The Baby-Sitters Club Portrait Collection: Kristy's Book

I think I have all of these books except for maybe the Abby one, so I'm surprised I haven't recapped any of them. SMS launches a new school project, where every student in eighth grade must write their autobiography. They have to pick three or so major memories or events that had a lasting impact on them, so here's Kristy's memories.

Her first one came when she was a little kid. Kristy, Claudia, and Mary-Anne decided to build a snowman on their front lawn. One of their neighbors thought it was cute, so they decided to build one for her. She gave them money, which they put aside to buy a present for Mimi. She overheard and told some other neighbors, who all hired them to build more snowmen. They used the money to buy her a scarf, which Mimi wore every winter until she died.

When she gets a little older, Kristy realizes that she gets the shaft when compared to her brothers. She has to go to bed earlier, can't play with them outside, and generally gets treated like a baby. One day, the boys decide to go see Car Man, some new flick, with their friends. Kristy lies and tells them that her mom said she could go with them. Elizabeth shows up in the middle of the movie and makes her go home.

Her dad takes the boys to see the movie the next night, while she has to stay home with her mom. Kristy really wants to know how the movie ends, so she enlists her friends for help. They start playing Car Man with some toy cars, and the boys come home. She tricks them into playing with them, and the boys reenact the last scenes, showing her how the movie ends.

After Patrick leaves, the kids have more responsibilities around the house. Louis gets sprayed by a skunk, so they need to give him a bath. Kristy knocks over a bunch of stuff while looking for tomato juice, and all the kids (Kristy, Charlie, Sam, Claudia, and Mary-Anne) all accidentally get locked in the bathroom. Elizabeth comes home, lets them out, and gives them a bunch more things to do around the house so they aren't always running wild.

Kristy then gets to go to a softball summer camp for girls. She doesn't get the position she wants because a girl from the previous season gets it. The camp divides all the players into two teams for practice, but they all play together against other camps. They launch a major prank war that ends when their coach quits because she can't handle their constant fights. The girls all agree to work together, she comes back, and Kristy becomes best friend with the girl who got her position.

There's also a few chapters about Patrick. He comes back to town, tracks down Kristy, and asks to spend time with her, but he doesn't want her to tell any of her siblings or even her mom that he's there. He constantly talks down about her mom and how she's too controlling. She has to lie to her family and friends about where she's going, and she really wants to tell her mom that he's back.

He gives her a new glove as a gift, but she notices that it's for the wrong hand. She doesn't tell him, but it makes her realize that her dad doesn't really know her. Watson ends up running into her in town, and she flips out about him following her. When she makes plans to see her dad again, he never shows up. He checked out of his hotel and disappeared. She tries to exchange the glove, and learns that it was a gift he won at some banquet. Kristy tells her mom about what happened, and Watson gives her a new glove, making her realize that she has a dad who loves her and cares about her.

*I guess the Patrick story was in the BSC movie? I actually haven't seen that since it came out on video. I keep seeing it in the bargain bins, and I should really grab a copy before it winds up going out of print. Maybe I'll even do a review! I definitely want to recap the television episodes.

*Patrick is such a dick! Elizabeth literally found out that he left her when he didn't come home one night and she called his work the next day. His boss had to tell her that he "headed west."

*She goes back to work full-time after he leaves, and this book makes it out like she hadn't worked in years. Seems hard to believe that a sports writer could make enough to support a family that size.

*Nannie tells her that she started walking when her brothers were playing baseball. A ball flew across the yard, and Kristy literally stood up and ran to it. Of course she did.

*Kristy's mom and grandmother decide to go out one morning and naturally assume that she can watch the kids for them. Does anyone in this town actually spend time with their kids?

*Andrew loves the story of Car Man so much that he tries to climb in Emily Michelle's play car. They act like he's way too big, but he's only four. Would a four year old really be too big for a toddler car?

*Charlie also makes him a hat with a toy car stuck to it so he can be Car Man, and Karen acts like the villain of the movie. Couldn't they just buy them a copy of the movie?

*Elizabeth assigns them jobs and tasks around the house after the Louis situation, but in the very first book, it doesn't really seem like Kristy and her brothers have to do much around the house except take care of Louis and David Michael.

*Elizabeth constantly watches over the kids when Patrick is around, but Kristy walks in one day, says she's going across the street, and Elizabeth doesn't think twice, which is when she sneaks out to the movies. Nice parenting there mom.

*There's also a mention of how Patrick would sometimes not come home at night for work, which is similar to something Dawn says about her dad in her book. Does anyone else think these guys were cheating on their wives?

*Kristy was almost born during a Yankees game. She kind of blames her dad for making her go even though her mom wanted to see the game.

*Kristy divides the Krushers into two teams for practices, but she notices that they start fighting a little. She sits them down at the end and tells them about her camp experience so they'll work together. Seems like something she would have done earlier.

*At the beginning of the book, Kristy skips a Krushers practice to work on her autobiography. Who the heck is working with the team if she isn't there?

*I swear that when they go to camp, Kristy says that she never went before and it was her first time.

*Ahem, I do believe that Charlie is younger in this book than Jessi and Mal are, and he has full control over the kids without any limitation as to when he can sit.

*Also, Elizabeth hired other sitters. That was the whole point of the first book and why Kristy came up with the idea. In this book, she just lets them run wild with Charlie in charge.