She baby-sits, she recycles---She's Super-Dawn!

The Baby-Sitters Club #57: Dawn Saves the Planet

Oh, Dawn. I think the reason I have a copy of this book is because my mom bought it as a gift for me when I was going through my own "Budding Environmentalist" phase, wherein I subscribed to Ranger Rick (does anyone else remember that magazine? I loved it! and side note, I just learned it still exists!) and yelled at my dad every time he threw away the newspaper. And then I grew up, and realized environmentalist girl really wasn't me, and now I'm the kind of person who sometimes forgets/is too lazy to put her empty wine bottles in the blue bin instead of the black one, and is probably going to hell. See you there.

List of things that are going wrong with the environment at this very moment (1992), as written by Mrs. Gonzalez, "who is very cool and has long dark hair that she wears in a thick braid down the center of her back" (Ok, this is relevant how? Is this some sort of standard for being cool? Someone enlighten me!) and as read aloud to the rest of the class by Dawn the brown-noser:

• Acid Rain and Air Pollution
• Vanishing Animal Life
• Too Much Garbage
• Water Pollution

Yeah, acid rain has really come back to bite us in the butt, huh? This book is so old! Not that it wasn't/isn't a problem, but when was the last time you really heard anything about acid rain? I'm surprised there's no mention of the "Greenhouse Effect". No mention of Global Warming or Climate Change anywhere. So old-school! (And I'm going to say right now, since I'm going to be making fun of a lot in this book, that does not mean I intend to make light of environmental issues. I fully accept and support that these issues exist and need to be addressed politically, socially, and ethically. But can we all agree to do that while still making fun of Dawn for being such a crunchy granola hippy?)

Only Jessi knows what's really wrong with Mary.

The Baby-sitters Club #61: Jessi and the Awful Secret

Ah, lovely. Another yawn-inducing episode of “Intrigue at the Dance Studio” starring everyone’s favorite (black) ballerina, Jessi Ramsey.

We open in the dance studio and are hit immediately with Madame Noelle’s accent and Jessi’s musings on how wonderful she is at ballet. We are also treated throughout this book to lengthy explanations of multiple ballet moves, as well as phonetic pronunciations of the French names. Forget Livemocha, I’ll just add French to the long list of things I’ve learned from the BSC. Turns out Jessi’s dance school is offering a free 6-week class to some underprivileged kids from Stamford and Mme. Noelle needs volunteers. Pretty much the whole class balks at giving up 6 weeks of their lessons to help some dumb kids, but Mme. Noelle clearly knows she’s not teaching at Juilliard, as she reminds her students that they’re probably going to end up as teachers at some point in their career (Because those who can’t do, teach. Not that I necessarily believe that, but hey, I’ve seen “A Chorus Line.” I was also one of the approximately eight people who watched Bunheads this summer. I think this qualifies me to speak on the matter.)

Jessi volunteers, obviI, and so does Mary, this other girl from her class and subject of the titular awful secret, which is anorexia. For the record, here’s my awful secret: I. Do. Not. Care. At. All. About Mary and her awful secret. Maybe if it were Katie Beth, instead of some tertiary character we’ll never hear from again. (Katie Beth is awesome. She’s the Cokie Mason of Mme. Noelle’s dance studio.) Or poor sad sack Carrie who’s about to graduate from dance school without ever having the lead in a ballet because she keeps losing out on them to our intrepid 11-year-old (black) heroine. Wouldn’t that seem like more compelling motivation for an eating disorder?

Who wouldn't want Claudia for a baby-sitter?

The Baby-sitters Club #56: Keep Out, Claudia!

You always know you're in for a treat when the BSC title includes its own exclamation point. Am I right or am I right? I totally remembered this book from my childhood, partly because I couldn't pronounce the word “prejudice”, which is used like 27 hundred times. I was actually pretty pleased with the handling of the main plotline here, but I could totally have done without the entire secondary plot, partly because it showcased one of my (many) BSC nemeses: the intolerable Jackie Rodowsky. Not to mention the insufferable Karen Brewer. Ugh. But we will get to that. All in good time, my friends.

New client alert (but don't get too attached. I'm 95% sure we never hear of these folks again, though with good reason.) Mrs. Denise Lowell requires a sitter for her 3 children: Caitlin, Mackie, and Celeste. Um, can I be prejudiced against Mrs. Lowell for naming her son “Mackie”? Mary Anne is the first unsuspecting soul to baby-sit for this fam. Mrs. Lowell gives her the once-over on the front stoop and deems her worthy. The kids are well-behaved, but inquisitive, asking MA all about her family and the other BSC members. When they hear about Mal's seven siblings, they decide the Pikes must be Catholic. I definitely remember that from my childhood reading of this book, because I was (and am) Catholic, but I had never heard that stereotype before. I knew plenty of people with big families, but it never occurred to me that their religion would have something to do with it. Also, isn't it a little weird for an 8 year old to know that? I mean, isn't that one of those wink-wink things people say because Catholics are technically not supposed to use birth-control? Does 8 year old Caitlin know that? Because that sort of skeeves me out.