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The Baby-Sitters Club #80
Mallory Pike, #1 Fan
Happily beginning her job as assistant to a local children's book author, Mallory begins compiling research about the author for a class project, and is disturbed when she uncovers some troubling facts about her idol's past.
119 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1994
35 people are currently reading
699 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,098 books3,047 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 47 reviews
January 30, 2017
in this book by ghostwriter Suzanne Weyn, mal has an english assignment to do a creative writing piece about what you hope to be when you grow up. she decides to write a play for the kids can do anything club (from Jessi's Wish). her teacher determines that isn't good enough, so mal concocts an overly-complicated project instead: interview her new favorite author, henrietta hayes, about writing for children, while simultaneously writing and directing the play for the kids can do anything club. the play she writes is basically about how all of her siblings are boorish idiots and she is a perfect angel (needless to say, the pikes are displeased). the reason? because mal is convinced that every great writer pulls inspiration for their writing exclusively from their lives/families. when mal learns that henrietta hayes's perfect family stories are inaccurate (in short, she has a depressing family history) she thinks henrietta is full of crap for writing things she hasn't experienced. basically, the plot of this book can be summed up in four words: mallory is a jerk.
highlights:
-there's a room mal isn't allowed to go in, and when she sees it open one day she discovers it's a perfectly preserved girl's bedroom.
come and play with us, mallory. forever and ever...
-at the end of the book, jessi explains what mal experienced really effectively: it was like a science experiment. her hypothesis, that authors write fiction based solely on their personal experiences, was wrong. it's nice to see jessi on the other side of this, since she is so frequently the arrogant jerk who refuses to see how what she's doing is problematic.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does mal keep assuming that henrietta's characters' story is autobiographical?
-mal writes henrietta three letters, one directly to her home, and when she doesn't get an adequate response she goes to her house. I'm pretty sure that's stalking.
-instead of being horrified by mal stalking her, henrietta is pleasantly surprised and enlists mal to become her assistant for a couple weeks. don't reward creepy stalkers!
-poor henrietta is an orphan who was passed from foster home to foster home. her husband was a jerk so they split up. she got into a fight with her daughter shortly before her daughter died in a car accident. THIS LADY HAS SUCH A SAD LIFE, WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A JERK TO HER MALLORY?
-the play mal writes is a bummer too. super mean, solipsistic depiction of her family. mal is portrayed as incapable of doing any wrong and everyone else is stroking her ego all the time.
-at the library there is a file that includes all the newspaper clippings about henrietta. now I know I'm a 21st century librarian and all, but this doesn't seem right. don't they have all the newspapers on microfilm/microfische and then have a subject headings/names index in a reference book or card catalog?
-many many typos. there keep being more than there had been in the previous book. the editors are tired of this crap.
-is this premise supposed to be like if a white guy writes an appropriative story about indigenous people, or something? because a white lady with a sad family writing about a white lady with a happy family doesn't sound that offensive. what's wrong with mal?
-incidentally the andersons ARE based on one of henrietta's foster placements, who were really nice to her. "I wish I could have stayed there and lived with them forever, but that's not how the foster care system works." it's not? I'm pretty sure if your foster parents want to adopt you, they can.
outfits
claud:
-"For example, today she wore wide-legged maroon corduroy pants, a yellow paisley-print blouse with ruffle sleeves, and a yellow-and-maroon-striped vest. Her hair was fixed in two braids and she wore a black brimmed fisherman's cap. On her feet were heavy-soled black Doc Marten shoes with bright yellow laces."
danielle (of the kids can do anything club):
-"Danielle wore a bright red corduroy jumper with a white blouse underneath. On her head she wore a thin red scarf, tied in the back, with a slouchy red corduroy hat over it."
the "spike" family names (mal's names for each of her siblings in the play):
-valery (mallory)
-ranessa, later changed to jill (vanessa)
-myron (byron)
-gordon (jordan)
-atlas (adam)
-ricky (nicky)
-margarita (margo)
-delaware (claire)
no snacks in claudia's room.
highlights:
-there's a room mal isn't allowed to go in, and when she sees it open one day she discovers it's a perfectly preserved girl's bedroom.
come and play with us, mallory. forever and ever...
-at the end of the book, jessi explains what mal experienced really effectively: it was like a science experiment. her hypothesis, that authors write fiction based solely on their personal experiences, was wrong. it's nice to see jessi on the other side of this, since she is so frequently the arrogant jerk who refuses to see how what she's doing is problematic.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does mal keep assuming that henrietta's characters' story is autobiographical?
-mal writes henrietta three letters, one directly to her home, and when she doesn't get an adequate response she goes to her house. I'm pretty sure that's stalking.
-instead of being horrified by mal stalking her, henrietta is pleasantly surprised and enlists mal to become her assistant for a couple weeks. don't reward creepy stalkers!
-poor henrietta is an orphan who was passed from foster home to foster home. her husband was a jerk so they split up. she got into a fight with her daughter shortly before her daughter died in a car accident. THIS LADY HAS SUCH A SAD LIFE, WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A JERK TO HER MALLORY?
-the play mal writes is a bummer too. super mean, solipsistic depiction of her family. mal is portrayed as incapable of doing any wrong and everyone else is stroking her ego all the time.
-at the library there is a file that includes all the newspaper clippings about henrietta. now I know I'm a 21st century librarian and all, but this doesn't seem right. don't they have all the newspapers on microfilm/microfische and then have a subject headings/names index in a reference book or card catalog?
-many many typos. there keep being more than there had been in the previous book. the editors are tired of this crap.
-is this premise supposed to be like if a white guy writes an appropriative story about indigenous people, or something? because a white lady with a sad family writing about a white lady with a happy family doesn't sound that offensive. what's wrong with mal?
-incidentally the andersons ARE based on one of henrietta's foster placements, who were really nice to her. "I wish I could have stayed there and lived with them forever, but that's not how the foster care system works." it's not? I'm pretty sure if your foster parents want to adopt you, they can.
outfits
claud:
-"For example, today she wore wide-legged maroon corduroy pants, a yellow paisley-print blouse with ruffle sleeves, and a yellow-and-maroon-striped vest. Her hair was fixed in two braids and she wore a black brimmed fisherman's cap. On her feet were heavy-soled black Doc Marten shoes with bright yellow laces."
danielle (of the kids can do anything club):
-"Danielle wore a bright red corduroy jumper with a white blouse underneath. On her head she wore a thin red scarf, tied in the back, with a slouchy red corduroy hat over it."
the "spike" family names (mal's names for each of her siblings in the play):
-valery (mallory)
-ranessa, later changed to jill (vanessa)
-myron (byron)
-gordon (jordan)
-atlas (adam)
-ricky (nicky)
-margarita (margo)
-delaware (claire)
no snacks in claudia's room.
December 31, 2017
I really connected with Mallory in this story. When I was younger, I was a very literal-minded person and made assumptions about the way certain things worked. Both of those things sometimes made life difficult for me, just as they did for Mallory in this book. Now that I'm older, I've learned to take things somewhat less literally (and to understand some of the more abstract meanings of words and phrases) and to ask questions and do research before jumping to conclusions. It was really fun reading this book, because it got me reminiscing about mistakes I made that eventually increased my character and strength. I enjoyed seeing how far I have already come, but also seeing how very far I still have to go. This book might have been intended for adolescents, but I am proof that thirty-year-olds can gain a little perspective from it too. Not to mention that it was a blast revisiting the BSC!
I was not compensated for my honest review.
I was not compensated for my honest review.
February 16, 2010
(I now maintain a blog just for my kid-lit reviews. Find it at http://kidlit4adults.blogspot.com .)
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at writing children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. Today's selections are my first foray into the world of "The Baby-Sitters Club," which during the 1990s and '00s became one of the most successful kid-lit series of all time; between the original tales and the various spinoffs, there are now nearly 500 volumes set in Ann M. Martin's sleepy middle-class suburb of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, with collective sales of at least 250 million copies and a literal empire of supplemental merchandise, feature films and television episodes. (By the way, I've been quietly told by gossipy friends in the industry that dozens of these books were actually ghostwritten by other authors, with Martin simply slapping her name on them at the end for brand consistency, although I have no way of actually verifying that; for those who don't know, this is one of the types of employment I'm seeking within the YA industry, to be the ghost-author of such formula-driven, interchangeable chapter books, which is why I'm reading so many of them these days.)
And as you can expect, the BSC books follow a familiar formula down to a T (or at least the three I read -- #81's Mallory Pike, #1 Fan, #115's Jessi's Big Break, and #131's The Fire at Mary Anne's House), staring with just a massive amount of exposition, not even cleverly handled but literally as if you were reading an encyclopedia entry; in fact, each and every title in the series starts first with an entire chapter of that book's particular hero reading aloud her own Wikipedia entry, then a second chapter of them reciting the entry concerning the club itself (essentially a group of junior-high female friends who gather around a central phone every late afternoon, so that parents can call that "hotline" and have the most appropriate babysitter sent to their house later that night), a total of eight thousand words devoted to nothing but reminding people of all the various things that have happened in the hundreds of books that came before it. Like many chapter-book series, the "crises" that befall club members are usually pretty gentle in nature, and the books mainly exist as a way to teach non-controversial moral lessons to its readers. Each book is roughly 30,000 words total, pretty normal for the 9-to-12 age group they're designed for; but surprisingly, the main characters themselves are mostly aged 12 to 14, just a little older than most of the books' readers, which confused me at first until I thought back to my own childhood, and how I used to love at this age reading books about kids a little older than me, in that I felt like I was sneakily getting away with something.
To her credit, Martin tries to inject as much diversity into this white-bread environment as she can, and also introduces plenty of modern hiccups to the stereotypical nuclear family (the club members' backgrounds are filled with ugly divorces, single parents working full-time jobs, sudden moves into entirely new economic classes, adopted Asian siblings and the like); but to her detriment, these are the exact types of books that edgier YA authors are railing against, sickly-sweet tales where all conflicts are resolved by the last page, and where all the kids ultimately end up dutifully obeying the pronouncements of the all-wise adult authority figures around them. I mean, you can't argue with success, but the BSC books are definitely the ones helping to write the "rules" for chapter books to begin with, which is why they barely ever break the well-known rules we now think of when thinking about this type of literature (you know -- make sentences short and punchy, introduce lots of peril but very little legitimate danger, be sure to repeat important information several times, concentrate on the way that girls this age interact with each other, set many of the scenes in a school environment, try to get the parents out of the way as much as possible, always have a happy ending, etc etc etc). They're neither outstanding nor terrible, which I'm sure is a big reason they've sold 250 million copies by now, and I can see myself easily being able to churn one of these out from beginning to end in just two or three weeks.
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at writing children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. Today's selections are my first foray into the world of "The Baby-Sitters Club," which during the 1990s and '00s became one of the most successful kid-lit series of all time; between the original tales and the various spinoffs, there are now nearly 500 volumes set in Ann M. Martin's sleepy middle-class suburb of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, with collective sales of at least 250 million copies and a literal empire of supplemental merchandise, feature films and television episodes. (By the way, I've been quietly told by gossipy friends in the industry that dozens of these books were actually ghostwritten by other authors, with Martin simply slapping her name on them at the end for brand consistency, although I have no way of actually verifying that; for those who don't know, this is one of the types of employment I'm seeking within the YA industry, to be the ghost-author of such formula-driven, interchangeable chapter books, which is why I'm reading so many of them these days.)
And as you can expect, the BSC books follow a familiar formula down to a T (or at least the three I read -- #81's Mallory Pike, #1 Fan, #115's Jessi's Big Break, and #131's The Fire at Mary Anne's House), staring with just a massive amount of exposition, not even cleverly handled but literally as if you were reading an encyclopedia entry; in fact, each and every title in the series starts first with an entire chapter of that book's particular hero reading aloud her own Wikipedia entry, then a second chapter of them reciting the entry concerning the club itself (essentially a group of junior-high female friends who gather around a central phone every late afternoon, so that parents can call that "hotline" and have the most appropriate babysitter sent to their house later that night), a total of eight thousand words devoted to nothing but reminding people of all the various things that have happened in the hundreds of books that came before it. Like many chapter-book series, the "crises" that befall club members are usually pretty gentle in nature, and the books mainly exist as a way to teach non-controversial moral lessons to its readers. Each book is roughly 30,000 words total, pretty normal for the 9-to-12 age group they're designed for; but surprisingly, the main characters themselves are mostly aged 12 to 14, just a little older than most of the books' readers, which confused me at first until I thought back to my own childhood, and how I used to love at this age reading books about kids a little older than me, in that I felt like I was sneakily getting away with something.
To her credit, Martin tries to inject as much diversity into this white-bread environment as she can, and also introduces plenty of modern hiccups to the stereotypical nuclear family (the club members' backgrounds are filled with ugly divorces, single parents working full-time jobs, sudden moves into entirely new economic classes, adopted Asian siblings and the like); but to her detriment, these are the exact types of books that edgier YA authors are railing against, sickly-sweet tales where all conflicts are resolved by the last page, and where all the kids ultimately end up dutifully obeying the pronouncements of the all-wise adult authority figures around them. I mean, you can't argue with success, but the BSC books are definitely the ones helping to write the "rules" for chapter books to begin with, which is why they barely ever break the well-known rules we now think of when thinking about this type of literature (you know -- make sentences short and punchy, introduce lots of peril but very little legitimate danger, be sure to repeat important information several times, concentrate on the way that girls this age interact with each other, set many of the scenes in a school environment, try to get the parents out of the way as much as possible, always have a happy ending, etc etc etc). They're neither outstanding nor terrible, which I'm sure is a big reason they've sold 250 million copies by now, and I can see myself easily being able to churn one of these out from beginning to end in just two or three weeks.
November 14, 2021
Mallory is awful in this book and the best part about it is the gorgeous cover art.
January 23, 2022
I'm officially halfway through with reading these in publication order, and I honestly might take a lengthy break after I read the portrait books. I feel like the series took a real dive in quality at the point the mysteries were introduced, and many of the plots are outright repeats of earlier books or just plain lazy. This book is a perfect example of that: you have to accept that Mallory doesn't know how fiction works to enjoy her storyline.
Anyways, I wanted to recap where I'm at with the BSC since I'm halfway through.
Favorite books so far: Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook (BSC #35), Baby-sitters' Island Adventure (Super Special #4), Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic (Mystery #5), Stacey and the Cheerleaders (BSC #70), Claudia and the Perfect Boy (BSC #71), Stacey's Lie (BSC #76)
My original sitter ranking from memory before reading Book #1 again:
Claudia
Dawn
Kristy
Mary Anne
Stacey
(Jessi and Mallory were unrated because I couldn't remember anything about them)
My halfway point ranking based on gut feeling about the characters and their books:
Stacey
Mary Anne
Mallory
Claudia
Kristy
Jessi
Dawn
Average star ranking for each POV:
Stacey: 15 books, 2.66 avg
Mary Anne: 15 books, 2.46 avg
Mallory: 10 books, 2.3 avg
Jessi: 11 books, 2.27 avg
Claudia: 15 books, 2.2 avg
Kristy: 14 books, 2.1 avg
Dawn: 17 books for some reason, 1.94 avg
Anyways, I wanted to recap where I'm at with the BSC since I'm halfway through.
Favorite books so far: Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook (BSC #35), Baby-sitters' Island Adventure (Super Special #4), Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic (Mystery #5), Stacey and the Cheerleaders (BSC #70), Claudia and the Perfect Boy (BSC #71), Stacey's Lie (BSC #76)
My original sitter ranking from memory before reading Book #1 again:
Claudia
Dawn
Kristy
Mary Anne
Stacey
(Jessi and Mallory were unrated because I couldn't remember anything about them)
My halfway point ranking based on gut feeling about the characters and their books:
Stacey
Mary Anne
Mallory
Claudia
Kristy
Jessi
Dawn
Average star ranking for each POV:
Stacey: 15 books, 2.66 avg
Mary Anne: 15 books, 2.46 avg
Mallory: 10 books, 2.3 avg
Jessi: 11 books, 2.27 avg
Claudia: 15 books, 2.2 avg
Kristy: 14 books, 2.1 avg
Dawn: 17 books for some reason, 1.94 avg
August 22, 2024
Lucky Mallory! An author befriended her when she tried contacting her for a school project, and let her work for her on a regular basis. It was an English class assignment about exploring a future career, and presenting projects around that. However, Mallory was an ungrateful cow who judged her for the adversity in her life when she couldn’t tell the difference between fiction and non fiction writing. Also, Mallory wrote a play for kids to perform as part of her assignment, and it sounded pretty weak and uninspired to me. Having said that, it made me want to write a play someday too, so I guess I learned something from this book about integrity as a writer
December 26, 2020
(LL)
This books shouldn’t have been able to happen. If Mallory really wanted to be a writer there is no way she didn’t freaking understand what FICTION writing meant. Considering all writing is either fiction or nonfiction it’s not possible for her to not know the differences between them.
I know it’s sounds harsh, but legitimately this was a bad storyline. Moreover, Mallory wrote a play that was highly insulting to her whole family without realizing it, yet she’s supposed to be this smart, budding writer? Give me a break.
This books shouldn’t have been able to happen. If Mallory really wanted to be a writer there is no way she didn’t freaking understand what FICTION writing meant. Considering all writing is either fiction or nonfiction it’s not possible for her to not know the differences between them.
I know it’s sounds harsh, but legitimately this was a bad storyline. Moreover, Mallory wrote a play that was highly insulting to her whole family without realizing it, yet she’s supposed to be this smart, budding writer? Give me a break.
August 30, 2013
Mallory has never been my favorite baby-sitter, but I found her to be more obnoxious than usual. That play she wrote was so ridiculous (even after she revised it), but I liked the character of Henrietta Hayes and how she didn't give up on Mallory, even when Mallory was being a jerk.
Also, I sort of find the argument that fiction = lies a bit unbelievable for someone (even an 11-year-old) who loves to read and write. So that was weird for me, too.
Also, I sort of find the argument that fiction = lies a bit unbelievable for someone (even an 11-year-old) who loves to read and write. So that was weird for me, too.
May 27, 2019
I forget sometimes that these characters are SO young. Mallory acted like a complete noodlehead in this one, but I hope she learned a lesson, and I hope readers also learn a lesson from her!
March 7, 2011
full disclosure: i have always had a soft spot for mallory. i related to her a lot when i was a child. i don't have seven siblings & curly red hair, but i am the oldest in my family (three kids total), i had to get glasses at a young age, & i have always wanted to be a writer. so i have always been more forgiving than i probably should be when it comes to mallory books.
this one is almost universally loathed by adult babysitters club fans indulging in nostalgia. & there's a good reason for that. mallory completely sucks in this book. every questionable character trait she ever exhibited is ramped up to mach-level insufferability. as an adult, i try not to hate children for doing their child thing, like being ignorant of convention or asking rude questions. that's how kids roll. but i'd smack the freckles right off mallory's questionable mug if i was henrietta hayes.
so. mallory has another big school project. i'm not sure how she actually manages to get any real work done, with all the time she spends on time-consuming projects that require major expenditures of effort outside the classroom. all the kids in mallory's class have to write up a report on what they want to be when they grow up, & augment with some kind of presentation or performance or something that indicates they researched their career goals & are looking at them creatively. mallory thinks this will be no sweat because she's always known she wants to be a children's book author. but she wonders how to implement the creative performance element into the project. then she remembers the kids can do anything club, introduced in that mega-bummer of a book jessi's wish. what if she wrote a play for kids & had the kids can do anything club perform it? she is also in the middle of reading henrietta hayes's series of books about the anderson family (all of which is made up for the world of BSC canon). she thinks maybe she could interview ms. hayes about her life & work as a children's book author & get the inside scoop on her chosen career. ms. hayes has also written a few plays, so both elements of the project feed into each other nicely.
so mallory sits down & writes a fan letter to ms. hayes, explaining her project & asking some biographical questions. barely a week goes by before mallory receives a reply--in the form of a canned form letter. mallory is disappointed but undaunted. she writes again & stresses the fact that she needs a personal response for her school project. personally, i think she's being a little pushy. ms. hayes is a public figure because of her books, but that doesn't mean she is obligated to drop everything & structure her life around the stupid school projects of sixth graders. anyway, mallory gets another form letter. she notices that the postmark is stamford, the nearest big city. she looks henrietta hayes up in the phone book & discovers that she lives in stoneybrook, just down the street from dawn & mary anne. of course. how very convenient. after a few more personal entreaties followed up with form letters, mallory decides to take a chance & bike over to ms. hayes's house to meet her in person.
despite the ominousness of the cover, which makes it look like maybe mallory bikes on over & interrupts ms. hayes in the middle of an important coven meeting with morbidda destinty & mrs. towne, things go pretty well. mallory explains her project to ms. hayes, & ms. hayes suggests that mallory works as her personal assistant for a little while to get a picture of what it's like to be a working author. mallory is THRILLED...as i would have been too, at age 11 or age 31. i'd STILL love to get a backstage view of how a successful working author structures her day. basically mallory's responsibilities involve a lot of filing. she loves ms. hayes's house, which is set back in a wooded area & filled with manuscripts. but she gets a peek into one of the bedrooms, which is done up in pink & ruffles. mallory insensitively asks if it belongs to ms. hayes's daughter. ms. hayes confirms this but won't talk about it anymore.
out of nowhere, mallory gets this idea that "all good writing has to be autobiographical". the andreson family novels are just too good, she feels, to not have been lifted to some degree from ms. hayes's own life. that was a big reason why mallory wanted to meet ms. hayes--mallory loves the andreson family & wanted a real life piece of it in her own life. obviously she comes from a large & boisterous family herself, but she doesn't feel the same sense of support & joy in her own family that emanates from ms. hayes's books. she wonders if ms. hayes is really alice, the books' protagonist, or if she is mrs. anderson, the matriarch of the clan. she can hardly wait to find out.
in keeping with her "good writing is autobiographical" concept, she begins writing her play for the kids can do anything club. she kind of had to talk the teacher overseers into the idea, because the club is supposed to be about children engaging in philanthropy. finally they agree that mallory can write a play & have the kids perform as an exercise in teaching the kids about plays, so they can eventually write & perform their own for elderly people at the old folks' home. kind of a stretch, but hey.
so mallory is writing about the spike family. her main character is the eldest daughter, valery, who wants to be a great writer but is constantly interrupted by her seven siblings & parents in search of free babysitting. there are ten-year-old boy triplets, a sister that always speaks in rhyme...you get the picture. all the kids have named that riff of mallory's real siblings' names. they all worship valery & constantly apologize for interrupting her writing. valery always sighs wearily & tells them it's okay.
naturally, everyone breaks mallory's carefully-constructed code & figures out that her play is "autobiographical," but extremely subjective. some of the kids mallory has cast are good friends with mallory's siblings & they are worried that the play will hurt their friends' feelings. mallory doesn't really listen...until her siblings start picketing the play as being unfair & embarrassing. mallory tries to explain that her play has to be "true," but they insist her play is NOT true at all & in fact makes them all look like jerks. then the cast members say that won't be in the play after all. mallory finally gets everyone to agree to a rehearsal watched by mrs. pike. if she says the play is okay, everyone has to shut up about. if she says it's insulting, mallory will change it. mrs. pike says it's insulting, so mallory changes it & all of her siblings sign off on the changes.
meanwhile, mallory is doing research into ms. hayes's life. she learns that ms. hayes's parents & brother died when she was young, & she grew up in foster care. she had a not-so-great marriage which produced one daughter before it ended in bitter divorce. when the daughter was 18, she died in a car crash.
basically, ms. hayes has had a really sad life. clearly she doesn't have the sunny happy anderson family background that mallory assumed. rather than feeling chastened for her assumptions & inappropriate questions, mallory gets mad. she still reads ms. hayes's books but can't enjoy them because they are based on "lies," as far as mallory is concerned. when she goes to work for ms. hayes, she explodes with rude questions about ms. hayes's dead parents & dead daughter & accuses ms. hayes of "lying". ms. hayes gets pissed & kicks mallory out.
but mallory's experience with the play makes her realize that sometimes good writing is lifted from elements of real life, but even that is dramatized & embroidered with imagination in order to become a fictional story. she realizes that her new, non-insulting play is better because she thought more about writing a good story & being funny than in trying to be "true" to her own personal experience. she realizes that ms. hayes must have done the same thing, to write such joyful books even though she has not had a joyful life.
mallory sends ms. hayes an invitation to her play in way of apology. she writes an essay about how writing her play & working with ms. hayes made her realize that there's a lot she didn't realize about the role of imagination in respect in the craft of writing. ms. hayes attends the play performance & gives mallory a bouquet of roses. mallory apologizes for real & ms. hayes opens up about the darker circumstances of her life. she explains that she had one very special foster family that inspired her anderson family stories, so there is an alement of truth to her books. it's just not as prevalent or important as mallory assumed. mallory gets an A+ for her project.
this one is almost universally loathed by adult babysitters club fans indulging in nostalgia. & there's a good reason for that. mallory completely sucks in this book. every questionable character trait she ever exhibited is ramped up to mach-level insufferability. as an adult, i try not to hate children for doing their child thing, like being ignorant of convention or asking rude questions. that's how kids roll. but i'd smack the freckles right off mallory's questionable mug if i was henrietta hayes.
so. mallory has another big school project. i'm not sure how she actually manages to get any real work done, with all the time she spends on time-consuming projects that require major expenditures of effort outside the classroom. all the kids in mallory's class have to write up a report on what they want to be when they grow up, & augment with some kind of presentation or performance or something that indicates they researched their career goals & are looking at them creatively. mallory thinks this will be no sweat because she's always known she wants to be a children's book author. but she wonders how to implement the creative performance element into the project. then she remembers the kids can do anything club, introduced in that mega-bummer of a book jessi's wish. what if she wrote a play for kids & had the kids can do anything club perform it? she is also in the middle of reading henrietta hayes's series of books about the anderson family (all of which is made up for the world of BSC canon). she thinks maybe she could interview ms. hayes about her life & work as a children's book author & get the inside scoop on her chosen career. ms. hayes has also written a few plays, so both elements of the project feed into each other nicely.
so mallory sits down & writes a fan letter to ms. hayes, explaining her project & asking some biographical questions. barely a week goes by before mallory receives a reply--in the form of a canned form letter. mallory is disappointed but undaunted. she writes again & stresses the fact that she needs a personal response for her school project. personally, i think she's being a little pushy. ms. hayes is a public figure because of her books, but that doesn't mean she is obligated to drop everything & structure her life around the stupid school projects of sixth graders. anyway, mallory gets another form letter. she notices that the postmark is stamford, the nearest big city. she looks henrietta hayes up in the phone book & discovers that she lives in stoneybrook, just down the street from dawn & mary anne. of course. how very convenient. after a few more personal entreaties followed up with form letters, mallory decides to take a chance & bike over to ms. hayes's house to meet her in person.
despite the ominousness of the cover, which makes it look like maybe mallory bikes on over & interrupts ms. hayes in the middle of an important coven meeting with morbidda destinty & mrs. towne, things go pretty well. mallory explains her project to ms. hayes, & ms. hayes suggests that mallory works as her personal assistant for a little while to get a picture of what it's like to be a working author. mallory is THRILLED...as i would have been too, at age 11 or age 31. i'd STILL love to get a backstage view of how a successful working author structures her day. basically mallory's responsibilities involve a lot of filing. she loves ms. hayes's house, which is set back in a wooded area & filled with manuscripts. but she gets a peek into one of the bedrooms, which is done up in pink & ruffles. mallory insensitively asks if it belongs to ms. hayes's daughter. ms. hayes confirms this but won't talk about it anymore.
out of nowhere, mallory gets this idea that "all good writing has to be autobiographical". the andreson family novels are just too good, she feels, to not have been lifted to some degree from ms. hayes's own life. that was a big reason why mallory wanted to meet ms. hayes--mallory loves the andreson family & wanted a real life piece of it in her own life. obviously she comes from a large & boisterous family herself, but she doesn't feel the same sense of support & joy in her own family that emanates from ms. hayes's books. she wonders if ms. hayes is really alice, the books' protagonist, or if she is mrs. anderson, the matriarch of the clan. she can hardly wait to find out.
in keeping with her "good writing is autobiographical" concept, she begins writing her play for the kids can do anything club. she kind of had to talk the teacher overseers into the idea, because the club is supposed to be about children engaging in philanthropy. finally they agree that mallory can write a play & have the kids perform as an exercise in teaching the kids about plays, so they can eventually write & perform their own for elderly people at the old folks' home. kind of a stretch, but hey.
so mallory is writing about the spike family. her main character is the eldest daughter, valery, who wants to be a great writer but is constantly interrupted by her seven siblings & parents in search of free babysitting. there are ten-year-old boy triplets, a sister that always speaks in rhyme...you get the picture. all the kids have named that riff of mallory's real siblings' names. they all worship valery & constantly apologize for interrupting her writing. valery always sighs wearily & tells them it's okay.
naturally, everyone breaks mallory's carefully-constructed code & figures out that her play is "autobiographical," but extremely subjective. some of the kids mallory has cast are good friends with mallory's siblings & they are worried that the play will hurt their friends' feelings. mallory doesn't really listen...until her siblings start picketing the play as being unfair & embarrassing. mallory tries to explain that her play has to be "true," but they insist her play is NOT true at all & in fact makes them all look like jerks. then the cast members say that won't be in the play after all. mallory finally gets everyone to agree to a rehearsal watched by mrs. pike. if she says the play is okay, everyone has to shut up about. if she says it's insulting, mallory will change it. mrs. pike says it's insulting, so mallory changes it & all of her siblings sign off on the changes.
meanwhile, mallory is doing research into ms. hayes's life. she learns that ms. hayes's parents & brother died when she was young, & she grew up in foster care. she had a not-so-great marriage which produced one daughter before it ended in bitter divorce. when the daughter was 18, she died in a car crash.
basically, ms. hayes has had a really sad life. clearly she doesn't have the sunny happy anderson family background that mallory assumed. rather than feeling chastened for her assumptions & inappropriate questions, mallory gets mad. she still reads ms. hayes's books but can't enjoy them because they are based on "lies," as far as mallory is concerned. when she goes to work for ms. hayes, she explodes with rude questions about ms. hayes's dead parents & dead daughter & accuses ms. hayes of "lying". ms. hayes gets pissed & kicks mallory out.
but mallory's experience with the play makes her realize that sometimes good writing is lifted from elements of real life, but even that is dramatized & embroidered with imagination in order to become a fictional story. she realizes that her new, non-insulting play is better because she thought more about writing a good story & being funny than in trying to be "true" to her own personal experience. she realizes that ms. hayes must have done the same thing, to write such joyful books even though she has not had a joyful life.
mallory sends ms. hayes an invitation to her play in way of apology. she writes an essay about how writing her play & working with ms. hayes made her realize that there's a lot she didn't realize about the role of imagination in respect in the craft of writing. ms. hayes attends the play performance & gives mallory a bouquet of roses. mallory apologizes for real & ms. hayes opens up about the darker circumstances of her life. she explains that she had one very special foster family that inspired her anderson family stories, so there is an alement of truth to her books. it's just not as prevalent or important as mallory assumed. mallory gets an A+ for her project.
August 19, 2023
LOLLLL to Mallory's terrible play about the Spike family and the saintly, long-suffering eldest kid Valery Spike.
Also a good lesson learned for Mallory from her favourite author Henrietta Hayes, that "true to life" writing doesn't always mean autobiographical writing. Mallory did act rude in walking out of her job as Henrietta's assistant because she thinks Henrietta lied. (All because Henrietta's books are about a happy family and Henrietta's own childhood wasn't as sunny.) But I can kinda understand. As a kid, it's hard to make the distinction between writerly truth and autobiographical truth, and the adage "write what you know" is misinterpreted even by many adults. So I can imagine why bright eyed, bushy tailed, 11-year-old aspiring writer Mallory would've been disillusioned by learning what it really meant.
Also, also, it worked out for Mallory because Stoneybrook is a small town in the 90s and I guess that was normal back then. But like, if you write three letters to someone and get a form letter back each time, that is NOT an invitation to find out their home address and drop by unexpectedly! Yikes!
Also a good lesson learned for Mallory from her favourite author Henrietta Hayes, that "true to life" writing doesn't always mean autobiographical writing. Mallory did act rude in walking out of her job as Henrietta's assistant because she thinks Henrietta lied. (All because Henrietta's books are about a happy family and Henrietta's own childhood wasn't as sunny.) But I can kinda understand. As a kid, it's hard to make the distinction between writerly truth and autobiographical truth, and the adage "write what you know" is misinterpreted even by many adults. So I can imagine why bright eyed, bushy tailed, 11-year-old aspiring writer Mallory would've been disillusioned by learning what it really meant.
Also, also, it worked out for Mallory because Stoneybrook is a small town in the 90s and I guess that was normal back then. But like, if you write three letters to someone and get a form letter back each time, that is NOT an invitation to find out their home address and drop by unexpectedly! Yikes!
March 16, 2022
Growing up, Mallory was one of my favourites in the BSC but this novel is just terrible. What parents would let their 11 year old be the assistant to a random local author that they don't know and have never met before? This is a true crime nightmare waiting to happen. Also, I don't understand how this famous, best selling author doesn't hire someone (an actual adult) to respond to her fan mail instead of writing the exact same response to every letter?
This novel was boring; the plot is practically non existent. Mallory 'works' for her favourite author and writes a play for the kids to perform for her school project. Mallory is extremely unlikable in this novel. She's convinced (I don't understand why?) that all authors write from their life experiences and is heartbroken and devastated when she finds out her favourite author does not do so.
So far, this is the only BSC novel I've not finished and had to abandon during my 2022 read through.
This novel was boring; the plot is practically non existent. Mallory 'works' for her favourite author and writes a play for the kids to perform for her school project. Mallory is extremely unlikable in this novel. She's convinced (I don't understand why?) that all authors write from their life experiences and is heartbroken and devastated when she finds out her favourite author does not do so.
So far, this is the only BSC novel I've not finished and had to abandon during my 2022 read through.
February 5, 2025
Mallory is such a tool in this book. Her only real lesson is that her writing will be better if she stops trying to write "so true to life," and she still gets everything she wants after publicly humiliating her family and traumatizing and insulting this person she just met. The book barely acknowledges that fictional writing doesn't have to be "true to life" (like wtf Mallory, haven't you ever read a book before??), and doesn't at all make the point that no one - authors included - owes other people any part of their own life story. Also, side note, but really annoying - a retelling of A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge is a schoolyard bully? Way to miss the entire class message of Dickens's story, and instead make it all about "personal growth." A major shining light, though - the fictionalized version of Claire Pike is named Delaware Turnpike 😂
July 4, 2017
I must admit I felt gutted when I found out Ann had not written all the BSC books herself....I don't know why...I just did.
Anyway, I never really liked Mallory as a kid, and I sure didn't like her much in this book. Why did she get the idea that fiction had to be autobiographical - what are they teaching her at Stoneybrook Middle School?? Fiction is that...fiction, made up.
I have to agree I thought something much more sinister was going to happen judging by the cover art!
I'm not sure Mallory even really learnt a positive lesson by the end of the book...
On to the next in my attempt to finish reading the series I began as a kid.
Anyway, I never really liked Mallory as a kid, and I sure didn't like her much in this book. Why did she get the idea that fiction had to be autobiographical - what are they teaching her at Stoneybrook Middle School?? Fiction is that...fiction, made up.
I have to agree I thought something much more sinister was going to happen judging by the cover art!
I'm not sure Mallory even really learnt a positive lesson by the end of the book...
On to the next in my attempt to finish reading the series I began as a kid.
October 9, 2017
Why on earth would Mallory, who at one point was thinking up a story about two mice visiting New York City, assume that all writers write about their lives? That's pretty convoluted and silly, even for an eleven year old. I was always a big reader, and by that age I was reading Stephen King books. At no point did I ever assume that The Shining stemmed from real life events...because that is freaking crazy.
This whole book was kind of a hot mess though, to be honest. I also do not blame the Pike kids for being upset at Mal's portrayal of them in her play. At least she did a re-write, I guess, in order to satisfy everyone and learn SOME kind of lesson.
This whole book was kind of a hot mess though, to be honest. I also do not blame the Pike kids for being upset at Mal's portrayal of them in her play. At least she did a re-write, I guess, in order to satisfy everyone and learn SOME kind of lesson.
June 13, 2020
This one has always been super cringeworthy to me. Mallory insisting that authors can only write their life stories is so bizarre! It almost makes me wonder if Ann M. Martin was constantly asked which of the baby-sitters she was, and suggested this story to her ghostwriters to show that fiction is just that: fiction.
Even though this has never been a favorite of mine because of the plot, I still had fun re-reading it because of how ridiculous it was. Also, am I the only one who thinks the play sounded awful even after the rewrite?
Even though this has never been a favorite of mine because of the plot, I still had fun re-reading it because of how ridiculous it was. Also, am I the only one who thinks the play sounded awful even after the rewrite?
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.
February 12, 2022
After receiving a school assignment to learn about their potential career, Mallory takes on several projects all revolving around writing: she works with the Kids-Can-Do-Anything Club to write her first play, she meets her favorite author (Henrietta Hayes) who lives locally, she works as Henrietta's assistant, and she does a lot of researching. Mallory also makes quite a few mistakes, but learns the importance of being sensitive and caring.
March 5, 2023
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.
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.
March 6, 2021
This was really good! And it was a book I'd never read before! But I took a chance because I always related to Mallory and her love of writing as a kid. Though this book has a few obvious typos, I think the story was really well done. Very layered and involved, with a solid ending.
June 2, 2025
Not my favorite Mallory book - usually I like her but this writer didn't get her character quite right (imo). Plus, not really any babysitting at all in this one. Just the play. Personal summary/spoilers in comments
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2025
I did like this one. I think Mallory was far too literal with her whole interpretation of “write what you know” but also this felt very true for an 11 year old girl. Frequently the girls act improbably old for their ages but this felt very 11 year old girlish.
Read
October 29, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
February 14, 2021
Kind of annoying how much of a caricature Mallory is of a self-righteous character. I liked that she learned a lesson, but man was the annoying factor laid on pretty thick!
May 16, 2021
In which the aspiring author learns what fiction is.
UGHHHH no wonder everyone hates Mallory, this book is SO CRINGY.
UGHHHH no wonder everyone hates Mallory, this book is SO CRINGY.
April 4, 2022
Ehhhhh. Kinda boring. I do love Mallory though.
August 26, 2023
Rereading some favorite books from my past life in an effort to escape my reading slump. This one… didn’t read as well as it did when I was like, 8. 🤷🏼♀️
July 23, 2025
Such trash. Who wants to be an author and doesn’t know what fiction means? Hated this entire book.
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