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A review by ssshira
Kristy's Worst Idea by Ann M. Martin
4.0
in this oddly almost fanfic (alternate universe-style) installment by ghostwriter [a:Peter Lerangis|17216|Peter Lerangis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1273412599p2/17216.jpg], kristy comes back from hawaii and is bummed out that the club didn’t completely fall apart without her. in fact, after the events of [b:Stacey's Broken Heart|176729|Stacey's Broken Heart (The Baby-Sitters Club, #99)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387742413s/176729.jpg|170751], abby kind of got it together, and the other bsc members have started to vibe with her more lax presidential style. they have a meeting on labor day and everyone but kristy is surprised/bummed about it and then KRISTY is surprised/bummed that they don’t want to work on labor day because kristy is the job. like, not just married to the job, but IS the job. then jessi’s new ballet class is gonna be on fridays so they vote to change the friday bsc meetings to thursdays, which kristy freaks out about but agrees to anyway, and then mallory wants to do a writing class that meets on wednesdays which would mean changing those meeting dates too and kristy basically doubts everyone’s commitment to sparkle motion (a meme I’m sure I’ve used in bsc reviews before but it’s never not funny). and as a sort of last ditch effort kristy attempts to force this fall festival block party in spite of the fact that to do it as she wants to they will have to hang literally hundreds of apples from trees, and they will have to get an expensive block party permit, and also there’s already a similar fall party the town is hosting on the same day. and then when kristy is babysitting for the rodowskys jackie does something incredibly irresponsible because it’s a day that ends with a y and he always does that on those days and he ends up spraining his ankle and kristy blames herself. and claudia and mary anne aren’t getting along because they get into a fight while sitting for the barrett-dewitts because the kids are playing a game and claud wants them to stop so they can do an art project and mary anne is mad because she thinks claudia thinks she is boring and claudia is mad because she thinks mary anne thinks she is stupid. WHEW. sorry, I needed to take a second to get away from all the 13-year-old drama. okay, where were we? since the bsc is essentially imploding and because kristy thinks she is a terrible babysitter she suggests they disband. and they put it to a vote, and they all vote to disband, so they actually do. and then it turns into an interesting alternate universe-y plotline: the other middle schoolers in town are finally getting a chance to babysit and are not actually all that good at it because they don’t have any practice because the bsc has had a monopoly on all babysitting since its formation. claudia gets calls nonstop from parents asking for all the other sitters’ numbers who just complain to her that it was so much easier when the bsc existed. jamie newton thinks that since other people have been sitting for him it means everyone in the bsc hates him and that’s why they broke up. abby never gets any sitting jobs because she’s the newest member so the parents don’t know her well. eventually jackie rodowsky, who blames himself for the bsc breaking up since his injury set kristy’s idea for the bsc to break up in motion, tries to bike to kristy’s house sans helmet and ends up badly injured and hospitalized. the bsc realizes how much they care about kids and sitting and all that jazz so they get back together.
highlights:
-it’s interesting to see what actually happens when the bsc disbands, in the world imploding/angry parents ways and also the world being better off without the bsc/other kids finally getting a chance to babysit ways
-kristy seems to think it’s cool that other kids are getting a chance to babysit and even considers starting a business where she teaches babysitting basics. but then she finds cokie babysitting for a family and she can’t abide that, and it’s one of the things that makes her want to get the bsc back together. ah, nothing like blind cokie hatred.
-I like how personally the bsc kids take it, especially jamie newton and jackie rodowsky
-mr. papadakis tries to get the club to stay together by giving them a weekly retainer. ah, rich people who think they can get anything they want if they pay enough money.
-shea rodowsky claims while doing mad libs that an adverb is a verb from an advertisement, "like brush teeth or eat wheaties," and that a pronoun is the name of a pro team like the new york knicks.
-kristy thinks about how she could've prevented jackie from climbing a tree and mentions the prospect of coating the tree with vaseline. like what the philly cops did to the eagles fans this year!
-they're discussing the direction they want the club to go in, and some of the jokes are babysitting by fax, using the net, or virtual babysitting. man, 1996 was a long time ago.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-kristy grasping at straws with the fall festival is truly, truly depressing
-kristy makes a new sign advertising the new bsc hours in which she says it's instead of its. this is so unlike kristy.
-mary anne theorizes that the cafeteria dilutes their pesto with spinach and that's what makes it taste bad. I make spinach pesto and it's delicious!
-claudia having to deal with all the angry parents is truly, truly depressing
-kristy blaming herself for jackie’s latest disaster and refusing to babysit is truly, truly depressing
-when all the bsc members move on quickly kristy gets upset and thinks the bsc wasn't a good idea in the first place and it’s truly, truly depressing
-when sitting for the pikes, mal smashes claire's finger in a door by accident. when telling her it's wrong for her to take the blame, kristy realizes it's not her fault that jackie is a disaster. what a lovely coincidence that the first time kristy decides to actually babysit she gets to see a perfect parallel to her situation so she can learn her lesson
-ann's letter says that the bsc series has spawned three other series: the bsc mysteries, the little sister series, and the kids in ms coleman's class series. what about the super specials, portrait collections, special edition readers requests, and super mysteries?
jackie disasters:
-falls out of a tree and sprains his ankle
-crashes his bike and is not wearing a helmet and is actually badly hurt
gifts kristy brings everyone from hawaii:
-claudia: a huge pineapple-shaped clock whose two hands were a surfer and a surfboard
-abby: hula-grass hat
-stacey: toy ukulele
-mary anne: mirrored sunglasses
-mallory: pink-and-blue lei-shaped clip-on earrings
claudia outfit:
-"She was wearing a bracelet of dyed, braided shoelaces, along with a blousy ruffled shirt that looked as if it once belonged to Captain Hook; mismatched high-top Converse sneakers; and baggy, pinstriped men's suit pants, gathered at the waist with a bungee cord."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-caramel corn
-gumballs (from a mini gumball machine in the shape of a dolphin) in her closet
-doritos (n.s.)
-snickers bars in her closet
-milk duds (n.s.)
-tortilla chips in her closet
highlights:
-it’s interesting to see what actually happens when the bsc disbands, in the world imploding/angry parents ways and also the world being better off without the bsc/other kids finally getting a chance to babysit ways
-kristy seems to think it’s cool that other kids are getting a chance to babysit and even considers starting a business where she teaches babysitting basics. but then she finds cokie babysitting for a family and she can’t abide that, and it’s one of the things that makes her want to get the bsc back together. ah, nothing like blind cokie hatred.
-I like how personally the bsc kids take it, especially jamie newton and jackie rodowsky
-mr. papadakis tries to get the club to stay together by giving them a weekly retainer. ah, rich people who think they can get anything they want if they pay enough money.
-shea rodowsky claims while doing mad libs that an adverb is a verb from an advertisement, "like brush teeth or eat wheaties," and that a pronoun is the name of a pro team like the new york knicks.
-kristy thinks about how she could've prevented jackie from climbing a tree and mentions the prospect of coating the tree with vaseline. like what the philly cops did to the eagles fans this year!
-they're discussing the direction they want the club to go in, and some of the jokes are babysitting by fax, using the net, or virtual babysitting. man, 1996 was a long time ago.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-kristy grasping at straws with the fall festival is truly, truly depressing
-kristy makes a new sign advertising the new bsc hours in which she says it's instead of its. this is so unlike kristy.
-mary anne theorizes that the cafeteria dilutes their pesto with spinach and that's what makes it taste bad. I make spinach pesto and it's delicious!
-claudia having to deal with all the angry parents is truly, truly depressing
-kristy blaming herself for jackie’s latest disaster and refusing to babysit is truly, truly depressing
-when all the bsc members move on quickly kristy gets upset and thinks the bsc wasn't a good idea in the first place and it’s truly, truly depressing
-when sitting for the pikes, mal smashes claire's finger in a door by accident. when telling her it's wrong for her to take the blame, kristy realizes it's not her fault that jackie is a disaster. what a lovely coincidence that the first time kristy decides to actually babysit she gets to see a perfect parallel to her situation so she can learn her lesson
-ann's letter says that the bsc series has spawned three other series: the bsc mysteries, the little sister series, and the kids in ms coleman's class series. what about the super specials, portrait collections, special edition readers requests, and super mysteries?
jackie disasters:
-falls out of a tree and sprains his ankle
-crashes his bike and is not wearing a helmet and is actually badly hurt
gifts kristy brings everyone from hawaii:
-claudia: a huge pineapple-shaped clock whose two hands were a surfer and a surfboard
-abby: hula-grass hat
-stacey: toy ukulele
-mary anne: mirrored sunglasses
-mallory: pink-and-blue lei-shaped clip-on earrings
claudia outfit:
-"She was wearing a bracelet of dyed, braided shoelaces, along with a blousy ruffled shirt that looked as if it once belonged to Captain Hook; mismatched high-top Converse sneakers; and baggy, pinstriped men's suit pants, gathered at the waist with a bungee cord."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-caramel corn
-gumballs (from a mini gumball machine in the shape of a dolphin) in her closet
-doritos (n.s.)
-snickers bars in her closet
-milk duds (n.s.)
-tortilla chips in her closet