Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
stacey's father has invited her to new york city for father's day weekend. stacey is distraught when she learns that her boyfriend, robert, is flouting child labor laws like most other 13-year-old denizens of stoneybrook & has accepted a summer job working on the ferry to fire island, & it starts the weekend right after school ends. he is also spending the month of august with his family in a fire island summer house, so they won't see each other for two whole months. stacey considers re-scheduling her weekend with her dad...but she doesn't.
which means things work out pretty well when mr. mcgill tells her that he's arranged to take two weeks off work & wants her to join him on vacation, anywhere in the world--stacey gets to choose. can you even begin to imagine? he's like, "we could go visit a ranch in montana, or go to disneyworld if you're not too old for it, or even europe..." stacey is SPOILED.
she requests a little time to consider her options, but the next morning, it suddenly occurs to her that if she vacations on fire island, she'll be able to see robert everyday. so she requests a fire island vacation. not that she tells her father about her reasoning. he says she can invite claudia if she wants, so stacey does...but she also doesn't tell claudia that robert is going to be operating the fire to the island. she figures that claudia won't want to go if she thinks stacey is going to be busy hanging out with robert. she wonders if failing to provide someone with critical information is the same as lying...but she still doesn't provide the information.
when stacey, claudia, & mr. mcgill arrive at the ferry to begin their vacation, stacey suddenly panics over the possibility that claudia will see robert on the ferry & know the truth. she very conspicuously acts crazy & pretend to be super-interested in checking out the boat--alone. thankfully, claudia is kind of too dim-witted to suspect nefarious double-dealing.
when they arrive on the island, their vacation neighbor, mr. majors, is waiting to walk them to their house. he has a little red wagon in which to pull their luggage. i LOVE mr. majors. i guess most kids probably don't know this, but i'm an adult so i know that fire island is kind of a gay vacation mecca, not unlike provincetown in massachusetts or key west, florida. in the author's letter in the back, ann writes about how she spent many years vacationing on fire island & really loves it & wanted to set a babysitters club book there (a few of her stand-alone novels are also set there). which makes sense, because ann is gay. my point? well, as soon as stacey, claudia, & mr. mcgill are settled into their vacation home, mr. mcgill starts spending A LOT of time with mr. majors next door. he's always over there having cocktails (wink), playing cards, just hanging out. meanwhile, stacey & claudia spend a lot of time at the beach...& stacey spends a lot of time at the dock hanging around with robert. but the three vacationers spend hardly any time together because mr. mcgill is always hanging out with mr. majors.
i never read this book as a child--it came after i became too old for the series. but i was 22 or 23 the first time i read it as an adult & i was seriously waiting for the big reveal: mr. mcgill is gay & mr. majors is his boyfriend. it's so obvious, right?
anyway, like i said, stacey is spending a lot of time with robert while he's is between ferry trips. claudia has gotten really involved in a project involving building sand castles & then photographing them as the waves wash them away, & stacey routinely just leaves claudia on the beach to do that while she hangs out with robert. she says repeatedly that she doesn't really feel guilty doing so because claudia seems so involved in her sand castles.
by this point, claudia is well aware that robert is also on the island & that stacey is spending lots of time with him. they bumped into him in the general store shortly after arriving on the island. claudia was initially angry about stacey's duplicity, but after stacey got her to confess that it's true, she wouldn't have come if she'd known about robert, she relented & made her peace with it. in the evening, when stacey wants to sneak off to meet robert, she has to bring claudia because it would look too susipicious to mr. mcgill for stacey to be wandering around the island by herself. claudia chats away happily with robert & is friendly, so stacey assumes that claudia is having a nice time. until one day claudia finally snaps & explains that she's not going to be rude to robert, but she actually hates having him around all the time. she's bored & thought she was going on vacation with stacey, but stacey is spending all her time with robert. so stacey arranges to have a special best friend evening just with claudia.
of course, this si stacey, so she arranges for the best friend evening to take place on a night when robert has to work anyway, so she's not really missing out on any robert time. not that she tells claudia that. that afternoon, robert says that he doesn't have to work that night after all, & stacey begs off the best friend night with claudia. they re-schedule for the next night, but then robert tells stacey that one of his co-workers has arranged a sunset sail for them, one night only. stacey decides that she can have an early dinner with claudia at the casino restaurant, walk her home, & get down to the dock for the sunset sail without claudia being any the wiser.
of course it doesn't really work out. claudia doesn't understand why stacey is trying to rush her & the rushing doesn't really work. claudia is still slow to choose an outfit for dinner, & then she orders an appetizer & a soup course, & then she requests a main course that requires extra time for preparations, & then she wants dessert. while stacey is trying to rush claudia home, robert rides up on his bike & lets the news about the sunset sail slip in front of claudia. claudia is pissed & storms off. stacey chases after her, which makes her miss the sunset sail, but claudia is like, "fuck you, mcgill." so stacey & robert go for a walk on the beach...& walk right into mr. mcgill, who is also enjoying a lovely evening walk on the beach with his new paramour. tragically, it's not mr. majors. mr. majors was just a beard. mr. mcgill is actually spending all his time with his girlfriend, samantha. he arranged for samantha to also rent a house on fire island & has been sneaking around spending time with her. stacey is angry, but mr. mcgill points out that she was doing the same thing with robert. he is angry with stacey for sneaking around, & for neglecting claudia to do so. they have a huge fight.
the next day, the older members of the babysitters club arrive to spend the fourth of july weekend at the beach house. claudia wastes no time telling them how awful stacey has been acting. stacey is all like, "woe is me, everyone thinks i'm a jerk," without stopping to consider that that might be because she's acting like a jerk. claudia wants them all to enter this fourth of july parade thing, & she has made costumes for everyone. everyone is kind of a baby about it--they seem to be too embarrassed to wear the costumes. but claudia insists, & then part of their parade prop collapses in the middle of the parade & claudia storms off & it's awkward.
stacey goes to the dock to visit with robert, & he's acting weird too. finally he admits that he's kind of uncomfortable with how stacey lied to claudia about him being on the island, & how she snuck around behind her dad's back. he thinks that if she would lie to her father & her best friend, it's only a matter of time before she starts lying to him too. which...fair enough. he says she isn't the person he thought she was & he leaves. stacey is pretty distraught.
the next morning, stacey wants the babysitters to go to the beach & have a nice day...but instead, they've all packed their bags & they explain that they've decided to go home instead. then claudia comes out with her luggage. she's going home with them, even though she's supposed to stay for another week. stacey feels totally abandoned by everyone. but...it's kind of her own fault, you know?
finally that evening, she & her dad talk & they work things out. stacey admits that hiding robert from him & claudia was wrong. mr. mcgill admits that it was wrong to sneak around with samantha. then robert comes to the door & apologizes for backing away from stacey the day before. he explains that he had thought she was perfect, so her imperfect, dishonest behavior came as a shock. she apologizes & they all try to make the most of the rest of their vacation.
shortly before going home, stacey stops by an art gallery claudia had discovered & is shocked to find claudia's sand castle photographs for sale on the walls. the gallery owners says that a few have even sold. stacey realizes that she must have really hurt claudia if something so big could have happened with claudia telling her about it.
when she gets home to stoneybrook, she goes straight to claudia's house to apologize (& give her the money she earned from her sand castle photos). they patch things up & hug it out. stacey learns a valuable lessons about the importance of best friends. &...scene.
the B-plot is also about best friends at war. jessi & mallory at co-counselors for a summer day camp thing. vanessa & haley are two of the charges in their care. the group's first activity together is a morning at the local pool. turns out that haley & vanessa have the exact same swimsuit. they have a huge fight over who copied who & battles each other through the rest of the book, causing all kinds of problems for themselves & sometimes even the other campers. finally mallory & jessi connive to get them to partner up for the camp field day. mallory & jessi understand that the bathing suit fight happened because vanessa & haley are so competitive. if they can be competitive together, to help win the field day, maybe they will be friends again. needless to say, it works. also, it's boring.
this book would have been so much better if it had involved a mr. mcgill coming-out-of-the-closet moment.
in this Suzanne Weyn-ghostwritten book stacey is confronted with the idea of being away from her boyfriend robert for the whole summer, since he will be working on a ferry to fire island (yes, yes: fairy/ferry jokes abound). when her dad asks her to choose a destination for a two-week vacation, she chooses fire island without telling her dad that robert will be there. she invites along claudia and doesn't tell her either. she basically spends the entire vacation using claudia as a means to see robert and then ditching claudia, and then she is surprised when claud gets mad about it. meanwhile stacey's dad secretly brought his girlfriend to fire island and is ALSO sneaking off to see her. they get mad at each other instead of realizing that they are both terrible and that they should just revel in that.
highlights: -mr. mcgill keeps saying he's going over to his friend mr. majors's house. "he sure loves mr. majors" -- I didn't quite think that he was having a love affair with mr. majors, but it almost seemed like that was what suzanne weyn was setting up. -claud orders lobster thermidor at a fancy restaurant. who is she, emily gilmore? -lotsa outfits (see below)
lowlights/nitpicks: -stacey is seriously such a mary anne in this book. at one point she says she will tell robert she can't see him that night but really it's bc she knows he can't be free anyway. later claud requests a one-on-one dinner and stacey tries to make it happen early so she can go out with robert afterwards. UGHHHHH. -vaness and haley fight over bathing suit. mal and jessi fix it by putting them on the same team on competitive events. afterwards they are obsessed with each other. it just seems unrealistic. -why does haley play clue jr? she's 9, that's an appropriate age for regular clue/cluedo. -what stacey's dad did was exactly as bad as what stacey did, so I'm not really sure why her dad is so mad at her. claud didn't do anything wrong though and absolutely didn't deserve stacey's shitty behavior. -it just bums me out so much that a book about a summer vacation to a beach and about boys was NOT delightful. my all-time favorite bsc book is Boy-Crazy Stacey but this one is barely about summer beach times and barely about cute boy crushes. it's mostly just stacey being an asshole left and right.
claudia outfits: -"For example, today she was wearing a long, black, crocheted vest that fell to her knees over a pair of black shorts and a white blouse with ruffles at the collar and cuffs. Her hair was in two long braids tied with black and white ribbons at the ends. On her feet were black sandals with a thick platform sole and white ribbons which laced around her ankles. (The ribbons had originally been black, but Claudia cut them off and glued on white ribbons." -"Claudia wore a pair of wild tie-dyed leggings and an over-sized T-shirt she'd designed and silk-screened herself. She'd painted a flock of birds flying diagonally across it." -(for the parade): "Claudia had on a harlequin-print shirt and bright yellow capri-length leggings. From papier-mache, she'd constructed curly, pointed toes for her sneakers. She'd painted her sneakers, and the points, yellow so they really looked like court jester shows. She'd used cardboard to make a matching hat."
stacey's mom outfit: -"...covering her cream-colored silk shirt and matching slacks with a purple-and-gold-striped apron."
stacey outfits: -"The next morning I got up, pulled on a pair of blue tights, black canvas walking shorts, a long-sleeved, blue T-shirt, and a pair of black flats. I piled my blonde perm up on top of my head and fastened it with a blue stretchie tie." -"I took off my clothes and changed into my new one-piece shorts dress with the gold, red and green Aztec-style print. I slipped into a pair of light tan woven flats and I was set to go." -"After an hour or so of looking around, I settled on this super cute flowing pants outfit in a sunflower print against a navy blue background. It had a high waist, cap sleeves, and a scoop neck, and the pants were long and full." -"I pulled on a pair of green leggings and a sleeveless denim top." -"Since I'd spent all day thinking about what I would wear, I knew exactly what to put on: this white and blue sundress with a dropped waist and a square sailor collar." (Samantha from American Girls?) -"I pulled on a pair of jeans, a denim shirt, and a sweater and headed out to meet Robert."
samantha young (mr. mcgill's gf) outfits: -"She was wearing a gauzy flower-print skirt, a crocheted top, and big, gold hoop earrings. In her hand dangled a pair of gold sandals." -"She looked completely gorgeous in a flowing white gown strapped over one shoulder. Perched on her brown waves of hair was a Statue of Liberty crown, and she held a torch."
mr. mcgill 4th of july outfit: -"...Dad appeared, dressed in a red, white, and blue suit with a bright red bow tie. He wore a tall top hat, and his hair was powdered white."
snacks in claudia's room: -cheetos behind her pillow
Another great one! My only complaint is how unrealistic it is at times. It’s hard to believe that Stacey is only 13 with her exclusive boyfriend. She’s also not the best friend……
If her father ever finds out... They make it sound like Stacey is sneaking Robert into her bedroom each night instead of just vacationing on the same island. I did still really like this one though. Mostly because there are lots of Claudia & Stacey outfits. You should really head over to my blog to check these out in picture!! Be prepared for LOTS of detail in this review! It might be the longest one I've ever written lol. So let's start from the beginning and get into it with the first outfits: what Stacey started to wear to school then what she actually did because it's a gorgeous summer day!
I got up, pulled on a pair of blue tights, black canvas walking shorts, a long-sleeved, blue T-shirt, and a pair of black flats. I piled my blonde perm up on top of my head and fastened it with a blue stretchie tie. Then I looked out my bedroom window and realized my outfit was all wrong. I ripped the stretchie from my hair and let the curls fall around my shoulders. I took off my clothes and changed into my new one-piece shorts dress with the gold, red and green Aztec-style print. I slipped into a pair of light tan woven flats and I was set to go.
"Looks like we're both running late today," said Mom as she came into the kitchen, still tying the bow on her blouse. "Did you change outfits at the last minute, too?" I asked with a laugh. Mom laughed with me. "Yes, I did," she admitted. "I couldn't wear a black gabardine pants suit a day like today. It's gorgeous out." "Summer at last," I said.
Stacey goes to visit her dad for Father's Day weekend, even though she'd really like to spend time with her boyfriend, Robert, on his last weekend before he goes off to Fire Island for a summer job. Stacey tries to make the best of the weekend though, enjoying time with her dad. He has a new home office now, with a shiny new fax machine, and bribes Stacey with a new outfit so he can get some work done. I settled on this super cute flowing pants outfit in a sunflower print against a navy blue background. It had a high waist, cap sleeves, and a scoop neck, and the pants were long and full. I loved it. I'm on sort of a sunflower kick these days. (This book came out in 1994 and I can confirm, sunflowers were huge then.)
They go out to a fancy dinner, Mr McGill asks about Robert and says maybe it's a good thing they'll be separated all summer, but he's just an old guy so what does he know? Then he surprises Stacey with the news that he's going to take a 2 week vacation, for the first time in forever, and he wants Stacey to go away with him somewhere, and he's letting her choose! Like anywhere: the mountains, Disney World, Europe! Where does Stacey finally choose? Yep, you guessed it. Fire Island, where it just so happens that her boyfriend is working all summer. And does she tell her dad this? No, she just makes him think it sounds really awesome. And does she tell Claudia this when she invites her along? No, because she doesn't want Claud to feel like a 5th wheel. Spoilers: she totally does. And does she tell Robert that she hasn't told either of them this? Nope. Stacey's just gonna have a vacation full of subterfuge and sand castles lol.
Okay, time for what Claudia was wearing at the last BSC meeting for the school year. Today she was wearing a long, black, crocheted vest that fell to her knees over a pair of black shorts and a white blouse with ruffles at the collar and cuffs. Her hair was in two long braids tied with black and white ribbons at the ends. On her feet were black sandals with a thick platform sole and white ribbons which laced around her ankles. (The ribbons had originally been black, but Claudia cut them off and glued on white ribbons.) That wacky Claudia!
Kristy has a great idea to make new fliers with the caricature Claudia is drawing of all the BSC members to drum up business (I wish we got to see this!), but she is slightly peeved when she learns everyone has summer plans already. Stacey & Claudia will be on vacay at the beach, Jessi & Mallory signed up for jobs as day camp counselors at the local community center, Logan is out of town somewhere with his gang probably. Mary Anne tries to remind Kristy how slow it usually is in the summertime and she finally agrees that it should be okay and even says yes to visiting Stacey & Claudia on 4th of July weekend and *gasp* closing the BSC for 4 whole days!! Oh yeah, Shannon is there too.
Stacey, Claudia, and Mr McGill are off to the island and Stacey immediately freaks out thinking Robert is going to be on their ferry (that's his job, ferry gopher or something else a 13 year old would logically do) and she's going to be busted, but luckily, he's not. They get to the island and meet Mr McGill's friend, Mr Majors, and I honestly thought that these 2 were having a secret love affair or, at the very least, doing clandestine work, because of all the time they supposedly spend together over the next 2 weeks. But we'll get more into that later. Claudia & Stacey go off to explore the town and that's when they run into Robert and as expected, Claud is pissed. "Best friends don't lie and keep secrets." She gets over it pretty quickly though, on the surface, and the girls start to have a great vacation.
Stacey meets up with Robert whenever she can, early in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening. Claudia makes some fierce sand castles on the beach and starts taking photos of them being destroyed by the ocean. She declares that they absolutely must do the 4th of July parade and one of her sand castles is going to be the theme of their wagon float. She FAXES a note to Kristy's stepdad Mr Brewer at his mansion fax machine a list of costume stuff she wants Kristy, Mary Anne, and Shannon to bring with them when they visit. She also starts to get a little annoyed with Stacey spending so much time with Robert, especially when he shows up at the pizza place uninvited and time for another set of outfits.
[Stacey] pulled on a pair of green leggings and a sleeveless denim top. Claudia wore a pair of wild tie-dyed leggings and an over-sized T-shirt she'd designed and silk-screened herself. She'd painted a flock of birds flying diagonally across it.
Claudia marches off after the pizza dinner and Stacey rushes after her, trying to explain that she really didn't invite him and they could totally spend the rest of the evening together, but Claudia tells her to just go back to Robert "...with those big eyes like, Please don't leave me." haha. Stacey tries to make it up her to her by promising a "best friend date" the next night at the nice restaurant, just the 2 of them. We all know that's not going to end well. Sure enough, Robert asks Stacey to go on a fancy romantical boat ride that can only happen that evening. Stacey convinces herself that she has plenty of time to do both and keep everyone happy, as long as she and Claudia go to dinner at 6:00pm with the oldies. Of course, Claudia unknowingly lollygags getting ready, can't decide what to wear. (She settles on a blue denim jumper and Stace goes with a white and blue sundress with a dropped waist and a square sailor collar.)
Stacey keeps trying to rush her and is acting all crazy and makes Claudia think she's having a diabetic fit or something. At the restaurant, Claudia gets like a 7 course meal, because she's in no rush, because she thinks she's just having a lovely dinner with her BFF. Stacey honestly did Claud so dirty in this one. She totally deserves Claudia getting so mad she won't even talk to her when it finally all blows up. She also deserves Robert wanting to spend a little time apart because he's not comfortable with all the lying she's been doing. If she's okay with lying to her best friend and her dad, what's going to stop her from lying to him? "You creep!," I cried to his back. "I only lied so I could spend time with you!" This right here tells you exactly what kind of girl Stacey is going to be in high school.
She does not deserve the beef with her dad when she discovers he's seeing some hot young chick and Mr Majors was sadly, just his cover story all along. Also, whoa huge mistake from the cover artist that I just discovered! Stacey's outfit? A gauzy flower-print skirt, a crocheted top, and big, gold hoop earrings. In her hand dangled a pair of gold sandals. That outfit? Is Samantha's, Mr McGill's GIRLFRIEND!! All these outfits in this book, that I've so generously created for you here, and the cover artist went with the one on the girlfriend for the daughter?? We've been BETRAYED. Okay, sorry, moving on. Stacey is obviously upset with her dad and he's mad at her too, they've both been lying but really, he's the adult. He needs to get over it and fix this. But he doesn't.
And this is when Kristy, Mary Anne, and Shannon show up for a sunny happy beach vacation. Except it's storming out, nearly the whole weekend. And everyone is not speaking. Not surprisingly, they decide to leave a day early and Claudia goes with them. Stacey finds out Claudia's sand castle pictures are being displayed in a local shop and people are actually buying them. She finally starts thinking about everything and talks to her dad. They both apologize and talk things thru. Stacey still isn't sure about her dad dating but she accepts it. I can't remember if he marries Samantha later or not?
Robert comes back around and decides he doesn't want to break up (big mistake), Stacey calls Claudia and apologizes for being a total jerk, Stacey goes home and tells her mom that Mr McGill is dating. Oh yeah, and Vanessa Pike and Haley Braddock had a huge argument about wearing the same swimsuit to summer camp and it was all stupid and pointless and Jessi & Mal fixed it and they were BFF's again in the end.
Oh Stacey you really need to learn boys aren't worth it. In this installment of the BSC summer has arrived and instead of yet another super special trip we get a two week vacation told solely from Stacey's perspective. And she is awful. I'm not sure what it is with her and Dawn that they completely change who they are when a cute boy shows up. Stacey and her boyfriend Robert are facing a summer apart. Oh no. In teenaged years that's like a lifetime. Then Stacey's dad does the unimaginable and announces he's taking two weeks off work to spend time with her. Remembering that Robert despite being underage has a job running the fire island ferry she decides to go there and bring Claudia along. She tells neither the real reason she wants to go and that's where the troubles begin. Mr. McGill is spending an awful lot of time with an old friend Mr. Majors and if this had been written in modern times as opposed to the late 80's early 90's by the end Mr. McGill would have a boyfriend. Look for that in season 3 of the Netflix show no doubt and a wedding between him and Dawn's dad. Anyway it all comes out and Stacey is in trouble. Claudia hates her and leaves early along with some of the BSC members who came for a long weekend over the 4th of July. Robert breaks it off cause Staccey is a liar and Mr. McGill also lies and it comes out he's dating his next trophy wife Samantha. Poor Maureen. He and Stacey fight too. But things come out okay in the end. They always do. The b plot involves Haley and Vanessa fighting at a day camp that Mallory and Jessi are helping at. It was sort of a typical kid fight. This was okay. Stacey is a awful friend though. Poor Claudia who in this book expanded into photography. I would've loved to have seen her pictures of sandcastles being swept away by waves. She gets her pictures hung in a gallery and some of them sell. And best bud Stacey knows nothing about what must be a dream come true for her dearest friend. Do better Stacey. Not a bad book, but Stacey does disappoint me often in these stories.
Oh my God this was boring. Stacey told so many lies and was kind of a horrible person, did she really think that wouldn't blow up in her face? Come on, girl. You know better. Also we spent all those pages on Fire Island for Mr. McGill to end up with Samantha. Ugh.
The book begins with Stacey visiting her dad in NYC. He offers to take her on vacation anywhere she wants and she said she'll get back to him. Also, he told her something along the lines of not getting too close to Robert cause they're still young. Just before school ends, Stacey finds out Robert will be going to Fire Island to work on a ferry, and then vacation with his family, so she decided she wanted to go to Fire Island and told her dad without revealing the real reason. He also let her invite Claudia.
On the trip, Stacey spends time with him everyday and Claudia is doing her own thing, like building sandcastles and taking pictures of them. At some point, she's frustrated cause she feels left out and like a third wheel. Claudia decides for them (and the visiting club members) to participate in the fourth of july parade and plans the costumes for it. At some point, Claudia has had it with Stacey after she tries to rush her through dinner to meet Robert after for sailing, and at that point, they ran into Stacey's dad with a woman and all hell breaks loose from there.
The baby sitters make it to Fire Island and participate in the parade, but the sandcastle falls apart and Claudia is even more upset. After her friends left, Stacey and her dad make up. Towards the end, Stacey goes to the island's art gallery and sees that Claudia sandcastle pictures are on sale and they give her money to give Claudia from the prints she sold. Stacey apologizes to Claudia when returning from the trip and all is well again.
Stacey was my favourite at one point, but she was a real jerk in this book, though I enjoyed the read regardless
Am I really giving another Stacey book a five?! Am I saying that Stacey's Lie has earned the right to share the shelf with Beloved? Am I really saying that Ann M. Martin is getting an accolade I've also given J.R.R. Tolkien? Yes, I am.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and it was a genuinely well-written and relatable piece of YA minus the obligatory kids-of-Stoneybrook B-plot. I laughed, I cringed, and I had fun. The only way it could have improved is if they revealed Mr. McGill's chess friend/alibi was his boyfriend.
Bahhh I'm usually a huge Stacey fan. She was even my favourite BSC member when I was younger, coz we were both math whizzes, we both grew up in big cities, and, ok, I envied all her romantic escapades.
But she was just downright selfish in this book. Poor Claud just wanted to spend time with her and for some reason, Stacey had to spend every waking moment with Robert. And like good on Robert for actually not being super clingy or anything, and Claudia wasn't either, which just makes Stacey's decisions throughout even worse.
And honestly, the only person who acted even worse than Stacey did is her father, who also hid the fact that Stacey is 13, Ed, what's YOUR excuse?
Ugh.
Still 4 stars coz it was an interesting story anyway, and Claudia's awesome. And Stacey and her dad both learned a little something. (Again, seriously, Ed, you're an adult man. How was what you did in any way okay?!)
As a kid my best friends sister had the whole BSC series on a book shelf in her room. I thought she was so grown up. And I envied this bookshelf. And would often poke my head into that room just to look at it. And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up. And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
Stacey's a terrible person whose life sucks because of her own bad decisions! This is far from the first time the girls have gotten in trouble for it and that "lying bad" is pretty much the crux of the theme statement. I remember thinking this one was very mature the last time I read it at maybe age 11, but that might have just been because the cover models for this one look like they're about 35.
Summer is quickly approaching, and Stacey is excited when her Dad promises to take her and Claudia on a two-week vacation. Stacey chooses to go to Fire Island...because her boyfriend Robert will be working at the ferry. Neither Claudia nor Stacey's dad knows about Robert, and Stacey spends a lot of time sneaking around to be with him. Stacey's lies ruin her friendships, her relationship with her father, and her relationship with Robert...so she has a lot of apologizing to do.
Even though Stacey is awful in this book, I’ve always loved this one.
I feel like this book is just the perfect foreshadowing of Stacey eventually ditching her real friends and making her entire life about Robert. Poor Claudia really got the short end of the stick here!
5 stars simply for the pure nostalgic love I still have for this book.
Stacey sucks the big one in this book. I've never hated her more than when she's rushing Claudia through their best friends dinner date. And then to read Claudia be a doormat in the last chapter: "I might have overreacted some. I could have been more understanding." NO, GIRL, THIS IS ALL ON STACEY. Ugh. I can't.
(LL) Updated review: Well, they did it again. They made Stacey be the guinea pig for breaking away from the group since she’s obsessed with boys and constantly ditches her friends for them. Ugh. Such a waste of a great character, as they could have done the same thing in a better way. Terrible writing, and I’m disappointed in Martin for letting it happen. The only reason for two stars is the good lessons within the book that exclude Stacey.
I really love Stacey but she's such a jerk to Claudia in so many of these books. Is it too much to ask for my comfort books to be a little...comforting and summer-y and filled with bffs and good times every now and again? That said, the ending is pretty sweet. (Also at least we know she gets being a jerk from her dad.)
When I was 10 I joined a readers club/group where we got a new book every week. I chose The babysitters club. The books are fantastic! So enjoyable. I loved getting the book every week. They are super quick reads and I was able to read it in one day. Highly recommend for young teenagers to read or even younger if they are able too read well.
Surprisingly good. The cover seems to be trying to market an entirely different book, and I think it does the actual book an injustice. A lot of different types of interpersonal conflicts are dealt with in this book, and while I think the characters are all entirely too self aware and articulate, they still express feelings and ideas that are important for young readers to think about.
2 stars. ‘Stacey’s Audacity’ is what this should’ve been called because my girl tried it the entire book! I love Stacey, she’s one of my favorites of the BSC but she was terribly out of character in this and so unlikable. I hated it. Poor Claudia. She was done so wrong just for Stacey to run around seeing that wet mop Robert. Hated it.
Stacey is an obnoxious brat in this book but also there’s something very 13 year old girl ish about the way she behaves. Basically Stacey lies to everyone but she has good intentions.
Also this is one I remember the plot from whereas most of them I only have vague recollections so that counts for something.
Honesty. Just why. Yes, she is a good babysitter. But seriously, lying is so beneath her. But in a lot of books, she tells so ,any lies and is rude and snobbish all the time. Not my favorite book.
Reading Stacy’s lie is an important lesson as well as being a lovely book. Lying to people just makes things worse. But it it written in a way that you can enjoy the book and learn great lessons, Stacy is my favorite and she learns a lot to. Read this book it is AMAZING🇰🇪😍
A lot of hate gets thrown out about Stacy and I don’t normally see it but hellllll yes she’s the worst after reading this book. The moment she called Claudia pigheaded and selfish I was DUNZO with her.
I hadn’t read this one before today, but I’m glad I did. I can’t stand Stacey when she’s with any boy, but Robert is by far the worst. I’m just glad that she was given a small reality check. Very small. At least Claudia was given the chance to be justifiably angry.
Solid BSC novel! I kind of wanted to scream at Stacey through the whole thing, though, for the way she was acting. Ugh!!! I have less patience for this stuff as an adult, than I did as a teen.