Stacey the Math Whiz

The Baby-Sitters Club #105

by Ann M. Martin

Stacey excels in her first math meet with the Mathletes, but when her father gets tickets to a huge rock concert on the same night as the Mathletes championship, Stacey has a tricky problem to solve.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile

143 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Ann 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...

Reviews

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

much like lindsey weird on "freaks & geeks," stacey is scouted to join the stoneybrook middle school mathletes. they are already a strong team, but the advisor thinks stacey will be the missing ingredient that will propel them to state champions. after briefly worrying about being lumped in with nerds, stacey decides to go ahead & join up.

but the same afternoon she makes this decision, her father surprises her after school. stacey is baffled because it's a thursday afternoon & her dad lives in new york city. & he's driving a car. obviously he doesn't have a car, because he lives in manhattan. she's like, "what are you doing here, dad? you didn't lose your job, dide you?" turns out, he did. he was downsized, even though he was a workaholic vice president at his company. so he did what any sensible businessman who just lost his six-figure job does. he went out & bought a car he doesn't need. & he wants to take stacey out on the town. they get snacks or something, & then he invites himself over to make lobster for stacey & her mother. yeah, without asking mrs. mcgill's permission. you may recall that mr. & mrs. micgill had a pretty acrimonious divorce. so it's not that cool for him to just show up on her doorstep with lobster. she's pretty tense about it, but dinner goes okay.

stacey has a regular gig tutoring lindsay dewitt in math (she's in third grade), but her mathlete practice sessions conflict with the tutoring sessions, so she needs someone else in the babysitters club to take over. & no one has time for it except for claudia. she is of course very reluctant to take the job. she did, after all, recently get punted back to the seventh grade. she doesn't really feel that she should be tutoring anyone (even though she's had great success with both emily michelle & shea rodowsky). but she takes the job & gets access to stacey's prep-prepared notes.

when she shows up for her first tutoring job, though, neither she nor lindsey can make heads or tails of the notes. i'm almost 32 & i couldn't really follow them either. not that i have ever been any great shakes at math, but...third grade math? i think i should be able to follow along with that. lindsey becomes instantly frustrated, so claudia decides to do things her own way. this involves using legos as visual cues & making up songs about math rules. she concedes that she is maybe not teaching lindsey in the stacey mcgill pre-approved methodology, but she's getting the job done & lindsey seems to be having fun & understanding the basics.

stacey's team wins the first round of the state mathletes competition, which i guess is just the local meet against schools we have actually heard of before. as if there was any chance that stacey would join the mathletes only to see her team defeated in the very first meet. her parents, the babysitters club, & some clients all turn out to support her.

in fact, the B-plot is mostly all about the kids in stoneybrook catching math fever. a bunch of them are putting together presentations for the local math fair. kids in stoneybrook are such losers. i would really love to see a plot in which the arnold twins get tricked into being drug mules or something. seriously? math fair?

claudia & lindsey show off their awesome tutoring to stacey, & stacey pretty much ruins it by correcting terminology & introducing all these concepts that are obviously going to be beyond the ken of a math-resistant eight-year-old. trust me, stacey, i understand the concept of borrowing numbers while subtracting & the names of the different columns have never been necessary to me.

meanwhile, mr. mcgill is still living his wild & crazy unemployed lifestyle. he has practically moved into a local stoneybrook hotel so he can spend tons of quality time with stacey...when he's not taking her on special trips to new york city, that is. he buys her all kinds of things, like new clothes & fancy dinners. stacey is so unfathomably spoiled. she doesn't even realize it. mrs. mcgill comments that he should watch his step & that he's blowing through money pretty recklessly for a guy who isn't employed, but stacey is like, "god, mom, whatever. he knows what he's doing." really, stacey? where's your proof of that? eventually, he surprises stacey with tickets to a sold out U4me show at madison square garden. stacey is beyond thrilled...until she realizes that the concert conflicts with the first mathletes meet of the state championship. it's a best-of-three series, so stoneybrook can still win even if they lose the first meet, but stacey is tied for first in the state in mathletes (or something) against a kid on the opposing team, & obviously she doesn't have a chance of beating him if she doesn't attend all the meets. she waffles back & forth until the very last minute & then decides to go to the meet. which stoneybrook wins. of course.

their advisor suggests that they celebrate their win at the rosebud cafe. stacey calls her BSC friends & asks them to meet her there. then her dad insists on taking her & her mother out for a fancypants dinner & for whatever dumbass reason, stacey she feels she can't say no. she also seems incapable of calling the babysitters back in a timely manner & letting them know she won't be at the rosebud after all. anyway, mr. mcgill just wants to announce that he got a new job. he spends all of dinner gabbing about it, even though stacey & mrs. mcgill obviously don't really care. stacey does note that he is unlikely to make it to her other mathlete meets because of scheduling conflicts. she is very upset.

she decides that her BSC friends are all angry with her for not meeting them at the rosebud. so she does what anyone would do in such a situation, which is flip out & yell at them. they're like, "dude...WTF?" stacey she realizes the person she is really upset with is her father.

she pulls it together for the next mathlete meet though. she loses it & answers a question wrong when she realizes her father isn't there, as promised, but then she rallies & wins the meet for stoneybrook, & also places #1 in the state in...mathleticism? i don't know. everyone is happy for her & her father makes it after all & he promises to try to be more present in her life, even though he has a new job. happy ending? this book didn't really go anywhere. i don't know why i gave it three stars.

[FIND ME ON STORYGRAPH · Rating 1 out of 5]

in this book by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis, stacey joins the stoneybrook middle school mathletes. she’s incredible and the team ends up winning all of their meets (see lowlights for my thoughts about this). stacey’s dad has lost his job, so he tries to hang out with stacey all the time with the intensity level he had when he was a workaholic: he comes to stoneybrook unannounced every day and tells stacey his plans to take her to fancy restaurants and such without ASKING her. and she has a life outside him but doesn’t know how to tell him that it’s not always appreciated when he just shows up and whisks her away, not to mention how much he is pissing off her mom, who stacey now barely has time with. stacey’s dad also keeps buying really expensive and impractical things, like a car in spite of the fact that he lives in manhattan, now that he’s unemployed. when he tells stacey he got tickets to a u4me concert, she’s super excited, especially since she had to leave in the middle the last time she tried to see u4me (see Stacey and the Bad Girls). but when she realizes it’s on the same day as one of the mathlete final meets, she is torn: she doesn’t want to disappoint her dad, but she knows the mathletes need her. eventually she tells her dad about the meet and he ends up going to cheer her on. sms wins, and stacey becomes the top-ranked mathlete in connecticut, or something (maybe in the tri-county area? I don’t even remember). meanwhile, stacey was supposed to tutor lindsey dewitt in math but no longer has time to because of the mathletes. claudia is the only one who has the time, but she thinks she’s bad at math so she is reluctant. but she ends up being a more successful tutor than stacey ever could be, because she knows how to communicate with non-math nerds about math and can make learning fun. stacey’s notes are incomprehensible, but claudia just explains concepts in bugs bunny’s voice and lindsey learns. the major subplot is that the bsc kids are all excitedly participating in the stoneybrook elementary school math fair, and....wait, what? kids are EXCITEDLY participating in a MATH FAIR? I guess math is in the air.

highlights:
-I always like any plotline where claudia feels smart, so I like that she’s better at tutoring lindsey than stacey is.
-OMG ALEXANDER KURTZMAN IS IN THE MATHLETES. IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE'VE SEEN YOU, ALEXANDER KURTZMAN. I'VE MISSED YOU. they even reference that he wears a tie and brings a briefcase to school! he was apparently last referenced in Mary Anne and the Zoo Mystery (though if I’m wrong, please let me know -- that’s only according to my records that I’ve been keeping, which could definitely be wrong)
-the head of the math department at stoneybrook day school is named reverty schmidt. REVERTY SCHMIDT. my partner and I have an inside joke where we call our cat all kinds of names that aren’t his actual name (his name is marvin and we call him melvin, michael, marlon, melba toast, molly ringwald etc). now I know what we’re gonna call him next!
-vanessa pike's math fair booth has numbers written down that signify syllable combinations and then she writes poems using those syllable combinations. I love one dimensional characters in this series. some people consider it bad writing. I consider it hilarious.
-there’s one girl at the math fair whose booth is about complicated math stuff and all the other kids feel like their booths suck by comparison. but when an adult asks her a clarifying question, it becomes apparent that her parents basically made the whole booth for her and she didn’t do anything. HAHAHA.
-the last puzzle stacey solves in the final mathlete meet is the same puzzle that gives lisa simpson so much guff in lisa the simpson:


lowlights/nitpicks:
-stacey only agrees to join the mathletes after kristy suggests she do it. stacey had been scared kristy would say no, because kristy is inappropriately controlling of the other bsc members’ lives.
-this book is just a rehashing of the plots in Stacey's Choice and Claudia's Friend with a little math thrown in.
-the mathlete questions aren’t math problems. they're like professor layton puzzles. I’ve never been a mathlete, but I’ve been a math nerd and have enjoyed media about mathletes such as freaks and geeks and mean girls, and I don’t think they answer brain teaser-style puzzles. they answer legitimate math questions.
-I find it unrealistic that stacey is so damned good at math that she's better than almost all of the kids who have been in the mathletes all along. once again, speaking as a math nerd who was never part of math nerd culture...I probably could have joined the mathletes when I was in school, but I’m sure the other mathletes would have been AT LEAST as good at math as I was, if not better.
-stacey's dad is insufferable in this book. he’s such an entitled masculine rich piece of garbage. he essentially demands that the women in his life do what he says, and then wastes all his money on purchases like lobster and luxury cars.
-stacey's dad also is terrible at driving and parks at a meter because he claims garages are too expensive but then forgets to refeed the meter so he gets a ticket for more than the garage would have cost. then later, he learns from his mistake and parks in a garage and he gets mad because he claims the valet scraped his car. he’s so annoying and smug and obnoxious.
-the kids of sms are really into math! they cheer on stacey and treat her like a celebrity, and they’re excited about the math fair. who are these stepford kids, and what have they done with the actual kids of stoneybrook?

no outfits. :(

snacks in claudia’s room:
-cheez doodles in her closet
-peanut m&ms in her closet
-ruffles behind her night table
-wheat thins in her closet

[Nikki Boisture]

A friend lent me a few late-numbered BSC books that I never read because I outgrew the series when they were released. I saw that this one was ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis and I knew I'd like it. His books are always so bonkers. Of course, Stacey can't just be good at math, she has to be the best 8th grade math student in the entire state of Connecticut. And her dad has to be the most ridiculous unemployed workaholic ever. I love it.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of math here. I hate math. Stacey is asked to join the mathletes and because she's stuck up is afraid she'll be thought of as a nerd. But she joins and apparently everyone is stupid except for Stacey. To add to the pressures Stacey's dad is having a midlife crisis. He loses his job buys a car and shows up in Stoneybrook demanding Stacey's time and inviting himself over to the house for dinner. He gets a ticket for a UforMe on the same day as the State Championship. It's a mess. The b plot involves Claudia tutoring one of the Barrett DeWitt kids in math and making her love math. Another sort of plot involves the kids getting involved in a math fair. As I said there's a lot of math here. If not for the Stacey's dad side plot thus would've been a write off for me.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid, because I too was a nerdy type! I was on the Academic Team and all it's various sub-teams, so to see one of the girls pursue a "smart and nerdy" activity was great! I was never that good at math, I was more arts minded, but I got by okay. I liked especially that it was Stacey, who was always the snappy dresser and the boy crazy one, being the really smart girl leading the mathletes to victory.

Her dad is a tool though. That's a fact.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stacey is approached by a SMS math teacher about joining the Mathletes. At first, Stacey is skeptical; but the rest of the BSC supports her so she ultimately decides to join. Stacey needs to balance homework, mathletes, and babysitting...and her father (who lost his job and is now focusing solely on Stacey). The rest of the BSC helps their charges prepare for the SES Math Fair.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point in the series all of the books can start feeling repetitive because each character has sort of similar struggles in each of their books. Stacey's dad is kind of a jerk, as per usual, but the Mathletes storyline was fun and a little different. I'm not a math person, whatsoever, but even reading about it felt a little exciting.

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Cloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good! I loved it! As a math hater, I had my doubts about whether I would enjoy thus book, but the Mathlete portion was my favorite part of the whole book. I really loved the plot with Stacey's dad, I love how Stacey's books focus on Stacey's personality and struggles in addition to babysitting.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stacey introduces Abby by explaining, "If you feel confident on the inside, you look great on the outside, no matter what you wear," but as soon as her teacher suggests she join the mathletes, she immediately describes them as "geeks with permanent bad-hair days," and continues judging them for their nerdiness throughout the book. Nice double-standard. Do better Stacey.

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 4 out of 5]

(LL)
This was a good book for Stacey. It finally didn’t revolve around a boy! Moreover, it focused on her math skills, which is a great way to show kids learning (regardless of subject) can be fun. The parent/divorced kid drama was relatable also.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids in Stoneybrook get excited about the weirdest things, this time it's math. Everyone is bananas about math. I don't get it, just like I don't get how Stacey's dad had no qualms about spending all that money when he had been laid off. What better time to buy a new car?!

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former math whiz and mathlete myself when I was Stacey's age and just a little bit older, I really enjoyed this book. The subplot about her dad was very moving and relatable. And I loved the B-plot about the kids and the math fair, and especially Claudia's math tutoring of Lindsay. :)

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review on www.Audible.com Listen to this book Mr. McGill takes a bit of leisure time while looking for a job.

[Katie]

Amazing!!!

When I was starting into chapter books I absolutely loved this series. Reading them again now brings back some great memories.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stacey and Math...

Yeah, not a good combo for me.

[Christina]

Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/stacey...

[Kortney Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Good One

I live the stories featuring Stacey. This was quick with no lulls. I never read this one when it originally came out. I recommend.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as good as the others. The Stacey's dad thing was weird.

[Laura Rayner]

Joining the Mathletes and feeling confident after her first math meet triumph, Stacey is troubled when her father gets tickets to a huge rock concert on the same night of the Mathletes championship. Original.

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stacey The Math Whiz
PLOT: Stacey's teacher suggests she join an after-school club called the Mathletes. The Mathlete's compete against other schools in competitions involving math problems. Stacey's reluctant about it at first but then begins to enjoy being a part of the team. She's so good that she's named one of the top five in the region of students with high scores. She and the team are doing well in the small competitions, but then when the big one arrives her father gets her tickets to an upcoming rock concert with her favorite group. Thinking this is a once in a lifetime opportunity she puts off the competition, but in the end, she realizes there will be other chances to see her favorite group. Meanwhile, a client of the babysitter's club is struggling in math that was Stacey's responsibility to tutor, but since she's so busy with the Mathletes Claudia has to fill in. And also the Stoneybrooke kids are holding a math fair.

MY THOUGHTS:
*This is the first book I've heard Stacey mention how she feels like her Dad is just going from event to event to event with her and it's tired her out. But in other books she doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I've always noticed how Mr. Gill seems to think that spending time with Stacey always means having dinner with her in the finest restaurants or attending Broadway plays or concerts every visit. Which there's nothing wrong with that, but it seems like this is the only way he knows to communicate with her. Rarely do you see them just hang, rent a movie at his place, and talk. So was this where it all started.
*I just can't see anyone getting this amped over a MATH competition! Not where it feels up gymnasium's. Maybe with PARENTS, but definitely not students. Voluntarily. Unless it was a part of the school day and they were being made to attend or they could use it to get out of class.
*A MATH FAIR? Ok, I think AMM made that up for this book. Who'd even go to that? I can't even wrap my brain around what kind of projects that you could possibly do about math.
* Let's call it what it is Stacey. You aren't "tired". Your just throwing shade because "the dumb one" shows you up at the area you think your superior at. Yes! People do learn things different ways. If Lindsey got it you should have just stepped back and given Claudia what was due her.

RATING 4: While I like that the book shows a female that's good at math (emphasizing her brain more than her wardrobe) to be honest math isn't the most fascinating topic for a book. I was never really good at it so I didn't even try to solve the problems and skipped over those. When I read these growing up I never really noticed then how arrogant Stacey can be. Instead of being happy that Claudia's showing some confidence in math (which she goes to great lengths in her descriptions of Claudia EVERY SINGLE BOOK to point out her disinterest in school and what a poor student she is) she tries to show her superiority over Claudia's methods. This drives me CRAZY! Just because your way works for YOU that doesn't mean that it's the ONLY way to do something. People shouldn't be expected to do things the same way. And people who think that are narrow-minded. The math fair sounded boring and I know the sub-plot had to tie in with the main one but I have NEVER heard of someone having a math-fair and for good reason. It's as unlikely as high school students getting amped over a math competition. That's kind of like Saved By The Bell where there's a turn out for a chess meet. RIIIIGHT! SUUUURE THERE IS!

[Rachel Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember enjoying the math problems in this book as a child, even though I could never solve them. To be honest, I'm even more perplexed as an adult - my math abilities obviously peaked when I was a kid! Stacey was never one of my favourite BSC characters and this book isn't among one of the best in the series. There are three main plots - Stacey joining the Mathletes and helping them to win; Stacey's dad losing his job and wanting to spend lots of time with her; and Claudia taking over Stacey's tutoring job. The Mathletes storyline was nice as it showed that there was more to Stacey than boys and fashion, and I could understand Stacey's frustration at her dad only being in her life when he didn't have a job. But truthfully, my favourite bit was Claudia teaching Lindsay to do maths and proving that you don't have to be a genius to tutor younger children. All in all, the book covered a lot of issues but wasn't as compelling as some of the earlier books. 8/10

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so glad Stacey finally got a book about her math skills! Before that, she would narrate being in math class in detail, so it’s about time this came out!

Stacey joins the Mathletes team, but is worried about being seen as a nerd, which is silly, since Mary Anne and Mallory fit that profile somewhat and they’re friends. Needless to say, of course SMS wins when they have a competition with another school from another town, thanks to Staceys problem solving skills

On the side, Claudia is trying to tutor baby sitting charges in math, with Stacey’s help and the kids also have their own math fair

Also I found Stacey judgmental and cranky in her narration overall, but I enjoyed reading about all the math and remembered being good at it in middle school though nothing like the mathletes.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOT a rating I had expected to give a book this late in the series, but what can I say? I'm a geek and I LOVED it. I even did all the math problems along with Stacey (and got them all right, thank you very much - DIAL-A-CALCulator strikes again). I also appreciated that Stacey didn't get all stupid about spending time with her dad, but ended up making (mostly) the right decisions.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which Stacey joins the Mathletes, which I thought was awesome because I'm a total math nerd.

[はやて 芬 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can't remember the content of this book, except that there is a lot of maths problems so I enjoyed reading this book since I love maths.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that made me give books about Stacey a second chance