The Babysitters Club #27: Jessi and the Superbrat

Becca Ramsey is obsessed with the television show P.S. 162 and one of the guys on the show, Lamont. During one episode, she casually mentions that the guy playing Waldo lives in Stoneybrook. Jessi talks to Mallory, who reveals that Derek Masters lives in town when not filming his show and was in Nicky’s class.

At the next BSC meeting, Jessi wants to talk about him, but Mrs. Masters calls first. The show is on hiatus and she needs a sitter for Derek and his little brother Todd. Jessi is the only one free, so she gets the job. On her first sitting job, she is shocked that he (a) doesn’t wear glasses like Waldo and (b) is really bad at science, while Waldo is a genius. She is also surprised that he likes playing with his little brother.

At her next ballet class, Jessi learns that the Stoneybrook Civic Center is doing a production of Swan Lake and her teacher thinks she is talented enough to audition. Jessi moans about the audition constantly and how she’s not that great, but of course flies through the first two auditions. Derek even comes to one and gives her a list of tips he picked up from other girls there.

Derek starts telling Jessi about a boy that picks on him in school. Everyone picks on him, but John is the worst. The kid threw his lunch out a window, tied his shoelaces together and threw food at him. Jessi hates the kid so much that she calls him superbrat. She also tells all the other girls about the kid and they vow to watch out for him.

Claudia sits at the house and takes the boys to the playground. Derek brings up John again and winces when he sees a group of guys from his class. Claudia takes the initiative and asks the boys over to the house. Once they see that Derek has a normal house and is a normal guy, they all get along. She is a little upset when she learns that John wasn’t there.

A few weeks later, Derek announces that they are moving back to California because he got a role in a TV movie. He makes Jessi promise that she’ll come for a visit and then convinces her that she should become an actress or model. She talks to her parents and they agree to let her meet with agents in Stamford.

Jessi convinces herself that acting and modeling is a better choice because she will never get a role in the ballet. She writes down a bunch of numbers, but then has her last audition. When she finds out that she got a role, she drops the idea of modeling.

Jessi decides that they should throw Derek a goodbye party. They decide on a breakfast party at Kristy’s because it’s the only time they can all make it. They serve cereal, doughnuts and juice and everyone has a great time. Karen and Becca both freak him out because they still act like he’s a huge star.

Jessi tells him about her new role and how it means she won’t be moving to California. Then she realizes that John wasn’t at the party and asks Derek about it. It turns out that he was the one being the horrible kid and he wanted to tell someone about it, but he didn’t want to admit what he did, so he just lied. Instead of being pissed, she thinks it’s funny and they laugh about it in the end.

*Obviously Derek auditioned for the movie before leaving California. So why didn’t they just stay in town until they knew for sure? He can’t possibly make enough money to justify multiple moving trips back and forth the country. Then again, maybe he does since they apparently just lock the door to their house and leave everything there…

*I really hate how Stoneybrook is such a small town in some books and a huge deal in others. In this one, the Civic Center ballets are so important that dancers come from New York and other big cities just to audition.

*And yes, with all that talent coming from around the world, I’m sure they would feel the need to give an 11 year old girl a role.

*Kristy makes the members wear bathrobes to the party, just so the other kids can identify the leaders. And she wants them to wear curlers, but Claudia talks her out of it.

*Kristy having the party is weird because she never even meets Derek until then. Plus there are constantly references to her living “so far” away from everyone else, so they made parents shlep their kids out to her house in the middle of nowhere.

*Actually it’s odd that all of the girls volunteer to help with the party, since only Claudia, Jessi and Mal ever meet him.

*Kristy tells Karen about Derek, knowing how she is and is then stunned that Karen goes overboard with wanting to meet him and become a huge star.