is paid off. The club doesn't think Stacey should have to repay Mrs. Gardella for a ring she didn't steal, but Stace doesn't know what else to do. She calls Mrs. Gardella, who agrees to the plan as long as she brings another sitter along with her. Kristy is the lucky winner, and their first job is set for that Friday. While they're sitting, they notice the family cat taking all of his toys out of the room, one by one, and returning without them. Stacey follows him, and discovers a couple of his hiding places. She finds toys, paper clips, and Mrs. Gardella's ring! Stacey shows Kristy, and they leave the ring where it is to show the Gardellas when they get home. Mrs. Gardella apologizes, and says she'll call the Prezziosos to clear things up as soon as she can. When Stacey asks her to call the other clients, too, Mrs. Gardella is puzzled. As it turns out, the Prezziosos were the only ones she got around to telling; the club's slow period was completely unrelated, and things are soon back to normal.

Rating: 3

Thoughts and Things

• I have never, in all the many times I've read this book, understood why Mrs. Gardella would let Stacey baby sit again if she really believed that Stacey had stolen from her.
• In a way, I can understand Stacey's frustration with wanting something her parents won't buy for her. The same thing happened to me when I was a kid. The difference between the two of us, though, was that I wanted a Cabbage Patch doll, not an expensive piece of jewelry.
• You know the Gardellas dress their pets up and have their pictures taken for the family Christmas card. I bet baby Tara isn't even in the photo!
• The BSC and all their mall trips were the reason I thought the mall was the most awesome place in the world when I was younger.
• My birthday is in April, so my birthstone is a diamond, too. I've always been a little disappointed by that; diamonds aren't as pretty as amethysts, emeralds, garnets, or other colorful stones.
• At the beginning of the book, Stacey lets us in on her deepest, darkest secret: she actually likes to clean house sometimes. I agree with her on that; the actual cleaning process isn't that fun, but finishing and seeing your room/house/apartment/car/whatever looking all nice and pretty is awfully satisfying. :)