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The Baby-Sitters Club #65
Stacey's Big Crush
When a handsome student teacher fills in for the absent Mr. Zizmore, Stacey gets a seemingly incurable case of puppy love
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
62 people are currently reading
830 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,122 books3,085 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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December 14, 2010
i had forgotten that this is totally one of my all-time favorite babysitters club books! i had forgotten due to the fact that the story is ridiculous & kind of icky. but peter lerangis worked magic with a premise that could have gone very bad.
so, we all know that stacey's main character trait, aside from being a sophisticated new yorker & having diabetes, is that she loves math. this book opens with stacey sitting in match class. she is having trouble concentrating because spring has once upon descended upon the fair burg that is stoneybrook, & the air is full of the scent of lilacs. apparently, stacey has a kind of excessive relationship with that smell, & it is causing her to have all kinds of romantic daydreams & flights of fancy, so she's not paying too much attention to mr. zizmore's algebra problems. she perks up at the end of class though, when mr. zizmore explains that a student teacher from "stoneybrook college" is going to be teaching for the last few weeks of school. the student teacher's name is wesley ellenburg, & stacey is like, "great. we're getting a huge nerd for a student teacher." like "stacey mcgill" is the epitome of class & sophistication. (sorry, i have always had this weird antipathy toward the name "stacey," especially when it is spelled with an extraneous "e" like that.)
after school that day, stacey walks home with dawn & mary anne. while they're sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, a neighbor named mrs. stone comes strolling up. she explains that she & her husband are going out of town for a few days, & they've hired someone to look after their small farm in their absence, but she's hoping that mary anne & dawn might be available to take care of elvira, who is only two months old & still needs a lot of special care & attention. as the conversation progresses, stacey gets freaked because she thinks they are talking about a baby, & mrs. stone says that elvira is always eating garbage, but the girls can keep her in the barn & everything will be okay. stacey asks, "what or who is elvira?" & mrs. stone says, "a kid." stacey says her heart sinks at this information, & she's about two seconds away from calling child protective services. then mrs. stone clarifies, "a baby goat." which should have been kind of obvious when dawns asked if elvira had horns yet, but hey. stacey's good at math, not conversational context clues. anyway, dawn & mary anne agree to look after elvira.
the next day in school, stacey meets her student math teacher. & it turns out that he's totally hot. she thinks he look like tom cruise, but i'm ignoring that because i'm of the opinion that tom cruise is more fit to live under a bridge like the troll he is than be described as "hot". also, he's about two feet tall. anyway, the point is, stacey is in L-U-V. again. with an older man. again. someone's got daddy issues.
the teacher tells the students to call him wes, & all the girls are crushing on him in short order. one of the boys tries to use a fake accent on him, & when wes catches him out, he wins over the boys in the class too. stacey tries to do really well with the classwork & her homework in order to impress wes. because dudes just can't get enough of girls that are good with math. actually, i think it's cool that stacey's crush motivates her to try to do well in school, since so many girls try to dumb themselves down to get boys' attention. not that wes is a boy. it's important to remember that he is 22, & therefore, stacey is being delusional & kind of icky.
she decides out of nowhere that wes prefers women in dresses & skirts, so she agonizes over which of her best skirts & dresses to wear to school every day. i personally don't give two goddamns over what clothes dudes like on ladies. i started making more of an effort to not schlump around the house in pajamas all day because i know jared prefers it when i wear actual clothes, but that's as far as i go. when dudes are critical of my clothes, it's a dealbreaker for me. however, it's important to remember that wes has not actually said anything positive or negative about stacey's clothes, & her speculations about his opinion of her appearance are all a function of her own crazy crush on him.
turns out that charlotte also has a crush on a boy in her class, a boy named bruce cominsky. stacey catches charlotte experimenting with her mother's make-up one day while she's sitting, & charlotte spills the beans & asks for stacey's advice. charlotte wants to know how you know the difference between love & a crush. stacey doesn't know how to answer her, & it starts making her wonder if maybe her feelings for wes are love.
stacey? they are not. obviously no one has ever really succeeded in describing exactly the difference between a crush & love, but you definitely know it when you're in it (love, that is), & 13-year-olds are not really capable of it. especially with their 22-year-old math teachers that they have been having class with for all of a couple of days & with whom they do not have any kind of relationship. but lerangis really does an awesome job of describing that whole teen crush internal dynamic.
after class one day, wes asks stacey to stay behind. his desk is covered in papers & he needs help organizing everything. stacey says something like, "wow, what a mess!" & then castigates herself silently for "making fun" of wes's disorganization. "just what he wanted to hear," she thinks. i think any dude you can't tease every now & again is not a dude worth crushing on, but hey. wes rolls with it just fine, & stacey suggests that he organize his papers in the hanging folders in the bottom drawer of mr. zizmore's filing cabinet. while wes works on that, he gives stacey the task of averaging the students' grades. which is SO unprofessional. students should not be allowed near the grade book.
a few days later, he asks her to stay behind again because the filing system worked too well & he's a fucking dumbass who filed forms he was supposed to fill out & return to the administrators, like his W4. for some reason, he is incapable of rooting through the filing cabinet & finding the W4 on his own. so stacey of course helps him out, & then he gives her a ride to claudia's house for the babysitters club meeting. through all of this, she seriously expects him to ask her out on a date. all of her friends throughout the book keep focusing on how wes is practically in a nursing home compared to them, but look at it in the reverse. a 22-year-old teacher asking out one of his barely-teenage students? GROSS. naturally, he does not ask her out. but he does brush her hand at one point when changing gears & stacey thinks it must mean he likes her. again, gross, but also very true to the teenage crush mindset.
meanwhile, mary anne & stacey are taking elvira with them on all their sitting jobs. doesn't strike me as a great idea, for the kids or the goat, but hey. all the kids in town love elvira & want to walk her on her leash & play games with her. though nicky pike breaks the rules & lets go of the leash at one point, causing elvira to break into the goldmans' garage & eat their garbage.
finally stacey can't handle her feelings anymore, & she decides to express them in a terrible poem, which she writes out in her best i-dotted-with-a-heart handwriting & her favorite gold ink pen. she gives it to wes after class, & actually stands there while he reads it. for serious? he's like, "uh...thanks. it's...beautiful. i have to go now..." stacey is all like, what does it mean? it means he's just not that into, stacey. he prefers his dates to be old enough to drive.
at first, stacey is embarrassed, but then she starts thinking about how boys mature more slowly than girls, so maybe he just doesn't know how to express his feelings for her. dude! his feelings basically amount to, "i do not want to get arrested over this girl." come on. stacey decides to take another chance on love & stays behind after class AGAIN, where she straight up tells wes that she has a crush on him. he turns pale & kind of hangs his head, & stacey bolts out of the room. again, she is sad because his reaction made her think her feelings were not reciprocated...& then she manages to AGAIN talk herself into thinking that he might like her, & that he just hasn't made his move because they are still student & teacher. she thinks maybe her big chance will come at the end of year spring fling dance, which wes is helping chaperone.
at this point, i have no words. stacey is a real glutton for punishment when it comes to dudes, isn't she? but again, it's very true to the realities of teenagers with crushes, so it's actually kind of awesome.
turns out charlotte also expressed her feelings to the object of her affections via poetry, & it went over like gangbusters. bruce went nuts for her, & even came to her house to recite his own poems under her window. this was a big turn-off for charlotte & she decided she doesn't like him anymore. stacey thinks, "some girls have all the luck." truth. why didn't wes start obsessively stalking stacey after she gave him her terrible poem? those lucky duck stalking victims!
sam calls to ask stacey to the dance, & she almost accepts, but then remembers that having a date might cramp her style with wes. so she tells sam she already has a date. wes wears a tux to the dance, which makes stacey weak in the knees. she asks him to dance & they have a good time dancing to a couple of fast songs. stacey is all, "i've never felt this way with a boy before!" etc etc. again: he's not a boy. he is a man, & he is your teacher. give it a rest. stacey kind of stalks wes around the gym & watches him dance with other people, & then moves in to ask him to dance to a slow song. wes is all, "uh...gee...i'm pretty wiped out from all the dancing i have already done. i think i'm going to sit this one out," & stacey brazenly replies, "the next one might not be so...slow." she is like a cougar in reverse. wes picks up the hint, & is like, "stacey, we need to talk."
he takes her aside & explains that stacey is suffering under the misapprehension that it would be in any way possible for them to have a relationship. wes is her teacher, & he is also nine years older than her, which is a far bigger gap than stacey seems to realize. he says that she is a great, smart, & attractive girl, but this is never ever going to happen, ever. stacey is like, "oh...okay," & is very sad. wes suggests that they be friends, & stacey accepts.
& that's pretty much it. the stones come back from their trip & take elvira back, bruce decides he likes a different girl in charlotte's class (much to charlotte's relief), & stacey learns a valuable lesson about how she is jailbait. nice work, lerangis!
so, we all know that stacey's main character trait, aside from being a sophisticated new yorker & having diabetes, is that she loves math. this book opens with stacey sitting in match class. she is having trouble concentrating because spring has once upon descended upon the fair burg that is stoneybrook, & the air is full of the scent of lilacs. apparently, stacey has a kind of excessive relationship with that smell, & it is causing her to have all kinds of romantic daydreams & flights of fancy, so she's not paying too much attention to mr. zizmore's algebra problems. she perks up at the end of class though, when mr. zizmore explains that a student teacher from "stoneybrook college" is going to be teaching for the last few weeks of school. the student teacher's name is wesley ellenburg, & stacey is like, "great. we're getting a huge nerd for a student teacher." like "stacey mcgill" is the epitome of class & sophistication. (sorry, i have always had this weird antipathy toward the name "stacey," especially when it is spelled with an extraneous "e" like that.)
after school that day, stacey walks home with dawn & mary anne. while they're sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, a neighbor named mrs. stone comes strolling up. she explains that she & her husband are going out of town for a few days, & they've hired someone to look after their small farm in their absence, but she's hoping that mary anne & dawn might be available to take care of elvira, who is only two months old & still needs a lot of special care & attention. as the conversation progresses, stacey gets freaked because she thinks they are talking about a baby, & mrs. stone says that elvira is always eating garbage, but the girls can keep her in the barn & everything will be okay. stacey asks, "what or who is elvira?" & mrs. stone says, "a kid." stacey says her heart sinks at this information, & she's about two seconds away from calling child protective services. then mrs. stone clarifies, "a baby goat." which should have been kind of obvious when dawns asked if elvira had horns yet, but hey. stacey's good at math, not conversational context clues. anyway, dawn & mary anne agree to look after elvira.
the next day in school, stacey meets her student math teacher. & it turns out that he's totally hot. she thinks he look like tom cruise, but i'm ignoring that because i'm of the opinion that tom cruise is more fit to live under a bridge like the troll he is than be described as "hot". also, he's about two feet tall. anyway, the point is, stacey is in L-U-V. again. with an older man. again. someone's got daddy issues.
the teacher tells the students to call him wes, & all the girls are crushing on him in short order. one of the boys tries to use a fake accent on him, & when wes catches him out, he wins over the boys in the class too. stacey tries to do really well with the classwork & her homework in order to impress wes. because dudes just can't get enough of girls that are good with math. actually, i think it's cool that stacey's crush motivates her to try to do well in school, since so many girls try to dumb themselves down to get boys' attention. not that wes is a boy. it's important to remember that he is 22, & therefore, stacey is being delusional & kind of icky.
she decides out of nowhere that wes prefers women in dresses & skirts, so she agonizes over which of her best skirts & dresses to wear to school every day. i personally don't give two goddamns over what clothes dudes like on ladies. i started making more of an effort to not schlump around the house in pajamas all day because i know jared prefers it when i wear actual clothes, but that's as far as i go. when dudes are critical of my clothes, it's a dealbreaker for me. however, it's important to remember that wes has not actually said anything positive or negative about stacey's clothes, & her speculations about his opinion of her appearance are all a function of her own crazy crush on him.
turns out that charlotte also has a crush on a boy in her class, a boy named bruce cominsky. stacey catches charlotte experimenting with her mother's make-up one day while she's sitting, & charlotte spills the beans & asks for stacey's advice. charlotte wants to know how you know the difference between love & a crush. stacey doesn't know how to answer her, & it starts making her wonder if maybe her feelings for wes are love.
stacey? they are not. obviously no one has ever really succeeded in describing exactly the difference between a crush & love, but you definitely know it when you're in it (love, that is), & 13-year-olds are not really capable of it. especially with their 22-year-old math teachers that they have been having class with for all of a couple of days & with whom they do not have any kind of relationship. but lerangis really does an awesome job of describing that whole teen crush internal dynamic.
after class one day, wes asks stacey to stay behind. his desk is covered in papers & he needs help organizing everything. stacey says something like, "wow, what a mess!" & then castigates herself silently for "making fun" of wes's disorganization. "just what he wanted to hear," she thinks. i think any dude you can't tease every now & again is not a dude worth crushing on, but hey. wes rolls with it just fine, & stacey suggests that he organize his papers in the hanging folders in the bottom drawer of mr. zizmore's filing cabinet. while wes works on that, he gives stacey the task of averaging the students' grades. which is SO unprofessional. students should not be allowed near the grade book.
a few days later, he asks her to stay behind again because the filing system worked too well & he's a fucking dumbass who filed forms he was supposed to fill out & return to the administrators, like his W4. for some reason, he is incapable of rooting through the filing cabinet & finding the W4 on his own. so stacey of course helps him out, & then he gives her a ride to claudia's house for the babysitters club meeting. through all of this, she seriously expects him to ask her out on a date. all of her friends throughout the book keep focusing on how wes is practically in a nursing home compared to them, but look at it in the reverse. a 22-year-old teacher asking out one of his barely-teenage students? GROSS. naturally, he does not ask her out. but he does brush her hand at one point when changing gears & stacey thinks it must mean he likes her. again, gross, but also very true to the teenage crush mindset.
meanwhile, mary anne & stacey are taking elvira with them on all their sitting jobs. doesn't strike me as a great idea, for the kids or the goat, but hey. all the kids in town love elvira & want to walk her on her leash & play games with her. though nicky pike breaks the rules & lets go of the leash at one point, causing elvira to break into the goldmans' garage & eat their garbage.
finally stacey can't handle her feelings anymore, & she decides to express them in a terrible poem, which she writes out in her best i-dotted-with-a-heart handwriting & her favorite gold ink pen. she gives it to wes after class, & actually stands there while he reads it. for serious? he's like, "uh...thanks. it's...beautiful. i have to go now..." stacey is all like, what does it mean? it means he's just not that into, stacey. he prefers his dates to be old enough to drive.
at first, stacey is embarrassed, but then she starts thinking about how boys mature more slowly than girls, so maybe he just doesn't know how to express his feelings for her. dude! his feelings basically amount to, "i do not want to get arrested over this girl." come on. stacey decides to take another chance on love & stays behind after class AGAIN, where she straight up tells wes that she has a crush on him. he turns pale & kind of hangs his head, & stacey bolts out of the room. again, she is sad because his reaction made her think her feelings were not reciprocated...& then she manages to AGAIN talk herself into thinking that he might like her, & that he just hasn't made his move because they are still student & teacher. she thinks maybe her big chance will come at the end of year spring fling dance, which wes is helping chaperone.
at this point, i have no words. stacey is a real glutton for punishment when it comes to dudes, isn't she? but again, it's very true to the realities of teenagers with crushes, so it's actually kind of awesome.
turns out charlotte also expressed her feelings to the object of her affections via poetry, & it went over like gangbusters. bruce went nuts for her, & even came to her house to recite his own poems under her window. this was a big turn-off for charlotte & she decided she doesn't like him anymore. stacey thinks, "some girls have all the luck." truth. why didn't wes start obsessively stalking stacey after she gave him her terrible poem? those lucky duck stalking victims!
sam calls to ask stacey to the dance, & she almost accepts, but then remembers that having a date might cramp her style with wes. so she tells sam she already has a date. wes wears a tux to the dance, which makes stacey weak in the knees. she asks him to dance & they have a good time dancing to a couple of fast songs. stacey is all, "i've never felt this way with a boy before!" etc etc. again: he's not a boy. he is a man, & he is your teacher. give it a rest. stacey kind of stalks wes around the gym & watches him dance with other people, & then moves in to ask him to dance to a slow song. wes is all, "uh...gee...i'm pretty wiped out from all the dancing i have already done. i think i'm going to sit this one out," & stacey brazenly replies, "the next one might not be so...slow." she is like a cougar in reverse. wes picks up the hint, & is like, "stacey, we need to talk."
he takes her aside & explains that stacey is suffering under the misapprehension that it would be in any way possible for them to have a relationship. wes is her teacher, & he is also nine years older than her, which is a far bigger gap than stacey seems to realize. he says that she is a great, smart, & attractive girl, but this is never ever going to happen, ever. stacey is like, "oh...okay," & is very sad. wes suggests that they be friends, & stacey accepts.
& that's pretty much it. the stones come back from their trip & take elvira back, bruce decides he likes a different girl in charlotte's class (much to charlotte's relief), & stacey learns a valuable lesson about how she is jailbait. nice work, lerangis!
June 30, 2016
this is my first time reading this book!
in this slightly creepy book by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis stacey has a crush on her math class's student teacher. this is no Dawn and the Older Boy-type situation or even a maige-type situation: this is a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD who is into a TWENTY TWO YEAR OLD. anyway, he obviously doesn't reciprocate, but he doesn't shoot stacey down as quickly and as explicitly as I would have liked. in a halfway annoying, halfway adorable subplot, we meet elvira stone, the baby goat! mary anne and dawn are babysitting for her for a few weeks, and the bsc charges are mostly obsessed with her.
highlights:
-I WANT A BABY GOAT. I appreciate that peter went into all the details about why baby goats are a pain in the butt, but still I WANT A BABY GOAT.
-charlotte has a crush on a boy in her class, bruce cominsky. she writes him a love poem and he reciprocates by showering her with too much attention, so she stops having a crush on him. I love it.
-there's a scene where the pikes perform the three billy goats gruff with elvira as one of the goats, but she refuses to perform and instead tries to buddy up with adam pike, who is playing the troll. it's very cute.
-stacey's poem is actually kind of good...at least for a thirteen year old:
I see two stars in summer's night
Hovering, lost, in blinding light,
Each so dull in heaven's net,
So each remains, as yet unmet.
But Fortune moves in strangest ways;
It lengthens nights, it shortens days.
May this night end, and day begin
And bring two young people back again.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-sam thomas asks stacey to her school's dance. she says no, hoping that wes (the teacher) will ask her (because she is seriously that naive). he doesn't, and sam ends up going with a different girl from stacey's grade. huh? sam is in 10th grade, and dating stacey is supposed to be an exception for him (as expressed in Starring the Baby-sitters Club!). has he decided he can't get enough of middle schoolers?
-stacey says that mary anne cries so easily that she once saw her cry about a limping squirrel. huh? that sounds INCREDIBLY SAD. I don't cry that easily but that would make me cry too.
-there's a reference to stacey writing down her assignment and dotting the i's with hearts, because she likes wes so much. SHE ALREADY DOES THAT. all of her writing has the i's dotted with hearts.
-why do the baby sitters let the kids hold elvira's leash? if so why not supervise? of COURSE nicky pike let elvira go.
-wes gives stacey a ride home (serious don't stand so close to me vibes here), which seems inappropriate. and then when she gives him her poem and later says she is in love with him, he doesn't shut her down enough. when at the dance they talk about how they can't be together, he says he likes stacey but it's not appropriate. HUH? don't say that at all! say something like, "look, I'm not interested in dating people who are underage. you may think you're not a kid, but to me you are." not, "I like you, but we can't be together."
stacey outfits:
-"I found myself staring at a short, rayon challis tank dress my mom had ordered for me. It was navy with white polka dots. The fitted top tapered down to a flared skirt, with white buttons down the front...Claudia suggested...the new white sneakers I'd just bought, made of eyelet canvas with lace shoelaces."
-"It was a calf-length silk/cotton dress with pastel floral print, a scoop neck, and a shirred skirt that was slit to above the knee on one side...Then I checked my makeup in the mirror, slipped on my bracelet and silver hoop earrings, and stepped into my flats."
jessi outfit:
-"Jessi looked sensational, in an indigo blue unitard with a matching open-mesh oversized cardigan."
snacks in claudia's room:
-all-natural crispy rancho-style veggie-rice nuggets with nacho substitute cheese-food flavor behind her pillow -- get a catchier name!
-kit kats (n.s.)
-mallomars (n.s.)
-pretzels in her sock drawer
in this slightly creepy book by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis stacey has a crush on her math class's student teacher. this is no Dawn and the Older Boy-type situation or even a maige-type situation: this is a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD who is into a TWENTY TWO YEAR OLD. anyway, he obviously doesn't reciprocate, but he doesn't shoot stacey down as quickly and as explicitly as I would have liked. in a halfway annoying, halfway adorable subplot, we meet elvira stone, the baby goat! mary anne and dawn are babysitting for her for a few weeks, and the bsc charges are mostly obsessed with her.
highlights:
-I WANT A BABY GOAT. I appreciate that peter went into all the details about why baby goats are a pain in the butt, but still I WANT A BABY GOAT.
-charlotte has a crush on a boy in her class, bruce cominsky. she writes him a love poem and he reciprocates by showering her with too much attention, so she stops having a crush on him. I love it.
-there's a scene where the pikes perform the three billy goats gruff with elvira as one of the goats, but she refuses to perform and instead tries to buddy up with adam pike, who is playing the troll. it's very cute.
-stacey's poem is actually kind of good...at least for a thirteen year old:
I see two stars in summer's night
Hovering, lost, in blinding light,
Each so dull in heaven's net,
So each remains, as yet unmet.
But Fortune moves in strangest ways;
It lengthens nights, it shortens days.
May this night end, and day begin
And bring two young people back again.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-sam thomas asks stacey to her school's dance. she says no, hoping that wes (the teacher) will ask her (because she is seriously that naive). he doesn't, and sam ends up going with a different girl from stacey's grade. huh? sam is in 10th grade, and dating stacey is supposed to be an exception for him (as expressed in Starring the Baby-sitters Club!). has he decided he can't get enough of middle schoolers?
-stacey says that mary anne cries so easily that she once saw her cry about a limping squirrel. huh? that sounds INCREDIBLY SAD. I don't cry that easily but that would make me cry too.
-there's a reference to stacey writing down her assignment and dotting the i's with hearts, because she likes wes so much. SHE ALREADY DOES THAT. all of her writing has the i's dotted with hearts.
-why do the baby sitters let the kids hold elvira's leash? if so why not supervise? of COURSE nicky pike let elvira go.
-wes gives stacey a ride home (serious don't stand so close to me vibes here), which seems inappropriate. and then when she gives him her poem and later says she is in love with him, he doesn't shut her down enough. when at the dance they talk about how they can't be together, he says he likes stacey but it's not appropriate. HUH? don't say that at all! say something like, "look, I'm not interested in dating people who are underage. you may think you're not a kid, but to me you are." not, "I like you, but we can't be together."
stacey outfits:
-"I found myself staring at a short, rayon challis tank dress my mom had ordered for me. It was navy with white polka dots. The fitted top tapered down to a flared skirt, with white buttons down the front...Claudia suggested...the new white sneakers I'd just bought, made of eyelet canvas with lace shoelaces."
-"It was a calf-length silk/cotton dress with pastel floral print, a scoop neck, and a shirred skirt that was slit to above the knee on one side...Then I checked my makeup in the mirror, slipped on my bracelet and silver hoop earrings, and stepped into my flats."
jessi outfit:
-"Jessi looked sensational, in an indigo blue unitard with a matching open-mesh oversized cardigan."
snacks in claudia's room:
-all-natural crispy rancho-style veggie-rice nuggets with nacho substitute cheese-food flavor behind her pillow -- get a catchier name!
-kit kats (n.s.)
-mallomars (n.s.)
-pretzels in her sock drawer
May 24, 2025
Stacey’s Big Crush (Updated)
Stacey is paying more attention to the lilacs outside than Mr. Zizimore’s math class. He calls on her and she has no idea what he says. He says he knows it must be spring. Mr. Z wraps it up a little early and makes the announcement that tomorrow will be the last day he’ll be teaching the class. As part of the Master’s program at Stonybrooke Community College, a student teacher will be taking over for the last month. The students groan. He expects this and smiles. He says he’ll drop in from time to time and be back to give the final exam.
The new teacher’s name is (Wesley) Ellenburg and he’ll do the next unit and give the final. Stacey has already decided she doesn’t like him and pictures him as a nerd with no sense of humor. He tells them don’t give him a hard time. After school, Stacey tells the BSC about it. Kristy says she’ll survive. When Stacey goes home she thinks about Maryanne and Logan and wishes she had a boyfriend. She thinks about calling Sam but they’ve kinda drifted apart lately.
At the meeting, Stacey gets a job with Charlotte. Things are looking up. On Tuesday, Maryanne and Dawn invite Stacey over. Mrs. Stone stops by and saves she’s going out of town and needs someone to watch her 2-month-old Elvira. She goes on to say she needs a lot of care since her mother died during her birth and she and Harold (her husband) are raising her by themselves. She says she’s ok but she wouldn’t dare leave her alone. She might eat the kitchen trash and mail. Then one of the horses might kick her.
She asks if Maryanne and Dawn will keep her in the barn and she’ll pay them. Stacey is looking like WTH! When Dawn asks if she has horns, Mrs. Stone clarifies she’s a baby goat. Dawn and Maryanne say sounds like fun and Mrs. Stone takes them all to her farm and introduces them to Elvira and they all think she’s adorable. They play chase with her and watch her butt around a tennis ball. Maryanne and Dawn say they’ll ask their parents that night.
Wesley Ellenburg turns out to look like Tom Cruise and at first sight he makes Stacey weak in the knees. If you want to actually SEE this all you have to do is watch the episode of SAVED BY THE BELL where they have the substitute and all the girls look at him stary-eyed and the guys groan like “this punk”. He introduces himself. He’s a senior working on his BA and he likes an informal class. Lots of discussions and questions. Math is his favorite subject. Stacey tells herself nine years isn’t *so* bad.
He tells them to call him Wes. He’s a good listener and sensitive. He also has a good sense of humor and isn’t rattled by one of the guys in the class who pretends he’s a foreign student. He just goes South of France. That’s good. Do you speak German too. After trying to freeze him in her minute after class lets out, she says goodbye to him, and tells him her name. TBSC reactions are mixed. Maryanne thinks he sounds gorgeous! Kristy says she won’t tell Sam. Dawn wants to know if she got his number. Jessi thinks he sounds old (He’s 22). Mal thinks its like going out with your father. Or grandfather (Kristy). Kristy says maybe he’ll wait for her and she can prop him up at the wedding.
Stacey decides to wear a short, rayon challis tank dress. It’s navy with white polka dots. Claudia suggest her eyelet canvas sneakers with laces but she reminds Stacey WES IS A TEACHER! When Stacey sits for Charlotte, she asks can she help with her homework but she’s distracted. She has a daisy on her desk with petals missing. Claudia calls and Stacey has to help her with her homework. When she gets back to Charlotte she’s in her mother’s room trying on her makeup. (Before she came Charlotte had a dark smudge on her cheek and she said it was magic marker).
Stacey guesses she’s into boys and she admits she likes Bruce Cominsky a little. He says he hates girls but his friend George says he doesn’t. Today he came up to her and said he wanted to know if she saw his brownie. She thinks he likes her but how can you tell. Stacey tells her sometimes you can just feel it by what they say or the things they do. Or if he goes out of his way to be near you. Charlotte says he stuck his tongue out at her one day, but then he smiled at another. But it could have been that he was just laughing at her because she stepped on gum. She asks should she say something to him other than hi. He makes fun of her when she does. There’s a girl named Diane that likes him to but she’s sure he doesn’t like her because he always says Ew, Dumschat.
Charlotte asks if Stacey’s ever had a crush and she says she has one right now. Then she tells them about Wes. Charlotte asks does she love him and Stacey says no and it’s too soon to tell. She asks what the difference is. Stacey says a crush is more sudden. Love takes longer. After getting Charlotte to focuss on (and finish) her homework, Stacey finishes hers and then concocts all these romantic scenerios of her and Wes. She wonders if it is a crush. It’s so strong!
Wes it also wearing navy at school. Stacey thinks it’s a sign. In class, he keeps picking Stacey to explain math problems. He says goodbye to her by name. On Friday, Wes hands back their assignments Stacey’s grade is A (perfect). In her head he’s about to ask her out. He calls her out to the class pointing out how hard the problems were and that she was the only one that got them all correct. After this every time there’s a hard problem, he calls her to the board. After class, Stacey finds out he’ll probably be there all weekend trying to get organized. His desk is a mess! She suggests he use Mr. Z’s file cabinet and calls her a genius. He asks her to stay after school to help him … sort out papers.
Stacey’s was supposed to walk home with Maryanne and Dawn and explains why and they all tease her about wedding plans. They say the other girls were saying she was *hogging* him. They’ve all seen him now and for the most part they think he’s too old for her. Stacey doesn’t care. She says it wouldn’t matter to her if he had a walker and a hearing aid. She and he are in the beginning of a relationship.
Elivira gets a lot of visitors on her first day. Jenny, Buddy, Suzi, Matt, and Haley. She loves the attention and chases them and plays hide and seek with the kids. Buddy sings to her as he feeds her a bottle. They talk about talking her to sitting jobs but then decide she’s too young and they don’t have a wagon. Dawn decides to take Elvira thinking Jaimee will love her. Mrs. Newton isn’t too crazy about the idea. Jaimee asks WAY too hyper around Elvira and starts to make goat noises in her face. This startles her and she butts him in the behind. Jaimee though thinks this is hilarious. Lucy tho starts to cry.
The Hobarts come over (with Claudia). Then Jessi comes over with Char and Becca. Then Mal comes by with Nicky, Margo, and Claire. The kids take turns holding her leash but Nickey lets it go and they can’t find her. (Mrs. Stone told them to never take her off the leash and to keep her tied up). When they find her she’s gotten into the Goldman’s house and is eating their trash. Dawn goes into the Goldman’s and cleans everything up. (How was she able to get into the house? How did the goat? It says their an older couple did they forget to lock their house or do they just leave it this way all the time? No wonder in Claudia and the Phanton Caller they got robbed. Makes PERFECT SENSE now!)
Dawn has a guilty conscious so she takes Jaimee to confess. They laugh it off tho and offer them fruit salad. These people are just begging to get robbed again. Next time it won’t be a goat. Wes asks Stacey to stay after again. He filed everything away and the principal asked him for his insurance, W4 forms, and his progress reports. He feels like a wuss because he told him he’d get them to him to him today. This makes Stacey love him even more for showing his unsure side. So, he has her average everyone’s grades.
Then she helps him fill out forms and finds out a lot of personal information about him. They work for 2 hrs and Stacey realizes she’s going to be late for a meeting. Wes offers to drive her. He actually sings a love ballot in the car.
Stacey decides to write Wes a poem about two stars coming together -inspired by Shakespere-. Sam calls her and asks her to the Spring Dance, but she tells him she’s already going with someone. (Although she isn’t. She just doesn’t want Wes to know she’s dating someone else in case he asks her out). After class, she gives Wes the poem. He reads it, says it’s beautiful, and then rushes off to “a staff meeting”. Dawn and Maryanne don’t keep Elvira on the teether and can’t keep the garbage out of her reach. Then she throws up. Then the food starts to attract other creatures.
Maryanne decides to take Elivira to the Barrett’s. Marnie takes one look at her and burst out crying. She calms down and they get along after that. They teach Elvira to pull a wagon and then want to charge a quarter a ride. But she can’t pull the extra weight (when tested by Marnie). So, instead Buddy charges a quarter to take pictures with the goat, One of the kids is Charlotte. Charlotte declares her love for Bruce and writes him a poem. He falls helplessly in love and starts to write her three times a day. Now she’s not sure she wants him.
A week goes by. Wes doesn’t say anything to Stacey about the poem. Stacey decides to be direct. She stays after class and flat out tells him she has a crush on him, but no she think she’s in love with him. Wes turns pale. Stacey sees he had no idea and doesn’t feel the same. She picks up her books and leaves. Claudia comes by to comfort her later. When she has to go to class, Stacey still feels humiliated but, in a way, relieved. Wes now acts uncomfortable around her and doesn’t look at her. He makes an announcement that he’ll teach through Wednesday and then they’ll see him on Friday. He’s chaperoning the Spring Dance.
Wes gets a little more comfortable with Stacey again. One day he tells her Mr. Z is giving him a very high recommendation and she congratulates him. On Wednesday tho she misses it up and asks if she’ll see him around. He says maybe but he’ll see her at the dance. Despite everything she’s seen she interprets this as a sign there’s hope. Dawn sits for the Pikes and they decide to put on a special play of the Billy Goats Griff with Elvira as the star. During the play, she gets loose and they again find her in some garbage.
Stacey asks Wes to dance at the Spring Dance and he says “Sure!” He dances with her on a couple of fast songs but when she asks for a slow dance, he says they need to have a talk. He says he did like the poem. It was beautiful. He says they can’t have a relationship. Stacey gets it and asks if he’s married or has a girlfriend. He says no but thirteen is a long way from twenty two. She says she’s going to get a drink and he thanks her for the dance. She sees Sam dancing with a girl named Amanda and Wes talking so some of the teachers. Stacey decides to leave and walks out.
She goes to Dawn and Maryannes to say goodbye to Elivira-tho she doesn’t feel like it-. Charlotte sneaks away to the going away party to get away from Bruce who showed up at her house and was reciting poems under her window. Eventually he gets tired of her avoiding him and goes with the girl that previously he was disgusted by.
My Thoughts
(Imitating Ursula) PATHETIC! This is book 2 of Stacey being infatuated by someone older that isn’t studdin her! But do I think Wes crossed a line? YES! It’s ok to ask a student to help you out in the CLASSROOM. That’s what teacher’s aides are for. I don’t know about them helping you fill out personal papers. That was a little inappropriate for a student to know that much about your personal life. But DEFINTELY it’s not appropriate to let one ride in your car. And even then if your taking them home and it’s innocent, singing a love ballad. Wes should have apologized to Stacey and said I was wrong. I let things get a little personal and if my actions made you think something other than I like you as a student I apologize. It wasn’t *all* on Stacey. To be so smart, Wes didn’t THINK! I can’t believe Stacey tho even told this guy she was in love with him. That was BOLD! I would NEVER tell a teacher that. The least I probably would have done is fantasized about them in my journal. But a TEACHER? I don’t even think when I was in middle school there were any teachers that looked all that fine. I mean they were TEACHERS. I just could not help thinking of the episode of Saved By The Bell where all the girls feel in love with that sub. Wes actually kind of looks like that guy slightly. Then there was the plot about the goat and how it was a problem that it kept getting into people’s garbage. IT’S A GOAT! And then what bothered me is just because you think this goat is cute, you can’t assume that you can just take it to these kids house and they’ll all fall in love with it like you did. Some kids have fears of animals and they aren’t like Marnie. I found it interesting that none of them really did. They just laughed and had a good ol time when it butted them in the behind. IJS I don’t think I’d find that humerous and probably quite a few little children might not like this. I have a cousin that doesn’t care for dogs or even butterflies. I can just imagine his reaction to a goat chasing after him. Sometimes I think the BSC is *too* into children that they don’t always realize that not everything is for *all* children. The goat could have really hurt Jaime-even tho it IS a baby-. Just like Stacey ought to realize just because she’s from NY and sophisticated and can fill out a bikini not all guys are into *her*.
Rating: 4
Stacey is paying more attention to the lilacs outside than Mr. Zizimore’s math class. He calls on her and she has no idea what he says. He says he knows it must be spring. Mr. Z wraps it up a little early and makes the announcement that tomorrow will be the last day he’ll be teaching the class. As part of the Master’s program at Stonybrooke Community College, a student teacher will be taking over for the last month. The students groan. He expects this and smiles. He says he’ll drop in from time to time and be back to give the final exam.
The new teacher’s name is (Wesley) Ellenburg and he’ll do the next unit and give the final. Stacey has already decided she doesn’t like him and pictures him as a nerd with no sense of humor. He tells them don’t give him a hard time. After school, Stacey tells the BSC about it. Kristy says she’ll survive. When Stacey goes home she thinks about Maryanne and Logan and wishes she had a boyfriend. She thinks about calling Sam but they’ve kinda drifted apart lately.
At the meeting, Stacey gets a job with Charlotte. Things are looking up. On Tuesday, Maryanne and Dawn invite Stacey over. Mrs. Stone stops by and saves she’s going out of town and needs someone to watch her 2-month-old Elvira. She goes on to say she needs a lot of care since her mother died during her birth and she and Harold (her husband) are raising her by themselves. She says she’s ok but she wouldn’t dare leave her alone. She might eat the kitchen trash and mail. Then one of the horses might kick her.
She asks if Maryanne and Dawn will keep her in the barn and she’ll pay them. Stacey is looking like WTH! When Dawn asks if she has horns, Mrs. Stone clarifies she’s a baby goat. Dawn and Maryanne say sounds like fun and Mrs. Stone takes them all to her farm and introduces them to Elvira and they all think she’s adorable. They play chase with her and watch her butt around a tennis ball. Maryanne and Dawn say they’ll ask their parents that night.
Wesley Ellenburg turns out to look like Tom Cruise and at first sight he makes Stacey weak in the knees. If you want to actually SEE this all you have to do is watch the episode of SAVED BY THE BELL where they have the substitute and all the girls look at him stary-eyed and the guys groan like “this punk”. He introduces himself. He’s a senior working on his BA and he likes an informal class. Lots of discussions and questions. Math is his favorite subject. Stacey tells herself nine years isn’t *so* bad.
He tells them to call him Wes. He’s a good listener and sensitive. He also has a good sense of humor and isn’t rattled by one of the guys in the class who pretends he’s a foreign student. He just goes South of France. That’s good. Do you speak German too. After trying to freeze him in her minute after class lets out, she says goodbye to him, and tells him her name. TBSC reactions are mixed. Maryanne thinks he sounds gorgeous! Kristy says she won’t tell Sam. Dawn wants to know if she got his number. Jessi thinks he sounds old (He’s 22). Mal thinks its like going out with your father. Or grandfather (Kristy). Kristy says maybe he’ll wait for her and she can prop him up at the wedding.
Stacey decides to wear a short, rayon challis tank dress. It’s navy with white polka dots. Claudia suggest her eyelet canvas sneakers with laces but she reminds Stacey WES IS A TEACHER! When Stacey sits for Charlotte, she asks can she help with her homework but she’s distracted. She has a daisy on her desk with petals missing. Claudia calls and Stacey has to help her with her homework. When she gets back to Charlotte she’s in her mother’s room trying on her makeup. (Before she came Charlotte had a dark smudge on her cheek and she said it was magic marker).
Stacey guesses she’s into boys and she admits she likes Bruce Cominsky a little. He says he hates girls but his friend George says he doesn’t. Today he came up to her and said he wanted to know if she saw his brownie. She thinks he likes her but how can you tell. Stacey tells her sometimes you can just feel it by what they say or the things they do. Or if he goes out of his way to be near you. Charlotte says he stuck his tongue out at her one day, but then he smiled at another. But it could have been that he was just laughing at her because she stepped on gum. She asks should she say something to him other than hi. He makes fun of her when she does. There’s a girl named Diane that likes him to but she’s sure he doesn’t like her because he always says Ew, Dumschat.
Charlotte asks if Stacey’s ever had a crush and she says she has one right now. Then she tells them about Wes. Charlotte asks does she love him and Stacey says no and it’s too soon to tell. She asks what the difference is. Stacey says a crush is more sudden. Love takes longer. After getting Charlotte to focuss on (and finish) her homework, Stacey finishes hers and then concocts all these romantic scenerios of her and Wes. She wonders if it is a crush. It’s so strong!
Wes it also wearing navy at school. Stacey thinks it’s a sign. In class, he keeps picking Stacey to explain math problems. He says goodbye to her by name. On Friday, Wes hands back their assignments Stacey’s grade is A (perfect). In her head he’s about to ask her out. He calls her out to the class pointing out how hard the problems were and that she was the only one that got them all correct. After this every time there’s a hard problem, he calls her to the board. After class, Stacey finds out he’ll probably be there all weekend trying to get organized. His desk is a mess! She suggests he use Mr. Z’s file cabinet and calls her a genius. He asks her to stay after school to help him … sort out papers.
Stacey’s was supposed to walk home with Maryanne and Dawn and explains why and they all tease her about wedding plans. They say the other girls were saying she was *hogging* him. They’ve all seen him now and for the most part they think he’s too old for her. Stacey doesn’t care. She says it wouldn’t matter to her if he had a walker and a hearing aid. She and he are in the beginning of a relationship.
Elivira gets a lot of visitors on her first day. Jenny, Buddy, Suzi, Matt, and Haley. She loves the attention and chases them and plays hide and seek with the kids. Buddy sings to her as he feeds her a bottle. They talk about talking her to sitting jobs but then decide she’s too young and they don’t have a wagon. Dawn decides to take Elvira thinking Jaimee will love her. Mrs. Newton isn’t too crazy about the idea. Jaimee asks WAY too hyper around Elvira and starts to make goat noises in her face. This startles her and she butts him in the behind. Jaimee though thinks this is hilarious. Lucy tho starts to cry.
The Hobarts come over (with Claudia). Then Jessi comes over with Char and Becca. Then Mal comes by with Nicky, Margo, and Claire. The kids take turns holding her leash but Nickey lets it go and they can’t find her. (Mrs. Stone told them to never take her off the leash and to keep her tied up). When they find her she’s gotten into the Goldman’s house and is eating their trash. Dawn goes into the Goldman’s and cleans everything up. (How was she able to get into the house? How did the goat? It says their an older couple did they forget to lock their house or do they just leave it this way all the time? No wonder in Claudia and the Phanton Caller they got robbed. Makes PERFECT SENSE now!)
Dawn has a guilty conscious so she takes Jaimee to confess. They laugh it off tho and offer them fruit salad. These people are just begging to get robbed again. Next time it won’t be a goat. Wes asks Stacey to stay after again. He filed everything away and the principal asked him for his insurance, W4 forms, and his progress reports. He feels like a wuss because he told him he’d get them to him to him today. This makes Stacey love him even more for showing his unsure side. So, he has her average everyone’s grades.
Then she helps him fill out forms and finds out a lot of personal information about him. They work for 2 hrs and Stacey realizes she’s going to be late for a meeting. Wes offers to drive her. He actually sings a love ballot in the car.
Stacey decides to write Wes a poem about two stars coming together -inspired by Shakespere-. Sam calls her and asks her to the Spring Dance, but she tells him she’s already going with someone. (Although she isn’t. She just doesn’t want Wes to know she’s dating someone else in case he asks her out). After class, she gives Wes the poem. He reads it, says it’s beautiful, and then rushes off to “a staff meeting”. Dawn and Maryanne don’t keep Elvira on the teether and can’t keep the garbage out of her reach. Then she throws up. Then the food starts to attract other creatures.
Maryanne decides to take Elivira to the Barrett’s. Marnie takes one look at her and burst out crying. She calms down and they get along after that. They teach Elvira to pull a wagon and then want to charge a quarter a ride. But she can’t pull the extra weight (when tested by Marnie). So, instead Buddy charges a quarter to take pictures with the goat, One of the kids is Charlotte. Charlotte declares her love for Bruce and writes him a poem. He falls helplessly in love and starts to write her three times a day. Now she’s not sure she wants him.
A week goes by. Wes doesn’t say anything to Stacey about the poem. Stacey decides to be direct. She stays after class and flat out tells him she has a crush on him, but no she think she’s in love with him. Wes turns pale. Stacey sees he had no idea and doesn’t feel the same. She picks up her books and leaves. Claudia comes by to comfort her later. When she has to go to class, Stacey still feels humiliated but, in a way, relieved. Wes now acts uncomfortable around her and doesn’t look at her. He makes an announcement that he’ll teach through Wednesday and then they’ll see him on Friday. He’s chaperoning the Spring Dance.
Wes gets a little more comfortable with Stacey again. One day he tells her Mr. Z is giving him a very high recommendation and she congratulates him. On Wednesday tho she misses it up and asks if she’ll see him around. He says maybe but he’ll see her at the dance. Despite everything she’s seen she interprets this as a sign there’s hope. Dawn sits for the Pikes and they decide to put on a special play of the Billy Goats Griff with Elvira as the star. During the play, she gets loose and they again find her in some garbage.
Stacey asks Wes to dance at the Spring Dance and he says “Sure!” He dances with her on a couple of fast songs but when she asks for a slow dance, he says they need to have a talk. He says he did like the poem. It was beautiful. He says they can’t have a relationship. Stacey gets it and asks if he’s married or has a girlfriend. He says no but thirteen is a long way from twenty two. She says she’s going to get a drink and he thanks her for the dance. She sees Sam dancing with a girl named Amanda and Wes talking so some of the teachers. Stacey decides to leave and walks out.
She goes to Dawn and Maryannes to say goodbye to Elivira-tho she doesn’t feel like it-. Charlotte sneaks away to the going away party to get away from Bruce who showed up at her house and was reciting poems under her window. Eventually he gets tired of her avoiding him and goes with the girl that previously he was disgusted by.
My Thoughts
(Imitating Ursula) PATHETIC! This is book 2 of Stacey being infatuated by someone older that isn’t studdin her! But do I think Wes crossed a line? YES! It’s ok to ask a student to help you out in the CLASSROOM. That’s what teacher’s aides are for. I don’t know about them helping you fill out personal papers. That was a little inappropriate for a student to know that much about your personal life. But DEFINTELY it’s not appropriate to let one ride in your car. And even then if your taking them home and it’s innocent, singing a love ballad. Wes should have apologized to Stacey and said I was wrong. I let things get a little personal and if my actions made you think something other than I like you as a student I apologize. It wasn’t *all* on Stacey. To be so smart, Wes didn’t THINK! I can’t believe Stacey tho even told this guy she was in love with him. That was BOLD! I would NEVER tell a teacher that. The least I probably would have done is fantasized about them in my journal. But a TEACHER? I don’t even think when I was in middle school there were any teachers that looked all that fine. I mean they were TEACHERS. I just could not help thinking of the episode of Saved By The Bell where all the girls feel in love with that sub. Wes actually kind of looks like that guy slightly. Then there was the plot about the goat and how it was a problem that it kept getting into people’s garbage. IT’S A GOAT! And then what bothered me is just because you think this goat is cute, you can’t assume that you can just take it to these kids house and they’ll all fall in love with it like you did. Some kids have fears of animals and they aren’t like Marnie. I found it interesting that none of them really did. They just laughed and had a good ol time when it butted them in the behind. IJS I don’t think I’d find that humerous and probably quite a few little children might not like this. I have a cousin that doesn’t care for dogs or even butterflies. I can just imagine his reaction to a goat chasing after him. Sometimes I think the BSC is *too* into children that they don’t always realize that not everything is for *all* children. The goat could have really hurt Jaime-even tho it IS a baby-. Just like Stacey ought to realize just because she’s from NY and sophisticated and can fill out a bikini not all guys are into *her*.
Rating: 4
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2025
3.5 Stars!
I ended up liking this one a lot more than I thought I would. It’s not my favourite BSC book by any means, but it’s still pretty decent, and probably one of the better Stacey-centric ones that I’ve read. Stacey being immediately in love with her hot student teacher (Wes) is the most Stacey thing she could’ve done. The fact that he’s teaching her favourite subject, and he even managed to get respect from the boys in the class… the girl’s a goner. (I mean, can you blame her? The model on the cover looks like a young Tom Cruise, two steps to the left. Like, I get it girl, I had a hot student teacher in middle school too.)
I want to start by saying that I truly felt bad for Stacey. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely things worth criticizing her over, but not because they annoyed me per se, but more in the ‘I’m absolutely cringing at everything you’re doing right now, but I don’t think I can make too big a deal out of it because you’re 13 years old’ type of way. Stacey genuinely sounded like a stalker when she broke down everything she learned about Wes. (I mean, his social security number? Either he’s an idiot, or Stacey should consider joining the FBI.) And oh, the second-hand embarrassment I felt when Stacey gave Wes her poem. (It was a beautiful poem though.)
At the end of the day, this was just an innocent crush that she blew out of proportion in her head, so it was inevitable that she’d have her heart broken. I thought Wes was very gentle when letting her down. He was firm, but he didn’t invalidate her feelings. Although, I do think he could’ve handled it in a different way because he did end up giving her false hope by accepting her poem and dancing with her. Maybe he had his reasons, like he was thrown and didn’t know how to handle the situation without hurting Stacey’s feelings. Or, he wanted to get another teacher’s advice on how to handle something like this sensitively. But we’re not meant to get his POV, so all we can do is speculate and say that he should’ve shut that down when he saw that poem.
Stacey trying to justify a nine-year age gap will always be insane to me. In fact, here’s a list of my live reactions to age gaps mentioned in this book alone.
-Sam Thomas, you’re a high school sophomore. Why are you dating a middle schooler?! Like, it would’ve been one thing, I guess, if they started to date when they were both in middle school (since they’re only two years apart), but it’s still so odd to me.
-I think we moved on too quickly from thirteen-year-old Sabrina Bouvier going out with a teacher that’s described as being, and I quote, her father’s age. I don’t care if it was a rumour, it’s still a really weird rumour.
-When Sam was first interested in me, he showed it by insulting me. - HE DID?! (I know this isn’t just because I read the books out of order, I refuse to believe that all this StaceyxSam lore exists.)
-This was it. I knew it. There, in front of the whole class, he was going to ask me out. (pg. 42) // On Wednesday, Wes and I celebrated our one week anniversary. (pg. 59) - It’s official, this is Stacey at her most delusional.
-How does Sam know Amanda Martin? She’s not even friends with Kristy! Sam, how do you know thirteen-year-olds outside of your sister’s friend group? I know she asked him, but what made him say yes? Like, why are you at a middle school dance as a high schooler?!
Stacey’s books continue to be the funniest books in the series (and this one is literally about her getting her heart broken):
-That entire conversation in chapter one when the other girls keep getting Wesley’s name wrong took me tf out.
-Way back then, in the year 1 BBSC (Before Baby-sitters Club). (pg. 14)
-(in reference to both her and Dawn moving to Stoneybrook from a different state) Like me, she’s an import. (pg. 19)
-“It’s okay. You’re human. And sometimes, frankly, I’m not sure Sam is.” // “Maybe he’ll wait for you. You can prop him up as you go down the aisle.” (pg.32) - Kristy spares no one.
-“Let’s hitch her to a wagon!” Nicky suggested. (He’s friends with Buddy Barrett.) (pg. 80)No shit.
-The chaos of the Pike kids trying to put on a play (The Three Billy Goats Gruff) with Elvira the goat was hilarious from start to finish. I was dying.
=>“But a gross, ugly, slimy troll lived under the bridge-” // “Hey!” Jordan said. // “It’s only a play, stupid!” Vanessa shot back. (pg 82)
=>(Nicky) “No, please don’t. Wait for my sister goats instead. They are fatter than I am. Like humongous and blubbbery.” // “Hey!” Margo shouted from the garage. “That line isn’t in there!” (pg. 83)
-I don’t know about you, but tuxes make me weak. I think men are born to wear them. Take the world’s dullest guy, put him in one, and he’ll look cool. (pg. 87)
Because the writing deserves to be appreciated:
-I love the smell of lilacs. - Quite possibly one of the best openings to a BSC book.
-Everyone always mentions the club notebook and how Kristy and Mallory are the only ones who really like to write in it, but Kristy’s actual reasoning behind it is rarely ever highlighted, so points for that.
-Also, I liked how Stacey broke up her explanation of all friends, both roles and background were broken up with excellent transitions in between, which isn’t easy to do when you’re like, 65 books in.
-Everyone was very, very gentle with me. (pg. 77) - The rest of the girls were quite kind and supportive when it came to Stacey’s crush. Despite all the teasing, they didn’t encourage or discourage her; they were simply honest in the kindest possible way.
-It was the worst thing I could have expected. He was shocked. He hadn’t known. Obviously he didn’t feel the same way about me. All this time, I was just a smart math student to him. Nothing else. Nothing. (pg. 75) - Oh, Stacey.
-Logan brought a box of Kleenex. (“I know when to come prepared!” he said.) (pg. 94) - Logan Bruno, boyfriend of the year.
-“Boys are hard to figure out.” // “No, they’re not. They’re just dumb. It’s stupid to even think about them.” (pg. 96) - Maybe Stacey should go to Charlotte for advice from now on. (Also, what do you mean little Charlotte Johanssen is experimenting with her mom’s makeup and has her first crush?! I’m gonna cry.)
Other thoughts that no one asked for:
-I probably missed a book where Stacey overworked herself because I do not remember which book her mom would’ve gotten sick in. (I’m assuming it was probably her last book before this one: Stacey’s Choice.) It’s weird for her dad to get angry at her for cutting their trip short so she can take care of her sick mother though. Like, I know that’s your ex-wife, but bro, have some fucking empathy.
-A couple of things I’m slightly confused about regarding how student teachers work in the BSC world. So, I’ve had student teachers before, but they don’t completely take over a class the way it’s described in here. They’ll teach classes, but never five days a week for a full month, and without the actual teacher in the room for supervision.
-Mary Anne is so real for crying when she saw Buddy Barrett feed Elvira and sing her a lullaby. This isn’t even a ‘Mary Anne is just sensitive’ type of situation. If you don’t get a little emotional at seeing children be gentle with animals, then there’s something wrong with you.
I ended up liking this one a lot more than I thought I would. It’s not my favourite BSC book by any means, but it’s still pretty decent, and probably one of the better Stacey-centric ones that I’ve read. Stacey being immediately in love with her hot student teacher (Wes) is the most Stacey thing she could’ve done. The fact that he’s teaching her favourite subject, and he even managed to get respect from the boys in the class… the girl’s a goner. (I mean, can you blame her? The model on the cover looks like a young Tom Cruise, two steps to the left. Like, I get it girl, I had a hot student teacher in middle school too.)
I want to start by saying that I truly felt bad for Stacey. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely things worth criticizing her over, but not because they annoyed me per se, but more in the ‘I’m absolutely cringing at everything you’re doing right now, but I don’t think I can make too big a deal out of it because you’re 13 years old’ type of way. Stacey genuinely sounded like a stalker when she broke down everything she learned about Wes. (I mean, his social security number? Either he’s an idiot, or Stacey should consider joining the FBI.) And oh, the second-hand embarrassment I felt when Stacey gave Wes her poem. (It was a beautiful poem though.)
At the end of the day, this was just an innocent crush that she blew out of proportion in her head, so it was inevitable that she’d have her heart broken. I thought Wes was very gentle when letting her down. He was firm, but he didn’t invalidate her feelings. Although, I do think he could’ve handled it in a different way because he did end up giving her false hope by accepting her poem and dancing with her. Maybe he had his reasons, like he was thrown and didn’t know how to handle the situation without hurting Stacey’s feelings. Or, he wanted to get another teacher’s advice on how to handle something like this sensitively. But we’re not meant to get his POV, so all we can do is speculate and say that he should’ve shut that down when he saw that poem.
Stacey trying to justify a nine-year age gap will always be insane to me. In fact, here’s a list of my live reactions to age gaps mentioned in this book alone.
-Sam Thomas, you’re a high school sophomore. Why are you dating a middle schooler?! Like, it would’ve been one thing, I guess, if they started to date when they were both in middle school (since they’re only two years apart), but it’s still so odd to me.
-I think we moved on too quickly from thirteen-year-old Sabrina Bouvier going out with a teacher that’s described as being, and I quote, her father’s age. I don’t care if it was a rumour, it’s still a really weird rumour.
-When Sam was first interested in me, he showed it by insulting me. - HE DID?! (I know this isn’t just because I read the books out of order, I refuse to believe that all this StaceyxSam lore exists.)
-This was it. I knew it. There, in front of the whole class, he was going to ask me out. (pg. 42) // On Wednesday, Wes and I celebrated our one week anniversary. (pg. 59) - It’s official, this is Stacey at her most delusional.
-How does Sam know Amanda Martin? She’s not even friends with Kristy! Sam, how do you know thirteen-year-olds outside of your sister’s friend group? I know she asked him, but what made him say yes? Like, why are you at a middle school dance as a high schooler?!
Stacey’s books continue to be the funniest books in the series (and this one is literally about her getting her heart broken):
-That entire conversation in chapter one when the other girls keep getting Wesley’s name wrong took me tf out.
-Way back then, in the year 1 BBSC (Before Baby-sitters Club). (pg. 14)
-(in reference to both her and Dawn moving to Stoneybrook from a different state) Like me, she’s an import. (pg. 19)
-“It’s okay. You’re human. And sometimes, frankly, I’m not sure Sam is.” // “Maybe he’ll wait for you. You can prop him up as you go down the aisle.” (pg.32) - Kristy spares no one.
-“Let’s hitch her to a wagon!” Nicky suggested. (He’s friends with Buddy Barrett.) (pg. 80)
-The chaos of the Pike kids trying to put on a play (The Three Billy Goats Gruff) with Elvira the goat was hilarious from start to finish. I was dying.
=>“But a gross, ugly, slimy troll lived under the bridge-” // “Hey!” Jordan said. // “It’s only a play, stupid!” Vanessa shot back. (pg 82)
=>(Nicky) “No, please don’t. Wait for my sister goats instead. They are fatter than I am. Like humongous and blubbbery.” // “Hey!” Margo shouted from the garage. “That line isn’t in there!” (pg. 83)
-I don’t know about you, but tuxes make me weak. I think men are born to wear them. Take the world’s dullest guy, put him in one, and he’ll look cool. (pg. 87)
Because the writing deserves to be appreciated:
-I love the smell of lilacs. - Quite possibly one of the best openings to a BSC book.
-Everyone always mentions the club notebook and how Kristy and Mallory are the only ones who really like to write in it, but Kristy’s actual reasoning behind it is rarely ever highlighted, so points for that.
-Also, I liked how Stacey broke up her explanation of all friends, both roles and background were broken up with excellent transitions in between, which isn’t easy to do when you’re like, 65 books in.
-Everyone was very, very gentle with me. (pg. 77) - The rest of the girls were quite kind and supportive when it came to Stacey’s crush. Despite all the teasing, they didn’t encourage or discourage her; they were simply honest in the kindest possible way.
-It was the worst thing I could have expected. He was shocked. He hadn’t known. Obviously he didn’t feel the same way about me. All this time, I was just a smart math student to him. Nothing else. Nothing. (pg. 75) - Oh, Stacey.
-Logan brought a box of Kleenex. (“I know when to come prepared!” he said.) (pg. 94) - Logan Bruno, boyfriend of the year.
-“Boys are hard to figure out.” // “No, they’re not. They’re just dumb. It’s stupid to even think about them.” (pg. 96) - Maybe Stacey should go to Charlotte for advice from now on. (Also, what do you mean little Charlotte Johanssen is experimenting with her mom’s makeup and has her first crush?! I’m gonna cry.)
Other thoughts that no one asked for:
-I probably missed a book where Stacey overworked herself because I do not remember which book her mom would’ve gotten sick in. (I’m assuming it was probably her last book before this one: Stacey’s Choice.) It’s weird for her dad to get angry at her for cutting their trip short so she can take care of her sick mother though. Like, I know that’s your ex-wife, but bro, have some fucking empathy.
-A couple of things I’m slightly confused about regarding how student teachers work in the BSC world. So, I’ve had student teachers before, but they don’t completely take over a class the way it’s described in here. They’ll teach classes, but never five days a week for a full month, and without the actual teacher in the room for supervision.
-Mary Anne is so real for crying when she saw Buddy Barrett feed Elvira and sing her a lullaby. This isn’t even a ‘Mary Anne is just sensitive’ type of situation. If you don’t get a little emotional at seeing children be gentle with animals, then there’s something wrong with you.
September 16, 2023
Ok first of all, this was written by someone who does not seem to understand college. Like at all. Ann M Martin definitely went to college, so if it's her, then I don't get it. If it was ghost written... well, I still don't get it. First, they say this student teacher is in a "master's program" at Stoneybrook Community College. And he has to do 3 weeks of student teaching to graduate. Without the regular classroom teacher. Sorry, what? Nothing about that makes sense. It doesn't even sound like he's in a teaching program. Although we'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume he is, and it's just weirdly ambiguous. Then, they say he's a "senior" and has to do the student teaching to get his B.A. And he just "likes math" and so decides to do that. Also, they then refer to it as Stoneybrook university. Does this small semi rural town in Connecticut have both a community college and its own university?? Named for the town? That we've never heard of before? What IS this place? Moving on. Stacey's perspective is actually really realistic. All the ways she reads into everything and convinces herself there's something between them. 13 feels so adult when you're there. And 13 is a terrible age for girls because not only do we feel mature, but we've often already started receiving male attention. It makes sense that Stacey wouldn't question the age gap much. But wtf was this teacher thinking?? All the times he asked her to stay after school and help him organize, the compliments, weird flirtations, and DRIVING HER HOME. It's so frustrating that these things are presented as if they're innocuous and the flirtation/ romance are all in Stacey's head. That's not innocuous! That's gaslighting! This is how adolescents get groomed, adults (teachers, in cases like this one) cross the line JUST ENOUGH to test the boundaries and push the line a little further, but are careful enough that there is plausible deniability. But Stacey is 13, feeling older than a child, not understanding that she's far from an adult, and receiving all this cultural messaging that growing up means becoming a woman, and becoming a woman means having sexual allure over adult men. This book does not put nearly enough emphasis on how bad it would be if he actually DID reciprocate. I thought her feelings were nicely validated by her friends, but there really needed to be something more, a stronger message that it's okay for her to like him but it's NOT OKAY for him to like her. So cringey to read this as an adult. Especially having read Being Lolita and My Dark Vanessa. (And, naturally, Lolita.) Man. This one really troubled me.
January 15, 2020
Ahh, Stacey, Stacey, Stacey. Girl's always so boy-crazy. Can't blame her, though. Wes was hot, but way too old for him. Stace, just chill, my friend. He'll come along haha
I loved the BSC growing up, and have decided to re-read (or read for the first time) some of the books in the series. Which of the members are you most like? :)
I loved the BSC growing up, and have decided to re-read (or read for the first time) some of the books in the series. Which of the members are you most like? :)
March 17, 2007
This girl named Stacey who has a crush on her teacher!I learned that it's not a good idea to like your teacher,or older people because they are more mature than you and they have more experiences and it will really hurt you at the end!
December 25, 2021
I definitely had a Stacey level infatuation with a teacher in high school and related way too much to the 26,000 words of cringe in this book.
But good god I don’t think I have ever read anything more boring than the goat sitting plotline that is also randomly in this book.
But good god I don’t think I have ever read anything more boring than the goat sitting plotline that is also randomly in this book.
February 23, 2008
didn't like these books much.
December 9, 2009
When does Stacey NOT have a crush on someone? And it's always an older someone. This girl needs to check her hormones at the door.
September 20, 2010
Sorry, just not believable. Getting a crush on a teacher? Sure. It's never happened to me, but I can see it happening. Actually acting on that crush at age 13? Uhm, no.
May 27, 2016
I can't believe that poem!
March 5, 2021
Yes! I loved this book! It was so good and so bad all at the same time. Perfect from the cover: he's smart, he's handsome, he's 22! to the last page: "I guess sometimes love hurts." "Yeah, I guess so." This book has it all: hot student teachers, lilacs, another school dance, baby goats, really bad poetry, cottage cheese, daydreams, and more! The only thing it is missing is a Claudia outfit but we do get several Stacey outfits. So let's get started!
It's springtime in Stoneybrook and Stacey is sitting in math class, daydreaming about lilacs. Mr Zizmore calls her out but she recovers and answers his question correctly. Because she's the star math student. Then he tells the class that they're going to have a student teacher for the last month of school. The class all groans, because they love Mr Z? That might be the most unrealistic thing in the whole book lol. The dude's name is Wesley Ellenburg (or Baconburger as Claudia calls him) and Stacey is already thinking what a major dweeb he's going to be.
At the BSC meeting, Claudia has a new snack for Stacey & Dawn: All-natural Crispy Rancho-style Veggie-Rice Nuggets with Nacho Substitute Cheese-food Flavor. I'm with Kristy on this one. "They look like moldy Cheez Doodles." Nasty. The next afternoon, Stacey goes home with Mary Anne & Dawn and they're visited by their neighbor Mrs Stone. She needs someone to look after Elvira for a week because she's only 2 months old and she can't be trusted to stay out of the trash if she's left alone. Confused? I wasn't really, but Stacey was. Elvira is a kid, a baby goat. And the most adorable baby goat ever!
Elvira was all eyes and bony joints. She stared up at us, jerking her head from face to face. Beneath her chin was a thin, pointy beard. Her fur was a mottled gray-white-black, and it looked scraggly and dusty. In other words, she was absolutely beautiful.
We'll get back to Elvira in a minute, because Tom Cruise has just entered the room. Oh wait my bad, that's just the hottest student teacher that ever student taught. A dweeb, he is not. Dimples, slate blue eyes, wavy light brown hair. Sigh....Stacey, and every other girl in class, is immediately smitten with Mr Ellenburg "call me by my first name" Wes. He is "drop-dead incredibly hunkified gorgeous." And Stacey is convinced that she and Wes belong together. I mean, he's only 22. That's not that bad right? For a 13 year old? And he's just a student teacher, not a real one. So yeah, she immediately starts planning her outfits (she gets it in her head that Wes likes girls in dresses so that's all she wears for the next month), making sure her homework is absolutely perfect and written in her best handwriting (hearts on the i's and all), and becomes the model student.
Okay, so I know Wes is new to the teaching stuff and all, but he probably should have asked Mr Z or another adult before he did the next few things. He asks Stacey to stay after school to help him get organized (not too terrible). But then he asks her again the next week to stay and 1. help him fill out his teacher paperwork like W2 and insurance?? then 2. has her average everyone's grades in the grade book. After keeping her extra late for all that, he drives her to a BSC meeting, in his car, alone, without telling anyone. Yeah. Can you imagine a teacher doing that now? So obviously Stacey is convinced they're going to get married, eventually. And she *cringe* writes him a poem. It's so bad y'all. Of course I will put it here for you to cringe at too. (Can you imagine being the ghostwriter for this one? Ann comes to you and says, "I need a poem. Like a teenage girl would write. Make it super embarrassing. No really, like soooo embarrassing." And you turn this in and everyone laughs at you.)
I see two stars in summer's night,
Hovering, lost, in blinding light,
Each so dull in heaven's net,
So each remains, as yet unmet.
But Fortune moves in strangest ways;
It lengthens nights, it shortens days.
May this night end, and day begin
And bring two young people back again.
So Stacey gives Wes the poem and he's like "uhhh...gee, thanks?" Stacey is confused. So a few days later, she *gulp* tells him she's in love with him. Guys, I can't even. The second-hand embarrassment is so strong in this one. And he doesn't say anything! He just goes pale and stares at her and she runs off. Then, he completely ignores it all! Like, hello? NOW is the time to talk to an adult, Wes. For real. At the end of the book, there's a school dance and Wes is chaperoning. Stacey asks him to dance with her and he says yes, because he's an idiot, and they have lots of fun for several songs. Then he finally tells her he doesn't/can't have any feelings for her because she's thirteen years old. And Stacey leaves, heartbroken. But she'll get over it. I'm pretty sure there will be some other inappropriate boy in a few books.
Let's end with happy goat baby Elvira, yeah? She's adorable and playful and romps around kicking and jumping and doing all the adorable goat things that goats do. (I love goats.) The girls start taking her on sitting jobs and she's a huge hit and a tiny bit of trouble (getting in trash, running away), but no one really cares. The Pike kids put on a play for her, Three Billy Goats Gruff, that goes hilariously wrong. Everything is perfect with Elvira around.
Reviewed at SeeJennRead.
It's springtime in Stoneybrook and Stacey is sitting in math class, daydreaming about lilacs. Mr Zizmore calls her out but she recovers and answers his question correctly. Because she's the star math student. Then he tells the class that they're going to have a student teacher for the last month of school. The class all groans, because they love Mr Z? That might be the most unrealistic thing in the whole book lol. The dude's name is Wesley Ellenburg (or Baconburger as Claudia calls him) and Stacey is already thinking what a major dweeb he's going to be.
At the BSC meeting, Claudia has a new snack for Stacey & Dawn: All-natural Crispy Rancho-style Veggie-Rice Nuggets with Nacho Substitute Cheese-food Flavor. I'm with Kristy on this one. "They look like moldy Cheez Doodles." Nasty. The next afternoon, Stacey goes home with Mary Anne & Dawn and they're visited by their neighbor Mrs Stone. She needs someone to look after Elvira for a week because she's only 2 months old and she can't be trusted to stay out of the trash if she's left alone. Confused? I wasn't really, but Stacey was. Elvira is a kid, a baby goat. And the most adorable baby goat ever!
Elvira was all eyes and bony joints. She stared up at us, jerking her head from face to face. Beneath her chin was a thin, pointy beard. Her fur was a mottled gray-white-black, and it looked scraggly and dusty. In other words, she was absolutely beautiful.
We'll get back to Elvira in a minute, because Tom Cruise has just entered the room. Oh wait my bad, that's just the hottest student teacher that ever student taught. A dweeb, he is not. Dimples, slate blue eyes, wavy light brown hair. Sigh....Stacey, and every other girl in class, is immediately smitten with Mr Ellenburg "call me by my first name" Wes. He is "drop-dead incredibly hunkified gorgeous." And Stacey is convinced that she and Wes belong together. I mean, he's only 22. That's not that bad right? For a 13 year old? And he's just a student teacher, not a real one. So yeah, she immediately starts planning her outfits (she gets it in her head that Wes likes girls in dresses so that's all she wears for the next month), making sure her homework is absolutely perfect and written in her best handwriting (hearts on the i's and all), and becomes the model student.
Okay, so I know Wes is new to the teaching stuff and all, but he probably should have asked Mr Z or another adult before he did the next few things. He asks Stacey to stay after school to help him get organized (not too terrible). But then he asks her again the next week to stay and 1. help him fill out his teacher paperwork like W2 and insurance?? then 2. has her average everyone's grades in the grade book. After keeping her extra late for all that, he drives her to a BSC meeting, in his car, alone, without telling anyone. Yeah. Can you imagine a teacher doing that now? So obviously Stacey is convinced they're going to get married, eventually. And she *cringe* writes him a poem. It's so bad y'all. Of course I will put it here for you to cringe at too. (Can you imagine being the ghostwriter for this one? Ann comes to you and says, "I need a poem. Like a teenage girl would write. Make it super embarrassing. No really, like soooo embarrassing." And you turn this in and everyone laughs at you.)
I see two stars in summer's night,
Hovering, lost, in blinding light,
Each so dull in heaven's net,
So each remains, as yet unmet.
But Fortune moves in strangest ways;
It lengthens nights, it shortens days.
May this night end, and day begin
And bring two young people back again.
So Stacey gives Wes the poem and he's like "uhhh...gee, thanks?" Stacey is confused. So a few days later, she *gulp* tells him she's in love with him. Guys, I can't even. The second-hand embarrassment is so strong in this one. And he doesn't say anything! He just goes pale and stares at her and she runs off. Then, he completely ignores it all! Like, hello? NOW is the time to talk to an adult, Wes. For real. At the end of the book, there's a school dance and Wes is chaperoning. Stacey asks him to dance with her and he says yes, because he's an idiot, and they have lots of fun for several songs. Then he finally tells her he doesn't/can't have any feelings for her because she's thirteen years old. And Stacey leaves, heartbroken. But she'll get over it. I'm pretty sure there will be some other inappropriate boy in a few books.
Let's end with happy goat baby Elvira, yeah? She's adorable and playful and romps around kicking and jumping and doing all the adorable goat things that goats do. (I love goats.) The girls start taking her on sitting jobs and she's a huge hit and a tiny bit of trouble (getting in trash, running away), but no one really cares. The Pike kids put on a play for her, Three Billy Goats Gruff, that goes hilariously wrong. Everything is perfect with Elvira around.
Reviewed at SeeJennRead.
December 15, 2021
Okay, let me review this from a parent and educator's point of view. Now, I love a good BSC story and this one is no different. However, there are some questionable things that happen within the story. The math teacher gets a student teacher/intern in the class who is 22. Of course, Stacey loses her mind as she is boy crazy. This 22-year-old is UNSUPERVISED in the classroom. I think everyone knows that he would need a licensed adult in the room with him to teach-but I digress.....So, Stacey does everything she can to spend alone time with this adult man. She finally gets that time by becoming his professional organizer. She stays after school in his classroom one-on-one to organize materials. Now, I see many issues with this, but he is using her to get his unorganized self to a place where he'll pass his class.
Stacey writes him a love poem and actually GIVES IT TO HIM! He accepts it and instead of squelching her dreams then and there, he ghosts her as any 22 year old would do. The big dance comes up and rather than going to the dance with Kristy's brother Sam who asks her (she rudely turns him down), she goes to the dance with the hopes of getting some face time with the 22-year-old. At the dance, he has the opportunity to AGAIN right the wrong of leading on a THIRTEEN-year-old girl, and yet, he dances with her and even promises her a slow dance. He finally breaks the news to her at the end and surprisingly she's hurt and shocked (insert eye roll).
I don't remember reading this one when I was a kid, however, Stacey wasn't my favorite then. As an adult, I LIVE for Stacey's stories because of the outlandish confidence this girl has.
Great read, not realistic, but it will bring you joy!
Stacey writes him a love poem and actually GIVES IT TO HIM! He accepts it and instead of squelching her dreams then and there, he ghosts her as any 22 year old would do. The big dance comes up and rather than going to the dance with Kristy's brother Sam who asks her (she rudely turns him down), she goes to the dance with the hopes of getting some face time with the 22-year-old. At the dance, he has the opportunity to AGAIN right the wrong of leading on a THIRTEEN-year-old girl, and yet, he dances with her and even promises her a slow dance. He finally breaks the news to her at the end and surprisingly she's hurt and shocked (insert eye roll).
I don't remember reading this one when I was a kid, however, Stacey wasn't my favorite then. As an adult, I LIVE for Stacey's stories because of the outlandish confidence this girl has.
Great read, not realistic, but it will bring you joy!
December 18, 2020
(LL)
Can we please, for the love of God, stop with this? This is the THIRD book where Stacey is “in love” with an adult. This was really bad. I had to skip over all of the parts where Stacey was gushing over Wes and hoping he’d like her back, and you know, be a pedophile. It was not appropriate that he held her for hours after class and drove her somewhere in his car. He danced with her at the dance (yeah they were fast songs) after she declared her love to him. I understand kids have crushes on their teachers, but his behavior was unacceptable. This could have been a subplot of another book simply to get the message that it is normal to think a teacher is attractive, and to understand that it’s a crush and that is all it ever will and should be.
As an aside: the subplot with the goat was kind of fun, but the overall messages and happenings in this book were too much.
Can we please, for the love of God, stop with this? This is the THIRD book where Stacey is “in love” with an adult. This was really bad. I had to skip over all of the parts where Stacey was gushing over Wes and hoping he’d like her back, and you know, be a pedophile. It was not appropriate that he held her for hours after class and drove her somewhere in his car. He danced with her at the dance (yeah they were fast songs) after she declared her love to him. I understand kids have crushes on their teachers, but his behavior was unacceptable. This could have been a subplot of another book simply to get the message that it is normal to think a teacher is attractive, and to understand that it’s a crush and that is all it ever will and should be.
As an aside: the subplot with the goat was kind of fun, but the overall messages and happenings in this book were too much.
March 18, 2025
This is probably the cringiest book in the entire series, and yet I’ve always loved it.
I find Wes to be really creepy as an adult, though. What kind of incompetent 22 year old needs a 13 year old to help him file papers? He let Stacey fill out his W-2 for goodness sake! Is he that incompetent?
And his response to her poem! She flat out tells him she’s in love with him and he just runs away and ignores her for a week. Mind you, this is after he drives her home and SINGS A LOVE SONG in the car. Stacey is cringey in this but Wes is just an idiot. The whole thing makes me shudder even just thinking about it.
Also, we are told constantly that Sam is kind of embarrassed that he likes Stacey, so why on earth would he go to a middle school dance with another eighth grader? Just to rub it in Stacey’s face? The whole thing just made no sense.
I find Wes to be really creepy as an adult, though. What kind of incompetent 22 year old needs a 13 year old to help him file papers? He let Stacey fill out his W-2 for goodness sake! Is he that incompetent?
And his response to her poem! She flat out tells him she’s in love with him and he just runs away and ignores her for a week. Mind you, this is after he drives her home and SINGS A LOVE SONG in the car. Stacey is cringey in this but Wes is just an idiot. The whole thing makes me shudder even just thinking about it.
Also, we are told constantly that Sam is kind of embarrassed that he likes Stacey, so why on earth would he go to a middle school dance with another eighth grader? Just to rub it in Stacey’s face? The whole thing just made no sense.
November 16, 2019
I was rereading this book about a week ago and I actually liked it better the second time. I mean, the first time I read it, it seemed pretty boring. Stacey likes her obviously way too young Math teacher and this random baby goat needs a babysitter. When I reread it, it was much more meaningful, in a way that I could understand.
Then this baby goat needs a sitter. First of all, I think there might be a rule against having a goat in your back yard. Second, YOU SHOULD NOT PUT A BABY GOAT IN A WAGON and PULL IT ACROSS TOWN. In no way does that make sense or sound legal.
Stacey likes a boy....again. This time it’s Wes Ellen Burg, a student teacher at SMS. He’s probably in his twenties which is still to young. Although the book didn’t make sense it was still good in some ways.
Then this baby goat needs a sitter. First of all, I think there might be a rule against having a goat in your back yard. Second, YOU SHOULD NOT PUT A BABY GOAT IN A WAGON and PULL IT ACROSS TOWN. In no way does that make sense or sound legal.
Stacey likes a boy....again. This time it’s Wes Ellen Burg, a student teacher at SMS. He’s probably in his twenties which is still to young. Although the book didn’t make sense it was still good in some ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2025
Very accurately gets at what it feels like to be a hormonal teen with a misguided crush on an adult authority figure. Cringe, but in kind of a nostalgic way?
I thought the character of Wes was really well-written. He’s definitely too late to setting boundaries around Stacey, but that feels unfortunately accurate for a nonconfrontational young adult working in a professional setting for the first time. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just kind of a dumb guy.
Shoutout to my favorite moment from this book, when Stacey is helping Wes file some paperwork after class and mentions that she’s learning so much about him, and that one of the things she learns is his social security number.
I thought the character of Wes was really well-written. He’s definitely too late to setting boundaries around Stacey, but that feels unfortunately accurate for a nonconfrontational young adult working in a professional setting for the first time. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just kind of a dumb guy.
Shoutout to my favorite moment from this book, when Stacey is helping Wes file some paperwork after class and mentions that she’s learning so much about him, and that one of the things she learns is his social security number.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2017
Stacey falls in and out of luv faster than anybody I have ever seen, even for a thirteen year that girl is quick. The teacher factor was a little gross in this one, but at least Peter Lerangis (everyone's favorite ghosty) handed it well. It could have swerved way into weirdsville, but he did alright with it.
Also this is the book in which we are introduced to Elvira. The goat that will relentlessly keep showing up until the end of the main series.
Also this is the book in which we are introduced to Elvira. The goat that will relentlessly keep showing up until the end of the main series.
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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.
February 15, 2021
Stacey McGill has a new substitute teacher: Wesley Ellenburg...who's a 22-year-old dreamboat. Stacey is in love, and she is positive Wes loves her back. While Stacey thinks of the best way to tell Wes about her feelings, Charlotte Johanssen also deals with a crush. Dawn and Mary Anne on the other hand, are babysitting a newborn goat!
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.
September 2, 2021
Honestly who even cares what the storyline of this book is? Reading about a baby goat made my day. (That aside, I am getting a little sick of the Stacey being boy crazy storylines and this one was so cringey. That said, she's 13, so that tracks.)
May 13, 2024
4 stars. This was super relatable when I read it for the first time as a child but now I was cringing through this but I still liked it. I love Stacey’s character so much. She’s one of my favorites so I’m always happy to read a book focused on her and this was still a fun read.
September 28, 2018
I find Stacey's Big Crush a gem because I enjoyed seeing Stacey pining and making a fool out of herself over her dolt of a student teacher, Wes. I didn't even mind the goat subplot. :)
October 12, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book
April 12, 2020
I’m never old for this💙💙💙
August 5, 2020
Oops, forgot to write a review after I finished this one and now I don't remember what I wanted to say.
The secondhand embarrassment I get while reading this book is real. Oh, Stacey.
The secondhand embarrassment I get while reading this book is real. Oh, Stacey.
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September 11, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
February 1, 2024
I did not like this book worst babysitters club book so weird to like your teacher.
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