The Baby-Sitters Club #82: Jessi and the Troublemaker

Remember back when Jessi took part in that club for kids after school? Danielle Roberts, who was in that club, has cancer but is now in remission, which means her parents naturally need a sitter. The other girls agree to let Jessi take the first sitting job. She asks Mrs. Roberts if they need to watch her closely or do anything special. While watching over her little brother Greg, they hear a big noise. Danielle was wearing her mom's rollerblades and accidentally knocked over a bookcase.

Mary Anne is the next one to have problems with her. While spending time with Greg, she lets Danielle invite Haley, Becca, and Charlotte over to play. She realizes that she hasn't seen them in awhile and goes downstairs. She finds them "sledding" down the basement stairs on a mattress from a baby crib.

Kristy then gets a chance to see her in action. Danielle and her friends turn the water on in her parents' shower, closes the door, and uses duct tape to seal it off. Kristy rushes in and finds water everywhere and the girls kind of just standing around in shock. She manages to take care of everything, but they do end up with water everywhere. They finally decide to call her parents and talk to them, but they pretty much blow it off as her just releasing some steam after being sick for so long.

They can't ignore what happens next. The girls all come over to hang out with Danielle. Danielle wants to play a game where they pack a picnic lunch and pretend to take a trip, which Jessi thinks is cute. Later on, she realizes that she can't find them anywhere and runs outside to find Danielle driving her mom's car down the street. She loses control and hits a parked car.

The neighbors come running outside and calm things down. Everyone is okay, but Vanessa smacked her head on the windshield. The neighbors agree to take care of Greg and get in touch with their parents. The police and an ambulance comes, but Jessi finally gets to go home and sleep. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts both apologize for not listening to her and agree to get tough with Danielle.

Stacey gets to sit at their house the next time and notices that Danielle is really down. She tries calling each of her friends but none of them will talk to her anymore. Stacey calls Jessi and Mal, and since all four girls were conveniently in their homes, they bring them over. Stacey makes them realize that they're all being silly about the accident and they all become friends again.

Subplot time! Jessi and Becca overhear their aunt Cecilia with her friend Mr. Majors talking about a wedding. They assume that they're planning a secret wedding and tell all their friends. They even pick out bridesmaids dresses and an outfit for Squirt. When they find out that they were just in the same wedding together, they don't want to tell their friends they were wrong, so they try to make them fall in love with a romantic dinner. Fortunately, Cecilia calls them out on it and lets them know that they're just friends.

*I love how much Danielle changed from the cover of the last book to the cover of this one. She looks so much like Scarlet Johanson here!

*There's a lot of foreshadowing about the next book here. Stacey keeps pawning her sitting jobs off on others and either showing up late to meetings or not showing up at all. When she saves the day in the end, Jessi even points out that she's starting to act like her old self.

*Claudia outfit: jeans with holes and designs cut out so you can see her leopard print tights underneath, Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces, black and yellow shoelaces in the braid in her hair, earrings made from black beads and yellow feathers, a black and yellow striped long sleeve shirt buttoned up to the neck, and a "tie" made from black and yellow shoelaces. That sounds awful!

*When Jessi comes downstairs on the day of the "wedding" and finds her parents lounging around the house, she just thinks they're really committed to the secret. How stupid is she?

*Apparently the only thing Jessi can cook is spaghetti, so that's what they make for Cecilia and her beau.

*It's actually realistic that Jessi partly wants Cecilia to get married so she can have some more freedom at home.

*I love that the girls stopped talking because they're so upset over what happened and not because of their parents. Trust me, if one of my friends pulled this when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be allowed to be friends with them!