The Baby-Sitter’s Club #28: Welcome Back, Stacey!

Stacey is living in New York and baby-sitting for a few kids in her building. All of the kids that live in the neighborhood think they’re too cool for sitting, so she ends up with most of the jobs. After her job, she heads downstairs and hears her parents fighting long before she gets to the door. She listens to them fight for a few minutes, before running over to Laine’s house.

Laine is a little hesitant to say anything and actually seems uncomfortable. She suggests Stacey call Claudia, which she does and interrupts a BSC meeting. Dawn thinks it doesn’t sound good when she tells her about the fights, but tries to make her feel better. When she gets home, her parents sit her down and tell her that they’re getting a divorce.

Stacey surprisingly acts like a regular kid by ignoring them completely for the most part and not doing anything they ask. Her parents tell the school and she gets special treatment there too. After a few days, she comes home and finds a note on her door, telling her to talk to her parents.

They go through the whole story with her, telling her that they’ve had problems since they moved back, partly because her mom didn’t want to leave Connecticut. They tried marriage counseling and when that didn’t work, the counselor suggested they divorce. Her dad wants to stay in NYC because of his job, but her mom is thinking about moving back to Stoneybrook and Stacey gets to pick who she wants to live with.

The first thing she does is call Laine, who begs her not to leave. Then she calls Claudia and Claud gets all excited about the idea of her moving back. Her mom decides to drive back and check out a few houses, so she goes along for the ride. She surprises Claudia and asks her to go with them. They see a couple of crappy houses and then find another house that they both like. Stacey gets to stay the night and take the train back in the morning, so they hold a big slumber party with the whole club.

Stacey does the typical “divorced kid” storyline when she tries to get her parents back together. She arranges special dates and dinners for them, but nothing works. Then her dad comes home and announces that he found a new place and signed all the paperwork. Her mom calls the real estate agent and tells her to start showing the house again.

Stacey is a little confused because the house is perfect for them, but her mom points out that it has four bedrooms and is too big for one person. She can’t make a decision until she knows what Stacey wants to do. She suggests looking for a smaller house and she tells her that she can’t find one she likes, so she’ll look at places on Long Island.

Stacey decides to make a pro and con list of where to live and NYC seems to win. She decides that the best thing for her and her mom though, is to move back to Stoneybrook. She tells her mom and lets her call the real estate agent. Then she tells her dad, who seems pretty upset at her decision.

Moving day arrives and her dad comes back from his new apartment to help. Laine brings over lox, bagels and coffee for them. They share a hug and on the way, her mom gives her an envelope from Laine. It’s a small locket half and Laine has the other half. They arrive back and find the whole club and a bunch of former charges waiting with a banner they made just for her.

The last chapter is about Stacey living in Stoneybrook. She’s trying to get used to everything and baby-sitting again. She admits to Claudia that she isn’t sure she made the right choice. She also tells Laine that, who says she did because she saw her list. At the end, she rides home with Mallory who lives behind her now and can finally admit that she’s ready to be back.

*Stacey’s mom spends $490 in one store on jewelry and close to $1,500 at Tiffany’s for more jewelry. I think I’d be a little pissed if I was her dad too!

*Laine is kind of a shitty friend. She blew her off when she first got sick and was diagnosed and then Stacey goes to her with a serious problem and she just suggests she call someone else.

*So do the Pikes live in the ghetto or what? In every other part of town, her mom can only afford a crap hole house with two bedrooms. In their neighborhood, she can buy a four bedroom house in really good shape.

*I’m a little surprised that her dad cries when she tells him she’s moving with her mom. It doesn’t seem like he really spends any time with her or notices that she’s alive for the most part.

*Stacey wears red shorts, purple suspenders, a red and yellow striped sweatshirt and a necklace made of fake bananas and oranges. That really hurts my head.

*Claudia wears black leggings, pink and black socks and a pink and black shirt. I’m assuming that it’s supposed to be the outfit on the cover, which isn’t too horrible. Stacey looks like a middle-aged woman in that outfit though.

*Stacey thinks that she doesn’t have very much competition when it comes to being cool in Stoneybrook, not like she has in NYC. Doesn’t the whole club kind of snub everyone else though? I always got the feeling that no one else really knew they existed…