The Baby-Sitters Club #83: Stacey vs. the BSC

Stacey has been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend Robert and his friends. She goes out frequently with his group, shows up late for BSC meetings and doesn’t take any responsibility for her actions. When his group decides at the last minute to go out for pizza, she asks Mary Anne to take her sitting job at the Pike house, saying she had an emergency.

Of course Dawn follows her, sees what she’s doing and confronts her. She then tells the rest of the BSC and they gang up on her. She makes plans to go shopping with Mary Anne to make it up to her. When they get ready to leave, she realizes she has a sitting job and has to cancel their trip. This pretty much explains the whole book: she knows she’s doing something wrong, but keeps doing it anyway.

Robert’s group then decides to throw a party at his house. Stacey gives it some thought and decides to invite Claudia, but no one else from the club. She decides this after seeing Kristy, Mary Anne and Dawn acting up at a restaurant. Claudia makes it clear that she doesn’t want to come, but Stacey kind of forces the issue.

Then Robert learns that he can’t have the party at his house because his parents have plans already. He asks Stacey to do it and she agrees, but then decides to still not invite any other club members. People keep talking about the party at school and yet she doesn’t realize that’s a bad thing. Mary Anne and Dawn show up at her house and both are sad that she didn’t invite them. They see Claudia, exchange words and then she gets pissed at Stacey for putting her in the middle.

The BSC is also helping get a talent show going with kids from the neighborhood. Charlotte is taking piano lessons and doesn’t want to be in the show, but Stacey convinces her by promising to sit in the audience and watch her. The talent show comes the day after the party and Stacey doesn’t want to see any club members, so she doesn’t go. Charlotte bursts into tears because she isn’t there and Claudia calls to yell at her about it.

At the next meeting, Stacey has a standoff with the other girls. They all point out that she didn’t act this way until Robert, but she’s tired of hearing them complain about Robert when it’s “clear” that she’s just too mature for them. She quits the club and Kristy fires her. The book ends with her feeling a little sad at 5:30 on a Friday, but going to see Charlotte play at a recital.

*Claudia wears oversized black pants tied with a silk scarf and an oversize men’s white button-up shirt, with a barrette made to look like teeth. Sadly that’s the only clothing description in the book.

*Claudia makes her a painting called Anastasia Fantasia that Stacey doesn’t like because it’s abstract. Yet when she brings it to the party, everyone else likes it so all of the sudden she likes it too.

*Stacey so has a double standard in this book. Allie (one of Robert’s friends) checks out a waiter, but she gets pissed when Dawn does it to a high school guy. It’s okay for her and Robert to fight over a piece of bread, but she’s embarrassed that Kristy sticks straws up her nose.

*Stacey also sits for Jamie Newton, but spends the whole job talking to Robert on the phone. Jamie feels sick, she ignores him and he pukes on the rug. The Newtons tell her not to worry about it, but then call Kristy and tell her that they only want the girls making emergency calls from now on. Apparently they tried calling multiple times and kept getting a busy signal.

*Stacey is annoyed that Mary Anne wears a Mickey Mouse shirt, has an “I heart my kitty” sticker on her bag and giggles. She would so hate me, seeing as how I have approximately 986 Hello Kitty items around my house!

*I really dislike the way Stacey comes across in this book. She was always my favorite character, but here she’s just a snobby, stuck up brat. She keeps breaking all of the rules and then whining that no one should expect her to follow them.

*Kristy isn’t much better either. She’s incredibly formal and rigid during meetings, but then kind of acts like a kid when out in public.