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The Baby-Sitters Club #124
Stacey McGill... Matchmaker?
While babysitting the two Brooke children, Stacey begins to think that their good-looking single father would be a good match for her single mother. Original.
125 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1998
64 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,099 books3,046 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 13, 2018
this is my first time reading this book.
in this book by ghostwriter Suzanne Weyn, stacey starts sitting for a new bsc family, the brookes. john brooke is a recently divorced (with full custody!) popular thriller author and needs a sitter to watch his kids while he works on his new novels. when stacey’s mom maureen comes to pick her up from a sitting job, she and john hit it off and start dating. joni and ewan, the brooke kids, do not handle it well. as stacey pushes maureen and john to be together more, joni does everything she can to drive them apart: says totally inappropriate things to maureen, sabotages her dad’s writing so he won’t have time to go out with her, and even writes her mom a letter telling her she has to come back. john is pretty tough with joni, and maureen doesn’t like his parenting style, so she starts to become less interested in him. it doesn’t help that she starts to notice that all the protagonists in his books seem to have a strong belief that people are inherently selfish and cruel, and maureen strongly disagrees and believes john himself feels this way. when she tells stacey she’s planning to break it off, stacey is upset because she thinks josh is maureen’s mr. darcy (stacey and maureen are reading Pride and Prejudice in a two-person book club). but after talking it over with her sophisticated boyfriend ethan, she decides that since maureen doesn’t tell her who she should date, stacey should offer her mom the same respect. they break up, and joni briefly believes she’s to blame, until claudia explains that all kids piss off their parents sometimes, and that it’s not joni’s fault. meanwhile, mal is still not doing well in school with all the spaz girl drama (see Kristy in Charge) and has started talking about trying to switch schools. she goes to visit a boarding school in massachusetts, which she will subsequently attend in The All-New Mallory Pike. also a very mini-subplot is that the bsc start their own book club, inspired in part by dawn saying her friends have started a movie club (really? I’ve read all those california diaries books that were coming out simultaneously with these books, and all dawn’s friends are doing is having eating disorders and being in abusive relationships) and in part by stacey and her mom’s 2-person book club.
highlights:
-I love when stacey and maureen are like lorelai and rory gilmore (like their conversation about what made maureen fall in love with stacey’s dad in Snowbound). maureen ponders whether she would have stayed with stacey's dad if he had remained a public defender. he became a corporate lawyer and she didn't respect his work as much and so didn’t respect him as much.
-another gilmore girls-ish moment: john’s ex-wife (a former fashion model) moved to atlanta to follow her dream of being a host of a morning show. basically a "you can't stand in my way anymore" situation, like sherry when she leaves gigi with christopher.
-stacey overhears her mom and john talking in the other room about the "new town taxes coming up for a vote and whether or not stoneybrook should put a traffic light" at a particular intersection. it’s like suzanne weyn has no idea what flirting adults actually talk about and thought, "hmm, taxes and public safety are grown-up topics…"
-maureen had been a fan of john’s books, but once she gets to know him, she starts seeing things in his characters she doesn’t like, and it ruins the books for her. this is why we should just enjoy art and not get to know artists, because they will always disappoint us, like that time I saw animotion in concert and they said obsession was about heroin, not obsessive passion and sex. it kind of killed the song for me.
-the brookes and mcgills go out to dinner and joni really lays it on. she compliments maureen's necklace but says they're like the ones her dad gave her mom, but those ones were nicer. then she even says "did your ex-husband give you those beads?" DAMN, joni!
-joni tells abby that she never calls her mom because she's too busy to talk on the phone. she just sends joni and ewan a postcard whenever she has a chance. man, these kids do not have good parents.
-maureen starts to hypothesize that john wears colored contacts and that he dyes his hair. because she clearly just wants to hate him now, so she believes he’s shallow.
-joni asks to listen to hanson! hahahaha! I think this is a little late for them to be that level of popular, but I still laughed out loud at this part.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-I feel like I should read the Little Sister series because in this book they say karen and andrew go back and forth between their dad and mom's houses, both in stoneybrook. but didn't lisa and seth move to chicago?
-stacey thinks she knows better than everyone else, and it’s a little annoying to read.
claudia outfit:
-"She pushed back her hair to reveal a pair of long, shiny earrings dotted with small clay beads. Then she drew out a long beaded necklace, which had fallen beneath the bib of her tie-dyed overalls. (She'd dyed them herself.)"
snacks in claudia’s room:
-mallomars in her bottom dresser drawer
-a package of carrots with ranch dip in a brown bag on top of her dresser
in this book by ghostwriter Suzanne Weyn, stacey starts sitting for a new bsc family, the brookes. john brooke is a recently divorced (with full custody!) popular thriller author and needs a sitter to watch his kids while he works on his new novels. when stacey’s mom maureen comes to pick her up from a sitting job, she and john hit it off and start dating. joni and ewan, the brooke kids, do not handle it well. as stacey pushes maureen and john to be together more, joni does everything she can to drive them apart: says totally inappropriate things to maureen, sabotages her dad’s writing so he won’t have time to go out with her, and even writes her mom a letter telling her she has to come back. john is pretty tough with joni, and maureen doesn’t like his parenting style, so she starts to become less interested in him. it doesn’t help that she starts to notice that all the protagonists in his books seem to have a strong belief that people are inherently selfish and cruel, and maureen strongly disagrees and believes john himself feels this way. when she tells stacey she’s planning to break it off, stacey is upset because she thinks josh is maureen’s mr. darcy (stacey and maureen are reading Pride and Prejudice in a two-person book club). but after talking it over with her sophisticated boyfriend ethan, she decides that since maureen doesn’t tell her who she should date, stacey should offer her mom the same respect. they break up, and joni briefly believes she’s to blame, until claudia explains that all kids piss off their parents sometimes, and that it’s not joni’s fault. meanwhile, mal is still not doing well in school with all the spaz girl drama (see Kristy in Charge) and has started talking about trying to switch schools. she goes to visit a boarding school in massachusetts, which she will subsequently attend in The All-New Mallory Pike. also a very mini-subplot is that the bsc start their own book club, inspired in part by dawn saying her friends have started a movie club (really? I’ve read all those california diaries books that were coming out simultaneously with these books, and all dawn’s friends are doing is having eating disorders and being in abusive relationships) and in part by stacey and her mom’s 2-person book club.
highlights:
-I love when stacey and maureen are like lorelai and rory gilmore (like their conversation about what made maureen fall in love with stacey’s dad in Snowbound). maureen ponders whether she would have stayed with stacey's dad if he had remained a public defender. he became a corporate lawyer and she didn't respect his work as much and so didn’t respect him as much.
-another gilmore girls-ish moment: john’s ex-wife (a former fashion model) moved to atlanta to follow her dream of being a host of a morning show. basically a "you can't stand in my way anymore" situation, like sherry when she leaves gigi with christopher.
-stacey overhears her mom and john talking in the other room about the "new town taxes coming up for a vote and whether or not stoneybrook should put a traffic light" at a particular intersection. it’s like suzanne weyn has no idea what flirting adults actually talk about and thought, "hmm, taxes and public safety are grown-up topics…"
-maureen had been a fan of john’s books, but once she gets to know him, she starts seeing things in his characters she doesn’t like, and it ruins the books for her. this is why we should just enjoy art and not get to know artists, because they will always disappoint us, like that time I saw animotion in concert and they said obsession was about heroin, not obsessive passion and sex. it kind of killed the song for me.
-the brookes and mcgills go out to dinner and joni really lays it on. she compliments maureen's necklace but says they're like the ones her dad gave her mom, but those ones were nicer. then she even says "did your ex-husband give you those beads?" DAMN, joni!
-joni tells abby that she never calls her mom because she's too busy to talk on the phone. she just sends joni and ewan a postcard whenever she has a chance. man, these kids do not have good parents.
-maureen starts to hypothesize that john wears colored contacts and that he dyes his hair. because she clearly just wants to hate him now, so she believes he’s shallow.
-joni asks to listen to hanson! hahahaha! I think this is a little late for them to be that level of popular, but I still laughed out loud at this part.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-I feel like I should read the Little Sister series because in this book they say karen and andrew go back and forth between their dad and mom's houses, both in stoneybrook. but didn't lisa and seth move to chicago?
-stacey thinks she knows better than everyone else, and it’s a little annoying to read.
claudia outfit:
-"She pushed back her hair to reveal a pair of long, shiny earrings dotted with small clay beads. Then she drew out a long beaded necklace, which had fallen beneath the bib of her tie-dyed overalls. (She'd dyed them herself.)"
snacks in claudia’s room:
-mallomars in her bottom dresser drawer
-a package of carrots with ranch dip in a brown bag on top of her dresser
February 11, 2025
This one was both annoying and also kind of sad. Especially for those of us with divorced or widowed parents. Stacey is asked to baby sit a new family. John Brooks newly divorced from a woman who sounds like a heartless selfish bitch. He's an author looking for someone to take care of his kids Joni and Ewan while he writes. At first the kids are sweet and fun but missing their mom. Maureen, Stacey's mom picks her up and she and John hit it off. However Joni is not happy. She behaves like a spoiled rotten brat and I hated her so much. I know she's a little kid who misses her mom, but yikes kid if anyone deserves a smack it's her. Maureen thinks he's being too hard on the kids and her infatuation quickly dies. Joni and Stacey have a sweet heart to heart and then I felt bad for Joni. There's no real plot. Just a couple smaller plots, Mallory is touring a boarding school in Massachusetts setting up her last story, and the girls decide to have their own book club because Dawn has a movie club. In California Diaries this is never mentioned but Dawn needs to insert herself into every damn book. I loved the little book club Stacey and her mom have. My mom and I used to have our own little Saturday night book club, except we'd shut off all devices and just read whatever we were currently reading for a few hours. It also got me thinking of what would happen if my dad started dating. So far it hasn't come up yet but it just might. But this was decent and the characters are actually well rounded here.
July 18, 2011
stacey gets a job babysitting for a new client. his name is john brooke, & he has two kids, joni & ewan. he explains that he is a writer & needs someone to look after the kids while he works on his new novel. stacey is kind of dumbfounded when she meets him because she thinks he's hot--tall, fit, with slightly long dark hair & bright green eyes. all i can picture is a grown up harry potter, which doesn't strike me as especially hot. she admits that she stared at him just a second too long, which must have been pretty uncomfortable for everyone involved.
joni & ewan are pretty easy kids to deal with, but they get sad when stacey asks about the family photo in the living room, which features mr. brooke, the kids, & a pretty woman with shiny dark hair. the kids explain that the woman is their mother, & she has moved to atlanta for a job as a TV host for some kind of morning show. stacey puts two & two together & realizes that the brooke parents are divorced, it's happened pretty recently, & the kids are still sad about it.
stacey's mom comes to pick her up after the job (which NEVER happens in these books; let's hear it for a transparent plot device) & it is obvious to stacey that mrs. mcgill thinks mr. brooke is a hottie, & mr. brooke thinks stacey's mom has got it going' on. stacey is rather delighted by this. she worries that her mom isn't getting out enough & making adult friends--especially men. stacey has made her peace with her parents' divorce, & the fact that her father has a girlfriend. she wishes her mom would find a boyfriend. there's a minor sub-plot in here about how stacey & her mom have formed a very sad two-person book club. they're reading pride & prejudice. this inspires the babysitters club to form a book club as well. they decide to read the great gilly hopkins. this is more or less just filler.
mr. brooke calls for a sitter again & specifically requests stacey. he explains that the kids really liked her. when stacey shows up for the job, the kids tell her that their dad mentioned that mrs. mcgill is pretty. ewan, who is only five, doesn't seem to understand the implications of this remark, but joni does & she gets scowly. stacey doesn't really notice.
stacey learns a little bit more about the brookes' divorce. apparently mrs. brooke used to be a model, but says that getting married & having children ruined her career. as did turning 20, i am sure. when she got the opportunity to host a TV show, she leapt at the chance, because she wants to be famous or something. she basically abandoned the family, & while she sometimes calls or writes to the kids, mr. brooke has primary custody & he is trying to shield them from the fact that their mother doesn't really want to have anything to do with them. the kids don't get it, & joni in particular is still holding out hope that her parents will get back together. there are also some echoes of abby & the best kid ever in that joni feels somehow responsible for her parents splitting up.
meanwhile, mrs. mcgill has commented on the fact that she has read several of mr. brooke's novels (written under a lame pseudonym), & the next time she comes to pick stacey up from a sitting job, he asks her on a date. stacey is over the moon, but joni is upset.
this becomes a theme. mrs. mcgill & mr. brooke are dating, stacey couldn't be happier, & joni is pissed. joni is also more than capable of getting ewan to fall in line with her own feelings. stacey remains oblivious to the kids' feelings & behavior, choosing instead to focus on how awesome it is that her mom is dating. when her mom drops a few hints that maybe mr. brooke is really all that great (he takes her to a play he wrote, which she didn't care for, claiming that the theme seemed to be something about how people are inherently selfish, & she fears that this is reflection of mr. brooke's own beliefs; she wonders aloud if he dyes his hair & wears colored contacts, which are things she finds vain in a man), stacey argues & insists that her mom is acting like elizabeth bennett, allowing her own prejudices to blind her to the fact that a great guy is interested in her. mrs. mcgill points out that stacey had previously praised elizabeth for being true to herself & holding out for a marriage based on love rather than convenience.
joni decides to up the ante in expressing her displeasure at her father dating. she realizes that if mr. brooke can't work during the afternoon, he'll have to work in the evenings & won't have time to take mrs. mcgill on dates. she she steals his computer mouse & throws it up in a tree, she deletes a chapter he'd been working on, she installs a password on his novel-in-progress so he can't work on it. she is rude to mrs. mcgill & starts being rude to stacey too. she's even rude to the other babysitters because they are friends with stacey. mr. brooke grounds her & gets kind of scary when he yells at her.
it all comes to a head when stacey & mrs. mcgill have the brookes over for thanksgiving dinner. joni acts bratty, mr. brooke yells at her, & stacey goes to comfort her. they have a heart-to-heart about accepting divorce & not blaming yourself. joni decides to get over it & be nice to mrs. mcgill. stacey notices that things seem a little frosty when she comes back downstairs. after the brookes leave, mrs. mcgill tells stacey she's going to break up with mr. brooke. she wasn't impressed by the fact that he let joni wash the dishes & didn't offer to help, thinking that he was setting a macho example for ewan. excellent point! stacey tries to talk her out of it, but mrs. mcgill won't be dissuaded.
the next time stacey sits for the brookes, joni is sad because she thinks her bratty behavior caused mrs. mcgill to dump mr. brooke. stacey makes her feel better &...i guess everyone moves on with their lives? i don't know. it was a little bit anti-climactic.
joni & ewan are pretty easy kids to deal with, but they get sad when stacey asks about the family photo in the living room, which features mr. brooke, the kids, & a pretty woman with shiny dark hair. the kids explain that the woman is their mother, & she has moved to atlanta for a job as a TV host for some kind of morning show. stacey puts two & two together & realizes that the brooke parents are divorced, it's happened pretty recently, & the kids are still sad about it.
stacey's mom comes to pick her up after the job (which NEVER happens in these books; let's hear it for a transparent plot device) & it is obvious to stacey that mrs. mcgill thinks mr. brooke is a hottie, & mr. brooke thinks stacey's mom has got it going' on. stacey is rather delighted by this. she worries that her mom isn't getting out enough & making adult friends--especially men. stacey has made her peace with her parents' divorce, & the fact that her father has a girlfriend. she wishes her mom would find a boyfriend. there's a minor sub-plot in here about how stacey & her mom have formed a very sad two-person book club. they're reading pride & prejudice. this inspires the babysitters club to form a book club as well. they decide to read the great gilly hopkins. this is more or less just filler.
mr. brooke calls for a sitter again & specifically requests stacey. he explains that the kids really liked her. when stacey shows up for the job, the kids tell her that their dad mentioned that mrs. mcgill is pretty. ewan, who is only five, doesn't seem to understand the implications of this remark, but joni does & she gets scowly. stacey doesn't really notice.
stacey learns a little bit more about the brookes' divorce. apparently mrs. brooke used to be a model, but says that getting married & having children ruined her career. as did turning 20, i am sure. when she got the opportunity to host a TV show, she leapt at the chance, because she wants to be famous or something. she basically abandoned the family, & while she sometimes calls or writes to the kids, mr. brooke has primary custody & he is trying to shield them from the fact that their mother doesn't really want to have anything to do with them. the kids don't get it, & joni in particular is still holding out hope that her parents will get back together. there are also some echoes of abby & the best kid ever in that joni feels somehow responsible for her parents splitting up.
meanwhile, mrs. mcgill has commented on the fact that she has read several of mr. brooke's novels (written under a lame pseudonym), & the next time she comes to pick stacey up from a sitting job, he asks her on a date. stacey is over the moon, but joni is upset.
this becomes a theme. mrs. mcgill & mr. brooke are dating, stacey couldn't be happier, & joni is pissed. joni is also more than capable of getting ewan to fall in line with her own feelings. stacey remains oblivious to the kids' feelings & behavior, choosing instead to focus on how awesome it is that her mom is dating. when her mom drops a few hints that maybe mr. brooke is really all that great (he takes her to a play he wrote, which she didn't care for, claiming that the theme seemed to be something about how people are inherently selfish, & she fears that this is reflection of mr. brooke's own beliefs; she wonders aloud if he dyes his hair & wears colored contacts, which are things she finds vain in a man), stacey argues & insists that her mom is acting like elizabeth bennett, allowing her own prejudices to blind her to the fact that a great guy is interested in her. mrs. mcgill points out that stacey had previously praised elizabeth for being true to herself & holding out for a marriage based on love rather than convenience.
joni decides to up the ante in expressing her displeasure at her father dating. she realizes that if mr. brooke can't work during the afternoon, he'll have to work in the evenings & won't have time to take mrs. mcgill on dates. she she steals his computer mouse & throws it up in a tree, she deletes a chapter he'd been working on, she installs a password on his novel-in-progress so he can't work on it. she is rude to mrs. mcgill & starts being rude to stacey too. she's even rude to the other babysitters because they are friends with stacey. mr. brooke grounds her & gets kind of scary when he yells at her.
it all comes to a head when stacey & mrs. mcgill have the brookes over for thanksgiving dinner. joni acts bratty, mr. brooke yells at her, & stacey goes to comfort her. they have a heart-to-heart about accepting divorce & not blaming yourself. joni decides to get over it & be nice to mrs. mcgill. stacey notices that things seem a little frosty when she comes back downstairs. after the brookes leave, mrs. mcgill tells stacey she's going to break up with mr. brooke. she wasn't impressed by the fact that he let joni wash the dishes & didn't offer to help, thinking that he was setting a macho example for ewan. excellent point! stacey tries to talk her out of it, but mrs. mcgill won't be dissuaded.
the next time stacey sits for the brookes, joni is sad because she thinks her bratty behavior caused mrs. mcgill to dump mr. brooke. stacey makes her feel better &...i guess everyone moves on with their lives? i don't know. it was a little bit anti-climactic.
January 20, 2021
(LL)
Lol that Stacey tried to tell her mother not to break up with someone based off of a few legitimate concerns. Stacey said John made her nervous multiple times over things that were nothing, yet when Ms. McGill told her why she was going to break up with him Stacey freaked out. Yeah okay.
Also, Mallory can’t handle a nickname and wants to move to a boarding school in another state because that’s somehow cheaper (through a magical scholarship) than a day school down the street? Sure.
Lol that Stacey tried to tell her mother not to break up with someone based off of a few legitimate concerns. Stacey said John made her nervous multiple times over things that were nothing, yet when Ms. McGill told her why she was going to break up with him Stacey freaked out. Yeah okay.
Also, Mallory can’t handle a nickname and wants to move to a boarding school in another state because that’s somehow cheaper (through a magical scholarship) than a day school down the street? Sure.
December 28, 2022
I had to read this in honor of Thanksgiving.
I remember as a kid not understanding why Mrs. McGill dumped John, but re-reading this as an adult made it VERY apparent.
Also, chalk Joni and Ewon(?) up to the kids we never, ever hear about again, even though Stacey promises to be like their sister going forward.
I remember as a kid not understanding why Mrs. McGill dumped John, but re-reading this as an adult made it VERY apparent.
Also, chalk Joni and Ewon(?) up to the kids we never, ever hear about again, even though Stacey promises to be like their sister going forward.
October 26, 2017
Oh man. This book was the filler to end all fillers. We get some snippets about Mallory looking into boarding schools, but mostly this was...nothing. A hot, steaming pile of why me.
August 18, 2020
John Brooke, a famous mystery writer and recent divorcé, moved to Stoneybrook with his two children, nine year-old Joni and five year-old Ewan. Stacey got a job babysitting for the children while Mr. Brooke worked on his novel in another part of the house. Stacey's mother met Mr. Brooke when she picked Stacey up from the job. The two hit it off and started dating. I mean, Stacey's mom has got it goin' on. Joni Brooke (whose name rhymes with her town's name) tried to sabotage the relationship because she wanted her parents to get back together.
In the end, Stacey's mother decided Mr. Brooke was not right for her. However, Stacey still wanted to have a relationship with Joni and Ewan, so decided she would be their honorary sister.
In the end, Stacey's mother decided Mr. Brooke was not right for her. However, Stacey still wanted to have a relationship with Joni and Ewan, so decided she would be their honorary sister.
Joni leaned over and hugged me. Nothing could have made me happier. So, maybe I hadn’t gained a stepfamily. I now had an honorary little brother and sister. That sure was something worth having.What would Charlotte Johanssen think? Stacey already had an honorary little sister. Maybe Charlotte and Joni, who were most likely both fourth graders at Stoneybrook Elementary School, got in a fight over which girl Stacey loved more.
January 13, 2022
*****SPOILERS******
This was a good one. As I re-read as an adult, Stacey and Claudia stories are my favorite. Although a good story, we know that the series, in general, is not super realistic. In this story, Stacey attempts to set up her mom with a single dad that she's babysitting for. Stacey is successful in getting the two together but the dad's (John) daughter Joni is not for having a new stepmom. Each time Joni throws a fit, John yells at her and Stacey goes to console the girl. It just seems odd and out of place for Stacey (age 13) to do. Ultimately, Stacey's mom sees major red flags in John and it doesn't work out. Good one! Def recommend.
This was a good one. As I re-read as an adult, Stacey and Claudia stories are my favorite. Although a good story, we know that the series, in general, is not super realistic. In this story, Stacey attempts to set up her mom with a single dad that she's babysitting for. Stacey is successful in getting the two together but the dad's (John) daughter Joni is not for having a new stepmom. Each time Joni throws a fit, John yells at her and Stacey goes to console the girl. It just seems odd and out of place for Stacey (age 13) to do. Ultimately, Stacey's mom sees major red flags in John and it doesn't work out. Good one! Def recommend.
May 6, 2025
I remember owning this book as a kid and it being one of the "modern" BSC books in my view. This was one of my favorites because I was a Stacey girlie.
As an adult, for obvious reasons, it's lost a lot of its luster but I do love the closeness between Stacey and her mom and the little book clubs Stacey is in (and the vastly different books she's reading!) It's also nice to have an actual babysitting related plot again.
As an adult, for obvious reasons, it's lost a lot of its luster but I do love the closeness between Stacey and her mom and the little book clubs Stacey is in (and the vastly different books she's reading!) It's also nice to have an actual babysitting related plot again.
March 18, 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.
September 20, 2023
I really like books that feature Stacey and her mom and how close their relationship has gotten. And it's interesting to read about Maureen dating, we don't really get many "single BSC parent dating" books. I also really like how the last few books have been building on Mal's SMS woes. I'm a sucker for some good continuity.
April 24, 2024
Stacey is babysitting for a new family in town: Joni and Ewan Brooks. Their father, John, is recently divorced...and Stacey is sure that he and her mother will be the perfect couple. While John and Maureen date for a while, Maureen does not think it's a good match and eventually breaks up.
December 4, 2019
Review on www.audible.com please listen to this book.
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July 9, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/stacey...
January 30, 2022
Difficult subject matter
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November 28, 2023Move over Lou McNally -- there's a new "worst kid ever" and her name is JONI BROOKE.
January 4, 2024
Quite a sweet book!
January 25, 2010
I really liked this book despite never having read it as a child. Stacey start babysitting for the children of a newly divorced father and he and her mum hit it off immediately. Stacey is convinced that this new set-up is fantastic but the kids think otherwise, especially the daughter who isn't over her parents' break-up yet and sets out to destroy the new relationship. Stacey's mum enjoys spending time with John but it's clear that she doesn't think it'll last forever and she points out some flaws in his character; Stacey naturally doesn't see any of this. Eventually, Stacey talks to the daughter and they sort things out and it's clear that she's just upset over her mum leaving. They become friends again, but Stacey's mum ends up breaking up with John because she isn't totally happy. Stacey's upset but her boyfriend (Ethan, who I've never heard of before) tells her to support her mum as that's what her mum would do for her. Then everything is happy!
It was nice to have a book focused on the relationship between Stacey and her mum rather than boys or diabetes. I'd have liked it if Stacey's mum had met someone right for her, but it was realistic to see that the relationship didn't work out. John did several things that I didn't agree with, so I can sympathise with Stacey's mum. For example, at the Thanksgiving dinner, his daughter comments that she doesn't like the music, and Stacey's mum offers to change it to something she does like. John insists that they keep the music on because he likes it. Which just makes Joni more grumpy. Why not come to a compromise over the music rather than face another argument? He also seemed to deal with a lot of situations by threatening to punish the kids. And when Stacey's mum broke up with him he called her constantly. He just sounds so immature! Overall, this book was very realistic and enjoyable. 9/10
It was nice to have a book focused on the relationship between Stacey and her mum rather than boys or diabetes. I'd have liked it if Stacey's mum had met someone right for her, but it was realistic to see that the relationship didn't work out. John did several things that I didn't agree with, so I can sympathise with Stacey's mum. For example, at the Thanksgiving dinner, his daughter comments that she doesn't like the music, and Stacey's mum offers to change it to something she does like. John insists that they keep the music on because he likes it. Which just makes Joni more grumpy. Why not come to a compromise over the music rather than face another argument? He also seemed to deal with a lot of situations by threatening to punish the kids. And when Stacey's mum broke up with him he called her constantly. He just sounds so immature! Overall, this book was very realistic and enjoyable. 9/10
February 14, 2025
Review 2023:
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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!
November 1, 2013
In which Stacey's mom has got it going on, and Stacey does no matchmaking.
November 23, 2015
Not a child of divorce, but this book does a good job crystallising how children of different age groups react to their parents getting divorced and their subsequent dating.
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