February 6, 2013
BSC #112, Kristy and the Sister War: The Time Kristy Saved a Family from Imploding
It’s hard to see here, but Shannon looks like Michelle Williams on this cover
Summary: The ghostwriters realized they haven’t used Shannon in a while, so she gets to be a part of this book. Kristy starts sitting for her sisters Maria and Tiffany a lot, and the girls complain that Shannon has too many after-school activities and is never around. Really, the problem is that the Kilbournes never spend time together, so the whole family is kind of a mess.
Kristy tries to get Tiffany and Maria to do helpful things for Shannon, but they all backfire. Like they try to bake cookies but the batches are horrible. When Shannon gets mad, her sisters start playing pranks on her. It starts out pretty innocently, with messing with her homework and changing her schedule, then gets out of hand, to the point where their parents should really step in. (Hair dye in her shampoo bottle? Come on, Kilbournes. Pay attention to your children.)
Because she’s been spending so much time with the Kilbournes, Kristy sees what’s really going on, and hears from the girls how unhappy they are with not getting to spend more time together as a family. She encourages them to write a letter to Shannon and a letter to their parents to express their feelings. The girls do, and Shannon agrees that she’s doing too many things and needs to cut back. Their parents also make an effort to have family dinners together and enjoy each other’s company more. And Kristy shows that she might actually make a good therapist or counselor someday.
B-plots: The BSC girls help organize a Stoneybrook all-school dance between three middle schools. Claudia tries to fix Kristy up with a friend of her boyfriend’s, but it’s not a love match. Kristy comes up with the idea to help the kids of Stoneybrook organize their own dance, because of course she does. The kids get worked up who to take to the dance, so the BSC girls tell them they’re not allowed to bring dates.
Thoughts: Tiffany’s 11 – why does she need a sitter? Not to mention that previous books – specifically Kristy and the Snobs – have mentioned that SHE’S a sitter.
With a friend like Claudia, how is it possible that Kristy doesn’t know what snickerdoodles are?
Jordan: “This is bor-ing.” Tiffany: “Did I just hear you volunteer for the decorations committee, Jordan?” Rock on, Tiffany.
Jordan, re: Maria: “She’s the only one who knows the recipe for Rice Krispie Treats.” The recipe’s on the box, moron.
Claudia wears a lime green sweater with a pink skirt. Kristy says she looks great, so I guess Kristy’s secretly blind and we didn’t know it.
I can buy some of the kids wanting dates, but most of them are right at that age where they find kids of the opposite sex icky. Speaking of icky, I find Maria and Tiffany competing over Jordan weird. Maria’s eight. It turns out neither actually likes him; they actually like two of the other triplets. Still. Eight.
Cokie’s dance outfit: a zebra top, a leopard-skin miniskirt, and Dalmatian go-go boots. I bet it would all look fabulous on Claudia.
November 13, 2012
BSC Mystery #30, Kristy and the Mystery Train: Strangers On a Train
That’s how I look when I run, too
Summary: Derek Masters is back in Stoneybrook, but only briefly – he’s just finished a movie about a boy who witnesses a murder on a train, and he’s about to take a train from Boston to Charleston to help promote it. Mr. Masters, one of the producers, asks Kristy, Abby, and Stacey to come along to look after Derek, his brother Todd, David Michael, Linny Papadakis, Nicky Pike, Buddy Barrett, James Hobart, Derek’s friend Greg, and Todd’s friend Daniel. (Yes, Mr. Masters is crazy for letting all those kids come along.)
Since this is a mystery, there is, of course, some weirdness on the train. People get notes talking about secrets coming out, and it’s not clear if they’re part of the movie’s publicity. The ex-husband of one of the movie’s stars comes to the train station and pleads with her to work out their problems, then makes some threats. Someone puts a rubber hand in that same actress’ lunch. A smoke bomb is set off. There are a ton of people on the train who could all be suspects: the movies’ leads, the publicist, the only reporter allowed on board for the whole trip, and the screenwriter, Daniel’s father Ronald.
One night Kristy, Stacey, Todd, and Daniel are in the observation car when they hear two men fighting. It’s too dark to see who they are (or much of anything, really), but Kristy thinks she sees one man push the other off the train. When the possible crime is investigated, no one is missing from the train. The only clues (if you can call them that) the BSC girls find are a page from the script and a note the reporter was given telling her to be in the observation car at the time of the possible attack.
The BSC girls tell their charges what’s going on, and they all search through people’s rooms to see who’s missing a page from the script. (Totally legit babysitting activity, by the way.) All of the scripts are intact, but Derek later realizes that while the dialogue is correct, the names of the characters on the page aren’t the same as the names of the characters in the actual movie. Kristy realizes that the page is from an earlier draft, which would only be owned by Ronald, the screenwriter.
The lights go off and another smoke bomb is detonated, but Kristy manages to get to Stacey and Abby and fill them in. They confront Ronald, who confesses that he took the idea for the movie from a student who’s now blackmailing him. He was fighting with the student, Laurence Channing, in the observation car and thinks Channing is going to come after Daniel. Indeed, Channing tries, but Kristy protects Daniel, and Mr. Masters and Ronald subdue the crazy blackmailer. And no one even had to call Sgt. Johnson!
In the most boring B-plot ever, the other BSC girls babysit at the new/old country club and Jessi teaches Stephen to swim. See, told you it was boring.
Thoughts: This is one of the better BSC books, though there are too many suspects and red herrings. It’s a little like an Agatha Christie mystery for tweens.
Three days on a train with nine elementary-school-aged boys? I would tie myself to the tracks. (Though the kids are really well-behaved.)
The director’s name is Rock Harding. Um, what kind of movies does he direct, exactly?
Other ridiculously named characters: Jane Atlantic, Anne Arbour, Benjamin Athens, Elle San Carlos.
Channing’s plan, revealed after all the drama, is fairly awesome in a soap opera way: He was going to fake his death, frame Ronald for his murder, wait until he was convicted, then reemerge pretending he had amnesia. I would read that book.
September 17, 2012
BSC #107, Mind Your Own Business, Kristy!: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Angelica looks appropriately awful. (This caption was brought to you by the letter A.)
Summary: Charlie Thomas has just broken up with his girlfriend, Sarah, which bums Kristy out, since she liked Sarah. Kristy then gets bummed out further when Charlie becomes interested in an annoying girl named Angelica. He’s supposed to be helping out with a softball clinic for the Krushers, but he’d rather flirt and try to look cool.
Kristy decides to play matchmaker and try to get Charlie and Sarah back together. It doesn’t work. At all. Charlie tries to get some famous baseball player named Jack Brewster to come to the clinic, but he forgets. This plus the matchmaking plus the whole Angelica thing leads to fighting, and eventually Kristy tells Charlie he’s just like their father, which is a pretty low blow, even though he kind of deserved it.
Kristy wins four tickets to a rock concert and decides to take Claudia, Charlie, and Charlie’s friend, who eventually gets replaced by Angelica. They borrow Watson’s car, but Charlie’s so unused to driving a car that actually works that he’s not very good at it. Angelica asks to drive, and she gets pulled over for speeding. She tries to switch places with Charlie since she doesn’t have a license, and she winds up driving the car into a guardrail.
Charlie and Angelica get into major trouble with their parents, and Angelica decides Charlie isn’t mature enough for her. Yeah, the girl who drove without a license, tried to switch places with someone else, and crashed a car is really mature. Charlie decides Angelica’s right, though, since he couldn’t even be responsible enough to help with a kids’ softball clinic. He comes through in the end, going back to helping Kristy, and the kids even get to meet Jack Brewster, who turns out to be related to Sarah.
Thoughts: Kristy: “When a boy is forceful and responsible, people say he’s ‘strong-willed’ or a ‘born leader.’ But if you’re a girl, you’re ‘bossy.’” Well, yes, but also, you’re bossy.
David Michael thinks it’s lame that a college wants to turn people into leaders and tells Charlie to go to one that will make him an astronaut. Hee.
Charlie eats grapes dipped in Cool Whip. Is that a thing? Do people really do that?
The Hsus hire a non-BSC sitter (Angelica), then have her take the kids to BSC-run Krushers practices. That’s mean.
Either Charlie has two friends named Travis or he’s still hanging out with that jerk Dawn kind of dated.
After the accident, Kristy asks a cop to take her and Claudia to the concert. That seems very un-Kristy of her.
Jack: “Give that girl a contract!” Nina: “My mommy wears contracts, but she changes to glasses at night.” Adorable.
May 17, 2012
BSC #100, Kristy’s Worst Idea: Sometimes I Doubt Your Commitment to the BSC
The real bad ideas here are everyone’s clothes
Summary: School is back in session (eighth grade again! Woo!), and the girls are so busy with non-club activities that it’s hard for them to keep up with meetings. Kristy is not pleased. She tries to organize a big fall celebration including activities like maple sugaring (huh?) and apple picking, but no one else is interested. Plus, Jessi wants to take a ballet class and Mallory wants to join a writing group at the same time as club meetings. There’s also a stupid Mary Anne/Claudia fight.
Then Jackie Rodowsky falls out of a tree and hurts his ankle while Kristy’s sitting for him. She blames herself for his injury and starts doubting herself as a sitter. Add that to the other girls having trouble getting to all the meetings and everyone wanting time to do things other than sit, and it all equals Kristy deciding that the club should disband. The girls will keep sitting, but they won’t have meetings anymore.
Kristy surprises herself by being a little relieved at first. She has lots of free time now, and she gets to avoid sitting, which she still isn’t comfortable with. The other girls have a harder time: Mallory and Abby have no other friends, Claudia’s overrun by phone calls from parents who don’t know the girls’ home numbers, and Stacey can’t buy clothes because she’s not making any money. Also, their sitting charges think the girls hate them, and the parents can’t live without the BSC. (They start hiring other girls in Stoneybrook, including Cokie, but of course, non-BSC sitters aren’t as good as the BSC girls.)
Jackie tries to fix everything by riding his bike to Kristy’s house, but he falls off and winds up in the hospital. All the girls rush over to check on him, and he begs them to work things out. Kristy gets everyone together and suggests that the club start meeting again. Stacey is the only one who isn’t sure; she’s afraid they’ll backslide again. Kristy suggests a month-long trial period to see how things go. But there are still dozens of books left in the series, so obviously it works out okay.
Thoughts: Why would Kristy buy Mallory clip-on earrings when she has pierced ears?
Mr. Papadakis is so upset about the club splitting up that he offers them a retainer to get back together. Dude, take it! Free money!
“If a cologne were based on Cokie, it would be called Obnoxious.” Snerk. She would probably take it as a compliment, though. You just know one of Cokie’s life goals is to have her own perfume.
Jackie’s mom is all, “Oh, he’s okay, it’s just a concussion.” Um, they have to DRAIN FLUID FROM HIS SKULL. That’s not “okay.”
Claudia: “The last time Mr. Hobard called, I made him help me with my math homework.” For some reason, that cracked me up. That, and her telling Janine that her homework is covered in ink blots because she was stabbing it with her pen.
March 27, 2012
BSC Mystery #25, Kristy and the Middle School Vandal: “You Guys Need Me. I Keep You from Becoming Complacent”
Cary isn't cute enough. NOT CUTE ENOUGH
Summary: The school year is almost over (allegedly), but the teachers at SMS are talking about striking if they don’t get an acceptable contract in place for next year. On top of that, the BSC girls are also dealing with some vandalism around school, which seems to be the work of the Mischief Knights, specifically Cary. Except the Mischief Knights usually sign their work with a red MK, and the recent vandalism has been signed with a green MK. The girls think the Mischief Knights are either trying to throw the scent off of themselves or someone’s trying to frame them.
Cary and the BSC girls get into it about whether the girls are capable of figuring out who’s behind the vandalism, and Cary challenges them to a mystery war. He’ll plant eight clues and they’ll have six days to solve them all. If they do, he’ll leave them alone. If they don’t, Cary gets Kristy’s watch.
As the girls work on the mystery (clues below), the vandalism continues, so they really have two mysteries to solve. At various times they suspect a school board member who’s really angry about the strike; Brad, the guy who sold Abby her “study guide” and got in trouble for it; and a guy named Troy who was mysteriously suspended for two weeks but keeps turning up on campus. Cary looks less and less like the culprit as time goes on, though at one point Kristy thinks he’s guilty and trying to set them up.
Cary’s last clue instructs the girls to figure out who the vandal is, which is kind of weird, because they were trying to do that anyway. Mary Anne figures out that since the vandal has been using green instead of red and mistook a green car for the vice principal’s red car (which he keyed), the culprit must be colorblind. Claudia’s knowledge of fashion helps her realize that it’s Troy, as his clothes never match.
The girls want to break into Troy’s locker to see if he has any green paint or chalk in it, but this requires asking Cary for help, which requires them to forfeit the war (and Kristy’s watch). But it’s worth it, as they prove Troy was the vandal and somehow get the strike called off. Cary will still be allowed to bug them, but for me, that’s a plus.
The B-plot involves BSC sitting charges doing scavenger hunts. It’s dull.
Thoughts: This is my favorite BSC book. It reminds me a tiny bit of another awesome book, The Westing Game.
Cary has nice handwriting and is sarcastic. Just two more reasons I adore him.
Claudia has mint chocolate M&Ms. Do those really exist? If so, I need some.
During a scavenger hunt, one of the Hobart boys sees a garden gnome “among the bushes at one side of Kristy’s old house.” The ghostwriter says that Claudia doesn’t know who it belongs to. Okay, I know Claudia isn’t the brightest, but she would know that the Perkinses live there, especially since she lives right across the street.
Here are Cary’s clues, which are mostly pretty clever:
- “Get Your Mother (understands).” GYM, under the bleachers.
- “a drop of golden sun = re (as in the song from The Sound of Music)
just short of failing = D (the grade before F)
a skater’s figure = 8
not him, you see, but = her
(where does it all come from?)” Re + D + 8 + her = radiator. “It all” (heat) comes from the boiler room. - “Toasted gloves or barbecued bats, anyone?” This refers to the supply shack Kristy thought she burned down in Kristy and the Copycat.
- “Cafeteria hamburger + A Theory of Man and Woman – SMS on Street = a fly on the wall of…”
A cafeteria hamburger costs $1.69. A Theory of Man and Womanis a book with the library call number 305. The school’s street address is 358 Elm Street. 169 + 305 – 358 = 116, a biology classroom with a giant picture of a fly on the wall. - “Nothing personal, Claudia, but check your spelling.” Claudia has to take a spelling test on a computer she used when she wrote her personals column.
- “B2 or not B2…that is the question. (Are you sitting down?)” The next clue is under seat B2 in the auditorium.
- “Hey Abby. IPA2tFotUSoAand2tR [picture of four witches] (look up)” The letters and numbers are an abbreviation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Four witches stand = “for which it stands.” Abby is instructed to look up at the flag in her and Cary’s homeroom.
- “Bring me the head of the False Mischief Knights!”
February 8, 2012
BSC #95, Kristy + Bart = ?: The Friend Zone
I love the look on Kristy's face
Summary: We all know Bart has been Kristy’s “sort-of boyfriend” for a while, and now he wants to be her actual boyfriend. He lets her know by trying to make out with her during a movie, inviting her to a school dance, and introducing her to friends as his girlfriend. Kristy’s semi-clueless, since she thinks they’re in agreement about just being a little more than friends. She also isn’t sure she wants to be more than a little more than friends.
Bart drops by the Brewer/Thomas house one evening to watch a baseball game while Kristy’s babysitting. They get caught kissing, and Kristy realizes too late that she’s broken her mom’s rule about having a guy over when no adults are around. (It’s never been an issue; it’s always just been that Sam and Charlie couldn’t have girls over.) Since Kristy doesn’t think of Bart as her boyfriend anyway, she didn’t think about the rule. She gets grounded and blames Bart, even though he had no idea there was any rule.
With some help from Mary Anne and Jessi, Kristy decides to tell Bart how she feels (I know! A novel idea!). He tells her he wants a real relationship, not just one where they hang out and are really just friends. Kristy admits that she’s not ready for that. She thinks things will go back to the way they were, but it sounds like things are a little awkward instead. Poor Bart, stuck in the friend zone.
Kristy’s involved in the B-plot as well, as she comes up with a Guinness Book-like project for kids. It’s actually a good idea.
Thoughts: Kristy sure is a drama queen. Wait, why am I surprised? She’s also really annoying in this book; she comes across very arrogant and full of herself. And as mature as she tends to come across, at least in terms of watching kids, she really isn’t. Though I guess I have to admire her for admitting that she’s not quite ready to date. Of course, then the question is, why am I admiring a fictional character?
Grounding Kristy for breaking a rule is reasonable, but making her stay in her room the whole time is a little much.
Kristy calling Jessica for advice about boys seems kind of random, but I get the feeling that Jessi gives good advice.
Kristy gives Bart a hilarious written speech to tell him how she feels:
“Hi, Bart, how’s it going? I realize I hung up on you and that was rude. So I would like to clarify my position in terms of my feelings and in regard to the breakage of the house rule which you already know about. First of all, I have and will like you in the sense of being a friend, but I felt that the pressure which I was feeling from you was changing the way that I conceived of our friendship but maybe not in the direction that it was meant to happen in my own mind, and not in the sense of measuring up to what you expected in terms of me being a girlfriend or not.”
Girl, back away from the thesaurus.
Lindsey DeWitt has a dead fly collection. Someone please get that child some help.
November 22, 2011
BSC #89, Kristy and the Dirty Diapers: The Cult Recruits Another Member
Crap, Kristy kind of looks like me on this cover
Summary: Kristy accepts a sponsorship for the Krushers from a guy named Mr. Davis who has a diaper service. She doesn’t quite know what she’s getting into when she agrees; she really just likes the idea of new equipment and uniforms. But the uniforms say “Davis Diapers,” so the kids are embarrassed to wear them (and who wouldn’t be?). Plus, Mr. Davis thinks he now has a say in things like coaching, but he’s horrible at it, yelling at the kids and almost making them cry.
Kristy is also facing issues with a new girl in her neighborhood, Abby Stevenson. Abby and her identical twin sister Anna have just moved to Stoneybrook from Long Island, and Kristy and the BSC girls quickly become friends with them. Despite the fact that Abby’s more like Kristy (mainly athletic and loud), Kristy feels like she has more of a connection to Anna (who’s quieter and loves music).
In truth, Kristy finds Abby kind of annoying, but it’s totally because they’re so much alike. The twins and their mother spend the night with the Brewer-Thomases when they learn they don’t have electricity in their new house, and Abby is pretty much the center of attention because she’s such a ham. Kristy thinks she’s clamoring for that attention.
Abby winds up helping Kristy at a Krushers practice, which allows Kristy to see how good she is with kids. Anna has also been working with kids, helping out Kristy’s neighbor’s granddaughter, who’s staying with her while her parents are going through a divorce. The club is getting overwhelmed with calls, and Shannon can’t replace Dawn full-time, so it’s easy to see where this is going.
But first, Abby out-Kristys Kristy by standing up to Mr. Davis after a particularly cringeworthy encounter in which he treats the Krushers like dirt. Kristy has been treading lightly, not wanting to sever their deal (even though it would obviously be best for everyone), so Abby does it for her. Kristy realizes that she does like Abby after all, so she asks her to be her assistant coach.
Kristy then decides that the twins would be great additions to the BSC. The other BSC girls agree, so Kristy brings the twins to a meeting and asks them to join. Abby says yes, but in a shocking twist, Anna declines. One out of two is good enough for the BSC girls, though, so Abby is the newest member of the cult club.
There’s a whole subplot with Dru, the granddaughter, and how the BSC girls want to help her make friends, and how she joins the Krushers but sucks, so she forms a band, but it’s dumb, so I’ll skip it.
Thoughts: Abby was a very polarizing character, but I, for one, loved her. She became my favorite right away.
Kristy notices that the guest bedroom is really dusty, so she, Sam, and Charlie quickly clean it so the asthmatic, allergy-suffering Abby can sleep there. I thought that was really nice for teenagers who probably don’t willingly clean their own rooms.
This is actually the nicest thing Kristy does in the book. She spends a lot of it complaining, mostly about Abby but a little about other people. She’s even snottier than usual.
There’s no way the Bashers are scoring 30- and 40-something runs in a single game.
Stacey thinks Abby’s asthma could be a problem because she could have an attack while she’s babysitting. For someone with an illness that requires monitoring and possible emergency intervention, Stacey is a little unrealistic.
Shouldn’t Kristy have talked to Abby and Abby about joining the club before she extended the invitation?
Also, I love how Abby’s response is, “Sure! I guess.” You guess? Poor girl, you have no idea what you’re casually saying yes to.
I’m kind of surprised the girls ever talk to Anna again after she turns them down.
July 20, 2011
BSC Mystery #19, Kristy and the Missing Fortune: Go for the Gold
Nothing suspicious here...just digging holes in the middle of the night...
Summary: Kristy learns that one of her ancestors was a woman named Christina Thomas who vanished from her family’s home, Squirelot, under mysterious circumstances. Some documents and a bunch of gold went missing at the same time. The BSC girls start investigating, thinking they’ll be able to spend the gold once they recover it.
At the same time, they’re volunteering to help clean up an arboretum in town. A development company wants to buy it and tear it down, but there’s also another interested buyer. If the girls (and a bunch of their sitting charges) can help clean it up in time, the buyer will save it. However, strange things seem to be happening while the girls are working at the arboretum, and they think someone’s sabotaging the clean-up effort.
Thanks to some good, old-fashioned research, Kristy discovers that one of Christina’s relatives, Mildred, lives in Stoneybrook. Kristy visits and learns that Christina ran away because her brother wanted to force her into a common-law marriage that would help him get access to her inheritance. Christina was going to elope with a guy named Henry, who had to go off to fight in the Civil War before they could leave. The story is that Christina went after him, but he died. No one knows what really happened, and all they have to go on is a letter Christina wrote Henry.
More research turns up the revelation that the arboretum is Squirelot. The BSC girls then use Christina’s letter to figure out that she had hidden something for Henry on her family’s land. They do some digging, looking for the treasure, but don’t get a chance to clean up before the potential buyer comes by to see the arboretum. She decides not to buy the land, so all their hard work might be for nothing. Oh, and Cokie’s been lurking, seemingly listening in on the girls’ conversations.
Kristy uses a book about Stoneybrook’s history to figure out the rest of the mystery: There was a full moon the night Christina ran away, and she was trying to tell Henry to stand in a certain spot at Squirelot because the moon would illuminate her hiding spot. The girls head to the arboretum in the middle of the night (aided and abetted by the ever-helpful Charlie), but before they can find the hiding spot, they realize Cokie’s followed them. She explains that Mildred is her grandmother, and she told Cokie some of what Kristy was looking into. If there’s gold at Squirelot, she wants in.
Cokie and the BSC girls wait until the moon comes out, then dig under the tree it illuminates. They find a locket with a picture of Christina (who looks a lot like Kristy), the lease to Squirelot, and a letter telling Henry that Christina took the gold with her. The lease states that Squirelot is to go to Henry; if he dies, it goes to the town. Cokie’s disappointed that there’s no treasure, but the BSC girls are just happy that they’ve saved the arboretum after all. It’s not all good news, though: Kristy and Cokie might be related.
Thoughts: I like that the girls solved the mystery with books and brains. And it was an actual mystery, unlike some of the plots these mysteries try to pass off as suspenseful.
Trivia: Nannie loves the Knicks.
Squirelot is a stupid name.
There’s some nice continuity here with Kristy saying that Mallory talking about Jackie’s loose tooth made her queasy. She’s mentioned in previous books (I think even the very first one) that one of the things she hates most is loose teeth.
I would think Claudia, as an artist, would know how to spell “statue.”
July 4, 2011
BSC #81, Kristy and Mr. Mom: Serious as a Heart Attack
It was then that David Michael realized no one had noticed he was turning into a rooster
Summary: Watson has a heart attack and is told to stop working so hard. He decides to become a stay-at-home dad and let his vice presidents take care of his company. This works out well – too well, in fact, because Nannie decides that Watson’s doing such a good job at her job that the family doesn’t need her anymore. She announces that she’s moving into her own place.
Everything continues to go all right until Karen and Andrew show up for a month. (Of course it’s Karen’s fault everything falls apart.) Then suddenly no one in a position of responsibility can keep it together anymore. Kristy tells Nannie how things are going and asks for help hiring a housekeeper. Nannie tells her that the family doesn’t need a housekeeper, they need her back. In the end, Watson decides to work a few hours from home each day and split the household responsibilities with Nannie. Yay, happy ending!
While this is going on, Mrs. Marshall (mother of Nina and Eleanor) keeps hiring sitters and not telling them there will be three extra kids in the house while they’re sitting. Mallory even has to call Jessi to come over and help when one of the kids gets hurt. The next time Mrs. Marshall calls, two sitters go over, and when she refuses to pay both of them, they leave. Then they realize that no one ever told their clients that there’s a club rule about sending two sitters for more than four kids. So the BSC girls realize that they made a mistake, and Mrs. Marshall realizes that she shouldn’t have sprung the three extra kids on them, but I still think she’s kind of a jerk.
Thoughts: I hate the phrase “Mr. Mom.” It implies that there are different jobs for mothers and fathers. There’s no such thing as a Mr. Mom. A Mr. Mom is a dad.
I’m not sure we’ve ever heard before what Watson does, but he’s the CEO of an insurance company.
I’m impressed with how well Watson’s ex and her husband get along with the Thomases. They even hire sitters from the BSC.
Five adults and teenagers can’t handle four kids without Nannie? Watson and the Thomases (which sounds like a Thomas Edison tribute band) are truly incompetent. Remember, just a couple years ago, Mrs. Thomas was caring for four kids on her own.
April 11, 2011
BSC Mystery #15, Kristy and the Vampires: Go Away, Twilight Fans, This Isn’t What You Think
I like my vampires broody or platinum blond, thank you
Summary: Derek Masters, my favorite recurring characters, is coming back to Stoneybrook for the summer, to shoot a TV movie called Little Vampires. His parents hire Kristy to look after him on the set. The other BSC girls, as well as many other Stoneybrookites, hang out on the set as well. Strange things start to happen, at first just little walking-disaster-type things perpetrated by Derek, but then a pane of break-away glass is replaced with real glass, and a stuntwoman’s harness breaks. The BSC girls are all, “Mystery! We’ll solve it!”
The girls have a list of suspects, including the prop guy (who was fired after the glass incident), Derek’s co-star Carson (who’s being upstaged by Derek and clearly doesn’t like him), Derek’s manager, the movie’s PR person (since any publicity is good publicity), and even Cokie Mason, who keeps hanging around, trying to get Carson’s attention. But that’s mostly because she throws a party for the cast and crew, and everyone gets food poisoning. She must have served red herring. (Cough. Any laughs for that?)
Kristy finally pieces together that a girl who’s been hanging around Carson is the daughter of the guy who supplied the not-breakaway glass. Kristy finds out that the girl has been reading a manual about car maintenance, and she tampered with the brakes on the car Derek’s being driven around in. She stops the driver from going anywhere and outs the crazy girl, who wanted to get Derek out of the way because he was stealing all of his scenes with Carson. Yes, there was attempted murder in this BSC book. Also, Mallory is hand-picked by the director to be an extra. I ask, which is more surprising?
In the B plot, Claire is too scared to go to the movie set because of all the vampires. Kristy solves that by having her dress up as a witch, which she thinks is scarier than a vampire, and “scare” the vampires on the set. That’s actually pretty brilliant.
Thoughts: Once again, Stoneybrook turns its back on child-labor laws. Having a 13-year-old watch an eight-year-old on a movie set is totally not legal.
Carson doesn’t help to dispel the hunky-actors-are-dumb stereotype by thinking a TV movie about vampires will make his career.
“What good is being a movie star if you can’t eat cookies whenever you want to?” This is why I love Derek.
