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?
