August 28, 2010
BSC Mystery #4, Kristy and the Missing Child: Another Traumatizing BSC Book
Whoever that blond kid is, he/she has the world's worst haircut
Summary: One of Kristy’s Krushers, Jake Kuhn, disappears on his way home from a game. His mom worries that her ex-husband has grabbed him, since he was angry that she wouldn’t let Jake go on a trip with him to Europe. The BSC girls and some of their sitting charges think Jake might be stuck somewhere, so they go out looking for him. Kristy takes charge (of course) and organizes search parties. Other kids think Jake was kidnapped and do a little panicking (though not much, considering the situation).
On one of their jaunts to look in places Jake might be, Kristy, Bart, David Michael, and Matt and Haley Braddock visit a construction site and discover that Jake fell through the floor and has been trapped there. He’s fine, and Kristy is named a hero, even though Matt was the one who thought they should look there. And then at SMS’s Awards Night, she gets a mini umbrella and the title of Class Protector a plaque.
In the B plot, Mary Anne is flunking home ec, but she salvages her grade by inventing Jell-o Jigglers.
Thoughts: I loved this book when I was younger, even though it kind of freaked me out. This series has a way of slipping slightly traumatizing events into books. A missing dog? Okay. A missing child? Not really age-appropriate.
Mary Anne skips an emergency club meeting to work on a home-ec project. That girl clearly does not have her priorities in order.
Speaking of the whole home-ec subplot, doesn’t Mary Anne seem like the club member most likely to do well in that class?
Kristy isn’t sure how to help find Jake at first, since she doesn’t have walkie-talkies like the police do. Uh…what?
Mary Anne panics over a test about Jell-O. Why would a home-ec teacher test students on how to make Jell-O? First of all, a six-year-old could do it, and second of all, memorizing the process isn’t going to get you ahead in life. It’s on every box anyway. Why don’t they teach the students how to roast a turkey or balance a checkbook or do a load of laundry – you know, stuff they’re going to have to do later in life?
I’m not really sure why Bart’s in this book. He kind of just hangs out. And almost kisses Kristy. Wow, way to keep your mind on the missing child, Bart.
Pete Black is expected to be named class clown? I didn’t think Alan Gray had much competition in that department.
megan s. said,
August 29, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Buffy reference! yay