“Most kids want to keep a dog or cat. All you want is a bed sheet.” BSC #13: Goodbye Stacey, Goodbye (1988)

So, Stacey’s dad’s company is closing the Stamford branch of their business and transferring him back to New York. It’s apparently too far to commute (despite the fact that Abby’s mom does it later on), so they’re moving back to NYC. Stacey’s all conflicted; on one hand, she’s happy to be going back to The City, but on the other hand, she’s leaving behind Claudia, the club, Charlotte and a lot of other positives.

The BSC helps out by throwing the McGills’ yard sale and then using the proceeds to throw a large going-away party for Stacey…and inviting all their sitting charges.

Interesting Tidbits

I’ve never understood Ann M. Martin and her editors’ obsession with hyphens in words. Why is it baby-sitter? Also, why does good-bye have a hyphen on the cover?

That said, I always get the cover of this one confused with the cover of #28, which is basically the same thing happening in reverse. Same station wagon, awesomely colored harvest gold. (My friend Tracey’s parents used to have one just like it, only it was maroon with wood paneling. Like Stacey, Tracey moved away on me. Unlike Stacey, we did not make Tracey a banner.) This IS the one with the banner, though. It’s rather sloppily made and not up to usual BSC banner standards.

 

First mention of the Kristy uniform! Also, Kristy wears the visor for what I think is the first time ever.

Stacey wonders if her grandfather is sick. I remember a mention of her various aunts, uncles and cousins, but not grandparents. Most of these girls really don’t seem to have relatives unless it serves a storyline purpose. There’s Nannie, of course, and all of Kristy’s other relatives from the wedding. And Mimi and Peaches and Russ. Jessi has lots of close-knit relatives (including Aunt Cecelia). There’s Mal’s Uncle Joe, Dawn’s Granny and Pop-Pop and Mary Anne’s Grandma. Abby’s got a few relatives, too. Actually, I guess Stacey’s just about the only one without relatives most of the time. Never mind.

Stacey’s parents are trying to get her excited about the idea of moving back to NYC, so they basically bribe her with stuff like a larger apartment and tickets to “shows.” Stacey, for her part, is hoping that her parents will let her get charge cards. That…sounds like her.

Kids in books and on television are always suggesting that they stay in one place when their family moves away, by staying with a friend’s family. Stacey and Claudia suggest it here, and Brenda and Kelly suggest it on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. They even actually do it on Glee (Sam moves in with Kurt and Finn.) I can’t even imagine suggesting this in real life because who would want to take on the legal, financial and parenting responsibilities of someone else’s kid?

Stacey actually thinks she will miss Kristy’s gross lunch comments after she leaves. I think that’s stretching things just a little too far.

The day Stacey and Claudia met, they pretty much ran into each other. They were both wearing off-the-shoulder (there’s those hyphens again) sweat shirts. I’ve always wondered about that. Flashdance, anyone? Do you wear something underneath, or just let your bra hang out?

Dawn is trying to be cool by wearing one earring. Keep trying, sweetie.

Oooh, Sharon’s being messy! There’s a can of creamed spinach on the couch and a doormat and screwdriver on the living room floor.

Mary Anne is spelled as Mary Ann at one point.

This cracked me up. Stacey’s mom can’t close a carton of books, so Stacey flings herself on top of it like it was a suitcase that wouldn’t zip.

Claudia spelling! Secrit, spys, Jordin, Byran, reglar, Malary, becuase, nieghbers, poeple, strang. (Can you tell it’s a job at the Pikes’?) Also, to for too, its for it’s, and there for they’re.

Ooh, another mistake. The Pikes are playing SAs (I always loved playing spy as a kid, too) and Claudia is hunting in the back yard, trying to find all the kids. She finds Claire and Margo behind a bush, for example. Jordan is up in the elm tree, while Adam and Byron are in the ash tree. Later, she says that Adam and Jordan in the ash tree can see into the neighbor’s bedroom window.

Mallory’s concerned about her brothers’ “inversion of privacy” of the neighbors, since they’re trespassing and setting up a tape recorder. Nicky records from the tree and only catches one thing: the neighbors saying they’re going to have ‘courgettes’ for dinner. Nicky suggests this means children, causing a Pike family panic (until Mal looks it up and learns it’s zucchini.)

Mistake #3! During the panic, someone refers to the neighbor’s accent: “‘That sounds like a regular old French accent,’ I said, but nobody heard me.” That’s probably because Stacey wasn’t actually there. Just Claudia and Mallory.

I don’t believe that people in California don’t have yard sales. That doesn’t sound right. I’m sure that someone, somewhere, in the history of the state of California, has had a yard sale.

This line is appropriate: “Kristy liked Boo-boo much better asleep than awake.” Boo-boo always reminds me of an extremely fat cat I used to know named Satan (yup.) He would sit on top of the fridge at my friend’s cousin’s house and swipe his claws at anyone who tried to open the fridge door.

Poor Mrs. Porter. She’s so lonely and desperate that she actually invites Kristy and seven bratty kids over to have lemonade with her. You’ve got to wonder if she knows about all the Morbidda Destiny stories. She cackles and winks at Kristy, so it’s almost as if she heard that Karen thinks she’s trying to get them to drink “witch potions.”

If you were moving to New York, supposedly never to move back to town again, would you want a going away party full of babysitting charges? Yeah. I didn’t think so.

Pun time! The BSC gets a special cake just for Stacey that is something she can eat because it’s sugar free. She replies, “That’s so sweet!”

“Good lick Stasy. Have fun in New Yurk.” It’s not Claudia spelling; it’s Margo.

Anastasia Elizabeth McGill and Dawn Read Schafer. ‘Nuff said.

The title quote is what Stacey’s dad says in response to the banner the BSC hangs on the house.

One last Claudia spelling. She writes Stacey a letter for the car ride that she hopes will keep her “amuzed.” Other spelling: wirth, freind (repeatedly), couldnt .

Wow, this is a short entry. Not too much snark involved. Sorry.

Outfits:

Kristy: jeans, turtleneck, sweater; jeans and blue sweatshirt; jeans, blue turtleneck, blue and white striped sweater

MA: oversized sweatshirt, jean skirt; navy minidress, pink sash, blue tights, black ballet flats

Stacey: blue stretch pants, white sweatshirt with stars and sequins; jeans and old gray sweatshirt

Claudia: purple and white striped body suit, gray “jumper-thing” (way to be specific), purple push-down socks, black ballet slippers; purple belt with telephone buckle (I would have LOVED to wear this outfit when I was a kid.)

Dawn: short kilt, large red sweater, red socks, yellow tights, red beret (I HAD this outfit when I was a kid, minus the beret.)

Next week: We skip forward ahead a little bit to #20, Kristy and the Walking Disaster, and the introduction of Kristy’s sorta-boyfriend, Bart.