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The Baby-Sitters Club #106
Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade
At first, Claudia hated going back to seventh grade. But things are definitely improving. She's on top of her schoolwork, she's made some great friends, and her new classmates really look up to her--so much that they nominate her for Queen of the Seventh Grade. And when the votes come in, the results are clear: Claudia's not just adjusting to seventh grade, she's ruling it!
Being queen is harder than it looks, though. There's a ton of work involved. And Mark Jaffe, the newly elected king, is no help at all. Claudia's determined to stop him from turning her glorious reign into a royal mess. but how?
Being queen is harder than it looks, though. There's a ton of work involved. And Mark Jaffe, the newly elected king, is no help at all. Claudia's determined to stop him from turning her glorious reign into a royal mess. but how?
96 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
58 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,121 books3,090 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 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 14, 2018
in this 8 billionth Peter Lerangis-ghostwritten book in a row, claudia seems to be doing all right in 7th grade. she has a slew of indistinguishable friends (seriously, almost all of them have j names) who nominate her for queen of 7th grade. the queen and king of 7th grade will help out with planning their grade’s prom. claudia ends up winning, and mark, the most popular boy in 7th grade, who claud thinks is a jerk, wins king. suddenly she has to work with him on planning a dance. she quickly discovers that they are actually expected to do very little and that the king and queen titles are really more honorifics than anything. claud doesn’t appreciate this, so she takes on a whole bunch of work, trying to make the dance way better by coming up with committees and allotting tasks to them. mark, the king, barely helps her. but gradually she warms up to him, and eventually they kiss. claud is understandably distressed and preoccupied with all that’s going on in her life, but her 8th grade friends straight up do not give a crap about her and belittle everything she's doing, calling her male friend jeremy a chipmunk and a "little guy" and ignoring her feelings and just generally being condescending jerks. the prom manages to come together and claud confronts her obnoxious friends, who apologize and say they’re just jealous that she has a new life outside of them. and claudia decides to date mark and kisses him at the prom in front of everyone. meanwhile, sean addison doesn’t want a babysitter and is still reeling from the events of Mary Anne and the Library Mystery. first he manipulates his parents into letting him be a co-sitter for his sister corrie, but he goes to the store to buy steaks without telling abby (the real sitter) and also doesn’t bring any money. still, his parents let him babysit for himself on his own, even though this kid is clearly a trainwreck. he calls stacey in a tizzy since he ran the dishwasher with dishwashing liquid and the whole kitchen is full of bubbles. she helps him and they discuss that he’s just embarrassed because mel tucker (who is in his class -- see Kristy and the Secret of Susan for more about that turdface) brags about not having to have a babysitter. stacey calls mel’s house and finds out that he’s lying and does have a babysitter. sean doesn’t really care though because he found out a juicier bit of gossip that he will use to blackmail mel into not teasing him anymore: his full name is melvin.
highlights:
-claudia's pnemonic for the taxonomic rank system is kindly pass claudia oreos, for goodness sake
-claudia's new friend in 7th grade is named shira. GROAN. I got seriously worried that it was gonna be another shira huntzberger situation (meaning a goyishe woman/girl who is named shira, an extremely jewish hebrew name, for no apparent reason). it ended up being okay, because as claudia says, "shira is the number one stress case of stoneybrook middle school." if she’s the number one stress case of their whole school in a nyc suburb, then yes, she’s jewish. okay, she’s allowed to have my name.
-first off I think it’s hilarious that it never occurred to sean that mel’s name might be short for melvin. secondly, I love how funny he thinks it is. to mention my cat that I like to intentionally call by the wrong name in ANOTHER review (it’s been like three in a row at this point), melvin is the most common wrong name I call him. his name is marvin.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-Mary Anne and the Library Mystery was came out over three years before this, so why is this sean plotline coming up now? it’s like how Baby-Sitters Beware was a sequel for no reason to Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs. let old plotlines that weren’t good to begin with die already!
-duryan weinstein who is the vice president of the 7th grade was nominated for queen of 7th grade. claudia’s friend joanna says that she's disqualified from being queen because she's the class president. why is the president disqualified but not the vp?
-all of the 8th grade friends are such complete and utter jerks to claudia that I don’t think they remedy it by talking about how they miss her. I’m still mad at them by the end of the book.
-josh says that as queen claudia should demand a scepter and she thinks he means septic. REALLY? what 13-year-old knows the word septic but not scepter? this is so lerangis I can’t even deal.
-the dry cleaner destroys the king and queen capes and there's no money in the school budget for new ones. why don’t they try to make the dry cleaner pay?
-at the end of the book it’s understood that claudia and mark are now dating, because they have kissed twice. I know that this is how middle schoolers think but come ON, teach the kids reading this that they should have conversations and not just assume things (and not just kiss people without asking)
claudia outfit:
-"That day, for instance, I was wearing an old leopard-pattern blouse, sixties-style hip-huggers, a wide headband, and plain black flats with white ankle socks."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-marshmallows behind a pile of underwear
-pay days behind her headboard
-chips ahoy behind her bedstand
-milk duds behind her bed
highlights:
-claudia's pnemonic for the taxonomic rank system is kindly pass claudia oreos, for goodness sake
-claudia's new friend in 7th grade is named shira. GROAN. I got seriously worried that it was gonna be another shira huntzberger situation (meaning a goyishe woman/girl who is named shira, an extremely jewish hebrew name, for no apparent reason). it ended up being okay, because as claudia says, "shira is the number one stress case of stoneybrook middle school." if she’s the number one stress case of their whole school in a nyc suburb, then yes, she’s jewish. okay, she’s allowed to have my name.
-first off I think it’s hilarious that it never occurred to sean that mel’s name might be short for melvin. secondly, I love how funny he thinks it is. to mention my cat that I like to intentionally call by the wrong name in ANOTHER review (it’s been like three in a row at this point), melvin is the most common wrong name I call him. his name is marvin.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-Mary Anne and the Library Mystery was came out over three years before this, so why is this sean plotline coming up now? it’s like how Baby-Sitters Beware was a sequel for no reason to Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs. let old plotlines that weren’t good to begin with die already!
-duryan weinstein who is the vice president of the 7th grade was nominated for queen of 7th grade. claudia’s friend joanna says that she's disqualified from being queen because she's the class president. why is the president disqualified but not the vp?
-all of the 8th grade friends are such complete and utter jerks to claudia that I don’t think they remedy it by talking about how they miss her. I’m still mad at them by the end of the book.
-josh says that as queen claudia should demand a scepter and she thinks he means septic. REALLY? what 13-year-old knows the word septic but not scepter? this is so lerangis I can’t even deal.
-the dry cleaner destroys the king and queen capes and there's no money in the school budget for new ones. why don’t they try to make the dry cleaner pay?
-at the end of the book it’s understood that claudia and mark are now dating, because they have kissed twice. I know that this is how middle schoolers think but come ON, teach the kids reading this that they should have conversations and not just assume things (and not just kiss people without asking)
claudia outfit:
-"That day, for instance, I was wearing an old leopard-pattern blouse, sixties-style hip-huggers, a wide headband, and plain black flats with white ankle socks."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-marshmallows behind a pile of underwear
-pay days behind her headboard
-chips ahoy behind her bedstand
-milk duds behind her bed
May 28, 2011
claudia has been back in seventh grade for a while at this point, & she has started to become friends with some of her classmates. claudia describes shira epstein as "the #1 stress case at stoneybrook middle school," & then elaborates, "luckily, she doesn't take herself too seriously." am i alone in feeling that those two statements completely contradict each other? joanna fried is the seventh grade class president, jeannie kim is korean american (so claudia is not the token asian in the group), & josh rocker is a boy. the book opens with claudia expounding upon the differences between a species & a genus for the comprehension of her new cronies. in this group, claudia is the smart one. scary thought.
conversation turns to the upcoming election for seventh grade king & queen. the students can nominate anyone they choose, & then the class a whole can vote on their representatives. they don't even really pretend that it's anything other than a big popularity contest. the king & queen dance together at the class prom (each grade has their own king & queen & their own prom, i guess, though it's not a tradition we have ever heard about before...then again, the lodge trip the entire school took in super special #2 was supposedly an annual tradition too, & that never happened again) & are generally egged on by their classmates to share a kiss. claudia's friends tell her they have nominated her & are going to work hard to get out the vote & make sure she wins. claudia doesn't think she has a chance, since she is technically an eighth grader (um, not really, claud) & she doesn't think anyone in the seventh grade knows who she is. why do these kids act like being in a different grade is like living on a different planet? they're all still going to the same school. anyway, claudia is flattered that her friends thought to nominate her.
& she is surprised in school that week when suddenly everyone in the seventh grade seems to know who she is. shira, joanna, jeannie & josh report that they have promises of votes for claudia from tons of different kids around school. claudia tries to share the news with her babysitters club friends, but the only ones who seem to give a shit are mallory & jessi, who are totally pumped for her. the eighth graders are like, "why would anyone vote for you for seventh grade queen? you're an eighth grader." they also make lots of condescending remarks about her new friends, especially josh, whom they refer to as "that little dude". claudia wishes they would understand the fun of being nominated for queen & stop teasing her about josh, but she doesn't want to make a big deal out of either, lest she alienate them. once again, a member of the babysitters club struggles with the slings & arrows of having non-babysitters club friends. this is one fucked up group of girls.
lo & behold, claudia wins the election & is named queen. her king is a slacker from claudia's english class named mark jaffe. claudia claims to find him irritating because he's always goofing up in class & acting like he's too cool to care, & lots of girls think he is cute & encourage him with their giggling. claudia concedes that he is cute, but she also thinks he's a jerk.
claudia decides to take her title seriously. usually the titles are just for shits & giggles, & the school administrators plan the prom. but claudia thinks the king & queen should plan the prom. she pitches the idea to mark & their faculty advisor, both of whom are like, "um...whatever you want to do, claudia." claudia puts out sign-up sheets for the various committees (food, music, decorations, publicity, etc) & is delighted when they come back full of names. getting mark to actually put any time or energy into co-organizing the prom is like pulling teeth, but she manages to drag him to a few meetings & they delegate responsibilities to their classmates. mark is heading up the food committee because his father owns a restaurant & has offered to cater the prom. claudia, of course, wants to be on the decorations committee. the prom is in march, so she has decided on a lion & lamb theme, with one half of the gym decorated in an icy winter landscape, & the other half full of flowers & spring colors.
claudia tries to share her news with the babysitters club, again, & again, only jessi & mallory really seem to give a shit. they're the only ones who congratulate her on being elected queen & offer any kind of encouragement at all with the prom plans. the other sitters just kind of roll their eyes & act completely superior to the entire concept of a seventh grade prom. it's really starting to piss claudia off, but she feels embarrassed being pissed off about something that she didn't even realize she cared about so much. when she was sent back to seventh grade, she never expected to make friends & care about her classmates or feel invested in seventh grade life.
claudia also has to work in close contact with mark jaffe a lot, & her feelings about him confuse her. she thinks he's a jerk, selfish & irresponsible...but she also thinks he's cute. but then she thinks she could never find a jerk like mark jaffe cute. they're chatting one afternoon & mark mentions that he was left back in elementary school & is actually 13 years old, like claudia. suddenly claudia sees him in a much more masculine light. because a couple of months make so much difference, right? whatever. at least they can bond about being left back together.
the afternoon before the prom, the various committees get together to decorate. claudia has ceded control of her papier machie lion & lamb sculptures to the decorating committee & is hanging other decorations. she is very upset when the completed animals are rolled in. she thinks they look terrible & the decorating committee's incompetence ruined them. mark is hanging around a lot, even though he technically doesn't have much to do. once everyone else leaves, only claudia & mark remain in the gym...& they kiss. claudia is confused. she just kissed mark jaffe...but he's a jerk! but he's cute! but he's a seventh grader! but so is she!
at the babysitters club meeting that afternoon, claudia can't keep her news in. she spills the beans about kissing mark. jessi & mallory are all, "oh my god! he's cute!" & the other sitters are like, "are you joking? he'a seventh grader. gross." claudia finally explodes & is all, "I'M a seventh grader too! & for your information, mark was held back & he's our age! how do you think all your snobby comments about seventh grade make me feel? how do you think they make mallory & jessi feel?" the other sitters apologize, but no one can really tell claudia what to do or how to feel about mark.
the next evening is the dance. claudia's seventh grade friends are helping her get ready. josh is technically her date, even though she just sees him as a friend. when she & mark have their king & queen dance, they decide to kiss again. claudia realizes that she has real feelings for mark, & he seems to feel the same way. it's obvious to the reader but not so much to claudia that josh has a big fat crush on her & is not psyched about these developments, but he pulls a ducky in "pretty in punk" & supports her.
the B-plot features the addison family. you know, the family that neglected the shit out of their kids until their son went bananas & started burning library books. they are looking for a temporary regular sitter for the kids. the babysitters club decides to take the job, even though mary anne seems to be convinced that sean (the son) is an axe murderer. the real problem is that sean is ten years old & he feels he is too old for a babysitter. he sneaks behind his parents' backs & connives to be left alone to babysit himself. but then he puts regular dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher & has to place an emergency call to the BSC to come over & help him clean up.
abby finally figures out that sean is being teased by mel tucker (the kid that was such an awful bully in kristy & the secret of susan) for having a babysitter. she passes the news on to the other sitters, & stacey calls mel's parents while sean is listening in on the line to inquire if they need the babysitters club's services. mr. tucker says that "melvin" already has a sitter he likes a lot. so sean doesn't worry about being picked on anymore. or something. not sure what this had to do with the A-plot except that it was about kids getting picked on for being babyish or something? i don't know.
conversation turns to the upcoming election for seventh grade king & queen. the students can nominate anyone they choose, & then the class a whole can vote on their representatives. they don't even really pretend that it's anything other than a big popularity contest. the king & queen dance together at the class prom (each grade has their own king & queen & their own prom, i guess, though it's not a tradition we have ever heard about before...then again, the lodge trip the entire school took in super special #2 was supposedly an annual tradition too, & that never happened again) & are generally egged on by their classmates to share a kiss. claudia's friends tell her they have nominated her & are going to work hard to get out the vote & make sure she wins. claudia doesn't think she has a chance, since she is technically an eighth grader (um, not really, claud) & she doesn't think anyone in the seventh grade knows who she is. why do these kids act like being in a different grade is like living on a different planet? they're all still going to the same school. anyway, claudia is flattered that her friends thought to nominate her.
& she is surprised in school that week when suddenly everyone in the seventh grade seems to know who she is. shira, joanna, jeannie & josh report that they have promises of votes for claudia from tons of different kids around school. claudia tries to share the news with her babysitters club friends, but the only ones who seem to give a shit are mallory & jessi, who are totally pumped for her. the eighth graders are like, "why would anyone vote for you for seventh grade queen? you're an eighth grader." they also make lots of condescending remarks about her new friends, especially josh, whom they refer to as "that little dude". claudia wishes they would understand the fun of being nominated for queen & stop teasing her about josh, but she doesn't want to make a big deal out of either, lest she alienate them. once again, a member of the babysitters club struggles with the slings & arrows of having non-babysitters club friends. this is one fucked up group of girls.
lo & behold, claudia wins the election & is named queen. her king is a slacker from claudia's english class named mark jaffe. claudia claims to find him irritating because he's always goofing up in class & acting like he's too cool to care, & lots of girls think he is cute & encourage him with their giggling. claudia concedes that he is cute, but she also thinks he's a jerk.
claudia decides to take her title seriously. usually the titles are just for shits & giggles, & the school administrators plan the prom. but claudia thinks the king & queen should plan the prom. she pitches the idea to mark & their faculty advisor, both of whom are like, "um...whatever you want to do, claudia." claudia puts out sign-up sheets for the various committees (food, music, decorations, publicity, etc) & is delighted when they come back full of names. getting mark to actually put any time or energy into co-organizing the prom is like pulling teeth, but she manages to drag him to a few meetings & they delegate responsibilities to their classmates. mark is heading up the food committee because his father owns a restaurant & has offered to cater the prom. claudia, of course, wants to be on the decorations committee. the prom is in march, so she has decided on a lion & lamb theme, with one half of the gym decorated in an icy winter landscape, & the other half full of flowers & spring colors.
claudia tries to share her news with the babysitters club, again, & again, only jessi & mallory really seem to give a shit. they're the only ones who congratulate her on being elected queen & offer any kind of encouragement at all with the prom plans. the other sitters just kind of roll their eyes & act completely superior to the entire concept of a seventh grade prom. it's really starting to piss claudia off, but she feels embarrassed being pissed off about something that she didn't even realize she cared about so much. when she was sent back to seventh grade, she never expected to make friends & care about her classmates or feel invested in seventh grade life.
claudia also has to work in close contact with mark jaffe a lot, & her feelings about him confuse her. she thinks he's a jerk, selfish & irresponsible...but she also thinks he's cute. but then she thinks she could never find a jerk like mark jaffe cute. they're chatting one afternoon & mark mentions that he was left back in elementary school & is actually 13 years old, like claudia. suddenly claudia sees him in a much more masculine light. because a couple of months make so much difference, right? whatever. at least they can bond about being left back together.
the afternoon before the prom, the various committees get together to decorate. claudia has ceded control of her papier machie lion & lamb sculptures to the decorating committee & is hanging other decorations. she is very upset when the completed animals are rolled in. she thinks they look terrible & the decorating committee's incompetence ruined them. mark is hanging around a lot, even though he technically doesn't have much to do. once everyone else leaves, only claudia & mark remain in the gym...& they kiss. claudia is confused. she just kissed mark jaffe...but he's a jerk! but he's cute! but he's a seventh grader! but so is she!
at the babysitters club meeting that afternoon, claudia can't keep her news in. she spills the beans about kissing mark. jessi & mallory are all, "oh my god! he's cute!" & the other sitters are like, "are you joking? he'a seventh grader. gross." claudia finally explodes & is all, "I'M a seventh grader too! & for your information, mark was held back & he's our age! how do you think all your snobby comments about seventh grade make me feel? how do you think they make mallory & jessi feel?" the other sitters apologize, but no one can really tell claudia what to do or how to feel about mark.
the next evening is the dance. claudia's seventh grade friends are helping her get ready. josh is technically her date, even though she just sees him as a friend. when she & mark have their king & queen dance, they decide to kiss again. claudia realizes that she has real feelings for mark, & he seems to feel the same way. it's obvious to the reader but not so much to claudia that josh has a big fat crush on her & is not psyched about these developments, but he pulls a ducky in "pretty in punk" & supports her.
the B-plot features the addison family. you know, the family that neglected the shit out of their kids until their son went bananas & started burning library books. they are looking for a temporary regular sitter for the kids. the babysitters club decides to take the job, even though mary anne seems to be convinced that sean (the son) is an axe murderer. the real problem is that sean is ten years old & he feels he is too old for a babysitter. he sneaks behind his parents' backs & connives to be left alone to babysit himself. but then he puts regular dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher & has to place an emergency call to the BSC to come over & help him clean up.
abby finally figures out that sean is being teased by mel tucker (the kid that was such an awful bully in kristy & the secret of susan) for having a babysitter. she passes the news on to the other sitters, & stacey calls mel's parents while sean is listening in on the line to inquire if they need the babysitters club's services. mr. tucker says that "melvin" already has a sitter he likes a lot. so sean doesn't worry about being picked on anymore. or something. not sure what this had to do with the A-plot except that it was about kids getting picked on for being babyish or something? i don't know.
November 22, 2012
Claudia's mnemonic device for remembering the biological levels of classification got me smugly through many a year of school. (Oh, does nobody else know Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species? Look at me, with my amazing knowledge and memorization skills!)
However, many years later, I can no longer remember exactly what that device was! Kindly Pass Claudia Oreos For...Genus Species. Anyway, I use Community's, now: Keven, Please Come Over For Gay Sex.
However, many years later, I can no longer remember exactly what that device was! Kindly Pass Claudia Oreos For...Genus Species. Anyway, I use Community's, now: Keven, Please Come Over For Gay Sex.
October 24, 2023
I think this marks the point that I've officially read all the BSC ebooks in the library (except for Kristy and the Snobs, which I skipped coz I don't wanna read about Louie the dog dying). Some I read in graphic novel ebook format, most in regular text ebook format. So this is the end of a mini-era, and I'm off to read the BSC Little Sister Karen books.
For this story, I like seeing how Claudia really ends up embracing seventh grade life, and yes, including the very dorky King and Queen of Seventh Grade tradition. Her new friends are sweet, and her eventual romance with Josh is telegraphed from miles away.
This book also features Sean Addison, shortly after his appearance in the library mystery where This book kinda goes into the aftermath of this, how the family is going through counselling, and how Kristy (in a rare show of sensitivity) asks if BSC members are gokay with baby-sitting for Sean given his past behaviour. I dunno about the Addisons' strategy of letting Sean play at being a co-baby-sitter (so he can test his independence?). I feel more for his younger sister Corrie who needs to put up with it. I also don't know if I were Mary Anne, if I would feel safe baby-sitting for Sean. I dunno if the BSC should've put him on a no-babysitting list or something. Regardless, I'm glad they revisited that story and we find out more of what happened to the family.
Lowlights:
- The eighth grader BSC members suck for how dismissive they are of Claudia's seventh grade life and friends. I'm glad Claudia eventually calls them out, and like their excuse that they just miss her is no excuse at all. Being queen of seventh grade and figuring out the Mark romance dilemma are important to Claudia, friends, give her the support she actually needs.
- As much as I'm on Team Claudia in general, and as much as I applaud in principle her desire for the seventh graders to take more control over their prom, I actually feel for Mark in this case. If the whole tradition of being King and Queen of Seventh Grade is a ceremonial popularity contest, and even though they're nominally in charge of prom, it's really the teachers who do most of the work, then I would be pissed off that my co-regent is flatout begging for both of us to do more work.
Like, WTF Claud? I have enough on my plate with school and extracurriculars and stuff. I just wanna wear the crown and enjoy the silliness of the tradition; why the heck are you demanding I do all this work and get all these other classmates setting up decorations and stuff?
I may get it if historically the teachers sucked at putting prom together, and Claudia's like, okay, now we're king and queen, we need to give our batch an actually decent experience. But from all accounts, it seems like the teachers' organizational skills were fine? And when Claudia put it in the hands of the students, they almost ended up with 50s music that they actually hate?
Also, what's up with that faculty advisor? I'm glad she's supportive of Claudia's desire to do extra work, but Mark is so clearly not interested in doing the work that I don't know why she didn't step in and maybe reduce the scope so Claudia can realistically do it solo? Or like maybe assign Mark the food coz of his dad's restaurant and Claudia the decorations coz that's her thing and the charity coz that's her big idea. It all eventually worked out, so yay, but it also very easily could have not. And that's on the literal adult in the room to manage. Especially since she said attempts by similarly eager beaver kings and queens from former years didn't turn out well.
So major side-eye to Claudia for peer pressuring Mark into doing all that extra work when it was really not at all necessary. That's totally a Kristy move, and Claudia should know better.
For this story, I like seeing how Claudia really ends up embracing seventh grade life, and yes, including the very dorky King and Queen of Seventh Grade tradition. Her new friends are sweet, and her eventual romance with Josh is telegraphed from miles away.
This book also features Sean Addison, shortly after his appearance in the library mystery where This book kinda goes into the aftermath of this, how the family is going through counselling, and how Kristy (in a rare show of sensitivity) asks if BSC members are gokay with baby-sitting for Sean given his past behaviour. I dunno about the Addisons' strategy of letting Sean play at being a co-baby-sitter (so he can test his independence?). I feel more for his younger sister Corrie who needs to put up with it. I also don't know if I were Mary Anne, if I would feel safe baby-sitting for Sean. I dunno if the BSC should've put him on a no-babysitting list or something. Regardless, I'm glad they revisited that story and we find out more of what happened to the family.
Lowlights:
- The eighth grader BSC members suck for how dismissive they are of Claudia's seventh grade life and friends. I'm glad Claudia eventually calls them out, and like their excuse that they just miss her is no excuse at all. Being queen of seventh grade and figuring out the Mark romance dilemma are important to Claudia, friends, give her the support she actually needs.
- As much as I'm on Team Claudia in general, and as much as I applaud in principle her desire for the seventh graders to take more control over their prom, I actually feel for Mark in this case. If the whole tradition of being King and Queen of Seventh Grade is a ceremonial popularity contest, and even though they're nominally in charge of prom, it's really the teachers who do most of the work, then I would be pissed off that my co-regent is flatout begging for both of us to do more work.
Like, WTF Claud? I have enough on my plate with school and extracurriculars and stuff. I just wanna wear the crown and enjoy the silliness of the tradition; why the heck are you demanding I do all this work and get all these other classmates setting up decorations and stuff?
I may get it if historically the teachers sucked at putting prom together, and Claudia's like, okay, now we're king and queen, we need to give our batch an actually decent experience. But from all accounts, it seems like the teachers' organizational skills were fine? And when Claudia put it in the hands of the students, they almost ended up with 50s music that they actually hate?
Also, what's up with that faculty advisor? I'm glad she's supportive of Claudia's desire to do extra work, but Mark is so clearly not interested in doing the work that I don't know why she didn't step in and maybe reduce the scope so Claudia can realistically do it solo? Or like maybe assign Mark the food coz of his dad's restaurant and Claudia the decorations coz that's her thing and the charity coz that's her big idea. It all eventually worked out, so yay, but it also very easily could have not. And that's on the literal adult in the room to manage. Especially since she said attempts by similarly eager beaver kings and queens from former years didn't turn out well.
So major side-eye to Claudia for peer pressuring Mark into doing all that extra work when it was really not at all necessary. That's totally a Kristy move, and Claudia should know better.
October 18, 2017
I was honestly pretty into 7th grade Claudia. It was just a nice change of pace, and it was nice to see a club member branch out and have non-BSC friends. Also the whole king and queen thing is so something stupid my middle school would have done, and even might have and I just forgot about it. We didn't have a prom in middle school, but we had plenty of ridiculous dances.
I wish she'd stayed in 7th grade for the duration and into Friends Forever. Her other friends could have gone to high school, and she could have stayed behind with Jessi who was all alone since Mal took off for boarding school.
I wish she'd stayed in 7th grade for the duration and into Friends Forever. Her other friends could have gone to high school, and she could have stayed behind with Jessi who was all alone since Mal took off for boarding school.
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July 29, 2020Claudia is queen
As 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
As 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
January 16, 2021
(LL)
I like that it shows Claudia doing well in the seventh grade; however, I don’t like that simply because she was an eighth grader that she’d beat out other already popular seventh graders for Queen. It’s not realistic or a good storyline. That prom King and Queen bullshit is high school drama. No need to stretch that into middle school.
It was nice to see Claudia interested in a boy that was in her grade. (I guess it was important for him to be thirteen also even though a one year difference between twelve and thirteen wouldn’t have been a big deal.)
I like that it shows Claudia doing well in the seventh grade; however, I don’t like that simply because she was an eighth grader that she’d beat out other already popular seventh graders for Queen. It’s not realistic or a good storyline. That prom King and Queen bullshit is high school drama. No need to stretch that into middle school.
It was nice to see Claudia interested in a boy that was in her grade. (I guess it was important for him to be thirteen also even though a one year difference between twelve and thirteen wouldn’t have been a big deal.)
August 30, 2018
“Allo? Zee mayore is not zair? I weel try latair!” -Josh
This book is very amusing and funny. Claudia goes back to seventh grade because her grades are low. Her new friends nominated her for queen of seventh grade. Her friends in the eight grade are very jealous of her. Even her best friend Stacey is becoming more like the other members. Find out more in this amazing book.
This book is very amusing and funny. Claudia goes back to seventh grade because her grades are low. Her new friends nominated her for queen of seventh grade. Her friends in the eight grade are very jealous of her. Even her best friend Stacey is becoming more like the other members. Find out more in this amazing book.
August 28, 2020
can't decide if my favourite exchange in this book is:
“What’s the difference?” I said. “I can’t believe the way you guys are treating me. I’m not Gulliver in the land of the Lilipulitzers —”
“— putions,” Mallory said.
“Gesundheit.”
OR
“I know!” Abby exclaimed. “You met Picasso.”
“He’s dead,” I informed her.
“Then that is big news!” Abby said.
“What’s the difference?” I said. “I can’t believe the way you guys are treating me. I’m not Gulliver in the land of the Lilipulitzers —”
“— putions,” Mallory said.
“Gesundheit.”
OR
“I know!” Abby exclaimed. “You met Picasso.”
“He’s dead,” I informed her.
“Then that is big news!” Abby said.
March 18, 2023
When I was 10 I joined a readers club/group where we got a new book every week. I chose The babysitters club.
The books are fantastic! So enjoyable. I loved getting the book every week. They are super quick reads and I was able to read it in one day.
Highly recommend for young teenagers to read or even younger if they are able too read well.
The books are fantastic! So enjoyable. I loved getting the book every week. They are super quick reads and I was able to read it in one day.
Highly recommend for young teenagers to read or even younger if they are able too read well.
March 22, 2023
There wasn't much meat to this book, mostly because Claudia seems so disconnected from the other characters (who are, as always, jerks when it isn't their POV). But I guess that's sort of the point? I think it's weird that the book makes it a point to tell us that Mark is *actually* the same age as Claudia--but that's very 7th grade of it.
February 3, 2021
This wasn't a book I ever planned on reading, but it was a pretty good one. I thought the conflict between the older BSC members and Claudia was believable and well-written. And I really liked the subplot with Sean. Super interesting.
December 19, 2022
Claudia is adjusting to being held back in 7th grade by making new friends and even being nominated for Queen of the 7th Grade! But there are some bumps in the road: her BSC friends seem dismissive of her experiences, and Mark Jaffe (King of 7th Grade) is making her life impossible.
November 24, 2023
I really like the seventh grade plotline for Claudia, but this book was pretty lackluster and I was not a fan of how the other babysitters were portrayed in this book. Whoever ghost wrote this book did a pretty poor job. But I did enjoy seeing Claudia thriving in school though.
November 18, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book.
December 7, 2020
I was a Claudia (not Kristy- its very important to me that everyone knows that) and this was one of my favorite BSC books so naturally I had to pick it up after the Netflix series
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February 7, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/claudi...
February 9, 2023
I hated Mark Jaffe. Claudia can do so much better. I also hated the BSC, or at least the eighth graders. Those ageist snobs are terrible friends.
January 12, 2024
I loved how she slowly fell in love and it was a great book really well done.
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February 1, 2026At first, Claudia hated going back to seventh grade. But things are definitely improving. She's on top of her schoolwork, she's made some great friends, and her new classmates really look up to her -- so much that they nominate her to be Queen of the Seventh Grade. And when the votes come in, the results are clear: Claudia's not just adjusting to seventh grade, she's ruling it!
September 7, 2024
Apparently every grade at SMS has a king and queen and a prom. Who knew? Claudia is nominated for the queen of seventh grade. She doesn't think she has a chance to win and shrugs it off. But she does win and her king is the Alan Gray of 7th grade Mark Jaffre. Like Claudia he too has been held back a grade so is older than the others. Unlike most schools they elect king and queen before the prom and nake them plan everything. Claudia being the good BSC member she is makes things more complicated and bigger than she has too. She gets frazzled Mark rarely shows up or doesn't show up on time. They fight most of the book but end up falling in love in true rom com fashion setting up Claudia for what happens in the Friends Forever series. She definitely has a type and it's not the type she thinks she has. The b plot involves the arsonist from the Library Mystery. He's reformed apparently. He wants to be an assistant sitter bosses his sister around and his parents seem fine with it. Mary Anne is convinced he's a serial killer and she's not far off. Fires can easily lead to death no matter how small you think it will be. But it turns out he's being bullied by another kid and Stacey makes it all better. Although not as bad as the math book it read more like a cheesy rom com than a BSC book.
May 1, 2013
Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
November 1, 2013
In which Caludia is somehow voted "Queen of the Seventh grade," whatever that means. The rest of the Cult, minus Mal and Jessi because they're sixth graders and get overexcited about things, cares about this almost as little as I do.
February 5, 2011
Did I mention I bought an assload of these at a library book sale? I haven't read a lot of them. Surprising.
July 24, 2011
What young girl did not love the Baby-Sitters Club and Karen, the Baby-Sitters Little Sister?
August 19, 2011
Well done Claudia for calling the rest of the BSC out on their behaviour!
And poor Josh!
And poor Josh!
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