Claudia gets a
babysitting job for a new client who's known as a practical joker. Thanks to
the little girl, she breaks her leg and ends up in traction. Being the genius
she is, Claudia decides that babysitting is dangerous and she needs to drop out
of the club. The club declares a joke war on Betsy and humiliates her, and
Claudia decides to stay in the club.
Interesting tidbits
Kristy has a
"thing" about wearing food. I find this interesting, since Claudia
routinely has veggies on her shirts and watermelons hanging from her ears.
Chapter one in this book
= chapter two in all the later books. (Actually, we only hear about the
babysitters in chapter one; we learn about the club in chapter two.) It always
used to throw me off when I'd read the books and the descriptions would come in
chapter one, or (worse still) in chapter three. As a kid, as soon as they
started describing all the club members, I would flip to the next chapter.
Actually, I would flip to the end of that chapter and find out which kids were
going to be the subject of the sitting plot/subplot, because they almost always
lined up the first job with them at the end of chapter two. Even at age 10 I
figured out how formulaic this all was.
Do we really need to be
told that Jessi is short for Jessica? Is there anyone out there who couldn't
have guessed that?
There are Oreos in
Claudia's pant brush box. That sounds...dirty.
I've never understood
why the BSC keeps track of how much money they each earn. That sounds like it
would cause giant fights. "Mary Anne, how come you've earned so much more
than I have?" etc.
Anyone know if there's a
picture of the map of Stoneybrook online anywhere? I'd love to see it. My
parents wouldn't let me join the BSC fan club back in the day, but I was
obsessed as a child with where all the streets were in relation to each other.
Had I known there was a map, I would have killed for it.
In this book, Dawn has
been spending a lot of time at Claudia's, staying late after meetings and
having dinner with the Kishis. I wish they would have developed that more. It
would have been fascinating to see Dawn and Claudia get really close, and then
have Stacey come back into the picture.
Claudia is reading Roll
of Thunder, Hear my Cry and they recently finished A Wrinkle in Time.
My other passion in kiddy lit is keeping up with Newbery winners, so this made
me smile.
Claudia talks to a
couple of Betsy's old sitters before her first job at the Sobaks. One of them
is a boy named Gordon. But...I thought Logan was the only boy who liked to sit!
*Faint*
Mrs. Sobak's first name
is Cookie.
Betsy has a much older
sister, Pat, who is already married with a baby.
Betsy's practical jokes:
dribble glass, fake fly in ice cube, pepper gum (she switches wrappers so
Claudia thinks she's getting Wrigleys), having Claudia sit on a swing she knows
is broken*.
*Anyone ever play the
computer game The Colonel's Bequest before? There's a swing outside the
mansion, and if you have the character (Laura Bow) sit in it, she falls right
through the bottom, the way Betsy intended Claudia to do.
Claudia compares her
broken leg to eating lunch with Kristy in terms of disgustingness. Yep.
Claudia wants Betsy to
call the Rodowskys if she can't reach her parents. She says that it's in the
phone book: "Rodowsky is spelled, um, R, let's see...."
Mallory and Dawn are
babysitting "a bunch of kids" at the Rodowskys. Dawn insists on going
in the ambulance with Claudia, leaving Mal alone with enough kids for two
sitters, plus Betsy. Doesn't seem too smart. Couldn't she have called another
club member or even someone's parents to come help also?
Even if there are no
rules about it, I can't imagine voluntarily taking your four or five year old
to make a visit in the hospital. Maybe if a grandparent were dying or mom had
just had a baby. But both Myriah and Jamie go to see Claudia, who's not blood
related.
This sentence says so
much: "Usually, I think my parents are dorks, but every now and then they
come through."
MA actually brings Tigger to visit Claudia in
the hospital.
The Pikes try all kinds
of lame practical jokes. The worst is Vanessa, over at the Braddocks, who calls
three times. After asking if the refrigerator is running, she just says,
"Just checking." Later she calls asking for Prince Charles, and Jessi
tells her PC can't come to the phone, as he's outside waxing his yacht.
Claudia keeps
complaining about the lack of junk food in the hospital. I fully expected
someone would bring her treats, but I didn't think it would be Dawn, of all
people.
I can understand
Claudia's homeroom teacher calling her so that the class can welcome her home,
but does she really need to talk to every kid? That seems silly: "Um, hey.
I know I snapped your bra a couple weeks ago and called you a fatty, but
welcome home."
Oh, Kristy. Her
"autograph" on Claudia's cast: "God made the rivers, God made
the lakes, God made Claudia...well, we all make mistakes."
Instead of telling the
Sobaks that they won't sit for Betsy anymore unless she promises not to pull
any more jokes, the BSC decide to start a prank war with her. Which is a lot
stupid, but pretty typical of these girls.
Mal and Betsy recite
Wynken, Blynken and Nod together.
I can understand not
telling the Sobaks about Betsy's joke playing while in the midst of a joke war,
but Dawn calls a truce and Betsy still gets her with a shaving cream ice cream
sundae. That's probably something her parents should know, as it could have
actually made Dawn ill if she'd swallowed it.
You can tell Claudia's
bored. She says she wishes she could see various sitting charges again, and she
even includes Karen.
Kristy babysits for
Betsy at the movies, and crosses over from playing pranks to just plain being
cruel. It's not just that she lets an 8 year old go to the popcorn counter by
herself--and then changes seats so Betsy can't find her when she comes
back--but she also does it right in front of Betsy's classmates.
At a club meeting, Dawn
and MA are sitting on the floor. Makes me wonder if Mal and Jessi are also on
the floor, and if so, how big is Claudia's room?
New Characters
Betsy Sobak (8)--32
Outfits
Betsy: (Mini Claudia
alert!): red cuffed pants, red suspenders, blue and white striped shirt, two
pigtails with blue hair ribbons (very, very 1988!)
Claudia: white shirt,
painted and covered in sequins
Next week: probably
Mystery #3 Mallory and the Ghost Cat
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