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Bone Chillers #17
Why I Quit the Baby-sitters Club
Rosie receives an unexpected--and unwelcome--surprise when she finally meets the Pendreds' baby, which has always been asleep when she arrived a their house to baby-sit, and discovers that the hungry little beast has a taste for baby-sitters. Original.
112 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 14, 1997
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91 people want to read
About the author
Betsy Haynes
122 books109 followersABOUT ME
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 14, 2024
2.75⭐ rounded up to 3⭐
July 13, 2023
Why I Quit The Baby-sitters club is a book I've been looking forward to reading for a while.But it being so rare slowed me down a good bit.I finally got this book in a lot off of Mercari and I knew I was reading this soon.The story starts with Rosie being called a chicken by her friend Amber's two younger siblings Kyle and Lyle.They claim somebody saw a monster in the woods and dare Rosie to go investigate.She refuses at first but Amber peer pressures her into going in the woods taking a bike just in case. The only problem is the bike she has is her sister's and she cannot wreck it.She caves and goes inside the woods and ends up wrecking the bike after one of the two boys scream and scare her.So now Rosie has to pay for her sister's bike.Amber tells her that she got offered a job as a babysitter but couldn't take it because she already had a babysitting job so Rosie can have the new people.Rosie agrees and gives the Pindreds a call and Mr. Solomon says he will see her Saturday.Saturday arrives and Rosie is picked up By Mr.Solomon in a hearse.Yeah I'd leave.Rosie gets to the Pindred's house and she finds it weird that she doesn't get introduced to the baby.Instead the couple is out the door and they tell her they will return around midnight,but there are plenty of snacks in the fridge.That night she begins to hear noises and really wants to see the baby. It doesn't take long before things begin to get a little weird.Rosie finds a dish with maggots inside them,an eyeball in the sink and everytime she goes for a ride in the hearse it smells of decay.But Rosie makes one hundred dollars everytime she babysits.So she decides to stay until she can park for her sister's bike.This book was really good.I enjoyed learning what exactly this baby was.And I could not put this book down.I was fully drawn to it.There is good atmosphere surrounding the house being alone, and the climax is really good,even though I didn't like exactly what the baby was.I understand why they did it.This book even had it's first official death of a human in it that I've read so far.I give Why I Quit The Baby-sitters Club a four out of five stars.
September 10, 2022
This was a great book, very creepy and I loved the plot. Every time the main character went back to babysit it got better and better and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. Such a page turner. Highly recommended
March 6, 2024
This book deserves a 5 star for everything it was worth. This book was full of suspicious activity and suspense. This is no doubt the best with Alien Inn!
August 25, 2024
A sunday read, woo hoo. Today on the ripoff round we have some Bone Chillers. The wheel picking this made me so happy. The title alone had been wanting to read this one for ages especially given the crazy things I heard about it. I mean, they’re already taking from Goosebumps, now you’re adding BSC directly onto it? It got name dropped and Scare Bear, now they take the extra steps.
But let’s see if it lives up to that title. Rosie recently wrecked her sisters bike and needs to pay it off. So she gets a babysitting job for a mysterious new family called the Pendreds. They pay well but their rather old for someone with a small baby…that they never let Roisie see. Then she hears odd noises coming from its room and discovers that something strange may be going on/
Ghostwriter this time is…unknown. Famously, it’s credited to David Bergantino who says he didn’t who wrote it. It’s a misprint and the actual author is a mystery. I don’t know where to start solving it. Anyway, whoever wrote it did a pretty dang solid job. Honestly this may be a new favorite alongside Frankenturkey and Scare Bear, I was kind of impressed.
The first half is solid but standard. Set up is sound, as Rosie is given a reason as to why she needs the money as we see how the bike gets wrecked. A creepy scene in the woods is involved and it even ties into the plot in a subtle way. Like, there’s an implied monster and I can tell what it is but it doesn’t fully confirm the dots. The first half has to be standard to contrast with what happens later, but I do prefer ones that impress me more or often or are crazier more often.
Rosie is a fine protagonist, not ultra dynamic but gets the job done and she has some solid commentary on the situation at hand. She has a friend that exists and a sister named Judy who is just there for the set up. The scares are mimal at first with the implication of the baby being a monster that is in that room under lock and key.
It’s a slow burn early on that is still well paced with the only issues being that if you’re expecting the obvious reveal than you may wish for it to get to it faster. But oh man does it not go for the obvious. The 2nd half gets into more tension as we see what our monster is we get decent writing when it comes to the action bits. See, this is what that Shivers book I read last time was missing, it’s nothing great as far as horror but it is felt when we get there.
The reveal of what is going on is insane, I wish I could spoil it. But it’s on the dark and weird side, while avoiding a few certain bits out of publisher interference a bit but they go as far as they can. Everything is not as it seems and we get some decent tragedy regarding these parents and why they did the thing that lead to all this. I’ll also say that we basically get a human death in this book and it’s crazy to see, and even adds to the tragedy that is in this narrative.
Yes, the book with this title and concept has some kind of deep tragedy to it inside the goofy weird-ness. Insane. A few bits remind me of Who’s Your Mummy as well as Strained Peas and is basically kind of the full good version of the latter you’ve been wanting even if it’s not exactly clear cut lo.
The ending, as always, could have gone on a bit more but it is a solid ending. Given what happens with the Pendreds in the end, I would have liked a slightly better addressing of that. The final note is a bit corny but fitting and involves a nice gesture. No twist on this one as the climax was crazy enough.
Overall, whoever wrote this did pretty well. It has possibly the strongest narrative and combination of elements in that latter half, you just need to through a solid but more standard first half before then. Safe to it is a pretty solid and high 3.5 from me.
While the title is pure clickbait that only makes sense if you get it, I didn’t know it would go as hard as it does. Bone Chillers continues to oddly impress me with this being a new favorite. I’ll place it at the top for now and some other time I’ll look back and see if that changes.
For now, the hype paid off with a well done story that has more tragedy and fun than you’d expect. I may be hyping it up a bit too much but given what I expected, it has some wild and fun stuff in the least. Worth a look. I hope this mystery writer has other works to check out.
We finally end this round with Spinetinglers, as we get we visit the world of Mike Ford again. See ya then.
But let’s see if it lives up to that title. Rosie recently wrecked her sisters bike and needs to pay it off. So she gets a babysitting job for a mysterious new family called the Pendreds. They pay well but their rather old for someone with a small baby…that they never let Roisie see. Then she hears odd noises coming from its room and discovers that something strange may be going on/
Ghostwriter this time is…unknown. Famously, it’s credited to David Bergantino who says he didn’t who wrote it. It’s a misprint and the actual author is a mystery. I don’t know where to start solving it. Anyway, whoever wrote it did a pretty dang solid job. Honestly this may be a new favorite alongside Frankenturkey and Scare Bear, I was kind of impressed.
The first half is solid but standard. Set up is sound, as Rosie is given a reason as to why she needs the money as we see how the bike gets wrecked. A creepy scene in the woods is involved and it even ties into the plot in a subtle way. Like, there’s an implied monster and I can tell what it is but it doesn’t fully confirm the dots. The first half has to be standard to contrast with what happens later, but I do prefer ones that impress me more or often or are crazier more often.
Rosie is a fine protagonist, not ultra dynamic but gets the job done and she has some solid commentary on the situation at hand. She has a friend that exists and a sister named Judy who is just there for the set up. The scares are mimal at first with the implication of the baby being a monster that is in that room under lock and key.
It’s a slow burn early on that is still well paced with the only issues being that if you’re expecting the obvious reveal than you may wish for it to get to it faster. But oh man does it not go for the obvious. The 2nd half gets into more tension as we see what our monster is we get decent writing when it comes to the action bits. See, this is what that Shivers book I read last time was missing, it’s nothing great as far as horror but it is felt when we get there.
The reveal of what is going on is insane, I wish I could spoil it. But it’s on the dark and weird side, while avoiding a few certain bits out of publisher interference a bit but they go as far as they can. Everything is not as it seems and we get some decent tragedy regarding these parents and why they did the thing that lead to all this. I’ll also say that we basically get a human death in this book and it’s crazy to see, and even adds to the tragedy that is in this narrative.
Yes, the book with this title and concept has some kind of deep tragedy to it inside the goofy weird-ness. Insane. A few bits remind me of Who’s Your Mummy as well as Strained Peas and is basically kind of the full good version of the latter you’ve been wanting even if it’s not exactly clear cut lo.
The ending, as always, could have gone on a bit more but it is a solid ending. Given what happens with the Pendreds in the end, I would have liked a slightly better addressing of that. The final note is a bit corny but fitting and involves a nice gesture. No twist on this one as the climax was crazy enough.
Overall, whoever wrote this did pretty well. It has possibly the strongest narrative and combination of elements in that latter half, you just need to through a solid but more standard first half before then. Safe to it is a pretty solid and high 3.5 from me.
While the title is pure clickbait that only makes sense if you get it, I didn’t know it would go as hard as it does. Bone Chillers continues to oddly impress me with this being a new favorite. I’ll place it at the top for now and some other time I’ll look back and see if that changes.
For now, the hype paid off with a well done story that has more tragedy and fun than you’d expect. I may be hyping it up a bit too much but given what I expected, it has some wild and fun stuff in the least. Worth a look. I hope this mystery writer has other works to check out.
We finally end this round with Spinetinglers, as we get we visit the world of Mike Ford again. See ya then.
May 14, 2023
Book quote: “Problem child…”
“I always love creepy stories that talk about babysitting, which makes me wonder what creature is being babysat or what the babysitter’s horror plan is.” ~ Chen Pink, reviewer of ‘Why I Quit the Baby-Sitter’s Club?’
I owned many books in the ‘Bone Chillers’ series, and this is one of them. I love that the book cover has remained unchanged since the 1997 edition. Can you see the creepy skeleton's hand sticking out of the baby pram? Want to know the rest of the story? Read this book at night if you dare. I used to re-read it at night when I was a kid.
“I always love creepy stories that talk about babysitting, which makes me wonder what creature is being babysat or what the babysitter’s horror plan is.” ~ Chen Pink, reviewer of ‘Why I Quit the Baby-Sitter’s Club?’
I owned many books in the ‘Bone Chillers’ series, and this is one of them. I love that the book cover has remained unchanged since the 1997 edition. Can you see the creepy skeleton's hand sticking out of the baby pram? Want to know the rest of the story? Read this book at night if you dare. I used to re-read it at night when I was a kid.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews