"Now, what would you do with a pet squirrel?" #3 The Truth about Stacey (1986)

AKA Stacey Goes Behind her Parents Back (For the First Time)

Stacey's have a rough time with her parents. They can't accept her diabetes as a fact and drag her from doctor to doctor to try to cure her or at least improve her. Dr. Johanssen helps Stacey get through to her parents by helping her make an appointment with a respected diabetes expert. Stacey talks to her parents, who agree to lay off. Since they stop fighting with her diabetes, I guess they start fighting with each other, so they can get divorced 25 books down the road.

Meanwhile the club has a new problem: competition in the form of the Baby Sitters Agency. The new club consists of older girls who can work later hours. Many of the club's clients switch to the BSA for jobs, including Mrs. Newton, who has a newborn. Eventually, the BSC wins their clients back when parents realize most of the BSA sitters aren't up to the standards they're used to. Yay, happy ending.

Interesting tidbits:

Stacey says there is only one middle school in Stoneybrook, yet by eighth grade ("next year"), there's another, called Kelsey Middle School, that Kristy was supposed to go to. Kristy's mom has to pay a fee so that David Michael and Kristy don't have to change schools. Oddly, though, they're able to catch the school bus. Usually, buses only pick up students who live out of the school's territory if they have special needs and are being bused to a special program. Maybe Watson slipped someone some money to pick the kids up? Karen goes to private school and eventually starts living with the Brewers for a month at a time, so someone (Nannie, I'm sure) drops her off at school, so why not Kristy and David Michael too?

Stacey says Janine is dull, which I don't find fair. She's got a lot to say on a lot of subjects--it just may not be what Stacey's interested in. What Stacey really seems to mean is that Janine is pretty even keeled and rarely raises her voice.

Kristy calls the BSA to see how it works. She says her name is Candy Kane and she needs a sitter for her brother so she can go on a date with Winston Churchill. And being really stupid, the girl on the other end of the line barely notices.

Stacey says much of the reason her parents watch her like a hawk is that they aren't able to have another child, and since she has a life threatening illness, they live in fear of losing her. Talk about pressure.

This book is the first time Kristy sits in Claudia's chair with a visor on. Although she sits in the desk chair while Mary Anne sits in the director's chair. Before that, Stacey says Kristy lounged around on the floor...which is what is seen the (original) cover of Kristy's Great Idea.

Poor Charlotte. The other kids won't even let her play on the playground; they keep calling her "teacher's pet." Wonder what she did exactly to get bees in their bonnets. It says everyone was irritated because she would do all her work quickly and never make mistakes, but that just doesn't seem like enough to cause the hate.

Huh. Mary Anne and her dad are having Thanksgiving with Kristy's family and Watson.

The very first BSC baby arrives in the form of Lucy Jane Newton. I wonder if she's named for AMM's love of I Love Lucy (which shows up every so many books or so--Mary Anne was watching it in #2. In either case, it's not a very eighties name, but neither is Jamie, so I approve.

Is it wrong that I get glee out of picturing Stacey passing out at school and fall face first into a bowl of tomato soup?

Hee hee. A "triple emergency" club meeting.

You know, of all the boys in the BSC universe, I dislike Pete Black the least. Yeah, he does the food sculpting and things the other boys do, but he seems like a nice guy, and he actually takes his job as class president (which he wins in #53, Kristy for President) seriously. There was a boy like that in my high school...he was also captain of our undefeated football team and spent a year in the NFL. He was one of those rare kids that EVERYONE likes, for good reason.

I am trying to put together as many parent names from the BSC-verse as I can. Dawn's parents are Sharon and Jack; Mary Anne's, Richard and Alma. Stacey's mom is Maureen and Mallory's is Dee. Claudia's mother is Riyoko. Kristy's parents are Elizabeth and Patrick. Of course, there are step-parents; Dawn's stepmom is Carol; Watson is Kristy's stepdad and Samantha is Stacey's step-mother to be. Dr. Johanssen is Peggy; Mr. Newton, Roger and his sister in law, Mrs. Feldman, is Julie. I'll be on the lookout for others.

Another update to make things more timeless: Stacey goes to the movie theater concession stand and is short on money, so Laine (her "ex" friend) lends it to her. In the original book, there was an amount for the snacks. Here, it just says, "He told me the price."

Outfits:

No real outfits; just accessories

Stacey:

Dino on a beret

Red glittery, beaded sneakers (maybe with purple?)

Footprint covered leg warmers

Plastic butterfly barrettes

Fingertip-less red lace gloves

New clients

Mallory Pike (10)--36

Baby Lucy Newton--26

"It's my vice." BSC #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (1986)

AKA Claudia and Kristy Get Bugged by Preteen Jackasses

In this, the very first "mystery," Claudia and Kristy start receiving weird phone calls while they're babysitting. Meanwhile, a few towns over, a thief called the Phantom Caller has been calling houses and if no one answers, he robs the house. The BSC assume their calls are from this Phantom Caller and hilarity (I mean silliness) ensues. Turns out it was just a couple of immature seventh grader boys who were too nervous to ask the girls out. I guess they didn't think of pulling their hair to get their attention. (Actually, Kristy says Alan does that, too.)

Luckily for us, this isn't as ludicrous as the actual BSC mystery series, which comes along down the road. The BSC doesn't actually catch any bad guys, for one thing.

Interesting tidbits

When the girls are hideously bored (just before they discover the Phantom Caller and start freaking out), Kristy mentions she has a trunk full of old toys "Mom got from Grandma." Does she mean her mom got from mom's grandma? We all know that Elizabeth Thomas/Brewer's mother goes by Nannie. (BTW, does anyone know what Nannie's last name is?) Maybe they're from Kristy's paternal grandmother, but, if so, why give them to your ex-daughter in law? Why not give them to your grandkids?

They mention the thief hits in Mercer, which, at 20 miles away, is the closest town to Stoneybrook. I know Stamford is close to the Brook in other books (for fans of The Office, I have always imagined that Jim got an apartment in Stoneybrook when he was based in the Stamford branch). Stoneybrook is large enough to "sometimes" have a mall in it, so it's not some hick town in the middle of nowhere. I always pictured it as pretty suburban, so why is the nearest town 20 miles away? In the suburbs, towns tend to blend together and be right next to each other.

Janine really has poor social skills, doesn't she? I know they say that's true of many people with high IQs...since others can't keep up with their brains, they spend more time with facts and knowledge than with people. Janine has a very hard time ascertaining the interest level of her partner while chatting on a subject. No wonder Claudia had trouble with her--although, she really should point it out more nicely. At one point, she tells Janine to shut up.

In the original version of the book, I'm pretty sure Nina Marshall tells Claudia it's her bedtime after the Muppet Show is over. This happens when Claudia is so freaked out that she tries to keep the three year old from going to sleep so she doesn't have to be alone. In the re-write, Nina simply says she has to go to bed after "my show." Guess everyone figured kids these days wouldn't know who the Muppets are. (This WAS redone before the new Muppets movie came out. And admittedly, I discovered one of my seventeen year old co-workers doesn't know who Kermit the Frog is, so I guess that's pretty accurate.)

Ha ha ha. Another change. In the original book, Charlotte says she and Stacey can't watch MTV because she doesn't have cable. In this one, the Johanssens have blocked channels inappropriate for Charlotte to watch. Guess they don't want her to catch Jersey Shore.

Claudia "knows" Pete is going to ask Stacey to the dance, because Pete told Rick who told Howie who told Dorianne who told Charlie Brown who told Linus who told Lucy who told Claudia. Whew. I think he did that just so none of the other guys they hang out with would ask her. At this age, if they haven't dated before, I don't think asking someone to the dance is tantamount to being in luv (as Stacey would say) with them, or even like-liking them. It just means you want to spend a few hours drinking punch, trying awkwardly to talk to each other, and avoiding dancing with one another.

This is a funny one. Claudia asks why Kristy agreed to go to the dance with Alan when he's been such a pest to her through her whole school career. (I know why--he's the first boy to ever ask her out. She's flattered, even if she thinks he's an idiot. We've ALL done that to some extent.) She falters while describing how annoying Alan is and Kristy pipes in with the idea that he's as annoying as hat hair. That's something that would definitely irritate Claudia.

Lots of books mentioned in this one. The Pond (never heard of it except in this book, but I assume it's real), The Witch of Blackbird Pond (owned it and loved it),

The Secret Garden (never read it but hear it's pretty good).

Outfits

Claudia:

Purple board shorts (she calls them "pants that stop just below the knee") with suspenders; white tights with clocks; purple plaid shirt and hat; hightops (the same red ones she wore with lavender in book one?); lobster earrings

Bow tie with Scottie dogs on it; hair in five braids held up by beaded clips with streamers (I wanted some of those streamer clips when I was a kid.)

Teddy bear barrettes, again with streamers

Tamara, Sam's date: Spiky yellow hair (sounds like Spike from Degrassi) with green tips; Madonna-esque lace gloves with no fingertips

Stacey and Claudia dance wear:

Baggy jeans and bulky sweaters

Kristy dancewear:

Plaid jumper and red turtleneck (sounds way cuter than anything Claud has worn so far)

New Sitting Charges:

The Willises (no information given, and never mentioned again to my knowledge)

"Sheep...are in." BSC #1 Kristy's Great Idea (1986)

AKA, Ann M Martin Makes her First Million

Of course, this is where it all begins. I don't have to tell you the plot of this one, do I? Read chapter two in any book and you'll be good.

Interesting points

Kristy shames Mary Anne for biting her nails, because she'll never be able to wear nail polish if she has no nails. Later, she takes her house key out of her purse. I guess this goes along with how, in the early books, she wore skirts, jumpers and knee socks. Although, I'm reading the re-write, and she's more appropriately dressed in this one. (See below)

Claudia just got a bra in seventh grade? I was a late bloomer, and I had to wear one by sixth grade.

Stacey needs babysitting money to buy CDs. That just seems (as Karen would say) so, so wrong.

Kristy finds boys gross because they play with their food. I find Kristy gross because she vividly describes the cafeteria food in later books.

Heh. Rainbow Brite from the 1986 version (which Kristy believes Karen has and accuses Watson of never having heard of) has turned into My Little Pony, which works because I definitely played with My Little Ponies those days.

Kristy's quite the little shit to Watson, isn't she? What surprises me is that she's so self-aware of it and why she does it. Maybe she's had some therapy?

Isn't it illegal to put things in people's mailboxes? I'm calling the Stoneybrook PD on these guys. Of course, since the BSC eventually has a friend in the SPD, it would probably get swept under the rug.

When Sam prank calls the first BSC meeting, Mary Anne takes the last call. Kristy says, "Mary Anne's braids practically stood on end." I don't know why, but this made me laugh.

In the re-write, they updated the "handwriting." Stacey's is the same (still with hearts over her i's) but Kristy's, Claudia's and Mary Anne's are all very similar to each other. I had to read for a little while before I knew who was writing. Makes Claudia entries easier to read, a bit. Luckily for my fun, the spelling mistakes are still there. Cusins, instead of cousins.

David Michael's allergic to chocolate? I'm pretty sure he eats chocolate chip cookies later on.

How lame is Mary Anne that she's actually afraid of "Morbidda Destiny?" You'd think she'd have more sense than to let a crazy five year old scare her like that. (On a way-off-to-the-side note, a dear friend of mine, Tessie (also a BSC nut), had a large vocabulary growing up, back when we read these books, but because she had only seen a lot of the words in print and never heard them, she'd pronounce things wrong. For example, Sari Papadakis, she pronounced as sa-rye instead of sar-ee. My sister once said that Tessie would pronounce Morbidda Destiny as more-bid-di-dah des-tye-nee. Ever since then, I can not see those words together without pronouncing it that way.)

Heh heh. Morbidda Destiny uses the word "rapscallion" to describe Boo-Boo. I love that. Karen thinks Boo-Boo has a spell put on him because he runs around crazily like he's on kitty crack. Even the fattest, laziest cat acts like that sometimes. (And I know about fat and lazy cats, as I am typing around Mistletoe right now, while she "mows" at me for jostling her.)

One of my memories of this book is Kristy commenting on Watson coming over to eat leftovers by saying, "We're celebrating with leftover Spaghetti-os?" It was so strong a memory that I started craving Spaghetti-os the second I started reading.

Watson proposes after four months of dating? He must really, really like Kristy's mom. Although, I know a woman who married her husband after about six weeks of dating and they've been together almost ten years.

Guess the BSC isn't the only club in the 'Brook to have emergency meetings. Sam oversleeps and is late to an emergency math club meeting. What kind of emergency does the math club have? Someone steal all the pi buttons off their calculators? (Square Pegs, Square Pegs!) And is Sam always in the math club? It seems kind of geeky compared to how he's later described.

Kristy says that there are still some things left to work out since Watson's divorce. How long has he been divorced that both he and his ex are getting remarried but insurance hasn't been worked out? Sounds like both Watson and his ex work quickly. (Wonder how long he'd known his first wife when they got married?)

You'd think when they updated the books, they could have fixed the part where Karen calls Kristy's mom Edie while her name later becomes Elizabeth. The same thing happens in book six--Karen's mom is called Sheila and either her husband is Kendall or that's her last name; I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go pick up the book that's eight feet from me. Later, Karen's mother and step-father are Lisa and Seth Engle. (I just checked--apparently the re-write caught this one in Kristy's Big Day.)

The book is dedicated to AMM's "old baby-sitting buddy," Beth McKeever Perkins. I have read before that AMM based Mary Anne on herself and Kristy on "her best friend Beth." Also, I just realized that Myriah and Gabbie Perkins (who also show up in AMM's Missing Since Monday and who I had guessed were real people) are Beth's daughters. I'm not sure if she had a daughter named Laura also....anyone know?

Outfits:

I have to say, most of these outfits do seem pretty 1986. I think it's funny how juvenile all the "cool" accessories/outfits seem now. Of course, one of my coworkers wears a necklace with a mustache on it, so who am I to judge?

Claudia:

Lavender overalls with a white lacy blouse; black fedora; red hightops without socks; four braids; hideous clown makeup (so hideous I won't even try to describe it)

Yellow and black check shirt; black pants; red jazz shoes; skeleton earrings

"Outrageous" red felt hat

Sheep barrettes

Stacey:

Pink sequined sweatshirt with purple parrots; short, tight jeans with ankle zippers (I'm picturing acid washed!); pink jellies

Gray sweatshirt and matching skirt covered in yellow 10s; hair clips shaped like rainbows; earrings shaped like whistles

Plaid wool pants with red suspenders

Kristy:

Jeans and t-shirt; blue hair band

Blue and white dress (against her will)

Sweater with snowflakes and snowmen

Mary Anne:

Skirt; saddle shoes; braids

Sam:

Ratty old jeans; "I know you are, but what am I?" t-shirt (does it have Pee-Wee Hermann on it??)

Clients introduced, in order of mention, with their ages then and in 2012:

David Michael Thomas (6)--32

Karen and Andrew Brewer (5 and 3)--31 and 29

Jamie Newton (3)--29

Claire and Margo Pike (4 and 6)--30 and 32

Buffy and Pinky McKeever (the dogs)

Rosie, Brenda and Rob Feldman (3, 5 and 8)--29, 31 and 34

Nina and Eleanor Marshall (3 and 1)--29 and 27

Charlotte Johanssen (7)--33