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The Baby-Sitters Club #101
Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout
Claudia's never been a star student, but she's always gotten by. Lately, however, she feels hopelessly behind. Then Claudia is told the terrible news--she is being dropped back to seventh grade.
With a new locker and a new lunch hour, Claudia feels as if she doesn't fit in anywhere. She doesn't know anyone in seventh grade. And she never sees her friends anymore. She's not even allowed to go to the eighth-grade dance with them. Claudia feels like a loser.
Her friends say it will all be okay. But Claudia isn't so sure. . .
With a new locker and a new lunch hour, Claudia feels as if she doesn't fit in anywhere. She doesn't know anyone in seventh grade. And she never sees her friends anymore. She's not even allowed to go to the eighth-grade dance with them. Claudia feels like a loser.
Her friends say it will all be okay. But Claudia isn't so sure. . .
138 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
47 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,120 books3,072 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 31 reviews
November 1, 2013
In which the administration of SMS shows amazing insight into the psyche of children and decide the best thing to do for poor, academically struggling Caludia would be to send her back to seventh grade in the middle of the school year, because that totally wouldn't be traumatic or crush her self-esteem or anything like that.
April 22, 2018
in the first regular series book by ghostwriter Ellen Miles since Kristy and the Baby Parade (ellen writes almost every mystery but very rarely writes regular series books), claudia has to repeat 7th grade. she’s been struggling for a while and has been genuinely trying to catch up. she gets a tutor from janine’s school, rosa, who is someone who has also struggled in the past since studying hasn’t come naturally to her. but she’s worked really hard and caught up. she even wears fashionable clothes but is still a nerd -- sort of a perfect role model for claudia. but claud still struggles, so she is still held back. she’s really upset about it, especially when she discovers that she is stuck eating lunch in the 7th grade lunch period and going to the daytime 6th and 7th grade halloween dance (complete with bobbing for apples!) instead of the cooler nighttime 8th grade dance. building her confidence, though, are two things: first, she’s suddenly doing well in school, since these are things she vaguely remembers from the previous year. second, she was accepted into her artist idol serena mckay’s master class at the local community college, and she ends up winning first prize in the final art show, even though her work was shown with the work of everyone else in her class, all of whom are adults. she feels even better when she finds out that serena mckay repeated 6th grade AND 9th grade. and look how far she’s come! the subplot is that jackie rodowsky is still in the hospital after the events of Kristy's Worst Idea, and he’s bummed to be stuck there, so the bsc comes up with a penpal-like system called hospital buddies, where kids in the community have buddies they write to in the hospital. the hospital even allows the bsc to host a halloween party for the hospital buddies program.
highlights:
-claud says the bsc is an outrageously great club. who is she, kimber?
-stacey calls claud and the first thing she asks is "what are you wearing?" slashity slash slash! seriously, I don’t generally ship stacey-claudia (because claudia is clearly meant to be with ashley wyeth from Claudia and the New Girl) but this moment is just so delightfully gay I can’t even deal.
-claudia remembers a toy she wanted as a kid called singing susie which was a doll that had a tape recorder hidden in her belly. you know, like in videodrome:
-one of the guys in serena mckay’s master class has a goatee and a beret. god I love a perfect portrayal of an artist stereotype.
-all of the other 7th graders start looking like claudia, complete with the flintstones pebbles ponytails. I wonder what would happen if she went to school looking like this:
-some of the adults in claud's class aren't as good at art as claudia is and are jealous of her. maybe it’s not that realistic, but I do love moments when claud is feeling crappy about herself and then something like this happens to put her life in perspective a little bit.
-the cast of characters in the art class are basically art school confidential
lowlights/nitpicks:
-claud is kind of a jerk and thinks she's so much better than the 7th graders. there's a pumpkin carving contest at the halloween dance and mal and jessi try to get claud to join because then their friends will be impressed with how great an artist she is and claud responds, "oh, please. who cares if a bunch of little brats are impressed by me?"
-I find it a little hard to believe that claudia is suddenly good at school. or maybe it’s believable but not sustainable? she’s good at 7th grade because she already did it, but she’ll have to repeat 8th grade too, because she is only good at school when she’s done it twice?
outfits:
claudia outfits:
-'Finally, I'd thrown on a black sweatershirt with the neck cut out of it, black jeans (doesn't black just say "artist" to you?), and -- as a lighthearted touch -- my purple high-tops with the orange laces.'
-"I'm wearing a black wool jumper over my favorite red turtleneck."
-"After a lot of indecision, I'd settled on my moss-green Gap jeans, paired with a rust-colored cardigan I'd found at the vintage clothing store. Also, my new Mary Janes, and a moss-green scrunchie so I could tie up my hair in a Pebbles Flintstone ponytail on top of my head."
-"I'd come up with this great punk look, pairing an old leather jacket of my uncle Russ's (he used to have a motorcycle before he was married) with torn fishnet tights, my big black Doc Martens, and a spandex miniskirt. Of course, I'd wear the nose ring...And I was thinking about using one of those temporary dyes to put a purple--or maybe a green--streak in my hair."
-"I marched over to my closet and pulled out the first thing I put my hands on: a long black jumper with red embroidery around the neckline. I put that on over a white turtleneck, added a pair of dangly earrings with red glass beads, and twisted my hair into a casual knot."
rosa outfit:
-"She was wearing overalls, Doc Martens, and a funky black newsboy cap, turned sideways."
stacey outfit in claud's dream:
-"She was wearing a short plaid kilt, a white baby-T, black tights, and black, chunky-heeled shoes."
kristy lunch comments:
-says the noodles look like "garbage a la barf"
snacks in claudia’s room:
-yodels behind her thesaurus
-raisinets (n.s.)
-smartfood cheese popcorn (n.s.)
-milky way miniatures (n.s.)
-milky ways in the bottom of her desk drawer
-snickers in the bottom of her desk drawer
-milk duds (n.s.)
-sour patch kids (n.s.)
-nacho cheese-flavored popcorn (n.s.)
-stale pretzels (n.s.)
highlights:
-claud says the bsc is an outrageously great club. who is she, kimber?
-stacey calls claud and the first thing she asks is "what are you wearing?" slashity slash slash! seriously, I don’t generally ship stacey-claudia (because claudia is clearly meant to be with ashley wyeth from Claudia and the New Girl) but this moment is just so delightfully gay I can’t even deal.
-claudia remembers a toy she wanted as a kid called singing susie which was a doll that had a tape recorder hidden in her belly. you know, like in videodrome:
-one of the guys in serena mckay’s master class has a goatee and a beret. god I love a perfect portrayal of an artist stereotype.
-all of the other 7th graders start looking like claudia, complete with the flintstones pebbles ponytails. I wonder what would happen if she went to school looking like this:
-some of the adults in claud's class aren't as good at art as claudia is and are jealous of her. maybe it’s not that realistic, but I do love moments when claud is feeling crappy about herself and then something like this happens to put her life in perspective a little bit.
-the cast of characters in the art class are basically art school confidential
lowlights/nitpicks:
-claud is kind of a jerk and thinks she's so much better than the 7th graders. there's a pumpkin carving contest at the halloween dance and mal and jessi try to get claud to join because then their friends will be impressed with how great an artist she is and claud responds, "oh, please. who cares if a bunch of little brats are impressed by me?"
-I find it a little hard to believe that claudia is suddenly good at school. or maybe it’s believable but not sustainable? she’s good at 7th grade because she already did it, but she’ll have to repeat 8th grade too, because she is only good at school when she’s done it twice?
outfits:
claudia outfits:
-'Finally, I'd thrown on a black sweatershirt with the neck cut out of it, black jeans (doesn't black just say "artist" to you?), and -- as a lighthearted touch -- my purple high-tops with the orange laces.'
-"I'm wearing a black wool jumper over my favorite red turtleneck."
-"After a lot of indecision, I'd settled on my moss-green Gap jeans, paired with a rust-colored cardigan I'd found at the vintage clothing store. Also, my new Mary Janes, and a moss-green scrunchie so I could tie up my hair in a Pebbles Flintstone ponytail on top of my head."
-"I'd come up with this great punk look, pairing an old leather jacket of my uncle Russ's (he used to have a motorcycle before he was married) with torn fishnet tights, my big black Doc Martens, and a spandex miniskirt. Of course, I'd wear the nose ring...And I was thinking about using one of those temporary dyes to put a purple--or maybe a green--streak in my hair."
-"I marched over to my closet and pulled out the first thing I put my hands on: a long black jumper with red embroidery around the neckline. I put that on over a white turtleneck, added a pair of dangly earrings with red glass beads, and twisted my hair into a casual knot."
rosa outfit:
-"She was wearing overalls, Doc Martens, and a funky black newsboy cap, turned sideways."
stacey outfit in claud's dream:
-"She was wearing a short plaid kilt, a white baby-T, black tights, and black, chunky-heeled shoes."
kristy lunch comments:
-says the noodles look like "garbage a la barf"
snacks in claudia’s room:
-yodels behind her thesaurus
-raisinets (n.s.)
-smartfood cheese popcorn (n.s.)
-milky way miniatures (n.s.)
-milky ways in the bottom of her desk drawer
-snickers in the bottom of her desk drawer
-milk duds (n.s.)
-sour patch kids (n.s.)
-nacho cheese-flavored popcorn (n.s.)
-stale pretzels (n.s.)
March 30, 2025
read this one quickly on a sunday desk shift - why in the world would they move claudia down a grade in the middle of the damn school year? she felt bad about being a little short with her friends (fair) but she was rightfully humiliated, especially when her principal said she couldn't attend the eighth grade halloween dance because she was now back in seventh grade. stoneybrook middle school, y'all need to focus on emotional needs as much as educational ones! she won first prize in an art show so that's nice but damn! you all had my girl sad as hell. don't do it again please!
Read
May 28, 2012Okay, so -
Reading these books this weekend has made me really glad I'm not one of those creepy adults who donates all of their spare time to documenting the life of Stoneybrookites.
Seriously.
I'm not going to name names, or link links, but there's some weird ish out there, put out by grown ups that still read these books EVERY DAY.
I was only around for about the first 4 years of the BSC, so this book came out long after I'd abandoned such childish things for PKD and Heinlein and stuff. [sigh] I remember looking down my nose at a grown woman that used to come into our local library (where I was a volunteer) every week and only check out these books for herself.
But that really has nothing to do with this book.
The secondary plot is about the girls starting a Hospital Buddies group after one of their charges (Jackie Radowsky, the Walking Disaster) rides his bike into a tree on his way to apologize to Kristy for being such a little shit while she was babysitting him. Because he was not wearing a helmet, this child was able to ride his bike into a tree with enough force to land him in the hospital FOR DAYS. Look. I'm pretty much the biggest klutz there ever was, and I've hit plenty of trees with my bike. The worst I ever had was a scraped knee. This whole bandaged head thing didn't work for me. Would I have bought it if I'd been 8 when this book came out?
No. No, I don't think I would have.
The primary plot revolves around Claudia (obvs, that's her name in the title, right?), she's having a super rough time with 8th grade math. Not only math, but EVERYTHING ELSE. She's so bad, in fact, that one month into the 8th grade (for what I'm pretty sure is the 20th time, by this point), it's decided for her that she will be bumped back into 7th. Do they do this? I really don't think that they do. Holding kids back? Yes, I totally see this. But passing them and then saying "wait, no, sorry - we totally made a mistake, BACK TO THE SEVENTH GRADE WITH YOU!" No way.
Blergh.
Reading these books this weekend has made me really glad I'm not one of those creepy adults who donates all of their spare time to documenting the life of Stoneybrookites.
Seriously.
I'm not going to name names, or link links, but there's some weird ish out there, put out by grown ups that still read these books EVERY DAY.
I was only around for about the first 4 years of the BSC, so this book came out long after I'd abandoned such childish things for PKD and Heinlein and stuff. [sigh] I remember looking down my nose at a grown woman that used to come into our local library (where I was a volunteer) every week and only check out these books for herself.
But that really has nothing to do with this book.
The secondary plot is about the girls starting a Hospital Buddies group after one of their charges (Jackie Radowsky, the Walking Disaster) rides his bike into a tree on his way to apologize to Kristy for being such a little shit while she was babysitting him. Because he was not wearing a helmet, this child was able to ride his bike into a tree with enough force to land him in the hospital FOR DAYS. Look. I'm pretty much the biggest klutz there ever was, and I've hit plenty of trees with my bike. The worst I ever had was a scraped knee. This whole bandaged head thing didn't work for me. Would I have bought it if I'd been 8 when this book came out?
No. No, I don't think I would have.
The primary plot revolves around Claudia (obvs, that's her name in the title, right?), she's having a super rough time with 8th grade math. Not only math, but EVERYTHING ELSE. She's so bad, in fact, that one month into the 8th grade (for what I'm pretty sure is the 20th time, by this point), it's decided for her that she will be bumped back into 7th. Do they do this? I really don't think that they do. Holding kids back? Yes, I totally see this. But passing them and then saying "wait, no, sorry - we totally made a mistake, BACK TO THE SEVENTH GRADE WITH YOU!" No way.
Blergh.
July 29, 2011
Writing a book about a girl who's staying back a year in school is a really, really, really bad idea in a timeless universe. Didn't make it half blatant that after the... what? 3rd? 4th? summer the girls are STILL in 8th / 6th grade.
May 22, 2012
Randomly saw this in the library last night and decided to grab it because it's not one I'd read before. Even though Claudia's my least favourite sitter. It was the only "new" one there, okay?!
So eh. Even though the BSC girls started year 8 in around book 10 or so, here we are about six weeks into the new school year at book 101. (Sidenote: when I was first reading, I remember noting that the first book was around the start of year 7, and then they moved to year 8 at around the 10 mark, so I very cleverly deduced that this gave approximately ten books per school year. Hahaha. No.) And Claudia's failing everything ever so she gets held back a year. At the same time as she's going to these fancy art classes where everyone else is an adult and she's 13 and the best EVER and she wins first prize. Okay, it could happen. She really could be that ridiculously talented, I just don't like Claudia.
But this book was actually not all that bad because you can actually see why she's struggling and I could relate because I've done subjects where I've HATED THEM WITH THE FIERY PASSION OF A THOUSAND HELLS and studied just enough to pass the exam and then instantly forgotten everything and hated it so much that I put in as little effort as possible because I'd rather be spending my time doing the FUN stuff. So okay, there's that. And you'd think that would make me sympathetic, but sadly not. Because she's not struggling with Molecular Genetics, she's struggling with year 8 maths. Which when described sounds kind of like grade 5 maths. And she is SO incredibly lazy that it just bugs me. I mean I am not gonna say I did as much work for methods in year 12 as I did for English. I did the bare minimum pretty much :P But I at least did that, and I at least paid attention and TRIED and asked questions and worked things through. I didn't just ignore all the mounting work in favour of my more fun subjects, like English and chem and German and biology and even Specialist maths because OH MY GOD I HATED METHODS SO MUCH. But I knew it was important to pass and Claudia seems to be lacking that kind of sense. I'm just glad this book didn't have any diary entries from her, because I've been looking down my nose at her shitty spelling since I was about 7.
Yes, I'm an unsympathetic bitch, okay?
Also, American schools are weird. 58 is a fail? 64 is still a fail? Okay so maybe she had to get like 95 to pass and that's the problem? I don't get it. 50 and above = pass, 49 and below = fail. Simple. Also, the idea of different lunch periods for different year levels is also way unfamiliar and always makes me go, huh.
Oh god they ate Smartfood cheese popcorn. I was addicted to that in grade 6. I want some now. Does it still exist? Does ANY cheese flavoured popcorn still exist?
Oh yeah and SMS sounds way nicer than my school. I love how Claudia was an instant celeb in year 7 because she was all super mature and stylish with her home-made scrunchies... see, at my school, the mini celebs were the girls who got skipped up a year. You got kept down? Everyone thought you were dumb. Even the two girls in the year above us who went on exchange to America and then had to join our class when they returned rather than staying with their own because the school years didn't match up and they'd missed too much essential work... they weren't celebs, they were the ones who'd been KEPT BACK.
So eh. Even though the BSC girls started year 8 in around book 10 or so, here we are about six weeks into the new school year at book 101. (Sidenote: when I was first reading, I remember noting that the first book was around the start of year 7, and then they moved to year 8 at around the 10 mark, so I very cleverly deduced that this gave approximately ten books per school year. Hahaha. No.) And Claudia's failing everything ever so she gets held back a year. At the same time as she's going to these fancy art classes where everyone else is an adult and she's 13 and the best EVER and she wins first prize. Okay, it could happen. She really could be that ridiculously talented, I just don't like Claudia.
But this book was actually not all that bad because you can actually see why she's struggling and I could relate because I've done subjects where I've HATED THEM WITH THE FIERY PASSION OF A THOUSAND HELLS and studied just enough to pass the exam and then instantly forgotten everything and hated it so much that I put in as little effort as possible because I'd rather be spending my time doing the FUN stuff. So okay, there's that. And you'd think that would make me sympathetic, but sadly not. Because she's not struggling with Molecular Genetics, she's struggling with year 8 maths. Which when described sounds kind of like grade 5 maths. And she is SO incredibly lazy that it just bugs me. I mean I am not gonna say I did as much work for methods in year 12 as I did for English. I did the bare minimum pretty much :P But I at least did that, and I at least paid attention and TRIED and asked questions and worked things through. I didn't just ignore all the mounting work in favour of my more fun subjects, like English and chem and German and biology and even Specialist maths because OH MY GOD I HATED METHODS SO MUCH. But I knew it was important to pass and Claudia seems to be lacking that kind of sense. I'm just glad this book didn't have any diary entries from her, because I've been looking down my nose at her shitty spelling since I was about 7.
Yes, I'm an unsympathetic bitch, okay?
Also, American schools are weird. 58 is a fail? 64 is still a fail? Okay so maybe she had to get like 95 to pass and that's the problem? I don't get it. 50 and above = pass, 49 and below = fail. Simple. Also, the idea of different lunch periods for different year levels is also way unfamiliar and always makes me go, huh.
Oh god they ate Smartfood cheese popcorn. I was addicted to that in grade 6. I want some now. Does it still exist? Does ANY cheese flavoured popcorn still exist?
Oh yeah and SMS sounds way nicer than my school. I love how Claudia was an instant celeb in year 7 because she was all super mature and stylish with her home-made scrunchies... see, at my school, the mini celebs were the girls who got skipped up a year. You got kept down? Everyone thought you were dumb. Even the two girls in the year above us who went on exchange to America and then had to join our class when they returned rather than staying with their own because the school years didn't match up and they'd missed too much essential work... they weren't celebs, they were the ones who'd been KEPT BACK.
May 10, 2011
jared saw this book sitting on the coffee table when he got home from school & was like, "whoa, claudia drops out of junior high? all because no one would sit with her at lunch time?" i explained, "no, she just gets bumped back to seventh grade from eighth grade. the title doesn't really have anything to do with anything." he said, "wait, they bounced her back a grade in the middle of the school year? that seems really...cruel."
yup, another school year has begun at stoneybrook middle school, & while all the other babysitters seem to be enjoying the new challenges, claudia is really struggling. in every single class. she doesn't understand anything. even when she tries as hard as she can, to study or to write a paper or something, even when she thinks she understands the material, when she looks at it again a few hours later, it has become gobbledygook again. it's really stressing her out.
then she hears about a special art class being taught by a visiting artist she really likes. potential students have to apply to take the class & send a sample of their work. claudia's art teacher encourages her to give it a shot. claudia doesn't think she has a chance because the class is open to anyone in the stoneybrook area, including adults that have been working on their art for years. but she doesn't see the harm in applying & is dumbfounded when she is accepted. however, she is rightfully concerned that her parents won't let her take the class when she is struggling with her schoolwork so much. she decides to really knuckle down & try her hardest on an upcoming math test. if she can show her parents a good grade, they will see that she's really making an effort wwith academics & be more likely to allow her to take the art class.
unfortunately, all the studying in the world does nothing. claudia bombs the test. the teacher takes her aside after class & explains that she does not seem to be retaining the fundamentals she should have learned the year before (you know, the eleventh time she was in eighth grade--probably the most ludicrous conceit of this book is that we are supposed to believe that this is really the older babysitters' first time through eighth grade, & that mallory & jessi are just starting middle school). he wants the kishis to sign the quiz & hire a tutor for claudia.
claudia shows her parents the quiz that night after dinner & breaks down in tears, explaining how much she is struggling. janine recommends a woman from her college-level physics class as a tutor. after much begging, pleading, & bargaining on claudia's part, they grant permission for her to take the special art class, as long as she works really hard on school stuff with her tutor.
at her first tutoring session, claudia outlines the troubles she is having in all of her classes. her tutor explains that claudia's study habits suck, she only learns things for tests & then forgets them, & while she can obviously apply herself & concentrate on making art, she can't seem to do it in school.
so claudia & the tutor work their hardest. but within a week or two, it's obvious that claudia is completely behind in every class, & falling further behind every time she tries to catch up. the school invites claudia & her parents to a meeting where they recommend having claudia repeat the seventh grade. everyone (including claudia) agrees that it will be for the best, though claudia feels weirdly embarrassed & left behind.
her first day of seventh grade, she notices how babyish her new classmates look. she says that the boys all look like nine-year-olds & the girls are wearing childish clothing that claudia abandoned when she was ten years old. because a 13-year-old is so sophisticated compared to a 12-year-old, right? while she understands her classes better & the other kids are nice, claudia has no one to sit with at lunch & she feels weird. then she finds out that the big halloween dance she had been so excited about it for eighth graders only...& i am going to go ahead & note that this is the very first time SMS has ever had a dance for only one grade level. claudia races to the principal's office to try to secure special permission to attend the dance, but he says it will set a bad precedent in he lets claudia go. a precedent? really? does SMS boot a lot of kids back a grade level after passing them along? i also don't understand why claudia couldn't just go to the dance without permission. is mr. kingbridge going to bar the door when he sees her coming? couldn't she arrange to be the date of an eighth grader?
anyway, this plunges claudia into a depression. although she is having a much easier time with her homework & tests & stuff, & she likes getting better grades, & her special art class is awesome, claudia feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere. her babysitters club friends are either in sixth or eighth grades. she's all alone in seventh. she's the youngest person in her art class--by a few decades, in some cases. she's not allowed to go to the dance & wear the special "punk rocker" costume she came up with. jessi & mallory convince her to attend the special after-school party for sixth & seventh graders, & she does, grudgingly. they want her to enter some art-themed contest at the party so she can win & they can show her off to their sixth grade friends & she snaps, "why would i care what some brats think of me?" & then storms out, walking home alone. she apologizes to jessi & mallory at the next BSC meeting, but...damn. that was REALLY MEAN, claudia.
she's not even planning to go to the gallery show associated with her art class, but she finally decides to check it out at the last minute. when she shows up, everyone congratulates her, but she thinks they're just congratulating her for being in the show. when she finds out she won first place, she cries. she admits to her teacher that she struggles academically & has been bumped back a grade & feels like a loser & the art class was the one good thing she had going on. the teacher says that she was never a great student either--she has learning disabilities & has a hard time reading. she was held back twice but finished school & went on to get a degree at the rhode island school of design & now teaches art. claudia feels a lot better after that & apologizes to her BSC friends for being a crabalotamus. she decides to make the most of her second trip through seventh grade.
B-plot: jackie rodowsky is in the hospital (he sustained a head injury in the last book, long story) & kristy realizes that kids in hospitals must be kind of bored & lonely. isn't this like the 17th time she has made that realization? she organizes "hospital buddies," where the babysitting charges write letters to kids in the hospital & share their halloween candy with them. bor-riiiing.
yup, another school year has begun at stoneybrook middle school, & while all the other babysitters seem to be enjoying the new challenges, claudia is really struggling. in every single class. she doesn't understand anything. even when she tries as hard as she can, to study or to write a paper or something, even when she thinks she understands the material, when she looks at it again a few hours later, it has become gobbledygook again. it's really stressing her out.
then she hears about a special art class being taught by a visiting artist she really likes. potential students have to apply to take the class & send a sample of their work. claudia's art teacher encourages her to give it a shot. claudia doesn't think she has a chance because the class is open to anyone in the stoneybrook area, including adults that have been working on their art for years. but she doesn't see the harm in applying & is dumbfounded when she is accepted. however, she is rightfully concerned that her parents won't let her take the class when she is struggling with her schoolwork so much. she decides to really knuckle down & try her hardest on an upcoming math test. if she can show her parents a good grade, they will see that she's really making an effort wwith academics & be more likely to allow her to take the art class.
unfortunately, all the studying in the world does nothing. claudia bombs the test. the teacher takes her aside after class & explains that she does not seem to be retaining the fundamentals she should have learned the year before (you know, the eleventh time she was in eighth grade--probably the most ludicrous conceit of this book is that we are supposed to believe that this is really the older babysitters' first time through eighth grade, & that mallory & jessi are just starting middle school). he wants the kishis to sign the quiz & hire a tutor for claudia.
claudia shows her parents the quiz that night after dinner & breaks down in tears, explaining how much she is struggling. janine recommends a woman from her college-level physics class as a tutor. after much begging, pleading, & bargaining on claudia's part, they grant permission for her to take the special art class, as long as she works really hard on school stuff with her tutor.
at her first tutoring session, claudia outlines the troubles she is having in all of her classes. her tutor explains that claudia's study habits suck, she only learns things for tests & then forgets them, & while she can obviously apply herself & concentrate on making art, she can't seem to do it in school.
so claudia & the tutor work their hardest. but within a week or two, it's obvious that claudia is completely behind in every class, & falling further behind every time she tries to catch up. the school invites claudia & her parents to a meeting where they recommend having claudia repeat the seventh grade. everyone (including claudia) agrees that it will be for the best, though claudia feels weirdly embarrassed & left behind.
her first day of seventh grade, she notices how babyish her new classmates look. she says that the boys all look like nine-year-olds & the girls are wearing childish clothing that claudia abandoned when she was ten years old. because a 13-year-old is so sophisticated compared to a 12-year-old, right? while she understands her classes better & the other kids are nice, claudia has no one to sit with at lunch & she feels weird. then she finds out that the big halloween dance she had been so excited about it for eighth graders only...& i am going to go ahead & note that this is the very first time SMS has ever had a dance for only one grade level. claudia races to the principal's office to try to secure special permission to attend the dance, but he says it will set a bad precedent in he lets claudia go. a precedent? really? does SMS boot a lot of kids back a grade level after passing them along? i also don't understand why claudia couldn't just go to the dance without permission. is mr. kingbridge going to bar the door when he sees her coming? couldn't she arrange to be the date of an eighth grader?
anyway, this plunges claudia into a depression. although she is having a much easier time with her homework & tests & stuff, & she likes getting better grades, & her special art class is awesome, claudia feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere. her babysitters club friends are either in sixth or eighth grades. she's all alone in seventh. she's the youngest person in her art class--by a few decades, in some cases. she's not allowed to go to the dance & wear the special "punk rocker" costume she came up with. jessi & mallory convince her to attend the special after-school party for sixth & seventh graders, & she does, grudgingly. they want her to enter some art-themed contest at the party so she can win & they can show her off to their sixth grade friends & she snaps, "why would i care what some brats think of me?" & then storms out, walking home alone. she apologizes to jessi & mallory at the next BSC meeting, but...damn. that was REALLY MEAN, claudia.
she's not even planning to go to the gallery show associated with her art class, but she finally decides to check it out at the last minute. when she shows up, everyone congratulates her, but she thinks they're just congratulating her for being in the show. when she finds out she won first place, she cries. she admits to her teacher that she struggles academically & has been bumped back a grade & feels like a loser & the art class was the one good thing she had going on. the teacher says that she was never a great student either--she has learning disabilities & has a hard time reading. she was held back twice but finished school & went on to get a degree at the rhode island school of design & now teaches art. claudia feels a lot better after that & apologizes to her BSC friends for being a crabalotamus. she decides to make the most of her second trip through seventh grade.
B-plot: jackie rodowsky is in the hospital (he sustained a head injury in the last book, long story) & kristy realizes that kids in hospitals must be kind of bored & lonely. isn't this like the 17th time she has made that realization? she organizes "hospital buddies," where the babysitting charges write letters to kids in the hospital & share their halloween candy with them. bor-riiiing.
August 15, 2017
I really liked this book as a kid, though I'm not sure why. I was never held back in school or anything like that, and I was a lucky kid who also never really struggled. I guess maybe I liked that Claudia seemed to do better for herself in 7th grade? Who knows.
As an adult it seems so weir that they'd move her into another grade two months into the school year. I'm not sure how situations like that are typically handled, but that seemed excessive and sort of strange. This is SMS though, where weird things tend to happen. Like, for example, every other dance ever was for all the grades. Except this one. This one was 8th grade only so they could really screw Claudia over in the plot.
The B-Plot was about kids in the hospital needing Halloween. Which, honestly, I do agree with and liked. I always love Halloween books though, so there's also that. I'm Halloween bias.
As an adult it seems so weir that they'd move her into another grade two months into the school year. I'm not sure how situations like that are typically handled, but that seemed excessive and sort of strange. This is SMS though, where weird things tend to happen. Like, for example, every other dance ever was for all the grades. Except this one. This one was 8th grade only so they could really screw Claudia over in the plot.
The B-Plot was about kids in the hospital needing Halloween. Which, honestly, I do agree with and liked. I always love Halloween books though, so there's also that. I'm Halloween bias.
December 27, 2020
(LL)
Finally! After all these books showing Claudia struggling with every subject, she finally gets sent back to the seventh grade. It’s finally acknowledged that she is academically lazy and without any learning disability (which we all know she has all the signs of dyslexia) that she must be sent back a grade to prevent her from having trouble in high school. Well done with good lessons throughout.
I was, however, extremely disappointed they glossed over the whole disbanding of the club and didn’t talk about how they were going to make changes to prevent it from happening again. I lowered the #100 book to four stars since they did not follow through on what they set up in the previous book.
Finally! After all these books showing Claudia struggling with every subject, she finally gets sent back to the seventh grade. It’s finally acknowledged that she is academically lazy and without any learning disability (which we all know she has all the signs of dyslexia) that she must be sent back a grade to prevent her from having trouble in high school. Well done with good lessons throughout.
I was, however, extremely disappointed they glossed over the whole disbanding of the club and didn’t talk about how they were going to make changes to prevent it from happening again. I lowered the #100 book to four stars since they did not follow through on what they set up in the previous book.
October 14, 2022
Claudia is struggling in 8th grade, and despite having a daily tutor, she is sent back down to 7th grade. Claudia is embarrassed and hates being so isolated from her friends; and she can only focus on the master art class with a well-known artist. Eventually, this artist reassures Claudia that it's okay to be held back, the important lesson is to learn from the experience. Meanwhile, Kristy creates a hospital buddies program to help cheer up Jackie.
A little disappointed with some of the Halloween costume choices for some of the kids.
A little disappointed with some of the Halloween costume choices for some of the kids.
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
October 24, 2022
This book may have been more enjoyable if it didn't break my brain a little re: how many times these babysitters have actually been in 8th grade, and how many times Claudia had failed math tests/quizzes and then improved over the course of a single book. I still enjoyed this one, but it sort of seems like an AU vs. an actual canon BSC book.
December 22, 2022
I always liked the seventh-grade arc of Claudia's, and I think this book is a great start to it. I liked seeing all the emotions that Claudia goes through, it felt very realistic to me to have her start pushing her friends away while she dealt with her feelings. Loved the parts about her art class, too.
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.
November 19, 2023
I really enjoyed this book! It was really nice to see Claudia finally getting help for her problems in school and to see her succeed! I think this was an excellent book for Claudia's character and one of the best later series books.
November 15, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book
May 21, 2020
BSC ❤️
August 28, 2020
“Hello?” I answered it.
“So, what are you wearing?”
It was my best friend, Stacey McGill, and her question didn’t strike me as odd at all.
“So, what are you wearing?”
It was my best friend, Stacey McGill, and her question didn’t strike me as odd at all.
Read
January 10, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
January 15, 2021
Not a lot of babysitting going on. But a lot of Claudia feeling sorry for herself. She finally understands about true friendship, family and loyalty.
June 28, 2021
Oof. This was an unexpectedly tough read -- but a good one!
August 7, 2023
Good story and good lesson that having to repeat seventh grade isn't a failure but rather a good step towards catching up. The bit about Claudia's artistic success was also a nice counterbalance.
Read
February 1, 2026When her troubles in school culminate in her being dropped back to the seventh grade, Claudia struggles with feelings of failure while adjusting to classmates outside of the Baby-sitters Club.
August 13, 2024
This book confused me more than anything. I've heard of skipping a grade but not going backward. Wouldn't they make you take evening classes or special classes. Also is she really doing so bad she needs to do everything over? Like I was horrible at math and science. I didn't do so bad at other subjects. Some do well at math and bad with English. Whatever. So Claudia is failing everything but art and gets sent back to seventh grade which I don't understand but we need a plot I guess. She's also gets into an art class run by a favourite famous artist and loves it. At first she likes seventh grade, the girls look up to her and copy her look, she is excelling in her classes, she even gets a 96% on a test. Then the book becomes similar to Claudia's portrait book when she was sent away to a special school and sinks into a deep depression. She can't go to a dance which makes no sense since Jessi and Mallory went to most of the dances at SMS. Again plot point for dramatic purposes. But it's her art class and teacher who helps her out she wins first prizes and learns that she too had problems at school. In the end Claudia is at peace with herself and the BSC passes their probation period and is officially back together. The b plot is sweet. The club visits Jackie who's still in hospital and decide to help other sick kids by writing them, visiting them along with their charges and throwing a big Halloween party for them which was a nice touch. It's a sweet story in an otherwise confusing book about something I don't think exists outside of Stoneybrook.
May 1, 2013
Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
August 23, 2015
Interesting premise. Too much telling of what's happening instead of showing it through the writing.
Sadly, this story feels very contrived. It lacks an air of authenticity and generally falls a bit flat.
The notion of sending a kid back a grade while one month into the next grade is simply ludicrous. If Claudia was doing that poorly, she would have been held back at the end of 7th grade.
All that notwithstanding, it still provided a bit of interest.
This is not one of the books I read back in my prime years of enjoying The Baby-sitters Club.
Sadly, this story feels very contrived. It lacks an air of authenticity and generally falls a bit flat.
The notion of sending a kid back a grade while one month into the next grade is simply ludicrous. If Claudia was doing that poorly, she would have been held back at the end of 7th grade.
All that notwithstanding, it still provided a bit of interest.
This is not one of the books I read back in my prime years of enjoying The Baby-sitters Club.
January 1, 2016
We've always known that Claudia isn't a great student. Now she has to repeat the seventh grade, and she's completely humiliated! On the flip side, though, she has the honor of being selected to attend a special art class with a famous artist. And as with all BSC books, everything turns out wonderful in the end.
May 6, 2021
Loved these books as a child
January 9, 2014
How do you read it. New Member so confused please help!!!
February 20, 2014
Read this mostly for nostalgia's sake.
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