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The Baby-Sitters Club #85
Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO!
Nursing her wounded feelings after a big fight with Stacey, Claudia enters a contest to host a kids' radio show for one month and is delighted when she wins until she learns that she will be working with a rival art student. Original.
135 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
43 people are currently reading
672 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,120 books3,073 followersAnn Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
November 30, 2019
These books are great. Really easy to read and understand, but not too boring. A GREAT foundation and/or a refresher.
March 16, 2011
claudia is at loose ends because she feels like she doesn't have any special projects or hobbies in her life. she's not friends with stacey anymore, & stacey is all busy with her boyfriend robert & his friends. mary anne has logan. kristy has the krushers & bart. jessi has ballet & mallory has her writing. i'm not sure what claudia thinks dawn has. claudia makes a list of activities that she could take up--tap dancing, tuba, drama club, cooking. she rules each new hobby out one by one as she realizes how terrible she would be at each activity. this is all very strange because i thought claudia was kind of stretched to her limit, trying to fit in schoolwork, babysitting, & art. she even takes art classes. but all that is conveniently forgotten for the sake of having her hear a radio ad for a month-long DJ spot. claudia writes an essay, runs it through the spell check at school, & sends it off. & lo & behold, she wins the spot!
she plans to do some kind of kid-themed radio show. in her essay, she played up the fact that she's been babysitting for a few years & know what will appeal to kids of all ages. she imagines kind of a variety show, bringing on talented kid guests to show off their abilities, doing an advice call-in show, playing music that will appeal to kids, etc. when she shows up to meet with the station manager, she learns that the second place winner will be her assistant. the second place winner is...ashley wyeth. the same ashley wyeth that became claudia's friend in in claudia & the new girl & almost drove a wedge between claudia & the rest of the babysitters club.
if i recall, that book ended with claudia reaffirming her commitment to babysitting & ashley thinking claudia was making a big mistake by not being about art all the time. the girls cooled off their intense friendship, but i'm pretty sure claudia claimed that ashley still eats lunch with her & the other members of the babysitters club sometimes. in this book, both claudia & ashley are disappointed to see each other. claudia thinks that working with ashley on the radio show will be a huge disaster because ashley is such a bossy know-it-all. & sure enough, when they start planning their program, ashley is critical of claudia's ideas & then passive-aggressively says, "well, you're the boss."
claudia decides to ignore ashley's tone & decides she is the boss & is going to do what she likes. she holds auditions to choose the talent for each show. the auditions are kind of crazy. TONS of people show up, but most of them are pretty talentless. claudia is really into one girl who can say any word or phrase backwards, but ashley thinks it's lame. (i agree with ashley.) neither of them like the 10,000 kids that try to sing "a whole new world". & neither of them like the ridiculous play that kristy wrote, which is all about babysitting safety tips. not only is the play boring, but kristy is a terrible actor & has enlisted the barrett-dewitt kids as her co-actors, & all of them are terrible too. i thought kristy was such a good actor that she got the lead role in "peter pan"? whatever. the point is that kristy assumes her play is a shoo-in because she is friends with claudia, & claudia has to break the news that it's not good enough for the show.
claudia & ashley decide that each show will have a theme, like "friendship" or "family". everyone is nervoud during the first show--"friendship" & they race through their acts, leaving claudia with a few minutes of dead air at the end of the show. she fills it with a rambling talk about the importance of friendship & mentions that she used to have a best friend, but now she doesn't & she misses said friend. she is, of course, referring to stacey.
the next few shows goes more smoothly & claudia's radio program is a big hit. people respond especially well to a call-in advice bit that claudia did. a young boy called in, all distraught because his parents were splitting up & the family was fighting a lot. claudia gulped a little because this was a big problem to handle as an amateur radio advice dispenser, but she keeps the boy on the line & gives him the name & number of mary anne's former therapist.
claudia & ashley also learn that the radio station is facing a budget crisis & may have to shut down. in fact, this is why the radio station held the contest that claudia won--it was a way to get some new on-air talent & drum up interest in the station for free. ashley is indignant about the station "using" them as free labor, but claudia doesn't care. she thinks it's cool to have a radio show & if it's helping out the station, so much the better.
kristy writes a second play, which she performs with the pike kids, & it also sucks. but kristy is bound & determined to be on the show. she finally writes a play that claudia appoves & gets her moment in the sun. no one cares. or at least, i don't.
claudia uses the last 15 minutes of her last show to do another call-in bit. the mother of the distraught little boy that had called in a few weeks before calls & thanks claudia for the therapist contact info. she said the therapist is helping a lot & that she'd like to make a donation to the radio station as a thank you. she faxes in the check (i don't think you can cash a faxed check) & it's for a huge sum of money--enough to keep the station going for another six months. everyone is ecstatic. after claudia signs off on her last show, the phone rings again. it's stacey, congratulating claudia on a job well done & saying that she heard claudia's bit about missing her best friend. stacey says that she misses claudia too. claudia is like, "um...awesome. okay, gotta go." kind of a weird response.
& that's pretty much it. this book was kind of a snooze, but it beats the hell out of a sting operation involving guys dressed up in gorilla costumes.
she plans to do some kind of kid-themed radio show. in her essay, she played up the fact that she's been babysitting for a few years & know what will appeal to kids of all ages. she imagines kind of a variety show, bringing on talented kid guests to show off their abilities, doing an advice call-in show, playing music that will appeal to kids, etc. when she shows up to meet with the station manager, she learns that the second place winner will be her assistant. the second place winner is...ashley wyeth. the same ashley wyeth that became claudia's friend in in claudia & the new girl & almost drove a wedge between claudia & the rest of the babysitters club.
if i recall, that book ended with claudia reaffirming her commitment to babysitting & ashley thinking claudia was making a big mistake by not being about art all the time. the girls cooled off their intense friendship, but i'm pretty sure claudia claimed that ashley still eats lunch with her & the other members of the babysitters club sometimes. in this book, both claudia & ashley are disappointed to see each other. claudia thinks that working with ashley on the radio show will be a huge disaster because ashley is such a bossy know-it-all. & sure enough, when they start planning their program, ashley is critical of claudia's ideas & then passive-aggressively says, "well, you're the boss."
claudia decides to ignore ashley's tone & decides she is the boss & is going to do what she likes. she holds auditions to choose the talent for each show. the auditions are kind of crazy. TONS of people show up, but most of them are pretty talentless. claudia is really into one girl who can say any word or phrase backwards, but ashley thinks it's lame. (i agree with ashley.) neither of them like the 10,000 kids that try to sing "a whole new world". & neither of them like the ridiculous play that kristy wrote, which is all about babysitting safety tips. not only is the play boring, but kristy is a terrible actor & has enlisted the barrett-dewitt kids as her co-actors, & all of them are terrible too. i thought kristy was such a good actor that she got the lead role in "peter pan"? whatever. the point is that kristy assumes her play is a shoo-in because she is friends with claudia, & claudia has to break the news that it's not good enough for the show.
claudia & ashley decide that each show will have a theme, like "friendship" or "family". everyone is nervoud during the first show--"friendship" & they race through their acts, leaving claudia with a few minutes of dead air at the end of the show. she fills it with a rambling talk about the importance of friendship & mentions that she used to have a best friend, but now she doesn't & she misses said friend. she is, of course, referring to stacey.
the next few shows goes more smoothly & claudia's radio program is a big hit. people respond especially well to a call-in advice bit that claudia did. a young boy called in, all distraught because his parents were splitting up & the family was fighting a lot. claudia gulped a little because this was a big problem to handle as an amateur radio advice dispenser, but she keeps the boy on the line & gives him the name & number of mary anne's former therapist.
claudia & ashley also learn that the radio station is facing a budget crisis & may have to shut down. in fact, this is why the radio station held the contest that claudia won--it was a way to get some new on-air talent & drum up interest in the station for free. ashley is indignant about the station "using" them as free labor, but claudia doesn't care. she thinks it's cool to have a radio show & if it's helping out the station, so much the better.
kristy writes a second play, which she performs with the pike kids, & it also sucks. but kristy is bound & determined to be on the show. she finally writes a play that claudia appoves & gets her moment in the sun. no one cares. or at least, i don't.
claudia uses the last 15 minutes of her last show to do another call-in bit. the mother of the distraught little boy that had called in a few weeks before calls & thanks claudia for the therapist contact info. she said the therapist is helping a lot & that she'd like to make a donation to the radio station as a thank you. she faxes in the check (i don't think you can cash a faxed check) & it's for a huge sum of money--enough to keep the station going for another six months. everyone is ecstatic. after claudia signs off on her last show, the phone rings again. it's stacey, congratulating claudia on a job well done & saying that she heard claudia's bit about missing her best friend. stacey says that she misses claudia too. claudia is like, "um...awesome. okay, gotta go." kind of a weird response.
& that's pretty much it. this book was kind of a snooze, but it beats the hell out of a sting operation involving guys dressed up in gorilla costumes.
October 20, 2015
Felt the urge to read some BSC books, I don't know why. I loved Claudia as character when I was a kid and I still love her now. But good lord, Kristy is the worst type-A character who can singlehandedly ruin the pleasure of reading this book.
May 24, 2017
in this next installment of the claudia/ashley love story by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis, claud wins a contest to host her own radio show twice a week for a month. she is disappointed at first to discover that they have selected a co-host as well, ashley wyeth (see Claudia and the New Girl). at first they don't get along and have very different views of how the show should go, but eventually they start working together really well, coming up with themes for each show and having guests that perform based on those themes. it turns out that the radio station (the titular WSTO) is losing money and may have to go out of business. claud and ashley, stuck without a performer when someone cancels last-minute, host a call-in advice segment. a kid legit calls in and basically has the same problem the kid had in Claudia and the Perfect Boy (his parents are getting divorced and he's depressed -- apparently in this universe people only get depressed if their parents are getting divorced). claud suggests that he call dr. reese (mary anne's therapist -- see Chain Letter), dr. resse is helpful, and turns out the kid's mom is rich and thankful, so she decides to sponsor the radio station. in the most kristy subplot ever, she keeps convincing the bsc kids to audition for claud's show and though most of them don't seem to want to kristy is so effectively manipulative that they get bummed when claud doesn't accept them.
highlights:
-any claudia/ashley stuff just reads like slash fic to me.
-just like in Claudia and the Perfect Boy, this is a book about claudia being really good at something and learning its ins and outs and feeling good about herself. I love this theme.
-I know I always wanna see Jem in everything, but seriously this book reeks of the episode KJEM (though without the supervillainy themes present in every Jem episode).
-claud and stacey start talking again. claud mentions something about missing her best friend on the radio show, and then stacey later says she had listened to every show and thought claud was great.
-one kid who tells a story on the radio show in which anytime there's a syllable that sounds like a number he adds one to it: "twice upon a time, there was a twoderful garden full of blossoming threelips." this made me crack up so much when I was a kid: "elevennis, anytwo?"
-so many snacks! it's actually delightful reading about all of claudia's snacks in this book (see below).
lowlights/nitpicks:
-a reference to alan gray having responded to her personal ad in Perfect Boy, but actually she responded to his.
-I know kristy is not the most popular character, but I love her a lot. reading her in this book was HARD. she is SUCH a jerk.
claud outfits:
-"I was wearing a backward T-shirt, overalls I'd made by sewing together two halves cut from different pairs, and mismatched socks."
-"Dressed in jeans and a button-down men's shirt over a stretch top, I walked to the Pikes'."
-"I wore the coolest tuxedo I'd recently bought in a thrift shop, including a silky, piped shirt and a bright red velvet cummerbund. I removed the shoulder pads from the jacket, which made it really slouchy (I love that look). Then I bought a pair of white socks with silver glitter. I decided to wear a pair of red sneakers to match the cummerbund. I swept my hair up and fastened it with a rhinestone barrette in the shape of a musical note."
ashley outfit:
-"Her outfit was a plain, button-down shirt and khaki slacks with running shoes."
named themes for the radio show:
-friendship
-family
-it's not easy being a kid
-what are you reading?
-music
-hobbies
jackie disaster:
-falls off his chair, grabbing the table on the way to the floor and knocking the water cups, papers, and pens on the table off of it.
snacks in claud's room:
-milk duds under a stack of looseleaf papers in her desk drawer
-snickers under a stack of looseleaf papers in her desk drawer
-pretzels under her bed
-charleston chews under her bed
-m&ms in a shoe box in her closet
-raisinets in a shoe box in her closet
-yankee doodles in a shoe box in her closet
-doritos in a shoe box in her closet
-twinkie among her art supplies
-milky way (n.s.)
-peppermint patties (n.s.)
-chunkies (n.s.)
-cape cod potato chips (n.s.)
-skittles in her sock drawer
-hostess chocolate cupcakes (n.s.)
-caramel-flavored popcorn rice cakes (n.s.)
-oreos (n.s.)
-doritos (n.s.)
highlights:
-any claudia/ashley stuff just reads like slash fic to me.
-just like in Claudia and the Perfect Boy, this is a book about claudia being really good at something and learning its ins and outs and feeling good about herself. I love this theme.
-I know I always wanna see Jem in everything, but seriously this book reeks of the episode KJEM (though without the supervillainy themes present in every Jem episode).
-claud and stacey start talking again. claud mentions something about missing her best friend on the radio show, and then stacey later says she had listened to every show and thought claud was great.
-one kid who tells a story on the radio show in which anytime there's a syllable that sounds like a number he adds one to it: "twice upon a time, there was a twoderful garden full of blossoming threelips." this made me crack up so much when I was a kid: "elevennis, anytwo?"
-so many snacks! it's actually delightful reading about all of claudia's snacks in this book (see below).
lowlights/nitpicks:
-a reference to alan gray having responded to her personal ad in Perfect Boy, but actually she responded to his.
-I know kristy is not the most popular character, but I love her a lot. reading her in this book was HARD. she is SUCH a jerk.
claud outfits:
-"I was wearing a backward T-shirt, overalls I'd made by sewing together two halves cut from different pairs, and mismatched socks."
-"Dressed in jeans and a button-down men's shirt over a stretch top, I walked to the Pikes'."
-"I wore the coolest tuxedo I'd recently bought in a thrift shop, including a silky, piped shirt and a bright red velvet cummerbund. I removed the shoulder pads from the jacket, which made it really slouchy (I love that look). Then I bought a pair of white socks with silver glitter. I decided to wear a pair of red sneakers to match the cummerbund. I swept my hair up and fastened it with a rhinestone barrette in the shape of a musical note."
ashley outfit:
-"Her outfit was a plain, button-down shirt and khaki slacks with running shoes."
named themes for the radio show:
-friendship
-family
-it's not easy being a kid
-what are you reading?
-music
-hobbies
jackie disaster:
-falls off his chair, grabbing the table on the way to the floor and knocking the water cups, papers, and pens on the table off of it.
snacks in claud's room:
-milk duds under a stack of looseleaf papers in her desk drawer
-snickers under a stack of looseleaf papers in her desk drawer
-pretzels under her bed
-charleston chews under her bed
-m&ms in a shoe box in her closet
-raisinets in a shoe box in her closet
-yankee doodles in a shoe box in her closet
-doritos in a shoe box in her closet
-twinkie among her art supplies
-milky way (n.s.)
-peppermint patties (n.s.)
-chunkies (n.s.)
-cape cod potato chips (n.s.)
-skittles in her sock drawer
-hostess chocolate cupcakes (n.s.)
-caramel-flavored popcorn rice cakes (n.s.)
-oreos (n.s.)
-doritos (n.s.)
September 8, 2021
I wasn't looking forward to reading this one because I remembered disliking it, but it was a fun read! It's always great to see Claudia shine at a new skill (see: photography and working for the newspaper), though at this point I wish we'd get more mentions of her pursuing these interests and not just a one-off for a book.
I really enjoyed Kristy in this, she was over the top and ridiculous, and that's why we love her. Though I felt like Ashley's characterization was drastically changed from when she appeared in Claudia and the New Girl . It was kind of awkward because it could have been anyone that they paired Claudia with. Stacey, Alan Gray, Cokie Mason... Claudia and Ashley were never enemies, and I can't imagine Ashley giving up all that free time she could be working on art to spend on a radio show.
I really enjoyed Kristy in this, she was over the top and ridiculous, and that's why we love her. Though I felt like Ashley's characterization was drastically changed from when she appeared in Claudia and the New Girl . It was kind of awkward because it could have been anyone that they paired Claudia with. Stacey, Alan Gray, Cokie Mason... Claudia and Ashley were never enemies, and I can't imagine Ashley giving up all that free time she could be working on art to spend on a radio show.
May 21, 2019
At this point, we've had several books where the narrator picks up a new hobby, only to immediately forget about it, once the book is over. Examples include Jessi's synchronized swimming and Claudia's newspaper column. At this point, I am tired of pointless hobby books. Claudia has more than enough interests already, what with baby-sitting, boys, fashion, art, photography, schoolwork and fighting with her sister.
Claudia gets to host a radio show for a month. She appears to be unaware that most radio stations play music, so she decides to do a variety show. She has open auditions, plans the show, then records the show. This cycle repeats a few times, until the book ends.
The book is supported with three subplots. First, Kristy tries to get on the show, and she makes a total idiot out of herself. While this was funny, I felt bad for Kristy. Second, Claudia's assistant on the show is Ashley Wyeth, her nemesis from Book 12. The two of them slowly go from enemies to friends, as the book goes on. I liked this, even if Ashley bore little resemblance to the Ashley from Book 12.
In the third subplot, the radio station is going bankrupt. Claudia does an advice show. She tells a boy to get therapy, to help him cope with his parents' divorce. The parents are so happy, they donate enough money to save the station. This story was directly copy/pasted from Book 71, which I disliked.
Overall, it's a harmless filler book. I only liked the subplot about Ashley. The rest of it just bored me, because I'm sick of the pointless hobby books by now.
Claudia gets to host a radio show for a month. She appears to be unaware that most radio stations play music, so she decides to do a variety show. She has open auditions, plans the show, then records the show. This cycle repeats a few times, until the book ends.
The book is supported with three subplots. First, Kristy tries to get on the show, and she makes a total idiot out of herself. While this was funny, I felt bad for Kristy. Second, Claudia's assistant on the show is Ashley Wyeth, her nemesis from Book 12. The two of them slowly go from enemies to friends, as the book goes on. I liked this, even if Ashley bore little resemblance to the Ashley from Book 12.
In the third subplot, the radio station is going bankrupt. Claudia does an advice show. She tells a boy to get therapy, to help him cope with his parents' divorce. The parents are so happy, they donate enough money to save the station. This story was directly copy/pasted from Book 71, which I disliked.
Overall, it's a harmless filler book. I only liked the subplot about Ashley. The rest of it just bored me, because I'm sick of the pointless hobby books by now.
March 11, 2025
2023 review: This was fun. Nostalgic with the whole radio show thing. And Kristy's constant attempts to get on could've been annoying except I'd probably do the same thing, lol. And the bit with Stacey was sweet, I hope she and Claudia do make up, regardless of her beef with Kristy and the BSC.
November 6, 2022
This book made me really sad for Claudia. Her self-esteem is so low, and it seems reinforced by everyone around her, especially her parents. I was angry at Mr. Kishi when Claudia teared up because he rarely says he’s proud of her. She’s part of a hugely successful teen business, she’s a talented artist, and as this book proves, she’s talented and hard-working when someone gives her a chance.
I couldn’t get past the details of the contest in this book. Ashley Wyeth is correct—the radio station is exploiting them to get free labor. They’re not even college students who could use this as internship credit! These girls can’t even legally work! What’s the point of having a “winner” if the winner has to work with the runner-up and co-host the show with them? Just say you’re going to have two hosts.
And, effffffff Kristy. Kristy is such a terrible friend. She can’t stand when anyone gets any form of success independent of her, and it’s so gross how her entire motivation in this book is to steal Claudia’s spotlight to promote her “great idea,” the BSC.
I couldn’t get past the details of the contest in this book. Ashley Wyeth is correct—the radio station is exploiting them to get free labor. They’re not even college students who could use this as internship credit! These girls can’t even legally work! What’s the point of having a “winner” if the winner has to work with the runner-up and co-host the show with them? Just say you’re going to have two hosts.
And, effffffff Kristy. Kristy is such a terrible friend. She can’t stand when anyone gets any form of success independent of her, and it’s so gross how her entire motivation in this book is to steal Claudia’s spotlight to promote her “great idea,” the BSC.
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.
June 23, 2025
This was another fun one. Claudia is looking for a new hobby and the radio station is holding a contest for temporary DJs. Claudia wins and her cohost is her old frenemy Ashley Wyeth. It’s hard at first but they end up working together well.
The subplot is that they are looking for talent acts and Kristy has not got talent but wants to participate.
Or maybe something about the Barrett-DeWitts? They feature more than necessary.
The subplot is that they are looking for talent acts and Kristy has not got talent but wants to participate.
Or maybe something about the Barrett-DeWitts? They feature more than necessary.
December 23, 2021
Not much babysitting involved, but this one was fun. I read it a couple of weeks ago and now my memory of it is...lacking. Kristy's storyline was a little annoying, but I loved the Stacey and Claudia mini-reconciliation and Claudia's growing friendship with Ashley. And the books where Claudia really shines are always great--of course she would be great at being a DJ.
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.
January 15, 2026
4.5 stars. I LOVED this one. Claudia gets a radio show at the school and she absolutely shines as the host. This was so much fun and one of my favorites in the series in a long, long while. I don't remember reading this one as a kid but I'm sure I would've loved it even then. Claudia is still one of my faves for a reason.
May 15, 2020
This was always one of my favorite books in the series. I love Claud’s radio show, I love the return of Ashley Wyeth, I love Kristy’s failed auditions, and I love Stacey calling at the end.
5 stars due to pure nostalgic love for this one.
5 stars due to pure nostalgic love for this one.
August 28, 2020
“Give up? He fields the ball and runs home!" Chew, chew, chew. We raised our eyebrows and tried to seem fascinated.
“Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," I suggested. "Those games are long."
Kristy looked at me blankly for a moment, then snapped, "Home plate, Claudia!”
“Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," I suggested. "Those games are long."
Kristy looked at me blankly for a moment, then snapped, "Home plate, Claudia!”
December 24, 2020
(LL)
Honestly, this book was a lot of fun. It was a different vibe than the usual books, but I thought it was a great book for Claudia. It was full of good lessons and gave us hints of Stacey starting to miss her old friends.
Honestly, this book was a lot of fun. It was a different vibe than the usual books, but I thought it was a great book for Claudia. It was full of good lessons and gave us hints of Stacey starting to miss her old friends.
March 21, 2022
Claudia embarks on a mission to find a passion...and decides to enter a competition to host a radio show. When she finds out that she won, she is ecstatic! Although running the radio show is difficult; she does a great job, re-friends Ashley, and starts to mend her friendship with Stacey.
October 13, 2017
Not the best Claudia book, but still pretty fun. When I was a kid I DEFINITELY wanted MY own radio show haha.
November 17, 2018
Some books that you enjoyed as a kid can be reread in adulthood and still enjoyed. Some... don't age well. We'll leave it at that.
November 4, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book
February 21, 2020
I loved this one. It had such a great storyline and several morals within!
Read
August 13, 2020🎬🎬
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Read
November 11, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
January 11, 2022
Nice one. But Kristy sure was obnoxious!
January 12, 2024
I loved it sad that it could not go longer then a month funny from Kristy so tries to be on the radio and overall a great book.
April 7, 2024
This was a cute book. Claudia books usually are. Claudia finds herself feeling lost. Stacey is off with her new friends and she feels left out. While looking for a new hobby she enters a contest for a kid to host a twice weekly radio show at WSTO. After struggling with the essay needed to enter she actually wins first prize. She discovers that the second place winner will be her assistant. That person is Ashley Wyeth the girl she was friends with in book 12. Nice to see a recurring character as most get forgotten after the book they feature in. It only took about 70 or so for her. Anyway they act like enemies at first, but I thought they were friendly. I know the BSC is cult like and doesn't allow outsiders but still. Anyway they eventually learn to work together after a rough start. They soon learn the station is going bankrupt and might shut down. Despite this being the first time we hear about WSTO it's apparently a big deal in town an old and established station. Okay. Sure. The b plot is Kristy again being the worst. There are often I Love Lucy references in this series and Kristy is like Lucy constantly trying to getting onto Ricky's show when she sucks. Good lord she's annoying. The book wraps up with their last show. A woman whose son Claudia helped in a call in segment donating a huge chunk of money and saving the station. This was a cute little read. I enjoyed seeing Ashley and Claudia together again, I love seeing her and Janine getting along, they have such a nice bond as sisters and it reminds me of me and my brother who grew closer after we went through a tough time together. Kristy was annoying but that's her and Stacey shows up at the end to mend their friendship which was good especially since Claudia's narrator does a horrible job of voicing Stacey, a shame since everything else she reads is excellent. But I did quite like this one.
January 22, 2011
This came out well after I stopped reading and collecting the BSC books, thus yesterday was my first read-through of it. Oh my lord, I was bored. Maybe bored isn't quite the right word. Irked, maybe? Claudia herself is actually incredibly interesting this go round because she's reaching beyond her "school is hard, art is my life" stereotype that, by this time in the series, had more than begun to grate.
The problem is that apparently in order to appease the Powers That Be, Kristy had to become so much a caricature of herself that it was almost physically painful to read her bits of story.
My favorite bits were Claudia missing Stacey, but there was so much Kristy crap in between them that you began to think that the Stacey mention was simply a lead-up for the following book. Instead you're left to wonder why Stacey waited a month to call Claudia if she knew Claud was missing her already. (She says as much during her first radio broadcast and Stacey admits to listening to it.)
Sigh. This is more of a 2.5 stars, but we can't give halfsies.
The problem is that apparently in order to appease the Powers That Be, Kristy had to become so much a caricature of herself that it was almost physically painful to read her bits of story.
My favorite bits were Claudia missing Stacey, but there was so much Kristy crap in between them that you began to think that the Stacey mention was simply a lead-up for the following book. Instead you're left to wonder why Stacey waited a month to call Claudia if she knew Claud was missing her already. (She says as much during her first radio broadcast and Stacey admits to listening to it.)
Sigh. This is more of a 2.5 stars, but we can't give halfsies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2015
This is one of my favourite BSC books - it's funny, interesting and poignant, and makes me cry every time.
It's also proof that while nostalgia does help improve this series, it's not absolutely necessary when the book is as good as this one. I first read this at age 26 rather than at age 10 when I found the rest. There isn't much babysitting in it, but I can't say I miss it.
Kristy's a handful though.
It's also proof that while nostalgia does help improve this series, it's not absolutely necessary when the book is as good as this one. I first read this at age 26 rather than at age 10 when I found the rest. There isn't much babysitting in it, but I can't say I miss it.
Kristy's a handful though.
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