“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.

“We are babysitters, not magical, flying boys.” BSC #12: Claudia and the New Girl (1988)

Why did I hate this one so much as a kid? I don’t think I ever made it past chapter five before. It’s really not so awful. Anyhoo, Claudia meets the titular new girl, Ashley Wyeth, who thinks art isn’t just a hobby—it’s a way of life! She compliments Claudia as an artist and Claud starts skipping BSC meetings and get even farther behind on her homework than normal. The BSC members, backing up what I said last week about them being a clique, get mad at her and behave in ways that seem out of character for them but that are realistic for thirteen year olds. Claudia tells Ashley she likes to live “big” and not have a narrow focus on her art. She gets an honorable mention in an art show for a half-finished sculpture of Jackie Rodowsky and seems to think she can keep Ashley as a friend (although I don’t think she’s mentioned again until book #85.)

Interesting tidbits

The Cover. I capitalized Cover because, the tag on the photo, it says Claudia might give up on the Club—and it’s all the new girl’s fault! I realize Club is capitalized in the name of the BSC, but when it’s by itself, I don’t think it deserves capitalization. This scene almost sorta happens in the book. (That’s Archie Rodowsky with the girls.) Also, regarding Ashley’s outfit…I went through a phase where I wanted to dress like that, but couldn’t afford to.

 

Aww, the book is dedicated to the readers! I feel loved!

Heh. I kinda like this part. Claudia’s not paying attention in English class. First she wonders about a fly, and then about fly family reunions. Her teacher catches her not paying attention, and Claudia says she feels powerful because she seems to have the power to ruin her teacher’s day.

Speaking of English class, it is full of Newbery winners—my favorites! Claudia said she read Sarah, Plain and Tall (which, it should be noted, is probably at a second grade reading level). Claudia hasn’t been keeping up with the reading because they’re discussing The Westing Game and From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Honestly, she should LOVE those books! They’re mysteries, and excellent ones to boot.

Does Claudia ever spend time in the ‘resource room’ in other books? In my high school (and in most of the ones I’ve worked in) ‘resource room’ was code for ‘special education assistance.’

Mimi says the second she met her husband, she knew she would marry him. That’s really sweet.

Holy crap, there are a lot of outfits so far. I do find it sort of odd that Claudia and Ashley get dressed up to go to art class and sculpt, which tends to be a messy endeavor.

I can’t decide what’s so funny about Claudia psychoanalyzing people based upon their art portfolios, but I definitely see some humor in it. Maybe because it’s a complete counterpoint to the fact that she’s in remedial math and thinks pharaoh is spelled farrow?

Claudia makes fun of Archie’s name. Nice. Then she accidentally makes Shea cry. I want her to come babysit at my house!

More Kristy lunchtime grossness: apparently, this day’s school lunch looks like a squirrel that got run over. (Claudia refers to the lunches as revolt-o. I am going to start referring to all disgusting things by that term.)

I can almost understand Stacey getting jealous of Claudia spending all her time with Ashley. It’s very age-appropriate to worry that your best friend could get stolen by someone else, especially given that Stacey’s only lived in town for a year and kinda gave up all her other friends in favor of the BSC.

Myriah is six in this book. Later, she goes back to being five, which she remains for the rest of the books.

The Perkins girls have stuffed animals named Mrs. Xerox and Mrs. Refrigerator, which they have covered in makeup. Dawn has to drag the two of them—also covered in makeup—out to the elementary school because Jeff got in trouble. Myriah offers to give both Jeff’s teacher and Jeff himself makeovers while they are at the school.

Ashley decides to sculpt an inanimate object, which she explains to Claudia is something “not alive.” Claudia assumes this means she’ll sculpt dead things, which makes me think of animal carcass artwork…which I’ve seen before. (Really not attractive looking or smelling.) Instead she sculpts a ‘noble’ fire hydrant that wins first place.

Claudia doesn’t seem to be too astute. She can’t figure out her friends are mad at her, despite the fact that she’s stopped sitting with them at lunch and has missed 2 and ½ club meetings—until they start leaving her passive-aggressive notes all over her bedroom. And in the club notebook.

Stacey keeps making fun of Ashley’s bell-bottom jeans. As if they’re any worse than 99% of what Stacey wears. But then she cries over Claudia ditching her. Again, age-appropriate and semi-realistic, as is the passive-agressiveness.

The opening quote is something Kristy says—appropriate, given she’s the one to play Peter Pan later on. Mary Anne cries in sympathy to Stacey’s tears, then can’t stop crying. The others start suggesting happy thoughts for her to pull it together, which leads to the Peter Pan reference.

You know Dawn is mad at Claudia for missing meetings, not just because she makes up a childishly mean song about her, but because she volunteers to help eat all of Claud’s junk food.

I had to look up how to short sheet a bed. Despite the fact that it shows up all the time in books, I’ve never done it or had it done to me.

Finally! It’s a flippin’ Claudia book and we made it to chapter 13 without having any of her awesome misspellings (other than farrow.) Freinds, Aslhey (really?), explian, apologise, aplogise, (in the next sentence after the last one, too!), speling (ironic), abot, Ballons, Wrinkel, carfuly, scupture (twice), sclupture. She also spells her art teacher’s name, Baehr, as Bear, which is logical.

Best moment of the whole book: Claudia calls to talk to Kristy and Karen answers. She starts blathering on about old Ben Brewer and Boo-Boo and ghost hypnosis. (I am NOT kidding. I wish I were.) Instead of listening to her, Claudia totally cuts her off.

More real Newbery winners: The Twenty-One Balloons, which I think I’ve read but can’t remember the plot of, and A Wrinkle in Time, an Ann M. Martin favorite, which Claudia actually enjoys.

Claudia makes friends with the BSC again by writing a really lame poem that makes Mary Anne cry. (There’s a shocker, right?) Stacey (again, when did she get to be funny? They must have dropped that in the later books) says, “Lunatics!...we have a club full of fools.”

How does Kristy not know what a mentor is when Ashley says she’s Claudia’s art mentor, yet she knows what apoplexy is?

Mistake! One of the BSC’s classmates is named Mari Drabek. She’s mentioned in several other books. This might be her first appearance; I’m not sure. In any case, when they say that she got third prize, her name is spelled Mary.

Outfits! Lots! Sorta!

Ashley: hiking boots, long pink-flowered skirt, loose blouse embroidered with flowers, silver bangles, braided hair not held in place by anything, six different earrings; puffy white blouse, long blue-jean skirt, hiking boots, beaded bracelets, denim headband; petticoat and work boots; bell-bottoms; long dress with ruffles at the bottom; long knitted vest over a long shirt and a long skirt that all clash

Claudia: short pink cotton dress, white tights, ballet slippers, side ponytail, palm tree earrings

 

New Characters

 

Shea and Archie Rodowsky (9 and 4)--35 and 30

Next week: We say au revoir Anastasia in #13 Goodbye, Stacey, Goodbye

P.S.: For those following my fanfiction, The Boys of Summer should be posted in its entirety by the end of the month! I’m already in the planning stages of my next work within the same universe.

“I was turning into a wonderful Mary Anne puddle.” BSC #10: Logan Likes Mary Anne (1988)

I would like to interrupt my regularly scheduled snark to bring you a link my sister shared with me on Facebook this weekend. I have nothing to do with it, but I absolutely love it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-definitive-ranking-of-baby-sitters-club-cover-outfit?s

Now, where were we? The title of this one makes the plot fairly obvious. Logan likes Mary Anne. He’s a new boy in town, from the South, and he’s a babysitter! Wow! Even more exclamation-pointy (not a phrase, but not going to stop me from using it) is the fact that Mary Anne likes him at least as much as he likes her!! They go on a sitting job together, but meetings are too awkward, so they invent the position of associate member for him.

Meanwhile, he actually gets Mary Anne to go to a dance, where she hots herself up in an extremely memorable fashion and accidentally tosses a shoe. Then she runs out of her own birthday party and gets a cat. This was one of my absolute favorites as a kid, despite how stupid this brief summary makes it sound.

Interesting tidbits

Let’s get this out of the way. For the longest time, I had a crush on Logan as he’s shown on the cover here. I think a lot of readers did.

 

Also, Jackie Rodowsky totally looks like a girl…and like he’s got as big of a crush on Logan as Mary Anne does.

Wisdom on boys from MA: “Obviously, with a boy, you can’t talk about bras or cute guys you see on TV.” Honestly, I’d think thirteen year old boys would like hearing about girls’ bras. And you never know…you might find a really good guy friend who likes hearing about cute guys on television. (*cough* Ducky *cough*)

First day of school, and Mary Anne is already bitching about gym class. This must be because Mallory hasn’t joined the club yet. She also complains about smelling like gym all day long because she has it in the morning. A) Better than having it right after lunch, like I did in eighth grade. One girl vomited during wind sprints one day. B) Take a shower, then!

Mary Anne suggests that Claudia and Stacey used to sit with a different group of kids during seventh grade lunch because Kristy is immature and likes to talk about how disgusting the lunches are. Mushroom and cream sauce resembles glue; macaroni and cheese smells like steamed rubber in Turtle Wax. You’d think sitting with a bunch of boys would mean more of that, not less.

That said, the joining of all the older babysitters into one lunch table officially makes this the book where the BSC becomes a clique, who must do everything together, have all the same friends and have all the same opinions.

You’d think Kristy’s mom would get in trouble for doing all the BSC’s copying for them on her work copier…something they acknowledge in an off-hand way by suggesting they should pay her.

Here’s what I always wondered when I was a kid. Did Logan actually do a lot of babysitting back in Louisville, or does he just make that up as an excuse to go sit with the BSC? I mean, he tells stories about sitting, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t just get roped into a few jobs here or there.

How exactly does MA wear hoop earrings? (She’s also wearing earrings on the cover of the book.) Maybe this is before it was decided that she didn’t have pierced ears.

The first appearance of the Ohdners! (Allegedly. Didn’t they show up in an earlier story? I’m going to have to go back and double check…)

Mrs. Rodowsky is named Mariel, and she wants Logan and Mary Anne to call her by her first name.

I’d forgotten about this part, but once I started reading it, I remembered it clear as day. Logan sees a picture on the wall—a piece of artwork Jackie did that his parents framed. It’s a pretty standard kiddy picture of a house. Logan’s like, “We have the same one in my house. I thought it was the original.”

Claudia spelling time! Hav, nise, siting (sitting), Gabie, comuty (community), droped, broght. She also uses bake for back.

I might have mentioned before that, when I read these books as a kid, I’d never seen Star Wars. I totally did not get the name Chewbacca or how appropriate it was for that dog.

I’m not usually much of one for shaggy dog stories, but there’s definitely some humor to Chewy (who got loose from Claudia and ran amok through the neighborhood) stealing traffic cone after traffic cone.

Okay, gang, let’s re-wind. (Sorry. Total Ghostwriter flashback.) Shy, quiet Charlotte Johanssen is seriously suggesting that shy, quiet Mary Anne would like a surprise party? Does she have no empathy?

I’ve always had a hard time believing that Richard, who less than a year ago was a total parenting hard ass, would agree to let Mary Anne go on a date with a boy he’d never met. I even thought that when I was ten….

Oh, heck yes! When I think of BSC fashion, I think of two things. One is the awesome outfit Claudia wore back in #2 that had clocks all over the tights. The second one is Mary Anne’s dance outfit, described in full below. Just say the words “skirt with cities on it” to any BSC fan and they know exactly what you’re talking about.

I also have a hard time believing this one: Kristy says that all the girls should all go to Mary Anne’s to help her get ready for the dance. In the later books, if that has to happen, they let the answering machine get the calls, but this is 1988. Instead (and this is the part I have a hard time with) she pays Janine a couple dollars to answer the phone. A) Kristy is okay with this from a business perspective? B) Stacey is okay with that from a financial perspective? C) Claudia is okay with that from a sisterly perspective? And biggest of all D) Why would Janine agree to that? (I keep typing okay is oaky, which spell check tells me is actually a word.)

Dawn, spending the night at Kristy’s? I’m surprised Kristy actually called Dawn. I know MA was busy, but were Claudia and Stacey busy too? (Sorry, that’s actually kind of mean. But I think this is one of few times that we actually see just these two interacting.)

Okay, anyone here think that they need to explain how the game Memory is played? Does anyone in the universe NOT know how to play Memory? Raise your hand and I’ll stop. (I remember playing TONS of Memory when I was really super young, because it was one game all three of us kids could play together.)

Aww, foreshadowing to #11 and the death of Louie. Legitimately sad.

Logan likes Meatballs. And spends nearly ten minutes explaining the plot of it to Mary Anne. Does he maybe have Asperger’s too? (All the Aspies I know—myself included—can give you way more details on their favorite topics than you’d ever want to know.)

I don’t know why I found this humorous: When Mary Anne tries to convince her dad to let her get a cat, he asks what they would do if they went on vacation. She says, “Get Mallory Pike to come over and feed it?” Now, she could have said Claudia, or been vague and said a neighbor, but she singles Mallory out. Mallory Pike, Cat Sitter.

Dawn ate birthday cake! Shocking! (Of course, she then complains that about the sugar in it.)

Outfits

Dawn: hot pink shorts, white tank top, island print shirt (MA says it is “snappy”); green and white sweater, stretchy green pants

Mary Anne: bright vest over white blouse; white skirt with city names and sketches of landmarks on it in pink and blue; pink shirt and sweater; white shoes with matching pink and blue

Claudia: tight black pants; white shirt with BEPOP on it; floppy blue bow in her hair

Stacey: white t-shirt, hot pink jumpsuit

Kristy: white turtleneck, pink sweater (Kristy in pink = wrong), jeans

New characters

The Ohdners, no names or ages, but they have two girls

Jackie Rodowsky (seven)—33

Logan Bruno (thirteen)—39

The Morgans, no names or ages, but they have four boys

Next week: is going to be like pulling teeth. I don’t think I’ve EVER managed to read the entire book for next week’s story. I may have to break it up in to three chapter segments (instead of my usual five chapter segments) but I will finish #12 Claudia and the New Girl. It will happen.

“I bet his idea of an amusing afternoon is balancing his checkbook.” BSC #9: The Ghost at Dawn’s House (1988)

As I stated in one of the comments on an earlier post, I didn’t hate this one as much as I expected to do. I think I had just overdosed on the books the last time I read it, as I had literally blogged the first eight of them in two weeks. So, while I don’t give it two thumbs up, it doesn’t get the two thumbs way down it did the last time I tried to read it.

Dawn is convinced there must be a secret passageway in her house (for unexplained reasons.) The BSC all hunt for one but have no luck, but a short time later, Dawn literally falls into a passage between her bedroom and the barn. She convinces herself there’s a ghost living in it (because, likely.)

Meanwhile, Nicky Pike’s allowed to wander freely as long as he stays within two blocks of his house. The BSC decides to hunt him down anyway and discovers he’s the reason that things keep turning up in the secret passage, rather than a ghost. (Although Dawn still believes in the ghost. Because she’s that special.)

Interesting Tidbits

The cover: the passage goes from under the barn up into the house, so why does the passage on the cover lead up? (Dawn’s actually cute here though…I used to have a shirt just like hers.)

 

You’d think that since Dawn and Jeff’s dad is on the other side of the country and they don’t get to see him often, they’d spend more than two weeks of their summer with him. Especially since they haven’t seen him since January and they aren’t old enough for jobs to get in the way.

Dawn watched European Vacation on the plane to California.

Oh, so this is the book where Claudia’s hollow book first shows up! I always wanted one of those when I was a kid.

I’d forgotten how the plots in these early books flowed from one book into another.#8 features, among the other Pike-related plots, the introduction of the idea that Nicky doesn’t feel like he fits into his family because the triplets don’t want to play with him and everyone else is a girl. This, of course, is a major plot point in this book. (They tried that again leading up to a couple of the super specials later on in the series, but it wasn’t nearly as effective.)

I’m looking forward to recording all the stupid places Sharon puts stuff in this one. Chapter two starts us off well: hedge clippers in the living room and glasses in the butter dish. (Since when does Sharon wear glasses anyway?)

Somehow, I doubt Mary Anne would actually be interested in searching for a secret passage, especially since she finds the idea scary. (Sure enough, she’s actually scared of everything later.)

Even stranger, I can’t picture Stacey being scared of searching for a secret passage. Or storms. Or whatever. Isn’t she supposed to be all New York sophisticated?

Knowing that the Perkinses are real, it always annoys me how perfect and precocious they’re portrayed. They’re multitalented, never fight, argue or have tantrums, and are adorable. It makes me want to vomit.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I use a bit that Mary Anne uses when sitting for the Perkinses. Gabbie draws a picture and MA doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be, so she says, “Tell me about it.” I use that one on my niece and nephew all the time, because my nephew’s still in that scribbling stage where his whole picture is done in one macaroni-and-cheese colored crayon and is a blob. (My niece is six. Her pictures actually look like something, but I’ve still been wrong about them before.)

Dawn and I have something in common: the fear of a kid getting kidnapped.

Real book: The Tailor of Gloucester, by Beatrix Potter.

I love how Dawn finds a secret passage and automatically assumes the house must be haunted because of it.

Ever notice how often Watson and Elizabeth go out on the town when Karen and Andrew are visiting? I guess they can only take Karen in bite-sized morsels too.

Old Ben Brewer. Yawn…Why does Kristy a) let Karen tell crazy ghost stories when the kids are already worked up and b) let Karen scare HER with same crazy ghost stories? I can buy Andrew and even DM getting worked up over them, but Kristy’s about thirteen. She should not be scared by stories told by obnoxious six year olds.

Dawn and Jeff eat in front of the TV—a rerun of All in the Family, which they to hate. (I didn’t ‘get’ the show as a child, but I love it now). Neither one of them is sure why they’re watching it.

I love the conversation between Dawn and Jeff about ice cream cones when she finally shows him the secret passage. She’s like, “Remember when Dad took us to Dairy Queen that one time?” They don’t realize there are different kinds of cones because they don’t eat ice cream, so they assume the cone they found must be really old (or at least, old fashioned.) I know ice cream cones aren’t exactly “natural” but they would biodegrade. It’s not as if that cone could be there for 100 years. And I’m pretty sure ghosts don’t eat, so how does Dawn think it got there?

I love that Jeff, who is three and a half years younger than Dawn (nearly ten), keeps trying to talk her out of the idea that the passage is haunted. Like she’s six or something.

Enter the Trip-Man. I’d forgotten that he got that nickname because Dawn joked that’s what his friends call him. (The title quote is something else she says about him.)

Dawn manages to freak Jeff out and they stack furniture in front of the door to the passage. You know it’s really sad when Sharon of the glasses in the butter dish has to be the voice of reason. (Not only that, she points out that ghosts can supposedly float through walls—and furniture.)

A+ for consistency…whenever olden-days Stoneybrook comes up, it is always spelled Stoneybrooke.

One of the characters in the Jared Mullray legend is Mathias Bradford. This is actually clever, as we all know that Claudia (and at this point, Mary Anne) live on Bradford Ct.

Claudia spelling: th for the (seriously? She can’t even claim that’s a tyop…) nigt, siting (sitting), thats, porgram. She also uses diner for dinner, but this is my favorite line: “lucy [sic] was an angle.” Yes, but is she acute or obtuse?

Even funnier: Mrs. Newton spells to Claudia. I’m surprised Claudia was able to understand.

For some reason, Jamie wears pyjamas rather than pajamas. (I double checked. This is not a British edition.)

Jamie’s full name is James Anderson Newton, as we learn when Claudia gets very upset with him.

Ooh, foreshadowing! Mary Anne thinks a guy in a magazine is cute! And yes, ladies (and gentlemen, if any are reading), it’s your favorite hunk you’ve never seen…Cam Geary!

I have no idea why, but that reminds me of a line from one of the other books. I can’t remember which one it is, but it’s either a Mary Anne or a Dawn. They’re talking about names for some reason, and Dawn says, “For the longest time, I thought Logan Bruno was strange name.” Anyone know which book that is?!

Dawn calls Mary Anne a dope. After she (Dawn) scared the crap out of her (MA) in the secret passage.

You know Vanessa’s upset because she forgot to rhyme her words.

I like this: occasionally, Dawn can’t tell the triplets apart. She says things like “said one of the triplets.” If she’s only known them for a few months, babysitting them here or there, it would make sense that they’d occasionally blend together.

You’d think smorgasbord at the Pikes=gross food time, but they disappoint. Adam and Jordan have fried baloney while Byron eats fried PBJ and Nicky eats a potato chip and banana sandwich.

Someone needs to explain to Nicky that going into the Schafers’ barn—and the secret passage—without permission is trespassing.

This must have been before the map of Stoneybrook was created, because Dawn lives two blocks away from the Pikes.

The BSC is going to watch movies, and they all suggest REAL ones! I love it! Ghostbusters (Kristy), Sixteen Candles (Mary Anne), The Parent Trap (Dawn), Star Wars (Claudia) and Mary Poppins (Stacey). Dawn and Stacey are both already established as loving their choices, although it would have been funny for Dawn (the ghost fanatic) to want to watch Ghostbusters.

Wait a minute. Since when is Stacey funny? Stacey: “They’re the ones who are going to get pimples.” Dawn: “Let’s get them.” Stacey: “Pimples?”

There just was not enough of Sharon leaving stuff in random spots for my taste in this book.

La-la-la. Happy ending!

New Characters:

Myriah and Gabbie Perkins (5 and 2)—31 and

Next week: We get to meet Mary Anne’s lovah boy (why don’t these girls talk like New Englanders?! Their parents should be pahking cahs and whatnot. And I can say that because my relatives in Rhode Island—just a few hours from Stamford—talk that way), in #10, Logan Likes Mary Anne

“So? He can feed it to Rudolph.” BSC #92: Mallory’s Christmas Wish (1995)

How was everyone’s holiday? I should have read this one last week. I actually (gasp!) enjoyed most of it. (Of course, that may be because Christmas is actually over!)

Mallory comes up with the idea of a non-commercial, old-fashioned Christmas, an idea the Pikes love. But then Vanessa enters them into a contest and the prize they win is being filmed for the Christmas episode of what’s essentially a reality show. At first they like it, but the camera crew quickly gets in the way of their holiday and Mr. Pike winds up firing them.

The subplot surrounds the nursing home and a fundraiser the BSC helps with. It’s more realistic than most of their big-event storylines because the BSC didn’t plan and organize it; they just pitch in.

Interesting Tidbits

Ze Cover (Sorry, I’m watching Les Mis while writing this; I’ll try not to get too overtly French…or more accurate, cockney British):

 

Mallory, red heads generally shouldn’t wear pink. Of course, that yellow doesn’t look any better on her. (Also, according to the author’s note, the man in the green jacket is the artist, Hodges Solieau.)

Mallory starts off by writing yet another story based upon her own life. LAME!

I’d eat friddiggity for dessert with Margo! (That’s how she pronounces frigidity; it reminds me of how Tessie would have pronounced it at seven...and how it kept coming out of my mouth today.)

Is it sad that I’d rather read Mallory and the Seven Simian Siblings than this book?

This makes me laugh mostly because it’s (bordering on) true: “By the time Claire is eleven, she’ll have an apartment of her own, a personal butler, and a salary.” Now, I don’t believe that, but I do believe that the Pikes will get more lenient with each progressive child. (I still hold a grudges over this fact in my own life.)

Oh my word. A food the Pike triplets won’t eat! Byron looks disgusted at the suggestion of lamb stew. Vanessa: “Lamb stew, Lamb stew/Start with some herbs then chop up the ewe!” Margo: “Ew!” Vanessa: “Exactly.”

I hate to admit how much like Mallory I used to be. Obviously I don’t have seven insane brothers and sisters. But she and Jessi went down town, pretending to be French refugees, hoping to find some kind soul to shelter them from the cruel world. I’ve never done that with someone else (in public) but I spent a large amount of my childhood pretending to be someone else.

I’ve only just started chapter two and there’s already been about six conversations I want to record exactly. Apparently the BSC has the same kind of word skills that Margo does: nobody (except Mal the nerd) knows what ‘a tizzy’ is. (I’m reminded of SS #15 for three reasons: first, Claudia talks with her mouth full and Stacey instructs her to swallow, which happens in that book; second, the conversation between the various club members reminds me of the conversation between Claudia and Dawn when Janine calls Claudia a laggard and they don’t know what that means. Also Mal uses a word that no one else knows the meaning of. My suspicion is confirmed: they are ghostwritten by the same person.) Of course, it doesn’t help that Mal attempts to explain a tizzy by saying it’s the same as being in a dither. Really, what eleven year old knows words/phrases like that? (That’s right. A really nerdy one.)

Ha! Mallory hates being called a junior member—can you blame her? So she gets a bit of satisfaction by being taller than Kristy is. Speaking of, is it just me, or are all these girls on the tall side? We had a missing thirteen year old in our local area this week, and she was 4’11”. Kristy is the shortest BSC member and she’s taller than that. I’m pretty sure I was less than 5’ at that age.

“Kishi Scientific Ener-joy Theory.” I subscribe!

Typical Abby. Her BSC/car analogy: Kristy is the headlights, Claudia the chassis, Stacey the gas gauge, Mary Anne the engine, Abby herself the bumper. (I guess Mal and Jessi are the cupholders and the like, because they aren’t mentioned.)

Mal is, I think, the only BSC member to come straight out and suggest that Kristy is jealous of Abby, which is the first thought I had when I read a book with Abby in it.

Mrs. Pike suggests that they’re going to be arrested by the Christmas carol police for butchering the 12 Days of Christmas. (Sample lyric: five silly-billy-goo-goos) Can we arrest some pop stars for the same reason?

When the producer, Mr. Henry, arrives, he explains the reality show he’s filming while using a large variety of big words. Adam does exactly what I used to do as a kid: he agrees with everything that’s said, and then when Nicky asks him what that meant, he says, “I don’t know.” I feel there are a lot of adults who behave that way also.

You know it’s bad when Claudia is correcting Abby’s word usage.

Wow, I didn’t know that Aunt Cecelia had a good side. But a store clerk finds it by suggesting she’s Jessi’s older sister. (What do you expect from a store that sells Jessi a box of ‘tchotchkes’ labeled “Junque”?)

Mallory. Shouldn’t you be able to tell the difference between Marilyn and Carolyn, especially since you were the one who helped let them have their own style?

 The title quote is what Haley says when Margo drops cheese on Claire's letter to Santa.

The Pikes are, in some ways, the perfect family to film for a reality show: There are a ton of ‘characters,’ they’re nuts, and they love the camera. My favorite moment during the filming of cookie baking: Nicky drops some eggshell into the cookie batter and this is apparently fabulous. The camera crew not only gets a close up on the shells in the batter; they film Margo going, “Mmm, crunchy!” while Nicky freaks out. Meanwhile, Mr. Pike is laughing his ass off. (I’m not sure why; this sounds like a normal day at the Pikes.)

Mallory goes to visit Uncle Joe and he’s watching an acne cream commercial at top volume. I’m tempted to call 1800-ZIT-GONE just to see what you really get.

Interesting. Becca still sorta believes in Santa, yet Margo and Nicky, who are younger/the same age, no longer believe, and even Claire’s suspicious. I get this, though. It would be hard to maintain the Santa story when you have a bunch of older kids in the family scoffing over the suggestion. I remember that as soon as I stopped believing, my sister did too. It’s possible that Jessi was better at pretending for Becca’s sake than, say, Vanessa and the triplets would be.

Is anyone surprised by the BSC member’s responses to being filmed? Mary Anne ducks away to stay off camera. Kristy films a ‘commercial’ for the BSC while explaining their involvement with the nursing home. Abby hams it up, putting on a bib and knit baby hat.

Vanessa is full of butchered Christmas carols. I wish I were that quick on my feet. (I’m going to have to write them down for next year. There’s only so far you can go with annoying co-workers with Soap Opera Digest carols…)

I’ve never done television, bar appearing in a few news segments. (I’ve appeared in the police blotter for impersonating a dead body, but that’s another story all together.) I can only imagine how irritating it would be to have to redo spontaneous moments in order to catch them on camera. Part of the ‘joy’ of the holidays is the fun and unpredictability, especially with kids involved. So moments like Margo and Nicky falling off the sled should just be allowed to happen and not be recreated for film.

Innnnnnnteresting. Robert invited Stacey to a concert for the same night as the babysitting event. She turned him down because she had the previous commitment. (And because she just barely got back into the club five books earlier.) But she is unbelievably cranky about it. I love this because it’s realistic. You know there has to be moments when these girls don’t want to participate in whatever giant activity that’s planned, for whatever reason.

Kristy embarrasses Logan by pointing out he’s a boy. You’d think he’d already know that.

Heh. The babysitters are unprepared for once. While running the ‘nursery’ at the nursing home by supervising the kids, they don’t have any place set up for changing diapers. (They learn this the hard way.)

Mallory refers to Adam as the Terror of Slate Street. I like it. (It does let his brothers off the hook a little too easily though.) Also, I’m not sure how that happened. Adam wasn’t one of the singers that were looking angelic—Jordan, Nicky, Vanessa, Margo and Claire were.

Points for consistency: even though I didn’t mention it last week, Mallory mentioned that the Pikes do Secret Santa. I’ve done this in the past, but apparently, in the Pike household, you have to grant your Secret Santa’s wish. Mallory gets Adam, who asks for some kind of slithery creature, so she buys him a toy snake. Vanessa gets Mallory, who asks for the greatest Christmas book ever written. Vanessa’s way of granting that wish is actually really sweet: she gives her a blank book and tells her to go write it. Awww!

Later, you get to see a few other Secret Santas: Vanessa gets a newspaper that says she was elected president. (Of all the people in the house, she’s not the one I would have predicted would want that.) And Byron, who asked for his own phone, gets a toy telephone that had been passed down through all the siblings as babies. He uses it to order a large pizza order.

How is no one in the Pike house up at eight in the morning? You’d think Claire and Margo at least would be out of bed by then.

You know that the television situation is bad when the triplets start throwing tantrums. Byron screams at the top of his lungs when they call cut right before he’s supposed to open his present, and later Jordan whines that he hates Christmas. Claire and Margo throwing fits is one thing, but ten year olds is something different. It’s what makes the Pikes kick the camera crews out entirely. (I’m not saying ten year olds don’t/shouldn’t throw tantrums. I’m just saying that there’s usually a very big reason behind it.)

I know that the Pikes wrote into the contract that they could cancel at any time, but can you just imagine how much money would be lost in a move like this? I think the company could possibly still scrape together a special with the footage they already have, but it does kind of ruin the effect to not actually have Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever looked at the ‘scrapbook’ at the back of a Mallory book. The picture of the Pike family is kinda hilarious. Vanessa and Margo both look way older than the triplets.

No outfits again. Sorry!

Everyone have a happy new year. I’ll see you in January with my take on The Ghost at Dawn’s House…I hope

“It’s the jelly. It’s organic.” BSC Super Mystery #4: Babysitters’ Christmas Chiller (1997)

I have been told (repeatedly) that I am a Scrooge. So ignore my fake enthusiasm for this book and for the holiday season as a whole. :P
There are three separate mysteries in this doozy. The most remote first: Claudia and Stacey are in NYC and weird things keep happening. At first they blame Stacey’s boyfriend Ethan, who’s been acting weird. It turns out he has a crazy ex who lives in Stacey’s building and is out for revenge. Because that happens to me all the time.
Second, Mallory stumbles upon a pregnant amnesiac and she actually manages to uncover her identity, despite the police being stumped.
The third mystery occurs in Abby and Kristy’s neighborhood, with some MA and Dawn involvement. Various neighbors keep having their houses broken into and ransacked. The word “Naughty” appears on the wall. Meanwhile, several other houses (Kristy’s and Abby’s) receive messages saying “Nice.” Turns out a lot of the neighbors had let go their gardener and this was his lame-o idea of revenge.
Merry Christmas y’all.
Interesting tidbits
The cover: It looks like they put Logan on the cover and then said, “Wait, he’s not in this story,” and replaced his head with Mary Anne’s. Also, Abby has ridiculously skinny legs for an athlete.

 

One final note: nothing is stolen at the houses; just ransacked. So why is there a wall of missing electronic devices behind Mary Anne?
I’ve been trying really hard to read all the handwritten journal entries—I used to skip most of them when I was a kid. But this story starts with five pages of Jessi’s handwriting. I got three sentences in and quit. Hope nothing important is in that part!
Oh noes! Mary Anne is late to a meeting! But don’t worry. She “makes up for it” by bringing Dawn with her.
If this book had no title or cover, you’d still know it was a mystery because they bring up the mystery notebook on page 13.
Has anyone else ever noticed that Mallory is totally obsessive-compulsive, especially about the mystery notebook?
You can tell it’s not 1988 anymore when Claudia keeps showing up wearing Docs.
I actually like this: Stacey wants to be a tax attorney so she can fight with the IRS.
Yay, Claudia spelling time! Allot (a lot), all ways (always), exsiting (twice), doubel, hapenned. I can actually understand all of these.
Claudia’s so afraid of getting lost in NYC that she says she wouldn’t have minded holding Mr. McGill’s hand. This would make me laugh if it weren’t for an incident in downtown Chicago when a pedophile kept trying to grab my friend Teah’s hand when we were little girls. (It’s part of the reason I want to work for NCMEC, as mentioned here.) Instead, Stacey grabs her dad’s coat and Claudia grabs Stacey’s. This is smart.
Mr. McGill takes the girls to a restaurant that serves both Italian and “Southern Louisiana.” A) I’ve eaten at a restaurant like that and YUM! B) Why not just say Cajun?
I love how they slip a hint to the solution of the story onto page 33. Watson’s sorting mail and one of the bills is a renewal for the gardener.
Agatha Kristy. Grooooooan!
Kristy twirls her “mustache” while talking to Shannon. Stop copying me, Kristy! (She doesn’t do an evil laugh with it, though.)
Mallory wrote the script for her church’s pageant. Isn’t it already written in the Bible? I guess it sounds better to say she wrote it than she adapted it.
I don’t mean to sound politically incorrect, but would Mallory and Jessi go to the same church? I mean, we don’t really know because church almost never shows up in these books. Abby mentions being Jewish far more than any of the other girls mentions being Christian. I think this book marks the only time the Pikes say grace.
Second time this month Becca has been a ham in a play. Maybe I was wrong last time. This time, she’s the inn keeper and she offers Mary and Joseph a stable with “rustic accommodations.” (For the record, Margo and Claire are shepherds, Nicky is an angel and the triplets are the three kings.)
Mallory is actually pretty good with panicky situations when they come across the amnesiac woman. Jessi can’t think straight but Mal keeps asking her questions and trying to straighten out who she is. She’s the one who thinks of asking if she has an ID on her.
I am totally childish. Stacey wonders what Ethan’s hiding in the closet and the first thought that popped into my head was “himself.”
When Mallory gets called down to the station to talk about Mary the amnesiac, she takes her mom with her. I’d say that was because the SPD finally got some sense, but I think it’s because she’s eleven and not thirteen like the other girls.
Honestly, Mallory would probably make a good police detective. She keeps listening to Mary talk and trying to come up with hints as to where she might be from (an accent) or who she might be.
And now we get our obligatory Chanukah lesson thanks to Abby and Anna. And I’m asleep again. (By the way, why do the Stevensons have a Chanukah party and only invite Abby’s friends? Doesn’t Anna have any friends of her own?)
Mary Anne kicks dreidel ass. I don’t know why that’s so funny, but it is.
Dawn actually likes Abby’s fried jelly donuts. That’s high praise. (And the intro quote is Abby’s response.)
This cracked me up: When the Papadakis house is burglarized, the BSC all go over to offer their help, which the family welcomes (I wouldn’t have wanted them all there, but whatever.) Hannie’s upset and ready to cry, so Dawn gives her a hug. Then a few minutes later she suddenly realizes that Dawn is there at all.
Aww, this didn’t crack me up: Little Sari is scared to go to sleep and doesn’t want Abby to turn off the lights.
How crappy a job is Sgt. Johnson doing that it takes Mary Anne to find critical evidence after everyone’s been told they can clean up?
Okay, so some stuff is actually stolen at the Papadakises, including the VCR.
I can’t believe Kristy’s the first person in her neighborhood to think of a neighborhood watch.
Hint #2: Mr. Korman finds a rake in his yard the day after the Papadakises are robbed.
More Claudia spelling! Werid (weird), startted, prity, turnned, wierd, flet (felt), beeing, followwed, theres (there’s).
Claud and Stacey actually go to a coffee bar. Yet again, I’m reminded it’s not 1988 anymore.
Gross. The control panel in the elevator of Stacey’s dad’s building is covered in “blood” that Stacey doesn’t notice until she hits the button and gets it on her glove. A) How did no one else notice this? B) How did she not look before she touched? Yuck.

Claudia and Stacey love the movie Fame.

I know this isn’t supposed to be funny, but I laughed again when Stacey receives a “present:” a jack in the box with her face pasted over the clown’s. Sophisticated Stacey in the Box. Only $19.99!
Also members of Mallory’s church: the Rodowskys and the Hobarts.
Vanessa manages to rhyme “lambnap” when Claire’s stuffed lamb goes missing, before she realizes how upset Claire is. It would have been funnier if she’d kept rhyming even after realizing how distressing it was.
I love the image of Mal and Jessi beating Stacey and Claudia over the head with so much horse information against their wills that they can’t help but know horsey details.
The two houses that were broken into both had “Naughty” written on their wall in red. Then Kristy’s family receives a note in their mail box that says “Nice.” I get that from a certain twisted perspective. So why did the criminal then break into Abby’s house to leave a “Nice” note? Why would he want to do damage to the home of a family that still employed him?
Abby refers to Watson and Nannie as The Master Plantman and The Guru of Gardens.
Clue #3: Mrs. Korman spotted a vaguely familiar truck driving around at night.
Yet more Claudia spelling! Dont (three times), may be (maybe, twice), parrinoid.
Stacey and Claudia window shop inside Tiffany’s and a clerk even lets them try stuff on. Why? Don’t they work on commission?
“Someone” nearly pushes Stacey onto the subway tracks. This is the part where I would have gotten an adult (other than the doorman) involved, but Claudia and Stacey just keep it to themselves. The rest of the stuff going on in Stacey’s building (gum under the elevator buttons, florescent lights being stolen) is silly and prankish, but that’s actually serious.
Okay, so Ethan’s psycho ex is behind all the stupid little pranks in Stacey’s building, but how much skill does she need to break the elevator so that Claud and Stace are stuck between floors?
Mrs. Pike says she has an announcement to make and Mal assumes she’s pregnant. Her only worry is about how Claire would react. I’d be freaking out, wondering things like where the parents would plan to stuff a new baby in an already overcrowded house.
The Pikes have a fax machine?
Mallory’s one of those nerds who carries a briefcase. That…doesn’t surprise me.
Dawn: “Oh! It’s beautiful!”
Jessi: “The burglar?”
Dawn: “No. The snow.”
One of my favorite moments is when the BSC show up at Morbidda Destiny’s the morning after her burglar alarm goes off and offer to look for clues. She treats them as they should be treated: strangers (mostly) who show up ridiculously early in the morning to bug her. She even glares at Abby for a moment before she realizes she’s her next door neighbor.
I know I said it before, but of the families in the BSC universe, the Kormans are some of my favorites. They just seem normal (barring the Toilet Monster) and they seem to actually like spending time with their kids. Mr. Korman helps Bill, Melody, Linny and Hannie build a snow fort in the yard.
Again, not supposed to be funny, but…: Claudia suggests they go meet Ethan’s crazy ex, Cybil, in the basement like she wants them to do. She says everything will be fine as long as they “don’t pull some dumb horror movie stunt like getting separated.” Later, Stacey points out that “one lunatic could ruin your day.” And then some! Like your makeup or hair!
That said, I would so pay to see movies made out of these super mysteries. They’d be so horrible!

Sharon drives an Outback. Is that environmentally sound? Besides, if you’ve seen the map of Stoneybrook, the Pikes live just doors away from Mary Anne. She lives on the corner of Burnt Hill and Slate, right next door (and across Slate Street) from the Braddocks. The Braddocks’ back yard abuts the Pikes’ side yard. It probably would have been faster for MA to walk there. (Which is what she does a short time later.)

Is anyone surprised that Mary goes into labor right before Christmas in a snow storm?

Ugh. Our Christmas presents to Dawn this year: A) she gets to be in the book at all and B) she gets to be the one to solve the gardener mystery.

Kristy, Abby, Dawn and Jessi all gather at Abby’s during the sting operation to catch the gardener in the act. (Watson calls and fires him, and then police officers are staked out everywhere for when he shows up). Abby’s house is two houses down and on the same side of the street as Kristy’s. How can they even see anything unless the houses are really staggered? You’d think Morbidda Destiny’s house would block the view.

Best (and final) Claudia spelling of the book: Thair (there) aloane, loonatick. (Only three mistakes, but hey, she only wrote one sentence!)

Ha ha ha! Ethan, Stacey, and Claudia try the coat thing again when they’re stuck in the basement without any lights (and, as Claud points out, a loonatick.) Claudia’s holding a shirt and then she realizes that Ethan and Stacey are on the opposite side of the room and she’s holding on to the crazy person!

Claudia’s so considerate. She leaves the room so Stacey and Ethan can make up and make out. Aww.

Sign it’s not 1988 anymore #3: Both Stacey’s dad and Richard have cell phones.

Kristy tells everyone that Mal and MA will be sad to miss out on catching the gardener, while MA thinks Kristy will be jealous that she wasn’t there when Mary goes into labor and Mal finds out her real name (which, for the record, is Lisa Papademetriou.)

Lisa/Mary names her baby Nicholas. It’s funny for two reasons: A) every Greek family I’ve ever known has at least one Nick somewhere in the family tree and B) you could almost argue he was named after Nicky Pike.

And, because Jessi served almost no purpose in this book (she’s also the lucky so-and-so who gets to introduce the club members in the first chapter before anything happens), there is a seven page epilogue all written in her handwriting that I once again didn’t read.

Ooh, there are actually outfits in this one!

Claudia: red turtleneck dress, yellow braided belt, purple tights, yellow socks, black Docs, braided hair with rainbow ribbons. (So many colors…it makes my eyes hurt just picturing it.)

Stacey: dark blue skirt, blue and green patterned shirt that is short in front and long in back, dark blue tights and navy ankle boots, gold star earrings

Ethan: black jeans, black Docs, black sweater, white t-shirt, hair bleached white

Morbidda Destiny: long brown skirt, black and brown sweater
Next week: We’re finishing off the year with #92: Mallory’s Christmas Wish (or whatever the hell it’s called. Bah humbug.)
Starting in January, I’m going back to the roots of this blog. I’m starting over at the beginning of the series and blogging all the books I haven’t read as chronologically as /possible. So the first week of January will be the book that nearly killed the blog. That’s right, I’m finally going to tackle the damn Ghost as Dawn’s House, which will be followed by #10, #12 and #13…