What do you think?
Rate this book
The Baby-Sitters Club #82
Jessi and the Troublemaker
Danielle's parents are so glad she is home, although still battling leukemia, that they allow the nine-year-old girl to do anything she wants--but she decides to joyride in the family car while Jessi is babysitting for her.
131 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
40 people are currently reading
679 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,101 books3,053 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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 30, 2022
Me estoy tomando muy en serio esto de llegar al número 100 antes de que se acabe el año. ¿Lo lograré? VEMOS.
March 13, 2017
in this book by ghostwriter Nola Thacker, danielle (the cancer survivor kid from Jessi's Wish) is back, and she's wilder than ever! seriously though, she has boundless energy and is trying to make up for the time she spent dealing with cancer. she does some things that most kids wouldn't be able to get away with because everyone is just so happy that she's healthy. it's not until she literally crashes her parents car (she is nine) that everyone starts to take it more seriously. in a completely stupid but also hilarious subplot, jessi and becca think that their aunt cecilia is planning a surprise wedding to a guy named mr. major, and they prepare for it only to get horribly embarrassed to discover that cecilia and mr. major are just participating in someone else's wedding. in a subsubplot, stacey is flaking out on bsc responsibilities (foreshadowing Stacey vs. the BSC).
highlights:
-claudia's race and ethnicity are never stated. nola thacker is the only ghostwriter who ever seems to not mention characters' races.
-aunt cecilia and mr. major plotline is kind of dumb but is mostly just delightful. I particularly like its resolution: jessi and becca decide that they will feel less embarrassed if they can get cecilia and mr. major to fall in love, so they make them a romantic dinner. but cecilia and mr. major talk about how they are good friends who met on the worst blind date ever, and they have no romantic interest in one another. it's really sweet.
-according to this book, silk suits in pastels are popular for brides at second weddings. I don't know if this is true but it's such a funny bsc book-style "factoid"
-it's cold and aunt cecilia tells mr. major he has to go home and jessi narrates, "what about having love to keep her warm, the way the songs all said."
-this jessi quote: "we'll probably never hear the end of this. you know how adults get sometimes."
-the robertses are apologetic for danielle's behavior. how fortunate that they knew it was their fault and didn't blame the babysitters.
-stacey saves the day, convincing danielle's friends to be friends with her again because they actually made bad decisions too. I like this because she's mostly getting depicted as a flaky jerk at this point, and I like a reminder that stacey is a layered person.
-danielle and friends trick or treat at a bsc meeting at the end of the book. it's very cute, and a good representation of how they will still be silly and wild but not do anything dangerous anymore.
lowlights:
-I have studied this cover so much, because danielle is clearly taller than jessi in it (though danielle is 9 and jessi is 11, which would make danielle being taller totally conceivable, but jessi is described as being tall w/ a ballerina's physique). also danielle's torso is CLEARLY on backwards.
-jessi narration: "and now the BSC has two associate members as well." literally BOTH logan and shannon joined before you and mal did, jessi.
-why does charlotte open the shower door that she and danielle and co had filled with water to make a swimming pool? it doesn't make sense. also how did the food colorings that they added to the water not just mix into a brownish mess?
danielle "accidents":
-uses rollerblades indoors
-"sleds" down the basement stairs on a crib mattress
-fills the shower with food coloring-colored water to make a shower swimming pool
-attempts to drive the car down the street but crashes, and vanessa pike hits her head on the windshield and gets stitches.
claudia outfit:
-"She doesn't often wear jeans, but she was wearing them today - only she'd cut patterns in the legs of the jeans (which were major faded) and was wearing leopard tights underneath so that they showed through. She was wearing her black Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces, and she'd used matching shoelaces to pull her hair back into a long, thick braid. Her earrings were a pair she made herself, out of little yellow feathers and black beads. And she was wearing a black and yellow striped flannel shirt buttoned up to her throat, with another pair of shoelaces made into a sort of bow tie."
squirt outfit (for the "wedding"):
-"I scooped Squirt up and put him in his best winter outfit: a white turtleneck shirt and a little navy jacket u that buttoned up the front, with a pair of matching navy elastic-waist baby pants."
in jessi's kid kit:
-puzzle (replaces a united states one with a butterfly one)
-book (replaces one about animal jobs with Bea and Mr. Jones)
-office supplies: magic markers, pens, erasers, colored pencils, red white and blue paper clips, blunt scissors, tape, a memo pad, rubber bands, stickers, animal stamps, writing paper, and envelopes
in mary anne's kid kit:
-Freckle Juice
snacks in claudia's room:
-chocolate chip cookies (n.s.)
-oatmeal raisin frookies (n.s.)
-mallomars (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-coconut cream puff (n.s.)
-oreos (n.s.)
-gummi worms (n.s.)
-hershey hugs and kisses (n.s.)
highlights:
-claudia's race and ethnicity are never stated. nola thacker is the only ghostwriter who ever seems to not mention characters' races.
-aunt cecilia and mr. major plotline is kind of dumb but is mostly just delightful. I particularly like its resolution: jessi and becca decide that they will feel less embarrassed if they can get cecilia and mr. major to fall in love, so they make them a romantic dinner. but cecilia and mr. major talk about how they are good friends who met on the worst blind date ever, and they have no romantic interest in one another. it's really sweet.
-according to this book, silk suits in pastels are popular for brides at second weddings. I don't know if this is true but it's such a funny bsc book-style "factoid"
-it's cold and aunt cecilia tells mr. major he has to go home and jessi narrates, "what about having love to keep her warm, the way the songs all said."
-this jessi quote: "we'll probably never hear the end of this. you know how adults get sometimes."
-the robertses are apologetic for danielle's behavior. how fortunate that they knew it was their fault and didn't blame the babysitters.
-stacey saves the day, convincing danielle's friends to be friends with her again because they actually made bad decisions too. I like this because she's mostly getting depicted as a flaky jerk at this point, and I like a reminder that stacey is a layered person.
-danielle and friends trick or treat at a bsc meeting at the end of the book. it's very cute, and a good representation of how they will still be silly and wild but not do anything dangerous anymore.
lowlights:
-I have studied this cover so much, because danielle is clearly taller than jessi in it (though danielle is 9 and jessi is 11, which would make danielle being taller totally conceivable, but jessi is described as being tall w/ a ballerina's physique). also danielle's torso is CLEARLY on backwards.
-jessi narration: "and now the BSC has two associate members as well." literally BOTH logan and shannon joined before you and mal did, jessi.
-why does charlotte open the shower door that she and danielle and co had filled with water to make a swimming pool? it doesn't make sense. also how did the food colorings that they added to the water not just mix into a brownish mess?
danielle "accidents":
-uses rollerblades indoors
-"sleds" down the basement stairs on a crib mattress
-fills the shower with food coloring-colored water to make a shower swimming pool
-attempts to drive the car down the street but crashes, and vanessa pike hits her head on the windshield and gets stitches.
claudia outfit:
-"She doesn't often wear jeans, but she was wearing them today - only she'd cut patterns in the legs of the jeans (which were major faded) and was wearing leopard tights underneath so that they showed through. She was wearing her black Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces, and she'd used matching shoelaces to pull her hair back into a long, thick braid. Her earrings were a pair she made herself, out of little yellow feathers and black beads. And she was wearing a black and yellow striped flannel shirt buttoned up to her throat, with another pair of shoelaces made into a sort of bow tie."
squirt outfit (for the "wedding"):
-"I scooped Squirt up and put him in his best winter outfit: a white turtleneck shirt and a little navy jacket u that buttoned up the front, with a pair of matching navy elastic-waist baby pants."
in jessi's kid kit:
-puzzle (replaces a united states one with a butterfly one)
-book (replaces one about animal jobs with Bea and Mr. Jones)
-office supplies: magic markers, pens, erasers, colored pencils, red white and blue paper clips, blunt scissors, tape, a memo pad, rubber bands, stickers, animal stamps, writing paper, and envelopes
in mary anne's kid kit:
-Freckle Juice
snacks in claudia's room:
-chocolate chip cookies (n.s.)
-oatmeal raisin frookies (n.s.)
-mallomars (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-coconut cream puff (n.s.)
-oreos (n.s.)
-gummi worms (n.s.)
-hershey hugs and kisses (n.s.)
March 8, 2011
the babysitters club gets a call from mrs. roberts, the mother of danielle, the little girl who has cancer, as introduced to us in jessi's wish. danielle's cancer is in remission, she's finished with chemotherapy for now, she's back in school & her hair is growing out. she is good friends with becca, charlotte, vanessa, & haley, so jessi is already aware of all of this & is very happy about it. you may recall that danielle's two wishes in jessi's wish were to go to disney world (which jessi arranged through a charitable make-a-wish knock-ff foundation) & to graduate elementary school. anyway, now that danielle is feeling better, the robertses are chomping at the bit to leave her & her little brother with babysitters. jessi takes the first job, since she has a special fondness for danielle.
the cover depicts the events on the first job. danielle sneaks away & puts on her mom's rollerblades & then tries to skate through the house. she falls down & knocks over a small bookcase. jessi is jind of freaked out, because danielle could have gotten really hurt/caused a lot more damage...but she eventually decides it was a no harm/no foul situation. danielle's not hurt, they were able to pick the bookcase back up & tidy everything up. jessi doesn't even bother to tell mrs. roberts what danielle did. jessi is just happy to see danielle displaying so much more energy & liveliness.
mary anne takes the next job. danielle invites over some friends--charlotte, becca, & haley. let's do the math: two actual charges plus three friends equals five kids being watched after by one sitter. which flies directly in the face of the entire subplot of kristy & mr. mom, all about how mrs. marshall was endangering children by having sitters watch over five at a time. & the kids do manage to get endangered when mary anne spends a little too much time paying attention to danielle's little brother greg & doesn't notice until it's too late that the girls are sledding down the basement stairs on an old crib mattress. luckily none of them gets hurt, but they all get absolutely filthy. mary anne makes them all clean up before mrs. roberts gets home...but again decides not to tell mrs. roberts what happened.
kristy takes the next job. while she's reading stories to greg, who has the flu, danielle & her crew of friends have shut themselves in mr. & mrs. roberts's master bath, shut the shower door, taped up all the cracks, & are creating their own indoor swimming pool. kristy catches them in the act & the bathroom floods. plus the girls were dyeing the water with easter egg dye, so their clothes & the bathroom towels all get dyed when the bathroom floods. kristy gets them all cleaned up & if you can believe this shit, she doesn't tell mrs. roberts what happened.
but the sitters do start talking about how danielle's "high spirits" may be a little too high. jessi in particular is concerned about what danielle will do next. the babysitters decide to call mrs. roberts & tell her all about danielle's misdeeds, but mrs. roberts laughs them off & tells them that danielle is just making up for lost time with all the hijinks she didn't get to pull while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. the babysitters shrug & say that she knows danielle best.
at jessi's next sitting job, danielle again invites her friends over. they are playing together while jessi & greg amuse themselves in a world champion round of checkers. jessi hears the girls go out to the garage. she heads out to see what they're up to...& the car is gone. she sees it creeping down the street. it swings wide into the driveway & then stops. jessi sees danielle behind the wheel. the car starts to roll backwards down the driveway & smashes into a car parked across the street. jessi hauls everyone out of the car (vanessa has bumped her head & is bleeding) while the neighbor calls the police & an ambulance. another neighbor calls mrs. roberts & asks her to come home.
naturally, danielle & all her friends get into BIG TROUBLE. mrs. roberts calls the babysitters club to apologize. she says that she & mr. roberts were just so happy to see danielle feeling better & having lots of energy that they looked the other way when she would get into mischief. obviously they let things get too far. stacey takes the next job over there & finds danielle on the phone trying to call her friends. but they won't talk to her. they're angry & they blame her for getting them all into trouble with her car stunt. stacey makes them all come over & points out that they got into the car of their own free will even though they had to know it was a bad idea, so they are just as much to blame as danielle. they agree & make up. i'm kind of shocked that they are even allowed to keep playing with danielle after that stunt. i mean, they are like nine years old. that's a little young to be stealing the family car.
so that's the A-plot. the B-plot is about how jessi's aunt cecelia has a new man friend named mr. major. becca & jessi eavesdrop on them one afternoon & hear them talking about a wedding. they immediately assume that cecelia & mr. major are getting married. they do some spying & figure out when the wedding is. they buy cecelia & mr. major a wedding gift (a book of passes to the move theatre) & dress up all fancy for the secret wedding. then they find out that cecelia & mr. major are just friends who are going to IN a wedding. mr. major is an usher & cecelia is in charge of the guestbook. they are in no way romantically involved. jessi is embarrassed & tries to arrange a romantic candlelit dinner so that romance will blossom, but cecelia & mr. major see right though the machinations & explain that they actually met on a blind date & realized there are no romantic sparks, but they are good friends. & that's that. it's pretty dull, & it's also annoying to see jessi, who is generally pretty level-headed, make such idiotic assumptions. although this is the same girl who thought that some actors rehearsing a scene were jewel thieves, so...
the C-plot basically consists of foreshadowing for the stacey vs. the BSC story arc. stacey calls other sitters & asks them to fill in last-minute for her babysitting jobs without giving an explanation. she is late to meetings & sometimes doesn't show up at all.
the cover depicts the events on the first job. danielle sneaks away & puts on her mom's rollerblades & then tries to skate through the house. she falls down & knocks over a small bookcase. jessi is jind of freaked out, because danielle could have gotten really hurt/caused a lot more damage...but she eventually decides it was a no harm/no foul situation. danielle's not hurt, they were able to pick the bookcase back up & tidy everything up. jessi doesn't even bother to tell mrs. roberts what danielle did. jessi is just happy to see danielle displaying so much more energy & liveliness.
mary anne takes the next job. danielle invites over some friends--charlotte, becca, & haley. let's do the math: two actual charges plus three friends equals five kids being watched after by one sitter. which flies directly in the face of the entire subplot of kristy & mr. mom, all about how mrs. marshall was endangering children by having sitters watch over five at a time. & the kids do manage to get endangered when mary anne spends a little too much time paying attention to danielle's little brother greg & doesn't notice until it's too late that the girls are sledding down the basement stairs on an old crib mattress. luckily none of them gets hurt, but they all get absolutely filthy. mary anne makes them all clean up before mrs. roberts gets home...but again decides not to tell mrs. roberts what happened.
kristy takes the next job. while she's reading stories to greg, who has the flu, danielle & her crew of friends have shut themselves in mr. & mrs. roberts's master bath, shut the shower door, taped up all the cracks, & are creating their own indoor swimming pool. kristy catches them in the act & the bathroom floods. plus the girls were dyeing the water with easter egg dye, so their clothes & the bathroom towels all get dyed when the bathroom floods. kristy gets them all cleaned up & if you can believe this shit, she doesn't tell mrs. roberts what happened.
but the sitters do start talking about how danielle's "high spirits" may be a little too high. jessi in particular is concerned about what danielle will do next. the babysitters decide to call mrs. roberts & tell her all about danielle's misdeeds, but mrs. roberts laughs them off & tells them that danielle is just making up for lost time with all the hijinks she didn't get to pull while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. the babysitters shrug & say that she knows danielle best.
at jessi's next sitting job, danielle again invites her friends over. they are playing together while jessi & greg amuse themselves in a world champion round of checkers. jessi hears the girls go out to the garage. she heads out to see what they're up to...& the car is gone. she sees it creeping down the street. it swings wide into the driveway & then stops. jessi sees danielle behind the wheel. the car starts to roll backwards down the driveway & smashes into a car parked across the street. jessi hauls everyone out of the car (vanessa has bumped her head & is bleeding) while the neighbor calls the police & an ambulance. another neighbor calls mrs. roberts & asks her to come home.
naturally, danielle & all her friends get into BIG TROUBLE. mrs. roberts calls the babysitters club to apologize. she says that she & mr. roberts were just so happy to see danielle feeling better & having lots of energy that they looked the other way when she would get into mischief. obviously they let things get too far. stacey takes the next job over there & finds danielle on the phone trying to call her friends. but they won't talk to her. they're angry & they blame her for getting them all into trouble with her car stunt. stacey makes them all come over & points out that they got into the car of their own free will even though they had to know it was a bad idea, so they are just as much to blame as danielle. they agree & make up. i'm kind of shocked that they are even allowed to keep playing with danielle after that stunt. i mean, they are like nine years old. that's a little young to be stealing the family car.
so that's the A-plot. the B-plot is about how jessi's aunt cecelia has a new man friend named mr. major. becca & jessi eavesdrop on them one afternoon & hear them talking about a wedding. they immediately assume that cecelia & mr. major are getting married. they do some spying & figure out when the wedding is. they buy cecelia & mr. major a wedding gift (a book of passes to the move theatre) & dress up all fancy for the secret wedding. then they find out that cecelia & mr. major are just friends who are going to IN a wedding. mr. major is an usher & cecelia is in charge of the guestbook. they are in no way romantically involved. jessi is embarrassed & tries to arrange a romantic candlelit dinner so that romance will blossom, but cecelia & mr. major see right though the machinations & explain that they actually met on a blind date & realized there are no romantic sparks, but they are good friends. & that's that. it's pretty dull, & it's also annoying to see jessi, who is generally pretty level-headed, make such idiotic assumptions. although this is the same girl who thought that some actors rehearsing a scene were jewel thieves, so...
the C-plot basically consists of foreshadowing for the stacey vs. the BSC story arc. stacey calls other sitters & asks them to fill in last-minute for her babysitting jobs without giving an explanation. she is late to meetings & sometimes doesn't show up at all.
July 23, 2021
I'm going to be honest, I was never a huge Jessi fan. Between the older BSC members being so ~glamourous and sophisticated and being bffs with Mallory, she kind of gets lumped into the "boring and young" category. But in reality, she's actually a great character: mature, funny, unproblematic and relatively drama-free, best family (loving and supportive and not overly annoying), best Club boyfriend (no other Super Special boyfriend has made multiple appearances!)... plus she gets to tackle a lot of the Very Special books! (
Secret Language
,
Awful Secret
, and, of course,
Jessi's Wish
, which introduces us to Danielle, the titular Troublemaker.) So it had been awhile since I last read this book, and it wasn't one that I read many times, so I didn't remember a lot of it.
This was a good book. I quite liked the story, I liked the resolution () and it was nice to get some follow-up on Danielle after almost 4"0 books. I didn't overly love the subplot about Aunt Cecelia but it reminds the reader that yes, Jessi is only eleven years old. And when it involves Aunt Cecelia it can't be all bad, I low-key love that stern lady. And, though it's foreshadowing for the next book, Stacey's flakiness comes out of nowhere and isn't really explained, yet she "saves the day" with Danielle and her friends. So I don't love that. (Though I do love the whole "Stacey is too cool for the BSC" arc, so I can't hate too much.)
This was a good book. I quite liked the story, I liked the resolution () and it was nice to get some follow-up on Danielle after almost 4"0 books. I didn't overly love the subplot about Aunt Cecelia but it reminds the reader that yes, Jessi is only eleven years old. And when it involves Aunt Cecelia it can't be all bad, I low-key love that stern lady. And, though it's foreshadowing for the next book, Stacey's flakiness comes out of nowhere and isn't really explained, yet she "saves the day" with Danielle and her friends. So I don't love that. (Though I do love the whole "Stacey is too cool for the BSC" arc, so I can't hate too much.)
June 23, 2025
We get a follow up about Danielle the girl with cancer from Jessi’s Wish. Danielle is in remission and in high spirits and full of mischief. Her parents overlook it until there are serious consequences. This was well done. It’s got to be so hard to parent a kid with cancer and you want her to be a kid.
The subplot of Aunt Cecelia getting married was also good. Jessi’s family is my favorite family on this reread. I also like the subplots that really show that the girls are still young.
The subplot of Aunt Cecelia getting married was also good. Jessi’s family is my favorite family on this reread. I also like the subplots that really show that the girls are still young.
September 9, 2023
Good book. I can understand why Danielle's parents and the BSC would cut her lots of slack for wild behavior. And I'm glad no one got seriously hurt with the joyride.
The B-plot, where Jessi and Becca overhear Aunt Cecilia and her friend Mr Majors talk about a wedding and jump to the (wromg) conclusion that they were getting married, is hilarious. Jessica's family is awesome and I wish we did get an Aunt Cecilia romance.
The C plot - foreshadowing how Stacey breaks with the BSC - was kinda sad. I was pretty Team Stacey during that plotline so it was sad being reminded of how flaky she is here.
The B-plot, where Jessi and Becca overhear Aunt Cecilia and her friend Mr Majors talk about a wedding and jump to the (wromg) conclusion that they were getting married, is hilarious. Jessica's family is awesome and I wish we did get an Aunt Cecilia romance.
The C plot - foreshadowing how Stacey breaks with the BSC - was kinda sad. I was pretty Team Stacey during that plotline so it was sad being reminded of how flaky she is here.
November 22, 2021
I'm glad the BSC worked on their communication issues after the previous book, but why do the parents of their charges never listen? Especially when they can trust the BSC to look after their kids almost every single day after school. I did like the hijinks the kids get into in this book (even though the stunt at the end is super scary), though, and the side plot of Jessi and Becca thinking their Aunt Cecelia is getting married has literally nothing to do with anything but it's extra funny after the BSC has participated in about 75 weddings at this point.
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.
October 29, 2022
This may have been one of the most boring BSC books of all time. Ann really dooms Jessi to being the most boring sitter with these cloying, wholesome plots that make her so childish. It's a bummer, because she has the only family that's really enjoyable to read about. Also… completely cancels out the B-plot of Kristy and Mr. Mom, since they have no issue with Jessi baby-sitting six kids at once.
June 16, 2018
Continuing my effort to read all the BSC books Jessi and the troublemaker was ok. Jessi was never my favourite but I enjoyed the main story of Danielle getting herself into mischief...the side plot was really annoying though. Jessi conjured a whole wedding up from half an eavesdropped conversation. Irritating.
December 22, 2020
(LL)
There were some good lessons in here, but the rest of the book was all over the place. Jessi and the “secret wedding,” Danielle’s mother thinking her dangerous behavior was totally fine, and Stacey being shady towards her friends/ the BSC. I can’t wait for Stacey’s next book so she can treat her friends like crap again for other people. Ugh.
There were some good lessons in here, but the rest of the book was all over the place. Jessi and the “secret wedding,” Danielle’s mother thinking her dangerous behavior was totally fine, and Stacey being shady towards her friends/ the BSC. I can’t wait for Stacey’s next book so she can treat her friends like crap again for other people. Ugh.
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 23, 2025
Glad they went against some of the heteronormativity to show that a man and a woman can just be friends, and that a close relationship or friendship between a man and a woman doesn't necessarily lead to marriage.
Read
November 5, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
June 15, 2021
This was a fun read...until it wasn't fun at all. I was glad to see how the book resolved and that Danielle's parents took responsibility (and that her spirits weren't crushed.)
January 14, 2024
It was cool about the wedding and how it didn’t work out it was a good book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2025
4 stars. A lot going on plot wise but I liked it. Poor Jessi. The whole thing of her and Becca think Aunt Celia was getting married was so funny.
January 21, 2022
Another lesson learned!
February 17, 2022
Jessi is excited when Danielle (a favorite charge) needs a baby-sitter again. Danielle is in remission from leukemia, has boundless energy, and manages to get into a lot of trouble. The BSC is worried about Danielle's behavior, but her parents don't seem to mind...until Danielle takes her friends for a joy ride and crashes it. Jessi does a wonderful job babysitting; and Danielle's parents begin to put some boundaries in place.
December 2, 2015
In this book, eleven year old Jessi Ramsey babysits Danielle. Danielle is a character from a previous book. She had cancer but is now in remission. After being sick for so long, Danielle engages in reckless behaviour as she is eager to get into all the fun she missed. The babysitters think that Danielle is out of control and wonder whether they should tell her parents.
The Babysitter book series features seven babysitters who all have their own distinct personality and each book focuses on one of the girls. Jessi is supposed to have a special bond with Danielle yet she doesn’t use her influence to talk to Danielle at all. Whenever an incident happened with Danielle, the babysitters just patiently told them to clean up whatever mess Danielle and her friends made. The girls eventually do say something to the parents but the parents are unfazed. Everyone is so happy that Danielle is in remission that they let her get away with things.
In fairness, I understand the babysitters’ hesitancy because they are still children themselves. The babysitters are aged between 11-13 years. In our time, most people wouldn’t leave children between those ages in charge of other children. The books were written in late 80s-90s where children had a lot more freedom.
It is not until Danielle does something that gets people hurt that her parents finally see she needs boundaries. Danielle’s friends hate her afterwards because they get in trouble too. The kid logic was amusing to read, as the kids thought Danielle should be the only one in trouble because it was her idea. I used to have the same logic when I was a kid. I did not understand that if you went along with something, you were just as guilty too. So one of the babysitters pointed out what all parents say, which is “If your friend jumped off a bridge would you do it too?” Then everything is resolved.
There’s also a second story involving Jessi’s aunt. Jessi and her sister Becca eavesdrop on their aunt and think she’s going to get remarried. They think their aunt is going to have a surprise wedding so they plan their outfits and buy a present in preparation. I thought that subplot was cute and something out of an 80s sitcom.
This book was not one of my favourites out of the series. It was alright. What I did like was that it was nice to have a character from a previous book return. There are some books in the series which have special themes or issues such as diabetes, cancer, racism, death etc and this book is one of their special themed books. Mostly characters in these books are never mentioned again so I was surprised to see this book.
The Babysitter book series features seven babysitters who all have their own distinct personality and each book focuses on one of the girls. Jessi is supposed to have a special bond with Danielle yet she doesn’t use her influence to talk to Danielle at all. Whenever an incident happened with Danielle, the babysitters just patiently told them to clean up whatever mess Danielle and her friends made. The girls eventually do say something to the parents but the parents are unfazed. Everyone is so happy that Danielle is in remission that they let her get away with things.
In fairness, I understand the babysitters’ hesitancy because they are still children themselves. The babysitters are aged between 11-13 years. In our time, most people wouldn’t leave children between those ages in charge of other children. The books were written in late 80s-90s where children had a lot more freedom.
It is not until Danielle does something that gets people hurt that her parents finally see she needs boundaries. Danielle’s friends hate her afterwards because they get in trouble too. The kid logic was amusing to read, as the kids thought Danielle should be the only one in trouble because it was her idea. I used to have the same logic when I was a kid. I did not understand that if you went along with something, you were just as guilty too. So one of the babysitters pointed out what all parents say, which is “If your friend jumped off a bridge would you do it too?” Then everything is resolved.
There’s also a second story involving Jessi’s aunt. Jessi and her sister Becca eavesdrop on their aunt and think she’s going to get remarried. They think their aunt is going to have a surprise wedding so they plan their outfits and buy a present in preparation. I thought that subplot was cute and something out of an 80s sitcom.
This book was not one of my favourites out of the series. It was alright. What I did like was that it was nice to have a character from a previous book return. There are some books in the series which have special themes or issues such as diabetes, cancer, racism, death etc and this book is one of their special themed books. Mostly characters in these books are never mentioned again so I was surprised to see this book.
March 17, 2024
This one was interesting. Danielle the girl with cancer a way back is in remission and ready to live life to the fullest. Unfortunately she's living a bit too hard and causing issues. From roller skating inside, to flooding the bathroom with food coloring tinted water and finally crashing the family car, which costs her her friends because they are all in big trouble over it. Her parents seem fine with everything because she's been so sick which I've seen in my own family where on child has troubles and is favoured or pampered over another. Trust me the spoiled kid turns into a brat sort of like Karen Brewer and spawns resentment in the other kid. The BSC try to talk to the parents but it literally takes the car crash to get there attention.
The b plot is silly but also cute. Kind of like a sitcom full of misheard or misunderstood things. Jessi and Becca are convinced Aunt Cecelia is getting married even though no one else is talking about it. They go dress shopping and make plans. When it turns out she's not marrying her friend Mr. Majors they plan a romantic dinner to get them to fall in love.
There is also some foreshadowing for the next book as Stacey is late for or missing meetings and trading off her jobs.
This was a fun quick read. I understood Danielle and her need to live large and have fun and I did giggle at the b plot a lot. Jessi and Becca sometimes make me wish I had a sister too since they always seem to have so much fun together. Now onto the next one where Stacey seems to be kind of a jerk.
The b plot is silly but also cute. Kind of like a sitcom full of misheard or misunderstood things. Jessi and Becca are convinced Aunt Cecelia is getting married even though no one else is talking about it. They go dress shopping and make plans. When it turns out she's not marrying her friend Mr. Majors they plan a romantic dinner to get them to fall in love.
There is also some foreshadowing for the next book as Stacey is late for or missing meetings and trading off her jobs.
This was a fun quick read. I understood Danielle and her need to live large and have fun and I did giggle at the b plot a lot. Jessi and Becca sometimes make me wish I had a sister too since they always seem to have so much fun together. Now onto the next one where Stacey seems to be kind of a jerk.
April 25, 2021
Okay so I realize this is a kids book, but there were a couple major plot holes in this one.
So first off, one major aspect of the plot revolved around the girls babysitting for a kid named Danielle, and her little brother. Which is like... fine, no big deal, right? Except that the first three times they sit for them, the neighbor kids are over, making it way more kids to babysit than expected... which happens to be the EXACT SAME BIG FREAKING DEAL that they dealt with in the previous book. Only in this book, no one thought twice about it. One babysitter for 6 kids, despite hiring her just to watch 2? No big deal. No one batted an eye about it. Even though everyone made a huge deal about this exact scenario just one book earlier. Where’s the consistency? 😂
Secondly, there was something fishy going on with Stacey, and several people noticed it... but it was never actually addressed. No one ever asks her why she missed meetings and several babysitting gigs. She just does and people got annoyed and life moved on. I kept waiting for it to come out. Maybe her diabetes was acting up. Maybe she was having arguments with her boyfriend. Maybe it was something regarding her parents. But nope, zero wrap up on that plot line (which was a more interesting plot line than the Danielle one, to be perfectly honest). 😂 Maybe they’ll tell us what was up with Stacey in an upcoming book.
So first off, one major aspect of the plot revolved around the girls babysitting for a kid named Danielle, and her little brother. Which is like... fine, no big deal, right? Except that the first three times they sit for them, the neighbor kids are over, making it way more kids to babysit than expected... which happens to be the EXACT SAME BIG FREAKING DEAL that they dealt with in the previous book. Only in this book, no one thought twice about it. One babysitter for 6 kids, despite hiring her just to watch 2? No big deal. No one batted an eye about it. Even though everyone made a huge deal about this exact scenario just one book earlier. Where’s the consistency? 😂
Secondly, there was something fishy going on with Stacey, and several people noticed it... but it was never actually addressed. No one ever asks her why she missed meetings and several babysitting gigs. She just does and people got annoyed and life moved on. I kept waiting for it to come out. Maybe her diabetes was acting up. Maybe she was having arguments with her boyfriend. Maybe it was something regarding her parents. But nope, zero wrap up on that plot line (which was a more interesting plot line than the Danielle one, to be perfectly honest). 😂 Maybe they’ll tell us what was up with Stacey in an upcoming book.
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!
October 10, 2017
Why are Jessi books so boring? It makes me depressed. As a character she's interesting, but the execution just...isn't pleasant. This one was more interesting than others, but still a bit blah. The B-plot with Aunt Cecelia possibly getting married was totally dull, though I am enjoying the lead up to Stacey's upcoming BSC departure.
August 14, 2011
Jessi always gets into a bunch of totally random situations. This one was OK, because it was kind of neat to see what happened after all the Jessi's Wish business.
November 1, 2013
In which I feel hatred toward a fictional little girl in cancer remission. I'm going to hell.
Read
March 6, 2016a book from your childhood
a middle grade novel
your favorite book from your childhood (it is a favorite series and a random book within the series)
a middle grade novel
your favorite book from your childhood (it is a favorite series and a random book within the series)
July 1, 2023
Danielle is such a cool kid
December 16, 2015
I enjoyed this book, and the ideas were clever.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews