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The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #6
New York, New York!
The Baby-sitters have always wanted to be sophisticated New Yorkers like Stacey. Well, now here's their chance: Stacy has invited them all to the city for a vacation! In between shopping and seeing the sights, the Baby-sitters manage to have plenty of excitement. Jessi meets a boy ballerina, Claudia and Mallory take fancy art lessons, and Kristy makes a special friend. Dawn eats her way through the city, and Stacey and Mary Anne have a baby-sitting mystery. Is New York as good as they've always dreamed? You Bet!
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1991
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,142 books3,112 followersAnn 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.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 28, 2019
This is not the type of book I would normally read. I only picked it up as a part of a reading challenge I'm currently participating in.
I didn't think I would actually like it, but New York, New York! had this quirky little lovability that I just couldn't ignore.
The book is about a group of babysitter friends who decide to travel to New York and their individual adventures while in the city. I thought the characters and the events were pretty interesting. I've always had a thing for New York, whether it's because of all the books and movies I read and watched as a kid that were set there, or because of its "big city character" that makes me feel at home. Whatever it is, it made me enjoy this book.
New York, New York! is extremely 90s, which gave me a feeling of nostalgia I shouldn't have since I only lived in the decade for two years peeing in diapers and falling over furniture. It's also extremely middle grade.
I enjoyed the characters and their interesting logic! Though Dawn managed to annoy me in the beginning with her weird obsession with danger and dying, but I soon got over it. And so did she, bless her heart!
The book is light and a bit silly but in a good way. The writing however is a bit rough. There is much description and way too many parentheses for no reason. (Everywhere!) In places where I really thought they could've done without. (Had they been able to write better.) And that distracted me from the story. (Quite a lot actually!)
Other than that I enjoyed the book for what it was and I do recommend it if middle grade stories are your thing. I also think this would be a good book to use for learning English with all those descriptions, and light and easy-to-follow plot.
I didn't think I would actually like it, but New York, New York! had this quirky little lovability that I just couldn't ignore.
The book is about a group of babysitter friends who decide to travel to New York and their individual adventures while in the city. I thought the characters and the events were pretty interesting. I've always had a thing for New York, whether it's because of all the books and movies I read and watched as a kid that were set there, or because of its "big city character" that makes me feel at home. Whatever it is, it made me enjoy this book.
New York, New York! is extremely 90s, which gave me a feeling of nostalgia I shouldn't have since I only lived in the decade for two years peeing in diapers and falling over furniture. It's also extremely middle grade.
I enjoyed the characters and their interesting logic! Though Dawn managed to annoy me in the beginning with her weird obsession with danger and dying, but I soon got over it. And so did she, bless her heart!
The book is light and a bit silly but in a good way. The writing however is a bit rough. There is much description and way too many parentheses for no reason. (Everywhere!) In places where I really thought they could've done without. (Had they been able to write better.) And that distracted me from the story. (Quite a lot actually!)
Other than that I enjoyed the book for what it was and I do recommend it if middle grade stories are your thing. I also think this would be a good book to use for learning English with all those descriptions, and light and easy-to-follow plot.
October 11, 2010
not my fave super special. all the members of the babysitters club somehow end up in new york city for two weeks. this seriously seems like a ludicrously long time to allow your 13/11-year-old daughter loose in the city without a guardian. half the girls are crashing at stacey's dad's apartment & the other half are staying with laine's family at the dakota. because who doesn't want to host a pack of teen/tweenage girls that are buddies with their daughter's former best friend for two weeks in their multi-million-dollar apartment. the conceit is that claudia & mallory have been accepted into an art program taught by a famous artist that claudia really admires. the other girls are just along for shits & giggles. their parents have some weird rules, like no riding the subway alone. having spent some time in new york city, i would feel more safe & comfortable waiting for a train in a subway station than standing out on a street corner trying to hail a cab. plus the girls often get around this edict by walking from place to place. i would DEFINITELY prefer my teen daughter to be on a subway for ten blocks than walking for ten blocks if she is by herself. anyway.
of course, each girl has her own lame story.
claudia is taking the drawing class. it doesn't go well. the teacher barks at her & makes her do assignments over & is very critical of her. meanwhile, mallory is showered with constant praise. claudia is really hurt by this. all mallory wants to do is learn how to draw mice wearing clothing for her dumbass kids' picture books, while claudia wants to be a real artist. claudia thinks that she is surely a superior artist to mallory. eventually claudia starts to feel like maybe she is completely talentless & will never be able to be an artist like she wants.
which...okay, i think it's totally bogus that claudia would sign up for this class & then not be able to handle any criticism. i know she's only 13, but why is she agreeing to be in the kitchen if she can't take the heat? i also think she's being a really shitty friend by getting angry at mallory because mallory is receiving more praise than she is. i agree that the shit mallory wants to draw is fucking lame. but why is claudia even comparing herself in that case? i hate poetry, so i don't compare myself to people who write poetry. i'm sure many poets are very good at what they do, but it's not what i do, so i don't feel like i am impacted by the praise they receive. it's no skin off my nose.
at the same time, mallory seems to be kind of way too into in to the praise she is getting. then again, she's 11.
anyway, this all concludes when the teacher confesses to claudia that she is one of the most talented students he has ever had. he has pushed her hard because he knows she is capable of great things. he he praised mallory because she's doing as well as she can do with her comparably limited talents. also, mallory kind of gives up on their assignments & starts drawing picture sof mice wearing clothing, hanging out next to toadtstools. i think it's lame that mallory puttered out on the class, & i think it's lame that claudia is so pleased because the teacher basically took her aside & told her that she's a hundred times more talented than mallory. i also think it's lame that the teacher would say something like that. why not just say, "you're very talented," & leave it at that, without adding the, "mallory sucks" part?
moving on. kristy finds a stray dog in central park. she sneaks it into the dakota & decides to keep it & bring it back to stoneybrook. but one day while all the babysitters are taking the circle line tour with mr. mcgill (which takes all freaking day), laine's mom finds the dog. she tells kristy that the dog may have an owner & that she has to find a home for him...especially because watson said "no dog". kristy thinks she can change watson's mind, but she sees laine's mom's point & makes a flyer about the dog. a little boy calls & says he wants to see the dog. he gives kristy his name, address, & phone number, & invites her to come over with the dog. kristy jots all this info down without talking to a parental figure to a) make sure the kid doesn't just want the dog but lacks permissions for a pet, & b) make sure she's not being lured into a murderous trap, & c) make sure the parents know their kid is calling strangers on the phone & telling them where he lives, which is a good way to get killed. seriously, SAFETY FAIL of epic proportions.
of course, this is a babysitters club book, so no one gets killed or kidnapped. the kid loves the dog, the dog seems to love the kid, problem solved. kristy is sad, but she & the kid agree to be pen pals.
dawn is once again terrified of NYC. she hangs around mr. mcgill's apartment all day everyday, cleaning & tidying. after a few days, a teenage boy stops by. he's the downstairs neighbor, richie...which weirdly, is what dawn's mom calls mary anne's dad. gross. richie has a broken ankle & sometimes he visits with mr. mcgill when he is bored. mr. mcgill said stacey & her friends were coming to town, so richie came to meet them. but only dawn is there. she & richie become friends. she admits she's afraid of the city, & he tells her all about how awesome new york is. once he gets his walking cast, they make a day of it & go everywhere. dawn falls in love with the city & she & richie kiss. this story is pretty dull.
jessi's story also involves a boy & is also dull. jessi goes to the ballet one day. somehow she ends up sitting right next to a black 11-year-old boy who takes ballet classes. his teachers say he is good enough to get into juilliard, which he tells jessi right away in a way that would sound like unseemly boasting to me, but we're just supposed to roll with it because it's a big plot point. his name is quint, & he is reluctant to apply to juilliard because the boys in his neighborhood already tease him about his weekly classes. they'd go nuts if he was going to dance school full-time.
jessi & quint become friends & jessi encourages quint to at least audition. finally, he agrees to try. he invites jessi over while he tells his parents, who are very supportive. i think he & jessi kiss at some point. i feel for quint, but it's not the most engaging storyline. it's also sad that jessi had to go all the way to new york city to meet a dude.
mary anne & stacey get a babysitting gig for these british diplomats or something, who have two perfect little well-behaved kids who wear sailor suits & shit. i don't know why ann m. martin is so hung up on the idea that all british children are basically living dolls. mary anne & stacey have a great time with the kids...until they notice that they are constantly being followed by a man wearing a rain hat & sunglasses. they start to get really scared. they think maybe he is trying to kidnap one of the children. so they do the logical thing &...they do not mention anything to the kids' parents. WHAT? look, if the babysitter notices that some creepy dude is following my kid & they suspect a kidnapping is afoot, I WANT TO KNOW. especially if my babysitter is THIRTEEN YEARS OLD & escorting my children all over NEW YORK CITY. i've been mugged there. i'm not trying to be all dawn about it, but you do have to keep your wits about you.
anyway, right before their babysitting gig is over, they share their suspicions with their employers. turns out, fishing hat/sunglasses dude is the children's bodyguard. he wore a disguise because their time in the states was supposed to be a vacation for the kids from being followed by a bodyguard all the time. i guess this is semi-plausible, but you'd think a couple of diplomats who employ a professional full-time bodyguard for their children would also maybe hire a professional nanny for their two-week visit to the states (if they don't already have a live-in nanny or au pair back home)--maybe one with a car? maybe one that is not THIRTEEN YEARS OLD?
*sigh*
of course, each girl has her own lame story.
claudia is taking the drawing class. it doesn't go well. the teacher barks at her & makes her do assignments over & is very critical of her. meanwhile, mallory is showered with constant praise. claudia is really hurt by this. all mallory wants to do is learn how to draw mice wearing clothing for her dumbass kids' picture books, while claudia wants to be a real artist. claudia thinks that she is surely a superior artist to mallory. eventually claudia starts to feel like maybe she is completely talentless & will never be able to be an artist like she wants.
which...okay, i think it's totally bogus that claudia would sign up for this class & then not be able to handle any criticism. i know she's only 13, but why is she agreeing to be in the kitchen if she can't take the heat? i also think she's being a really shitty friend by getting angry at mallory because mallory is receiving more praise than she is. i agree that the shit mallory wants to draw is fucking lame. but why is claudia even comparing herself in that case? i hate poetry, so i don't compare myself to people who write poetry. i'm sure many poets are very good at what they do, but it's not what i do, so i don't feel like i am impacted by the praise they receive. it's no skin off my nose.
at the same time, mallory seems to be kind of way too into in to the praise she is getting. then again, she's 11.
anyway, this all concludes when the teacher confesses to claudia that she is one of the most talented students he has ever had. he has pushed her hard because he knows she is capable of great things. he he praised mallory because she's doing as well as she can do with her comparably limited talents. also, mallory kind of gives up on their assignments & starts drawing picture sof mice wearing clothing, hanging out next to toadtstools. i think it's lame that mallory puttered out on the class, & i think it's lame that claudia is so pleased because the teacher basically took her aside & told her that she's a hundred times more talented than mallory. i also think it's lame that the teacher would say something like that. why not just say, "you're very talented," & leave it at that, without adding the, "mallory sucks" part?
moving on. kristy finds a stray dog in central park. she sneaks it into the dakota & decides to keep it & bring it back to stoneybrook. but one day while all the babysitters are taking the circle line tour with mr. mcgill (which takes all freaking day), laine's mom finds the dog. she tells kristy that the dog may have an owner & that she has to find a home for him...especially because watson said "no dog". kristy thinks she can change watson's mind, but she sees laine's mom's point & makes a flyer about the dog. a little boy calls & says he wants to see the dog. he gives kristy his name, address, & phone number, & invites her to come over with the dog. kristy jots all this info down without talking to a parental figure to a) make sure the kid doesn't just want the dog but lacks permissions for a pet, & b) make sure she's not being lured into a murderous trap, & c) make sure the parents know their kid is calling strangers on the phone & telling them where he lives, which is a good way to get killed. seriously, SAFETY FAIL of epic proportions.
of course, this is a babysitters club book, so no one gets killed or kidnapped. the kid loves the dog, the dog seems to love the kid, problem solved. kristy is sad, but she & the kid agree to be pen pals.
dawn is once again terrified of NYC. she hangs around mr. mcgill's apartment all day everyday, cleaning & tidying. after a few days, a teenage boy stops by. he's the downstairs neighbor, richie...which weirdly, is what dawn's mom calls mary anne's dad. gross. richie has a broken ankle & sometimes he visits with mr. mcgill when he is bored. mr. mcgill said stacey & her friends were coming to town, so richie came to meet them. but only dawn is there. she & richie become friends. she admits she's afraid of the city, & he tells her all about how awesome new york is. once he gets his walking cast, they make a day of it & go everywhere. dawn falls in love with the city & she & richie kiss. this story is pretty dull.
jessi's story also involves a boy & is also dull. jessi goes to the ballet one day. somehow she ends up sitting right next to a black 11-year-old boy who takes ballet classes. his teachers say he is good enough to get into juilliard, which he tells jessi right away in a way that would sound like unseemly boasting to me, but we're just supposed to roll with it because it's a big plot point. his name is quint, & he is reluctant to apply to juilliard because the boys in his neighborhood already tease him about his weekly classes. they'd go nuts if he was going to dance school full-time.
jessi & quint become friends & jessi encourages quint to at least audition. finally, he agrees to try. he invites jessi over while he tells his parents, who are very supportive. i think he & jessi kiss at some point. i feel for quint, but it's not the most engaging storyline. it's also sad that jessi had to go all the way to new york city to meet a dude.
mary anne & stacey get a babysitting gig for these british diplomats or something, who have two perfect little well-behaved kids who wear sailor suits & shit. i don't know why ann m. martin is so hung up on the idea that all british children are basically living dolls. mary anne & stacey have a great time with the kids...until they notice that they are constantly being followed by a man wearing a rain hat & sunglasses. they start to get really scared. they think maybe he is trying to kidnap one of the children. so they do the logical thing &...they do not mention anything to the kids' parents. WHAT? look, if the babysitter notices that some creepy dude is following my kid & they suspect a kidnapping is afoot, I WANT TO KNOW. especially if my babysitter is THIRTEEN YEARS OLD & escorting my children all over NEW YORK CITY. i've been mugged there. i'm not trying to be all dawn about it, but you do have to keep your wits about you.
anyway, right before their babysitting gig is over, they share their suspicions with their employers. turns out, fishing hat/sunglasses dude is the children's bodyguard. he wore a disguise because their time in the states was supposed to be a vacation for the kids from being followed by a bodyguard all the time. i guess this is semi-plausible, but you'd think a couple of diplomats who employ a professional full-time bodyguard for their children would also maybe hire a professional nanny for their two-week visit to the states (if they don't already have a live-in nanny or au pair back home)--maybe one with a car? maybe one that is not THIRTEEN YEARS OLD?
*sigh*
April 22, 2016
on yet another one of these seasonless two-week school vacations (the type of thing that happens in almost every super special), the entire baby-sitters club goes to stay in new york city with stacey's dad and laine's parents. the framing device is that since claudia is taking an art class at falny (fine arts league of new york) with mckenzie clarke, some famous artist, she wants a record of the experience. she illustrates the trip journal and has each of the bsc members contribute to it. see character plots!
-claudia: taking classes with mckenzie clarke. she draws too fast and pays too little attention to her work, so he doesn't compliment her, but he compliments mallory (who is also taking the classes and actually takes the time to work on her drawings). clauda is a total brat in this book, kind of like in any book about her and janine.
-kristy: finds a dog in central park and hides him in laine's apartment, hoping her parents will let her take him home (because he looks slightly like louie, her deceased collie). when laine's mom figures out the dog is there, she is way too nice to kristy about it, and she (and the bsc) help her put up signs that she found a dog. she ends up giving him to a little boy who lives in a nice humble apartment (seriously condescending descriptions, see more in the lowlights).
-stacey & mary anne: baby sit these british kids who are in town for a couple weeks. they think they're getting stalked by a kidnapper, and it turns out that he's the british kids' bodyguard (their parents are important politicans or something).
-mallory: taking classes with claudia under mckenzie clark. he liberally compliments her work because she tries hard and claudia doesn't. but she decides she's not particularly good at or interested in fine arts. she just wanted to get better at illustrating children's books that she wanted to write.
-dawn: INSUFFERABLE IDIOT. she is this book's mary anne. she won't leave stacey's dad's apartment and is constantly being a drama queen about how she thinks all her friends are going to get murdered in new york. it's like how she is in Stacey's Mistake but WAY more extreme. and then a cute boy (with a ponytail! barf!) asks her to leave the apartment, and she does. because she's an idiot who won't go hang out with her friends but will totally go hang out with some ponytail guy. he shows her the fun quirky stuff in nyc, which is fun to read.
-jessi: meets quint, the nyc ballet dancer who gets bullied and teased by neighborhood kids for being a "sissy". quint has been told he's good enough for julliard, and jessi finally convinces him to at least audition. he gets in and decides to go even though he's gonna be bullied more mercilously. but also he gives jessi her first kiss!
highlights:
-mary anne refuses to sing "a hell of a town" in "new york, new york" and instead sings "a wonderful town" -- seriously I laughed so hard.
-claudia says that her mom and dad don't let her call adults by their first names when she hears another student call mckenzie clarke "mac". I find this funny, but also...live a little, claud!
-dawn describes richie magnesi's (the boy who persuades her to leave the apartment) ponytail as "very chilly" (the bsc word for "cool") and narrates, "how could I have thought he looked like a creep?" um, maybe because he has a tiny ponytail? DUH. ;)
-when dawn says new york makes her nervous, richie calls her an antiurbanist. #wannabeanticiv (aka joey's old okcupid name)
-claudia thinks she has an elvis sighting. the way she rationalizes it is so good. like, she knows he's dead, but lots of people report seeing him, so it must be him. hahahaha
-when quint says he likes fred astaire better than ginger rogers and eleanor powell, jessi calls him a male chauvinist. I love crotchety old feminist jessi (along with mallory, one of the anti-beauty contest bsc members in Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn -- why are these 6th graders so much cooler than the 8th graders?)
-kristy had called the dog she found "sonny" which was a nickname for "son of louie" which she called him because he sort of looked like louie. when she brings him over to brandon's house (brandon is the kid who ends up taking him) and they decide that brandon can keep him, kristy asks what he's going to call him. he says, "I'm going to call him sonny, of course." AWWWWW.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-according to this book, jessi and mal have met laine before. they have? when? she's never been to stoneybrook and they haven't been on the bsc trips to ny in Stacey's Mistake or Stacey's Emergency. if I'm wrong please comment and tell me!
-stacey says admission to the tisch petting zoo is and always will be 10 cents. that's not true. now it is included with regular zoo admission, which is $7 for kids.
-after riding the subway for the first time dawn narrates that she is shocked she's still alive. UGGGGGHHHHHHH I HATE HER.
-when she is cooped up in stacey's dad's apartment all day, dawn organizes everything in his apartment. it's so annoying.
-the bodyguard for the british kids comes to the public library for storytime all by himself. there is no way the public library would let a creepy adult man in a rain hat and sunglasses come into a children's program with no children. ick.
-claudia notes that the ads in the subway are for roach spray and roach motels. this is a funny touch, I guess, but it makes me feel like saying, "yeah, we get it. there are roaches in big cities. move on. roach repellents are not the only things to advertise."
-richie and dawn get TWO TACOS for their lunch. each has ONE TACO. when I was thirteen I would eat three tacos and still be starving. especially considering dawn's doesn't have any protein (not even beans), there is no way that's enough food.
-they were gone on this trip for two weeks. in new york. which can't be more than an hour or two away from stoneybrook considering nyc is like an hour from stamford and stoneybrook is near stamford. so WHY did the pikes have to make a banner for their return? why did the brewer/thomases make t-shirts? COME ON. you can live without these freakazoids for two weeks and not have to throw them welcome home parties.
-WHY OH WHY did the british parents not tell mary anne and stacey that that guy was the kids' bodyguard. HOW did they not anticipate that the girls would get scared when they saw a creepy-looking guy following them around? IDIOTS.
-the condescending classist description of brandon's apartment made me irritated. it's all old and shabby and the furniture is worn, but you can tell there's a lot of love there so they make it work. barf. it's like kristy has finally turned into a millionaire's stepdaughter in her mentality about the world.
-jessi and quint get VANILLA egg creams. blasphemy. that's like getting light cream cheese on your bagel and lox.
no claudia outfits, but one KRISTY outfit (I KNOW!)
-"She was wearing a long cotton sweater, black leggings, and black shoes. (She had borrowed everything from Laine)."
no snacks in claudia's room.
-claudia: taking classes with mckenzie clarke. she draws too fast and pays too little attention to her work, so he doesn't compliment her, but he compliments mallory (who is also taking the classes and actually takes the time to work on her drawings). clauda is a total brat in this book, kind of like in any book about her and janine.
-kristy: finds a dog in central park and hides him in laine's apartment, hoping her parents will let her take him home (because he looks slightly like louie, her deceased collie). when laine's mom figures out the dog is there, she is way too nice to kristy about it, and she (and the bsc) help her put up signs that she found a dog. she ends up giving him to a little boy who lives in a nice humble apartment (seriously condescending descriptions, see more in the lowlights).
-stacey & mary anne: baby sit these british kids who are in town for a couple weeks. they think they're getting stalked by a kidnapper, and it turns out that he's the british kids' bodyguard (their parents are important politicans or something).
-mallory: taking classes with claudia under mckenzie clark. he liberally compliments her work because she tries hard and claudia doesn't. but she decides she's not particularly good at or interested in fine arts. she just wanted to get better at illustrating children's books that she wanted to write.
-dawn: INSUFFERABLE IDIOT. she is this book's mary anne. she won't leave stacey's dad's apartment and is constantly being a drama queen about how she thinks all her friends are going to get murdered in new york. it's like how she is in Stacey's Mistake but WAY more extreme. and then a cute boy (with a ponytail! barf!) asks her to leave the apartment, and she does. because she's an idiot who won't go hang out with her friends but will totally go hang out with some ponytail guy. he shows her the fun quirky stuff in nyc, which is fun to read.
-jessi: meets quint, the nyc ballet dancer who gets bullied and teased by neighborhood kids for being a "sissy". quint has been told he's good enough for julliard, and jessi finally convinces him to at least audition. he gets in and decides to go even though he's gonna be bullied more mercilously. but also he gives jessi her first kiss!
highlights:
-mary anne refuses to sing "a hell of a town" in "new york, new york" and instead sings "a wonderful town" -- seriously I laughed so hard.
-claudia says that her mom and dad don't let her call adults by their first names when she hears another student call mckenzie clarke "mac". I find this funny, but also...live a little, claud!
-dawn describes richie magnesi's (the boy who persuades her to leave the apartment) ponytail as "very chilly" (the bsc word for "cool") and narrates, "how could I have thought he looked like a creep?" um, maybe because he has a tiny ponytail? DUH. ;)
-when dawn says new york makes her nervous, richie calls her an antiurbanist. #wannabeanticiv (aka joey's old okcupid name)
-claudia thinks she has an elvis sighting. the way she rationalizes it is so good. like, she knows he's dead, but lots of people report seeing him, so it must be him. hahahaha
-when quint says he likes fred astaire better than ginger rogers and eleanor powell, jessi calls him a male chauvinist. I love crotchety old feminist jessi (along with mallory, one of the anti-beauty contest bsc members in Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn -- why are these 6th graders so much cooler than the 8th graders?)
-kristy had called the dog she found "sonny" which was a nickname for "son of louie" which she called him because he sort of looked like louie. when she brings him over to brandon's house (brandon is the kid who ends up taking him) and they decide that brandon can keep him, kristy asks what he's going to call him. he says, "I'm going to call him sonny, of course." AWWWWW.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-according to this book, jessi and mal have met laine before. they have? when? she's never been to stoneybrook and they haven't been on the bsc trips to ny in Stacey's Mistake or Stacey's Emergency. if I'm wrong please comment and tell me!
-stacey says admission to the tisch petting zoo is and always will be 10 cents. that's not true. now it is included with regular zoo admission, which is $7 for kids.
-after riding the subway for the first time dawn narrates that she is shocked she's still alive. UGGGGGHHHHHHH I HATE HER.
-when she is cooped up in stacey's dad's apartment all day, dawn organizes everything in his apartment. it's so annoying.
-the bodyguard for the british kids comes to the public library for storytime all by himself. there is no way the public library would let a creepy adult man in a rain hat and sunglasses come into a children's program with no children. ick.
-claudia notes that the ads in the subway are for roach spray and roach motels. this is a funny touch, I guess, but it makes me feel like saying, "yeah, we get it. there are roaches in big cities. move on. roach repellents are not the only things to advertise."
-richie and dawn get TWO TACOS for their lunch. each has ONE TACO. when I was thirteen I would eat three tacos and still be starving. especially considering dawn's doesn't have any protein (not even beans), there is no way that's enough food.
-they were gone on this trip for two weeks. in new york. which can't be more than an hour or two away from stoneybrook considering nyc is like an hour from stamford and stoneybrook is near stamford. so WHY did the pikes have to make a banner for their return? why did the brewer/thomases make t-shirts? COME ON. you can live without these freakazoids for two weeks and not have to throw them welcome home parties.
-WHY OH WHY did the british parents not tell mary anne and stacey that that guy was the kids' bodyguard. HOW did they not anticipate that the girls would get scared when they saw a creepy-looking guy following them around? IDIOTS.
-the condescending classist description of brandon's apartment made me irritated. it's all old and shabby and the furniture is worn, but you can tell there's a lot of love there so they make it work. barf. it's like kristy has finally turned into a millionaire's stepdaughter in her mentality about the world.
-jessi and quint get VANILLA egg creams. blasphemy. that's like getting light cream cheese on your bagel and lox.
no claudia outfits, but one KRISTY outfit (I KNOW!)
-"She was wearing a long cotton sweater, black leggings, and black shoes. (She had borrowed everything from Laine)."
no snacks in claudia's room.
December 16, 2016
The BSC is off to NYC, OMG! Claudia and Mallory are taking art classes, and the other baby sitters get into adventures around the Big Apple. I read this when I was eight.
Things I remember from reading this as a kid:
I was just learning to read and write cursive when I read this, and I had one heck of a time trying to read the intro, which is written in Claudia's cramped, misspelled cursive. I remember trying to read it for what seemed like hours, and finally just skipping the whole thing.
Kristy finds a dog in Central Park and finds him a home. She's sure that dogs aren't allowed in the Dakota, so she wastes a lot of time and energy distracting the doormen so she can sneak the dog upstairs. (Or, more accurately, she recruits Jessi to do it for her.) Now, when I was seven or eight I was completely obsessed with Lauren Bacall. (Actually, I still am!) I had photos of her everywhere, and I did all kinds of stalker-ish research on her at the library in Santa Fe. (In the days before the internet too, which really proves my dedication!) So I knew that Lauren Bacall lived at the Dakota, and I knew that she loved dogs. When she was married to Humphrey Bogart they had a lot of boxers, so I envisioned her still living with boxers at her regal Dakota apartment. (Now that I know something about the lifespan of boxers, and Bacall's little papillon, Sophie, which she had in the last years of her life, I suspect she had much smaller dogs living with her in the late 1980s.) So, as a kid, I was disgusted that take-charge, know-it-all Kristy didn't know that the Dakota allowed dogs.
Dawn being terrified of the city, and making a friend with someone who frightens her by dropping by the apartment while she is alone there. As a kid I liked Dawn a lot, but this storyline bothered me a lot because she's such a wimp. It didn't jive with my idea of Dawn at all.
Things I've considered since reading this as an adult:
Dawn still bothers me as an adult. She reminds me of the saps who refuse to go anywhere they consider "dangerous" such as Nigeria, or India. Or the people who come to New Mexico and complain that they don't feel safe anywhere. Stacey tries to point out all the good things about NYC that Dawn is missing out on by refusing to see past the bad things, but there is no arguing (as I know from bitter experience) with someone who is sure their safety is at risk. I can't believe her friends put up with her with as much patience as they do. Dawn keeps freaking out, and screaming. It's a good thing this took place before any of the attacks on the World Trade centers because she keeps shouting about car bombs and thinking she sees suspects from the FBI's most wanted list. But she also makes a huge fuss about a lot of little things, such as entering the subway. The friend she makes in New York, Richie, calls her an "antiurbanist". Although I don't remember much about him from reading this as a kid, I really liked Richie in this book. He points out that so many people miss the beauty of the city either because they're afraid, or because they'd rather hang around stores they could go to back home. He loves exploring off the beaten path, and discovering new and different things. And instead of keeping these great things to himself he shares them with Dawn, to help her get over her fear of the city. Eventually, after a week sitting around an apartment, cleaning and watching TV she deigns to go out with Richie. And is disappointed when he wants to buy her a box of Godiva chocolate. I was completely sick of Dawn by the end of this book.
I'm no longer annoyed with Kristy for not knowing that dogs were allowed in the Dakota. (Who would? Just some weird kid who had seen The Big Sleep once too often.) However, while going through the lobby of the Dakota doesn't she see other people with dogs?
The Harrington's make their bodyguard follow their kids around while Mary Anne and Stacey are baby sitting for them, which makes sense since I'm not sure I would want my two young, high-profile, children running around NYC with two thirteen year olds. But why don't they tell Mary Anne and Stacey about this arrangement? It's just plain creepy that they don't, especially since the bodyguard is not very subtle, and Mary Anne figures out almost right away that a man is following them. (Also he's hanging around kids events like storytimes and petting zoos -- where are Stabler and Benson when you need them?) Why would you frighten your baby sitters like that? On the other hand, once Mary Anne and Stacey are suspicious of the man in the hat and sunglasses they don't say anything to the Harringtons even though it sounds like their kids are in danger.
Jessi is only eleven, but she has an agonizing time over when to call the boy she meets, Quint, and what she should say to him. I had a lot of similar problems fifteen years ago. When she finally calls him, he invites her over to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. They even get into a debate about who's a better dancer than Fred Astaire -- Eleanor Powell, or Ann Miller. And the guy can dance well enough to get into Julliard? I would have agonized over what to say to him over the phone too. Later on, Jessi is very pushy, and keeps pressuring Quint to go to Julliard. When he finally agrees to audition he asks Jessi to help him tell his parents about his decision. And Quint's parents are super worried that Jessi and Quint are going to break the news that they want to get married (or more likely, they're super worried that Jessi is pregnant, although that could never be explicitly mentioned in this series).
I sympathize with Claudia who hates school, and has no talents (other than knowing all the plots of every Nancy Drew book) other than art. I have no talents other than reading, and I hated school so much that I refused any higher education. Claudia fears that if her art teacher in New York thinks she's not a good artist than there is nothing else for her, and even runs through a list of other potential careers in her mind. (Cab driver? Professional baby sitter?) She is relieved when she realizes that her teacher was so hard on her because he thinks she has the potential to be a great artist, as long as she can stay disciplined and focused. I want to tell Claudia that somehow I fooled the world into letting me spin my one talent into paid work, and that someday she will do the same. The other side of Claudia's story is that Mal has been babied in the class by the teacher. She even bonds with him by recommending books to his daughter. But as the class goes on she gets more and more bored by the seriousness of sitting still and sketching one thing for hours on end. It's not fun, or interesting to her, and she begins to realize that unlike Claudia, she doesn't take art that seriously. For her it's not a passion, but a fun hobby, something to supplement the stories she writes for young children. When the art teacher tells her that while she is a good artist for her age, she doesn't have Claudia's amazing talent, Mallory finds she's a little disappointed, but not too upset. She is inspired by her time in New York to begin a children's book about two mice who have adventures in the city. There is a beautiful moment in the book where Claudia apologizes abruptly and out of nowhere for being so mean to Mallory, and Mallory accepts the apology and forgives Claudia without a whole song and dance. I think I especially liked this because I don't think of Claudia and Mallory as being that close, or having that much time together in the series, but this exchange makes it feel like they have a really great and deep friendship.
I did not realize until I got to the very end of the book that the illustrations were done by Ann M Martin's father, Harry Martin. Apparently he's a cartoonist. Who knew!
Things I remember from reading this as a kid:
I was just learning to read and write cursive when I read this, and I had one heck of a time trying to read the intro, which is written in Claudia's cramped, misspelled cursive. I remember trying to read it for what seemed like hours, and finally just skipping the whole thing.
Kristy finds a dog in Central Park and finds him a home. She's sure that dogs aren't allowed in the Dakota, so she wastes a lot of time and energy distracting the doormen so she can sneak the dog upstairs. (Or, more accurately, she recruits Jessi to do it for her.) Now, when I was seven or eight I was completely obsessed with Lauren Bacall. (Actually, I still am!) I had photos of her everywhere, and I did all kinds of stalker-ish research on her at the library in Santa Fe. (In the days before the internet too, which really proves my dedication!) So I knew that Lauren Bacall lived at the Dakota, and I knew that she loved dogs. When she was married to Humphrey Bogart they had a lot of boxers, so I envisioned her still living with boxers at her regal Dakota apartment. (Now that I know something about the lifespan of boxers, and Bacall's little papillon, Sophie, which she had in the last years of her life, I suspect she had much smaller dogs living with her in the late 1980s.) So, as a kid, I was disgusted that take-charge, know-it-all Kristy didn't know that the Dakota allowed dogs.
Dawn being terrified of the city, and making a friend with someone who frightens her by dropping by the apartment while she is alone there. As a kid I liked Dawn a lot, but this storyline bothered me a lot because she's such a wimp. It didn't jive with my idea of Dawn at all.
Things I've considered since reading this as an adult:
Dawn still bothers me as an adult. She reminds me of the saps who refuse to go anywhere they consider "dangerous" such as Nigeria, or India. Or the people who come to New Mexico and complain that they don't feel safe anywhere. Stacey tries to point out all the good things about NYC that Dawn is missing out on by refusing to see past the bad things, but there is no arguing (as I know from bitter experience) with someone who is sure their safety is at risk. I can't believe her friends put up with her with as much patience as they do. Dawn keeps freaking out, and screaming. It's a good thing this took place before any of the attacks on the World Trade centers because she keeps shouting about car bombs and thinking she sees suspects from the FBI's most wanted list. But she also makes a huge fuss about a lot of little things, such as entering the subway. The friend she makes in New York, Richie, calls her an "antiurbanist". Although I don't remember much about him from reading this as a kid, I really liked Richie in this book. He points out that so many people miss the beauty of the city either because they're afraid, or because they'd rather hang around stores they could go to back home. He loves exploring off the beaten path, and discovering new and different things. And instead of keeping these great things to himself he shares them with Dawn, to help her get over her fear of the city. Eventually, after a week sitting around an apartment, cleaning and watching TV she deigns to go out with Richie. And is disappointed when he wants to buy her a box of Godiva chocolate. I was completely sick of Dawn by the end of this book.
I'm no longer annoyed with Kristy for not knowing that dogs were allowed in the Dakota. (Who would? Just some weird kid who had seen The Big Sleep once too often.) However, while going through the lobby of the Dakota doesn't she see other people with dogs?
The Harrington's make their bodyguard follow their kids around while Mary Anne and Stacey are baby sitting for them, which makes sense since I'm not sure I would want my two young, high-profile, children running around NYC with two thirteen year olds. But why don't they tell Mary Anne and Stacey about this arrangement? It's just plain creepy that they don't, especially since the bodyguard is not very subtle, and Mary Anne figures out almost right away that a man is following them. (Also he's hanging around kids events like storytimes and petting zoos -- where are Stabler and Benson when you need them?) Why would you frighten your baby sitters like that? On the other hand, once Mary Anne and Stacey are suspicious of the man in the hat and sunglasses they don't say anything to the Harringtons even though it sounds like their kids are in danger.
Jessi is only eleven, but she has an agonizing time over when to call the boy she meets, Quint, and what she should say to him. I had a lot of similar problems fifteen years ago. When she finally calls him, he invites her over to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. They even get into a debate about who's a better dancer than Fred Astaire -- Eleanor Powell, or Ann Miller. And the guy can dance well enough to get into Julliard? I would have agonized over what to say to him over the phone too. Later on, Jessi is very pushy, and keeps pressuring Quint to go to Julliard. When he finally agrees to audition he asks Jessi to help him tell his parents about his decision. And Quint's parents are super worried that Jessi and Quint are going to break the news that they want to get married (or more likely, they're super worried that Jessi is pregnant, although that could never be explicitly mentioned in this series).
I sympathize with Claudia who hates school, and has no talents (other than knowing all the plots of every Nancy Drew book) other than art. I have no talents other than reading, and I hated school so much that I refused any higher education. Claudia fears that if her art teacher in New York thinks she's not a good artist than there is nothing else for her, and even runs through a list of other potential careers in her mind. (Cab driver? Professional baby sitter?) She is relieved when she realizes that her teacher was so hard on her because he thinks she has the potential to be a great artist, as long as she can stay disciplined and focused. I want to tell Claudia that somehow I fooled the world into letting me spin my one talent into paid work, and that someday she will do the same. The other side of Claudia's story is that Mal has been babied in the class by the teacher. She even bonds with him by recommending books to his daughter. But as the class goes on she gets more and more bored by the seriousness of sitting still and sketching one thing for hours on end. It's not fun, or interesting to her, and she begins to realize that unlike Claudia, she doesn't take art that seriously. For her it's not a passion, but a fun hobby, something to supplement the stories she writes for young children. When the art teacher tells her that while she is a good artist for her age, she doesn't have Claudia's amazing talent, Mallory finds she's a little disappointed, but not too upset. She is inspired by her time in New York to begin a children's book about two mice who have adventures in the city. There is a beautiful moment in the book where Claudia apologizes abruptly and out of nowhere for being so mean to Mallory, and Mallory accepts the apology and forgives Claudia without a whole song and dance. I think I especially liked this because I don't think of Claudia and Mallory as being that close, or having that much time together in the series, but this exchange makes it feel like they have a really great and deep friendship.
I did not realize until I got to the very end of the book that the illustrations were done by Ann M Martin's father, Harry Martin. Apparently he's a cartoonist. Who knew!
November 24, 2018
This time the BSC is spending two weeks in NYC with Stacey's dad and her friend Laine. They all visit Central Park, Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center. There is also shopping, eating, the theater, and museums. Stacey and Mary Anne babysit two children of English diplomats. Kristy finds a stray dog. Jessi dates a male dancer. Dawn befriends a boy in Stacey's building. Claudia and Mallory take art lessons.
July 15, 2022
An excellent book! There’s characters I love, everyone grows a little bit, there’s funny parts and emotional parts. I love super specials.
September 1, 2021
New York New York
Claudia convinces her parents to let her study art in New York with the famous artist Mckenzie. Since Mallory wants to be an illustrator, she decides to take the classes too. Mr. McGill offers to let all the BSC stay at this apartment and Claudia decides to keep an illustrated diary of all their experiences.
When they get there, Stacey, Claudia, and Dawn decide to stay with Mr. McGill. Kristy, Maryanne, Jessi, and Mal will stay at the Dakota with Laine. There are some visitors at the Dakota (the Harrington’s), who have small children (Allistaire and Rowena). Mr. Harrington just so happens to need someone to show his kid’s around while he’s there. Stacey volunteers and so does Maryanne (who's thrilled that she’ll be getting paid to do something she loves so much).
Dawn is still scared of New York. A candy wrapper in her mind is a roach. A man that turns out to be a policeman is someone she thinks she recognizes for a Most Wanted show. That night she’s terrified when she has to sleep on the couch, someone will crawl through fire escape window. The next day she says she’ll just say at the apartment, but Kristy comes over to babysit her.
Maryanne and Stacey take Alistair and Rowena on an outing to Central Park. They take in the petting zoo, buy toys on sticks, have lunch, and explore the other sights. On Monday, Mal and Claudia go to their first art class. It doesn’t go well. Neither the building nor McKenize Clark lives up to Claudia’s expectations. The assignment is to draw a stack of boxes. Claudia finishes quickly, but he critics her work. What’s worse is he praises Mal’s work and it’s full of erasure marks. Upset Claudia questions herself as an artist.
Jessi gets Maryanne, Stacey, and Laine to walk with her to the Lincoln Center, and she stays (by herself) to watch a ballet (Swan Lake). There she meets the guy of her dreams (Quint). Jessi finds out that he’s from there and has seen the ballet many times. He wants to be a dancer and takes classes. He’s so good he can get into Julliard but is reluctant because the other boys call him gay and tease him. Jessi tells him to screw them. He then gives her his number. Claud acts like a brat to Mal in class and later when Mr. McGill takes them all to Chinatown.
Kristy and Jessi go to Central Park and on the way back to the Dakota, they find an abandoned dog. Kristy decides she wants to take it back home and gets Jessi to distract the guards so she can sneak it into the apartment. When she calls Watson and asks can she have the dog, he tells her NOPE! Stacey and Maryanne take the kids to a fair, the Natural Museum of History, and to storytime at the library. Maryanne keeps nothing strange men in raincoats and hats, but then she realizes it’s the SAME man. She thinks he’s following the kids.
While Dawn is holed up in the apartment, a boy comes by that knows Stacey’s father. Dawn and Richie talk and he tells her she may have been to NY but she’s never really *seen* NY. Claud and Mal take a trip with the class to Rockefeller Center. Claud sketches a picture of how she sees the skating rink in the winter, but Mckenzie tells her again to slow down. She then sketches the restaurant; he tells the same thing. So she starts over and goes so slow her mind starts to wonder and she doesn’t finish. She’s cross at Mal whose been boding with McKenzie over horses and go to the next location where they go together to a book store.
Jessi gets invited over to Quint’s house (after Laine’s approval) and she and Quint watch old Fred Astaire movies. When going to return the video Quint gets harassed by some boys in the neighborhood and even though she doesn’t think he should let them discourage him, she sees his point. Mr. McGill takes off work and takes them all on a tour of NY via boat. On the boat, Stacey notices the strange man with the hat and shades and alerts Maryanne. They vow to watch the kids extra close. When they get back from the trip, Mrs. Cummings finds the dog and tells Kristy that since Watson won’t let her keep it she either has to find its owner or find it a new home. Kirsty takes (Sonny) to the vet and he’s declared healthy (hopefully making the process easier since she doesn’t have that much time).
Jessi gets invited over to Quint’s house (after Laine’s approval) and she and Quint watch old Fred Astaire movies. When going to return the video Quint gets harassed by some boys in the neighborhood and even though she doesn’t think he should let them discourage him, she sees his point. Mr. McGill takes off work and takes them all on a tour of NY via boat. On the boat Stacey notices the strange man with the hat and shades and alerts Maryanne. They vow to watch the kid’s extra close. When they get back from the trip, Mrs. Cummings finds the dog and ells Kristy that since Watson won’t let her keep it she either has to find it’s owner or find it a new home. Kirsty takes (Sonny) to the vet and he’s declared healthy (hopefully making the process easier since she doesn’t have that much time).
Richie takes Dawn on a tour of A LOT of places. She doesn’t get scared once. SHE’S CURED! They all go to a place called the Sea Port, Stacey and Maryanne notice the man again, and decide to split up to see which of the children he’s after. But they both see him. They finally decide to tell the Harrington’s.
Mal and Claudia go to Cloisters (a medieval museum) and again Mac tells Claudia she’s drawing too fast. So she works on something for hours. On the bus, he finally gives her praise and tells her he was just pushing her because she’s the most gifted artist he’s seen in a long time. Mal admits she doesn’t want to be that kind of artist and will stick with an illustration. Kristy finds Sonny a home with a boy named Brandon. Mac tells Mal that maybe being an artist isn’t in her lane, (nicely) but she’s ok with it and is already thinking of a book idea. With the encouragement of Jessi, Quint tells his parents he wants to audition for Julliard. The Harrington’s surprise Stacey and Maryanne and tell them Bill is their bodyguard (he’s the man that’s been following them). The last night there they take in shopping, dinner, and a Broadway production in a limo. (Quint does get into Julliard and decides to go)
My Thoughts:
(Claudia): I was thinking how in the world is Claudia fantasizing about someone she has no idea what they look like. By the way, she was going crazy over this guy you’d think she had posters hanging up of him on her wall. Then I had to think what year it was. Then I graduated with an art degree. Sadly, I didn’t do a damn thing with it. But I don’t think knowing how to sketch quickly is a bad thing exactly. I think that’s a certain kind of skill in itself. I mean I can see the point McKenzie was trying to make BUT if I was her art teacher I definitely would have been impressed that she could draw that fast and that well. I did think she acted like a jerk to Mal. It wasn’t Mal’s fault that Mac didn’t give Claudia’s work any praise. I just think Mac sucked as a teacher. He gave one false expectation and he made the other one doubt her abilities. (Kristy) It’s so ironic that I read this because just *today* I have a family member try to impose his buck wild dog on not only my household but my Dad’s. You CAN NOT IMPOSE A PET OR A BABY ON SOMEONE ELSE’S HOUSE WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT WITH THEM! Mrs. Cummings was a good one because that dog would have had to GO! I don’t care how much it reminds you of your old belated pet. I just thought Kristy had A LOT of nerve. Just because you like an animal that doesn’t mean you can just sneak it into someone ELSE’S HOUSE! I’m kinda glad Watson said no. (Stacey and Maryanne): It would have been even more effective if the Harrington’s would have done it Willy Wonka style and just walked out the room and had Bill come in like Willy did Farnsworth in the movie. (Dawn) At first, I was gonna say I wish they’d mix it up a little bit because every single New York book features Central Park and I know there are probably A TON of other places. But this one after a while does mention a whole of other places so I was satisfied. (Jessi) While I’m still not crazy about how practically all of her storylines are one-dimensional, and this would have worked just as well with Jessi just finding her first love (Quint did NOT have to be a dancer). FINE! Somehow tho, I really see Jessi and Quint dating, both going to Julliard, and then getting engaged and married. It would be cute to make her first love in New York end up being her husband. Down the line have her come back and they meet up again after high school.
Rating: 7
Claudia convinces her parents to let her study art in New York with the famous artist Mckenzie. Since Mallory wants to be an illustrator, she decides to take the classes too. Mr. McGill offers to let all the BSC stay at this apartment and Claudia decides to keep an illustrated diary of all their experiences.
When they get there, Stacey, Claudia, and Dawn decide to stay with Mr. McGill. Kristy, Maryanne, Jessi, and Mal will stay at the Dakota with Laine. There are some visitors at the Dakota (the Harrington’s), who have small children (Allistaire and Rowena). Mr. Harrington just so happens to need someone to show his kid’s around while he’s there. Stacey volunteers and so does Maryanne (who's thrilled that she’ll be getting paid to do something she loves so much).
Dawn is still scared of New York. A candy wrapper in her mind is a roach. A man that turns out to be a policeman is someone she thinks she recognizes for a Most Wanted show. That night she’s terrified when she has to sleep on the couch, someone will crawl through fire escape window. The next day she says she’ll just say at the apartment, but Kristy comes over to babysit her.
Maryanne and Stacey take Alistair and Rowena on an outing to Central Park. They take in the petting zoo, buy toys on sticks, have lunch, and explore the other sights. On Monday, Mal and Claudia go to their first art class. It doesn’t go well. Neither the building nor McKenize Clark lives up to Claudia’s expectations. The assignment is to draw a stack of boxes. Claudia finishes quickly, but he critics her work. What’s worse is he praises Mal’s work and it’s full of erasure marks. Upset Claudia questions herself as an artist.
Jessi gets Maryanne, Stacey, and Laine to walk with her to the Lincoln Center, and she stays (by herself) to watch a ballet (Swan Lake). There she meets the guy of her dreams (Quint). Jessi finds out that he’s from there and has seen the ballet many times. He wants to be a dancer and takes classes. He’s so good he can get into Julliard but is reluctant because the other boys call him gay and tease him. Jessi tells him to screw them. He then gives her his number. Claud acts like a brat to Mal in class and later when Mr. McGill takes them all to Chinatown.
Kristy and Jessi go to Central Park and on the way back to the Dakota, they find an abandoned dog. Kristy decides she wants to take it back home and gets Jessi to distract the guards so she can sneak it into the apartment. When she calls Watson and asks can she have the dog, he tells her NOPE! Stacey and Maryanne take the kids to a fair, the Natural Museum of History, and to storytime at the library. Maryanne keeps nothing strange men in raincoats and hats, but then she realizes it’s the SAME man. She thinks he’s following the kids.
While Dawn is holed up in the apartment, a boy comes by that knows Stacey’s father. Dawn and Richie talk and he tells her she may have been to NY but she’s never really *seen* NY. Claud and Mal take a trip with the class to Rockefeller Center. Claud sketches a picture of how she sees the skating rink in the winter, but Mckenzie tells her again to slow down. She then sketches the restaurant; he tells the same thing. So she starts over and goes so slow her mind starts to wonder and she doesn’t finish. She’s cross at Mal whose been boding with McKenzie over horses and go to the next location where they go together to a book store.
Jessi gets invited over to Quint’s house (after Laine’s approval) and she and Quint watch old Fred Astaire movies. When going to return the video Quint gets harassed by some boys in the neighborhood and even though she doesn’t think he should let them discourage him, she sees his point. Mr. McGill takes off work and takes them all on a tour of NY via boat. On the boat, Stacey notices the strange man with the hat and shades and alerts Maryanne. They vow to watch the kids extra close. When they get back from the trip, Mrs. Cummings finds the dog and tells Kristy that since Watson won’t let her keep it she either has to find its owner or find it a new home. Kirsty takes (Sonny) to the vet and he’s declared healthy (hopefully making the process easier since she doesn’t have that much time).
Jessi gets invited over to Quint’s house (after Laine’s approval) and she and Quint watch old Fred Astaire movies. When going to return the video Quint gets harassed by some boys in the neighborhood and even though she doesn’t think he should let them discourage him, she sees his point. Mr. McGill takes off work and takes them all on a tour of NY via boat. On the boat Stacey notices the strange man with the hat and shades and alerts Maryanne. They vow to watch the kid’s extra close. When they get back from the trip, Mrs. Cummings finds the dog and ells Kristy that since Watson won’t let her keep it she either has to find it’s owner or find it a new home. Kirsty takes (Sonny) to the vet and he’s declared healthy (hopefully making the process easier since she doesn’t have that much time).
Richie takes Dawn on a tour of A LOT of places. She doesn’t get scared once. SHE’S CURED! They all go to a place called the Sea Port, Stacey and Maryanne notice the man again, and decide to split up to see which of the children he’s after. But they both see him. They finally decide to tell the Harrington’s.
Mal and Claudia go to Cloisters (a medieval museum) and again Mac tells Claudia she’s drawing too fast. So she works on something for hours. On the bus, he finally gives her praise and tells her he was just pushing her because she’s the most gifted artist he’s seen in a long time. Mal admits she doesn’t want to be that kind of artist and will stick with an illustration. Kristy finds Sonny a home with a boy named Brandon. Mac tells Mal that maybe being an artist isn’t in her lane, (nicely) but she’s ok with it and is already thinking of a book idea. With the encouragement of Jessi, Quint tells his parents he wants to audition for Julliard. The Harrington’s surprise Stacey and Maryanne and tell them Bill is their bodyguard (he’s the man that’s been following them). The last night there they take in shopping, dinner, and a Broadway production in a limo. (Quint does get into Julliard and decides to go)
My Thoughts:
(Claudia): I was thinking how in the world is Claudia fantasizing about someone she has no idea what they look like. By the way, she was going crazy over this guy you’d think she had posters hanging up of him on her wall. Then I had to think what year it was. Then I graduated with an art degree. Sadly, I didn’t do a damn thing with it. But I don’t think knowing how to sketch quickly is a bad thing exactly. I think that’s a certain kind of skill in itself. I mean I can see the point McKenzie was trying to make BUT if I was her art teacher I definitely would have been impressed that she could draw that fast and that well. I did think she acted like a jerk to Mal. It wasn’t Mal’s fault that Mac didn’t give Claudia’s work any praise. I just think Mac sucked as a teacher. He gave one false expectation and he made the other one doubt her abilities. (Kristy) It’s so ironic that I read this because just *today* I have a family member try to impose his buck wild dog on not only my household but my Dad’s. You CAN NOT IMPOSE A PET OR A BABY ON SOMEONE ELSE’S HOUSE WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT WITH THEM! Mrs. Cummings was a good one because that dog would have had to GO! I don’t care how much it reminds you of your old belated pet. I just thought Kristy had A LOT of nerve. Just because you like an animal that doesn’t mean you can just sneak it into someone ELSE’S HOUSE! I’m kinda glad Watson said no. (Stacey and Maryanne): It would have been even more effective if the Harrington’s would have done it Willy Wonka style and just walked out the room and had Bill come in like Willy did Farnsworth in the movie. (Dawn) At first, I was gonna say I wish they’d mix it up a little bit because every single New York book features Central Park and I know there are probably A TON of other places. But this one after a while does mention a whole of other places so I was satisfied. (Jessi) While I’m still not crazy about how practically all of her storylines are one-dimensional, and this would have worked just as well with Jessi just finding her first love (Quint did NOT have to be a dancer). FINE! Somehow tho, I really see Jessi and Quint dating, both going to Julliard, and then getting engaged and married. It would be cute to make her first love in New York end up being her husband. Down the line have her come back and they meet up again after high school.
Rating: 7
February 1, 2015
Just took a trip to New York and came across this in my search for travel ebooks from my library. Thought I'd take a trip down memory lane since I LOVED these books when I was growing up. In fact I have all of them waiting in trust to be willed to my future daughter... In my garage. Just can't get rid of them.
Reading as an adult is quite different from reading as a preteen who thinks that such awesome stuff could really happen to other regular girls. Still, it was sweet and it was entertaining re-reading it after having visited the place and understanding all of the references. Also, Jessi's first kiss, so sweet.
Reading as an adult is quite different from reading as a preteen who thinks that such awesome stuff could really happen to other regular girls. Still, it was sweet and it was entertaining re-reading it after having visited the place and understanding all of the references. Also, Jessi's first kiss, so sweet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2009
Yet again, seven barely-teenage girls find a way to go on vacation together. Mary Anne becomes psycho New York tourist, and they all eat at the Hard Rock Cafe like it's some monument of New York City culture.
November 1, 2013
In which the Cult goes to OMGI<3NY!!! Not bad overall, but also kinda lame. Mel-ry is an idiot, as usual. Caludia is a brat. MA is a walking guidebook. K. Ron finds some dog. STFUDawn is afraid of OMGI<3NY!!! How dare she!
July 13, 2020
I actually liked this one more now that I've been to New York myself :D
June 5, 2016
I think the book was incredible and it tells a lot of good stuff about New York!
August 2, 2019
Re-reading this book was “chilly!” 😜
September 27, 2025
The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special New York, New York is perhaps one of the more unrealistic stories of the BSC, but as a child reading about the baby-sitters’ adventures in NYC, it just added fuel to the wistful fire that the girls of the BSC were so much cooler and more mature than me. Would my parents EVER let me traipse to New York with a group of friends, most of which aren’t even staying at said friend’s apartment, but that of a friend of a friend? NO! But it sure was a lot of fun to read about it and dream!
As an adult who has now been to NYC, it was fun to see the city through the eyes of a 13 year old in the 90s. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same. It was uncanny seeing mention of the Twin Towers, and the fact that several places, including the Central Park Zoo and MOMA, admitted patrons in on a pittance. Again, the 90s was a whole different time and place.
Speaking of the 90s being a vibe, the BSC members have their own unsupervised adventures in the city, which I doubt would have been permitted 30 years, much less today. But it sure makes for some interesting reading! Claudia is the raison d’être of this novel, signing up for an art class in the city with a renowned artist. Mallory decides she wants to learn how to draw as well so that she can illustrate all of their stories she is going to someday write, and the rest of the BSC are along for the ride just for the fun of it. Stacey and Mary Anne had my favorite story of the bunch, baby-sitting a pair of politically connected British children and showing them the sights of the city. Dawn is terrified of NYC, which is a far cry from the sunny shores of California, and stays cooped up in the apartment for most of the book. Kristy drags home a stray dog from Central Park that she somehow expects to keep, and Jessi meets a fellow dancer on whom she develops a crush.
The baby-sitter who perhaps had the most to learn from their time in NYC is Claudia, who receives an important lesson in self-confidence and perseverance. As for the others, there is not much character growth, but there IS fun, sight-seeing, hijinks, meet cutes, and of course … baby-sitting!
As an adult who has now been to NYC, it was fun to see the city through the eyes of a 13 year old in the 90s. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same. It was uncanny seeing mention of the Twin Towers, and the fact that several places, including the Central Park Zoo and MOMA, admitted patrons in on a pittance. Again, the 90s was a whole different time and place.
Speaking of the 90s being a vibe, the BSC members have their own unsupervised adventures in the city, which I doubt would have been permitted 30 years, much less today. But it sure makes for some interesting reading! Claudia is the raison d’être of this novel, signing up for an art class in the city with a renowned artist. Mallory decides she wants to learn how to draw as well so that she can illustrate all of their stories she is going to someday write, and the rest of the BSC are along for the ride just for the fun of it. Stacey and Mary Anne had my favorite story of the bunch, baby-sitting a pair of politically connected British children and showing them the sights of the city. Dawn is terrified of NYC, which is a far cry from the sunny shores of California, and stays cooped up in the apartment for most of the book. Kristy drags home a stray dog from Central Park that she somehow expects to keep, and Jessi meets a fellow dancer on whom she develops a crush.
The baby-sitter who perhaps had the most to learn from their time in NYC is Claudia, who receives an important lesson in self-confidence and perseverance. As for the others, there is not much character growth, but there IS fun, sight-seeing, hijinks, meet cutes, and of course … baby-sitting!
October 15, 2019
There were very few BSC books that I actually owned, and this was one of them. (And in my adulthood, as I was re-collecting the series, the copy that I found in a secondhand store was signed. Whaaaat!) So this book holds a Super Special spot in my heart.
This might even be my favourite Super Special. It's got it all: baby-sitting, boys, adventure - and it's not too out-there in terms of setting, unlike most of the other non-Stoneybrook Super Specials. (Really, they won the lottery?) I like all the things the girls get up to, I actually like the baby-sitting (though it could be that it's more sight-seeing than baby-sitting), I like Jessi and Quint, I like Claudia and Mal's conflict (although for one of the "more mature" members of the club, Claudia sure acts like a little baby about it.) It's just such a fun, awesome BSC book.
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This might even be my favourite Super Special. It's got it all: baby-sitting, boys, adventure - and it's not too out-there in terms of setting, unlike most of the other non-Stoneybrook Super Specials. (Really, they won the lottery?) I like all the things the girls get up to, I actually like the baby-sitting (though it could be that it's more sight-seeing than baby-sitting), I like Jessi and Quint, I like Claudia and Mal's conflict (although for one of the "more mature" members of the club, Claudia sure acts like a little baby about it.) It's just such a fun, awesome BSC book.
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November 14, 2021
This super special is incredibly boring because the BSC has been to NYC so many times at this point. All of Staceys’s Mistake is them doing touristy stuff!
KRISTY: Kristy usually behaves like a complete troll or weirdo in the super specials, but I would have killed her if she was my guest.
MARY ANNE: Annoying, unrealistic babysitting plot.
CLAUDIA: Maybe the biggest disappointment of re-reading these books is how much I’ve come to loathe Claudia, who was my favorite childhood babysitter. She is just a lazy, unrepentant bully who is so quick to turn on others the minute she doesn’t get her way. The way she just expected to have her ass kissed by this art teacher and then decided to ruin what will probably be the only positive individual attention Mallory experiences is so gross.
STACEY: I was surprised she got roped into the annoying babysitting plot, but I guess Ann really likes to pair up Mary Anne and Stacey on these tag-team sitting jobs.
DAWN: ANNOYING. ANNOYING. ANNOYING. Dawn needs therapy.
MALLORY: Continues to be the most depressing character in this series.
JESSI: Something good: Jessi got a boy plot! Something bad: Of course it involved dance.
KRISTY: Kristy usually behaves like a complete troll or weirdo in the super specials, but I would have killed her if she was my guest.
MARY ANNE: Annoying, unrealistic babysitting plot.
CLAUDIA: Maybe the biggest disappointment of re-reading these books is how much I’ve come to loathe Claudia, who was my favorite childhood babysitter. She is just a lazy, unrepentant bully who is so quick to turn on others the minute she doesn’t get her way. The way she just expected to have her ass kissed by this art teacher and then decided to ruin what will probably be the only positive individual attention Mallory experiences is so gross.
STACEY: I was surprised she got roped into the annoying babysitting plot, but I guess Ann really likes to pair up Mary Anne and Stacey on these tag-team sitting jobs.
DAWN: ANNOYING. ANNOYING. ANNOYING. Dawn needs therapy.
MALLORY: Continues to be the most depressing character in this series.
JESSI: Something good: Jessi got a boy plot! Something bad: Of course it involved dance.
December 28, 2021
While once again I found myself wondering WTF was wrong with all the adults in this series being cool with a bunch of middle schoolers running around NYC like mini-adults, at times even being in charge of small children. Just...no. That said, this special edition was great in terms of stories being fun and on-brand for the characters- Stacey amd Mary Anne play tour guide to some European ambassadorrs' kids, Jessi gets to see some professional ballet and meet a boy, Kristy rescues a dog, Mallory and Claudia go to art classes, and Dawn shows a typically 1980s/90s ignored signs of developing a full anxiety disorder. The pre-9/11 setting makes NYC seem quaint and innocent. Enjoyed this one, even if it was cheesy. 3 stars.
July 27, 2021
4 stars. Such a fun read. The girls visit New York and they all go on different adventures. I will say the only plot lines that I didn’t really care about was Claudia and Mallory taking art classes. It just wasn’t that interesting. My favorite plot was Jessi’s. She meets a boy named Quint who is also a dancer but is ashamed of it because he gets teased a lot by other boys. Their friendship was so adorable and Quint was a cool kid. Everyone else’s story was fun as well. I appreciated how New York was a character itself and all of the details and scenery that was included. It made me want to visit for sure.
January 18, 2025
This was a fun Super Special. The girls all go to New York and there are many things described. As a preteen I would have loved this book - how they got to do everything without adults. So ridiculous. Mary Anne and Stacey babysit two kids from England who have a body guard. They can't seem to figure out that the guy they keep seeing around is a bodyguard - I feel like they should have figured that out. Kristy finds a dog and then finds it a home. Mallory and Claudia take art lessons. Dawn is annoying, per usual, and is too afraid to do anything until she meets a boy from the building. Jessi, at 11, goes to a ballet alone and also meets a boy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2020
The gang is heading to New York! Stacey’s dad and best friend Laine have agreed that they can split the girls up in their homes so everyone can stay for two weeks! Mallory and Claudia are taking art lessons with a famous artist on this trip! Dawn is TERRIFIED of New York and afraid of the crime so she turns into a hermit. Jessi meets a BOY who loves dance as much as her. Kristy finds a stray dog and sneaks him into Laines families house in the hopes of keeping him. Stacey and Mary Anne find themselves with babysitting jobs...but swear they are being followed by a man in disguise.
March 31, 2025
I had been fairly sure I’d read this one as a kid but none of it seemed familiar at all, so maybe I didn’t.
The gang goes to New York for two weeks so Claudia and Mallory can attend an art program. (Everyone else just tagged along cuz they were on a break from school.) Mary Anne and Stacey end up regularly babysitting two kids they met there (because of course they did), and the rest of them just had adventures. Dawn and Jessi met boys. New York things happened. Overall it was a cute book. 3.5 stars.
The gang goes to New York for two weeks so Claudia and Mallory can attend an art program. (Everyone else just tagged along cuz they were on a break from school.) Mary Anne and Stacey end up regularly babysitting two kids they met there (because of course they did), and the rest of them just had adventures. Dawn and Jessi met boys. New York things happened. Overall it was a cute book. 3.5 stars.
August 27, 2019
I found this in the shared library at my beach rental and was thrilled to have the opportunity to read such a pivotal piece from my formative years. However, this was not the finest of Martin’s supplements to the series; I felt the character development lacking, the plot slightly dull and predictable, and the challenges faced by the star heroines to be forced and over-wrought. However: fully satisfied by the repeatedly excellent descriptions of their outfits; 3 stars.
Read
July 29, 2020As 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.
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.
December 30, 2020
(LL)
This was as boring as the first super special. Also, Dawn letting in and hanging out with Richie without any proof (besides a student ID that didn’t proof anything) that he lived in the apartment building and knew Mr. McGill. All the characters were doing too many things for the story to come together well, and it felt discombobulated with the different narrators each chapter.
Also, no parent would let one or two thirteen or eleven year olds loose in NYC...let alone Stacy and Mary Anne baby-sitting two kids and running all over the city by themselves. Come on.
This was as boring as the first super special. Also, Dawn letting in and hanging out with Richie without any proof (besides a student ID that didn’t proof anything) that he lived in the apartment building and knew Mr. McGill. All the characters were doing too many things for the story to come together well, and it felt discombobulated with the different narrators each chapter.
Also, no parent would let one or two thirteen or eleven year olds loose in NYC...let alone Stacy and Mary Anne baby-sitting two kids and running all over the city by themselves. Come on.
August 15, 2017
I loved this Super Special as a kid! I had a thing for NYC, and always though it was so glamorous. I've been there a couple of times since reading this when I was young, and I still love NYC. So I don't hate this book. Some of the plots are pretty silly, but hey, it's the BSC-verse. There are worst things! Like, you know, being shipwrecked on an island.
August 28, 2020
3.5. This continues a lot of Super Special trends, but overall it was a fair bit more enjoyable than the last few. Dawn is an annoying stick in the mud, Mary Anne is an annoying tour guide, boys are mooned over, mysterious two-week breaks with no purpose are granted from school, lessons are learned and fun times are had by most.
June 5, 2023
Bye bye Stonybrook... Hello, New York! Stacey and her friends in the BSC(Baby Sitters Club) are headed to New York for a week. Mary Anne and Stacey land a job baby sitting for two kids, Claudia and Mallory take art classes together, Kristy finds and cares for a stray dog, Jessi makes a ballet friend/bf, and Dawn overcomes her fear of NYC. In the end, they all exit Grand Central Station happily.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2019
Claudia and Mallory decided to take an art class in New York with a famous artist. So of course the rest of the babysitters decided to go along for two weeks with them. Lots of fun and adventures along the way.
December 12, 2019
Dawn kills me in this book, and Claudia is a close second--but otherwise the storylines vary from bland to mildly entertaining, so that makes this book a success, right? Maybe I would have had more fun with it if I'd been to New York for more than 12 hours in my life.
November 27, 2021
Fun re-read of a childhood favorite for one of my book clubs. This is such a worthy, therapeutic, and just plain fun exercise as an adult, to revisit these titles that made me love reading as a kid. Highly recommend.
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