Jessi's learning a secret language for a very special child.

The Baby-sitters Club #16: Jessi's Secret Language

So gather 'round, kiddies. Today we're going to learn a very special lesson about tolerance and acceptance of deaf kids and black people. Stoneybrook, CT is apparently a hotbed of prejudice so much that it makes my racist, homophobic, anti-feminist hometown look like Shangri-la. To be honest, I don't really have any recollection of this book. I think it might be one of the few early BSC books that I never actually read.

So Jessi just moved into Stacey's old house (sniff. Stacey! I miss you so much!) and everyone in Stoneybrook is apparently a racist except for the BSC and all of their clients. Jessi whines about it a lot. Seriously, I'm starting to see why she and Mal are best friends. (Let me just state here and now, for the record, that I know that racism exists and that it is awful. I do not mean to make light of it, and it is my heartfelt prayer that someday we will live in a world free from all forms of prejudice. That said, STFU Jessi. Your whining makes me hate you and it has nothing to do with your race.)

The BSC gets some new clients, the Braddocks. Jessi takes a regular sitting job for them and begins to learn sign language so she can care for seven-year-old Matt, who is profoundly deaf. She picks up on it in a snap, because apparently she is good at languages. For instance, she claims to have been nearly bilingual by the end of a one-week family vacation to Mexico. Um, Jessi? Being able to say "Donde esta el bano?" and "Dos cervezas, por favor" does not make one bilingual. STFU. Again. Matt and his sister Haley are new to the neighborhood and have trouble making friends, but once the BSC introduces them to other kids, they really don't seem to have much trouble. The other kids, especially the Pikes, who are far less annoying than usual in this book, think its super fun to learn sign language, and Matt is able to play sports and games with them, so really I don't understand why such a big deal was made about Matt and Haley's (who's not deaf but feels like having to look out for Matt makes the other kids think she's weird) "different-ness." Oh wait, it's so Jessi can make parallels to how she and her sister have had trouble adjusting to Stoneybrook because no one will even talk to them because they're black. And again, seriously, is Connecticut this homogenous? I've never been there, so maybe someone can enlighten me. Would there seriously not be one other black student in the entire Stoneybrook Middle School? I just don't buy this, but if someone tells me otherwise, I'll be happy to revise my stance.

In other news, Jessi also gets the lead in her ballet school's production of Coppelia. This is a big deal because she is one of the youngest advanced dancers and also because, say it with me, she is black (no one else, not even the snotty other dancers, makes a single comment about this, but Jessi points it out ad nauseum.) Jessi arranges for a special field trip for Matt's deaf-school class to come see the ballet, complete with signed narration of the story between the acts. This is a great idea and a nice thing for her to do, but I find it hard to believe that no one thought of it before. The idea is sparked when Haley tells Jessi that Matt has never been to the theater or to a show before. I find that hard to believe. I thought music and dance were huge things for deaf people. Doesn't everyone know they can feel the vibrations and stuff, or do I only know it because in the 90s I was obsessed with the deaf Miss America who danced? Matt's parents, who are deeply concerned and involved in their son's life, never thought to take him to a performance? They needed an 11 year old baby-sitter with a mountain of her own issues to figure this out for them? That fancy-pants private school doesn't take the kids to the ballet whenever they can? That place is definitely overcharging.

Final thoughts: Was there a point to this book? I really didn't see one, other than "Don't be a racist or intolerant toward the handicapped." Which is an excellent message, don't get me wrong, but couldn't it have been at least a little bit interesting? Even those after-school specials at least had bad haircuts to laugh at!

(Speaking of bad haircuts, I leave you with this little gem from when Jessi met Haley "Her blonde hair was cut short with a little tail in the back (very in)." No, seriously, it says that, with the emphasis and everything. I love these damn books.)