The Babysitters Club #8: Boy-Crazy Stacey

Stacey and Mary Anne head to Sea City with the Pike family. They love the house, the beach, and everything about the town. Stacey notices a good looking lifeguard and cannot keep her eyes off him. Mary Anne warns her that he is too old, but she still likes him. She goes from staring at him to talking to him and quickly decides that he must like her.

His is 18, he is going to Princeton in the fall, and his name is Scott. She tries acting like a sophisticated girl in her little striped bikini with bows and somehow thinks that he will fall for her. He asks her for a soda and she starts doing a lot of little chores for him. He replaces all his other gophers with Stacey because she is willing to do anything for him.

Stacy fetches him sodas, makes him sandwiches and basically ignores Mary Anne and the kids. Mary Anne complains, but Stacey doesn’t think it’s such a big deal because a random guy’s helper is always there to help her. Scott gives her his whistle and she thinks he is perfect. She writes their names in the sand and runs away before the water washes it away.

Scott also proves that he is the perfect man by taking care of Claire when she hurts her foot and warning everyone on the beach of potential sharks in the water. Stacey takes Mary Anne all over town, looking for the perfect gift for him. She finally finds a big box of chocolate candy and Mary Anne tries to hurry her away. She looks over her shoulder and sees Scott kissing a hot older girl. She rushes off in tears, leaving behind the candy.

Stacey makes excuses why she can’t help with the kids and Mary Anne gets mad. She got sunburned really bad and does not want to spend all of her time on the beach. They divide the kids up one day and Stacey gets stuck at the beach. Byron spent the whole time staying out of the water and getting picked on by the other triplets. He ventures into the water and reveals that he will only go in, if he can see the bottom.

She runs into Alex, the male mother’s helper, and his cousin Toby, who she likes. She convinces Mary Anne that they should go on a double date. They go out to dinner and split into two couples. Toby gives her a pink seashell, they play a few games and she wins him a hat, while he wins her a teddy bear. They see each other the next day and say goodbye before heading back to Stoneybrook.

Stacey calls Mary Anne, who tells her that she and Alex exchanged rings with their initials on them. She plans on wearing hers on a chain around her neck. Stacey realizes that Mary Anne grew up a little on their trip. She calls Claudia and dishes on her first kiss and how she still likes Toby.

*What the hell do Mr. and Mrs. Pike do on this trip? They hire the girls as help, but constantly wander off. The book takes place over two weeks and the only get two nights off total.

*Stacey falls in luv with Toby because he wears white swim trunks with a tan shirt that has cowboy images all over it. That sounds like something that a three-year-old would wear. On their big date, he wears white pants with a blue and white striped sweater, very Cosby show.

*Stacey whips out the 80s fashions in this one. She wears a pink dress with a white cotton jacket and a floppy pink bow in her hair. She lets Mary Anne borrow a yellow and white striped tank top, white jacket and yellow pedal pushers.

*Usually we get stories from the other members, but this book only has one from Kristy. She sits for Karen and Andrew, who get permission to clean Watson’s old car. She gets distracted by Louie and David-Michael. They use steel wool, leaving big chunks of silver on the car. Somehow, Watson decides to laugh the whole thing off and forgive them. I thought Kristy never took her eyes off kids! This sounds vaguely irresponsible LOL