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The Baby-Sitters Club #22
Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter
America's favorite series returns with a new look and a Netflix tv show.
The Mancusis don't have any kids . . . but they sure have a lot of pets! So when they're desperate for a sitter, whom do they call? The Baby-sitters Club!
Kristy's insulted. The Baby-sitters don't pet-sit. But Jessi's always liked animals, and she talks Kristy into letting her have the job.
With snakes on the loose and sick hamsters, Jessi's got plenty of pet-sitting troubles. And the Baby-sitters aren't making life any easier for her when they get into a big fight.
Will Jessi be able to handle her pet-sitting job when things are going wrong with the baby-sitters, too?
The Mancusis don't have any kids . . . but they sure have a lot of pets! So when they're desperate for a sitter, whom do they call? The Baby-sitters Club!
Kristy's insulted. The Baby-sitters don't pet-sit. But Jessi's always liked animals, and she talks Kristy into letting her have the job.
With snakes on the loose and sick hamsters, Jessi's got plenty of pet-sitting troubles. And the Baby-sitters aren't making life any easier for her when they get into a big fight.
Will Jessi be able to handle her pet-sitting job when things are going wrong with the baby-sitters, too?
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1989
80 people are currently reading
994 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,114 books3,059 followersAnn Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
June 17, 2020
Otro de esos que son muy de relleno.
February 11, 2016
this is the first time I've read this book!
I totally expected to hate this one. it seemed like it was gonna be another book for which the titular plot is the only plot and nothing interesting happens. but the sub-plot was actually really interesting and executed well. in the main plot, jessi cares for a household of pets (dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, turtles, and a snake) for a week. one of the hamsters seems sick (is lethargic and keeps getting fatter, and for some reason it doesn't occur to jessi that this means the hamster is pregnant) but that ends up working out fine (babies borned, to be given away as pets for folks who need 'em). in the secondary plotline, the bsc members get in a huge fight because kristy is being a turd. all the senior members say they do too much work in their offices, and they want to have an election to get different positions in the club. that plotline also ends up working out fine (club members all vote to stay in the same offices).
highlights:
-mainly I liked the fight. I thought it was really believable and justified. it does suck how kristy continues to be the boss even though on a week-to-week basis, mary anne does the majority of the work. and it's kind of incredible that though the girls always read the notebook every week and are always caught up, kristy decides that she needs to make a checklist that they are required to sign to verify that they have read the notebook. WHAT A JERK.
-relatedly, I love the part where jackie rodowsky tells kristy she is a bossy baby-sitter. he says it in a very good-natured way ("I like you, but you're an awful bossy baby-sitter") so as to not just start a fight with kristy, but instead cause her to reflect on it.
-though I thought it was pretty predictable that all the club members were going to vote to keep everyone in the same positions, I still thought it was cute that after all that drama they all voted unanimously for themselves/each other to stay in those offices.
-in the chapter where mary anne is a complete moron and lets the snake out (opens the cage in spite of being terrified of snakes, leaves to room to investigate the birds, and then comes back to discover he's gone), myriah perkins saves the day. she notes that in school they learned that snakes are cold-blooded, and maybe the snake went outside to warm up in the sun? and sure enough, he did. I love that myriah and gabbie are not scared of the snake because they aren't idiots like mary anne and jessi. STOP BEING SCARED OF SNAKES, EVERYONE. THANK YOU.
nitpicks:
-really, the siamese cat is named ling-ling?
-lucy newton is eight months old? HUH? she was born in The Truth About Stacey which presumably took place in the fall/winter of 7th grade (for the main girls). they have been aging normally (and a lot of the other kids the club members sit for have been aging normally), and it is now spring of 8th grade for the main girls. this means that lucy should be at least a year and a half old. we aren't starting the nobody ever ages thing yet, and we won't until they enter 8th grade again (I'm not sure in which book that happens -- I guess we'll find out soon!)
-claudia complains about her club responsibilities, namely having to take club calls outside meeting hours. how does she propose someone else take over that job? does she want kristy to trade bedrooms with her? I mean, that sucks that clients do that so much, but really all you have to do is say, "mrs. barrett, I need you to call back during meeting hours at which point we can try to set you up with a baby-sitter." if she refuses, then she is the one who loses out.
one claudia outfit:
-"-Claudia was wearing another of her great outfits. This one consisted of an oversized, short-sleeved cotton shirt with gigantic leaves printed all over it, green leggings--the same green as the leaves on her shirt--bright yellow push-down socks, her purple high-tops, and in her hair a headband with a gigantic purple bow attached to one side."
jackie disasters:
-pulls two buttons off his shirt trying to button it
-drops a big bag of dog food on the stairs and it all spills out
-drops his pencil in a heating grate
snacks in claudia's room:
-potato chips under her bed
-licorice sticks in a drawer of her jewelry box
-m&ms in the pencil case in her notebook
-doritos behind the pillows on her bed
-popcorn behind the pillows on her bed
-potato chips in a box labeled CALAGE SUPPLIES under her bed
I totally expected to hate this one. it seemed like it was gonna be another book for which the titular plot is the only plot and nothing interesting happens. but the sub-plot was actually really interesting and executed well. in the main plot, jessi cares for a household of pets (dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, turtles, and a snake) for a week. one of the hamsters seems sick (is lethargic and keeps getting fatter, and for some reason it doesn't occur to jessi that this means the hamster is pregnant) but that ends up working out fine (babies borned, to be given away as pets for folks who need 'em). in the secondary plotline, the bsc members get in a huge fight because kristy is being a turd. all the senior members say they do too much work in their offices, and they want to have an election to get different positions in the club. that plotline also ends up working out fine (club members all vote to stay in the same offices).
highlights:
-mainly I liked the fight. I thought it was really believable and justified. it does suck how kristy continues to be the boss even though on a week-to-week basis, mary anne does the majority of the work. and it's kind of incredible that though the girls always read the notebook every week and are always caught up, kristy decides that she needs to make a checklist that they are required to sign to verify that they have read the notebook. WHAT A JERK.
-relatedly, I love the part where jackie rodowsky tells kristy she is a bossy baby-sitter. he says it in a very good-natured way ("I like you, but you're an awful bossy baby-sitter") so as to not just start a fight with kristy, but instead cause her to reflect on it.
-though I thought it was pretty predictable that all the club members were going to vote to keep everyone in the same positions, I still thought it was cute that after all that drama they all voted unanimously for themselves/each other to stay in those offices.
-in the chapter where mary anne is a complete moron and lets the snake out (opens the cage in spite of being terrified of snakes, leaves to room to investigate the birds, and then comes back to discover he's gone), myriah perkins saves the day. she notes that in school they learned that snakes are cold-blooded, and maybe the snake went outside to warm up in the sun? and sure enough, he did. I love that myriah and gabbie are not scared of the snake because they aren't idiots like mary anne and jessi. STOP BEING SCARED OF SNAKES, EVERYONE. THANK YOU.
nitpicks:
-really, the siamese cat is named ling-ling?
-lucy newton is eight months old? HUH? she was born in The Truth About Stacey which presumably took place in the fall/winter of 7th grade (for the main girls). they have been aging normally (and a lot of the other kids the club members sit for have been aging normally), and it is now spring of 8th grade for the main girls. this means that lucy should be at least a year and a half old. we aren't starting the nobody ever ages thing yet, and we won't until they enter 8th grade again (I'm not sure in which book that happens -- I guess we'll find out soon!)
-claudia complains about her club responsibilities, namely having to take club calls outside meeting hours. how does she propose someone else take over that job? does she want kristy to trade bedrooms with her? I mean, that sucks that clients do that so much, but really all you have to do is say, "mrs. barrett, I need you to call back during meeting hours at which point we can try to set you up with a baby-sitter." if she refuses, then she is the one who loses out.
one claudia outfit:
-"-Claudia was wearing another of her great outfits. This one consisted of an oversized, short-sleeved cotton shirt with gigantic leaves printed all over it, green leggings--the same green as the leaves on her shirt--bright yellow push-down socks, her purple high-tops, and in her hair a headband with a gigantic purple bow attached to one side."
jackie disasters:
-pulls two buttons off his shirt trying to button it
-drops a big bag of dog food on the stairs and it all spills out
-drops his pencil in a heating grate
snacks in claudia's room:
-potato chips under her bed
-licorice sticks in a drawer of her jewelry box
-m&ms in the pencil case in her notebook
-doritos behind the pillows on her bed
-popcorn behind the pillows on her bed
-potato chips in a box labeled CALAGE SUPPLIES under her bed
March 3, 2022
Oh My God, Becky
Do you love Highlights magazine? Great me too. Play a game with me.
I’m going to show you two book covers. The first is the original 1989 cover to Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter. The second is the cover for the the 1996 reprint edition.
See if you can spot the difference. Not the obvious border color or styling. Focus on the art. I’ll give you a second.
[…………..]
Did you catch it? They took out her pigtail and gave her a scrunchied bun! They also smoothed out her hair?! AND they reduced some of the bagginess from the front of her shirt and slimmed down her hips. Is this weird to anyone else?
This isn’t the only character touch-up or redesign between printings. Here’s Claudia in the first and second printings of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls.
She also got a new head in Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye:
The artists’* slavish devotion to the side-pony aside, these touch-ups are rare, and in some cases rectify the fact they kind of… forgot to make Claudia Japanese the first time around.
But they’ve never changed any of the other characters’ proportions or masked distinguishing features like curly hair. I find it uncomfortable. I can’t help but think that despite her being featured as the lead in this story, they were afraid to make Jessi too black. Maybe I’m reading into things too much. But take a look at some of the international editions.
Quebec used the original:
The Italian edition retained the red hair tie but gave her some nice curls while doing her no favors in the face department. Don’t ask me which character the young Bruce Vilanch is supposed to be playing:
This French edition is my favorite. They aged her up a bit and gave her some STEMS:
That same French publisher (Gallimard) gave her an excellent do in this 3-book omnibus edition:
And the 2022 American reprint has gone for a cartoony style I quite like and a likeness of Jessi that I think does her a service:
So we’ve got some respect coming from these editions. But lest we think that the 90’s American reprint is the only edition that did Jessi dirty, I present here with no further comment the travesty of the UK edition. Please hold on to your hats and socks:
*************************************
Homework: Refrain from asking me what I thought of this book’s plot. In a second affront to Jessi — quickly becoming one of my favorite baby-sitters — this book is stupid as hell. We will speak of it no more!
*(I use the plural here because although a single artist is reponsible for the bulk of the Baby-sitters Club’s iconic covers, I’m not certain he created all of them for these early releases.)
<< #21: Mallory and the Trouble with Twins
#1: Kristy's Great Idea >>
Do you love Highlights magazine? Great me too. Play a game with me.
I’m going to show you two book covers. The first is the original 1989 cover to Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter. The second is the cover for the the 1996 reprint edition.
See if you can spot the difference. Not the obvious border color or styling. Focus on the art. I’ll give you a second.
[…………..]
Did you catch it? They took out her pigtail and gave her a scrunchied bun! They also smoothed out her hair?! AND they reduced some of the bagginess from the front of her shirt and slimmed down her hips. Is this weird to anyone else?
This isn’t the only character touch-up or redesign between printings. Here’s Claudia in the first and second printings of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls.
She also got a new head in Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye:
The artists’* slavish devotion to the side-pony aside, these touch-ups are rare, and in some cases rectify the fact they kind of… forgot to make Claudia Japanese the first time around.
But they’ve never changed any of the other characters’ proportions or masked distinguishing features like curly hair. I find it uncomfortable. I can’t help but think that despite her being featured as the lead in this story, they were afraid to make Jessi too black. Maybe I’m reading into things too much. But take a look at some of the international editions.
Quebec used the original:
The Italian edition retained the red hair tie but gave her some nice curls while doing her no favors in the face department. Don’t ask me which character the young Bruce Vilanch is supposed to be playing:
This French edition is my favorite. They aged her up a bit and gave her some STEMS:
That same French publisher (Gallimard) gave her an excellent do in this 3-book omnibus edition:
And the 2022 American reprint has gone for a cartoony style I quite like and a likeness of Jessi that I think does her a service:
So we’ve got some respect coming from these editions. But lest we think that the 90’s American reprint is the only edition that did Jessi dirty, I present here with no further comment the travesty of the UK edition. Please hold on to your hats and socks:
*************************************
Homework: Refrain from asking me what I thought of this book’s plot. In a second affront to Jessi — quickly becoming one of my favorite baby-sitters — this book is stupid as hell. We will speak of it no more!
*(I use the plural here because although a single artist is reponsible for the bulk of the Baby-sitters Club’s iconic covers, I’m not certain he created all of them for these early releases.)
<< #21: Mallory and the Trouble with Twins
#1: Kristy's Great Idea >>
July 7, 2020
While I actually started reading around age 3 (thank you, my Granny's Dick and Jane books!), this series is what I remember most about loving to read during my childhood. My sister and I drank these books up like they were oxygen. I truly think we owned just about every single one from every one of the series. We even got the privilege of meeting Ann M. Martin at a book signing, but of course little starstruck me froze and could not speak a word to my biggest hero at that time. Once in awhile if I come across these at a yard sale, I will pick them up for a couple hour trip down memory lane, and I declare nearly nothing centers and relaxes me more!
May 6, 2021
Loved these books as a child
May 9, 2021
As a kid, I'm sure the idea of all of these animals seemed awesome, but as an adult, all I can think is "Do you know how badly that how must smell??" Also, this couple is living in a normal house in a small suburban town, and yet they'd have to be hella rich to pay for food, supplies, grooming, and veterinary care for this menagerie.
Jessi is my favorite babysitter so I always like her books, and once again in this one, she and Mallory, the two younger girls in the BSC, prove that they are way more mature than the others. Both plots in this one are kind of thin, but it's a fun one to revisit, especially the names the Mancusis gave to some of the animals. A dog named Cheryl? A snake named Barney? Also...the Siamese cat being named Ling-Ling is a very clear sign that this book was written a while ago. Yikes.
And damn was I glad the girls told Kristy where to stick it. Not that it'll last though; this seems to happen every few books, and Kristy gets all chagrined and promises not to be such a bossy jerk, and then goes right back to it. But they were all right--she doesn't really do anything except wear a visor and yell at them.
Jessi is my favorite babysitter so I always like her books, and once again in this one, she and Mallory, the two younger girls in the BSC, prove that they are way more mature than the others. Both plots in this one are kind of thin, but it's a fun one to revisit, especially the names the Mancusis gave to some of the animals. A dog named Cheryl? A snake named Barney? Also...the Siamese cat being named Ling-Ling is a very clear sign that this book was written a while ago. Yikes.
And damn was I glad the girls told Kristy where to stick it. Not that it'll last though; this seems to happen every few books, and Kristy gets all chagrined and promises not to be such a bossy jerk, and then goes right back to it. But they were all right--she doesn't really do anything except wear a visor and yell at them.
February 2, 2021
Ooooo this was one of my favourite BSC books! Jessi gets to pet sit an entire menagerie of animals and the girls want to reorganise the club. It was so much fun, I loved learning about all the animals and their adventures and the club storyline was really interesting. Those books are so comfy, I adore them.
Read
July 30, 2022I read a second hand copy I got off eBay and one of the readers before me had cheekily added her own name to the dedications page and elsewhere proclaimed her love for the Backesteer Booys 😉
July 11, 2025
This one had cute pets and then the babysitters have drama, but luckily Jessi mostly just wanted to stay out of it and take care of the pets.
The animals should make for a good graphic novel though.
The animals should make for a good graphic novel though.
May 16, 2021
No tässä oli papukaija, joten... Se oli aika pieni roolisuoritus, mutta sitäkin ihanampi!
October 26, 2024
This was my first ever BBS book and it still hasn't lost it's charm.
February 8, 2023
Read via audio (narrated by Bahni Turpin).
Read
June 29, 2021Jessi Ramsey Pet Sitter
Plot: Jessica has upcoming free time. No ballet lessons for a week and her regular charges Matt and Haley Braddock will be on vacation. The BSC gets an unusual offer from the Mancusis to sit their pets because a sitter canceled and if they don’t get another, they’ll have to miss their dream vacation. Kristy is against it and thinks of her first sitting job. But Jessi says she’ll do it. Now get this. This lady has 3 dogs, five cats, some birds and hamsters, two guinea pigs, a SNAKE, and a bunch of rabbits and turtles. HELL NAH! Jessi agrees to go over on Friday evening and meet them so they can give her special instructions on how to care for all the pets. Saturday goes ok. Jessi notices one of the hamsters is fat is not very social but shrugs it off. Claudia comes by the next day and brings Jamie and Nina (because they’re kinda hyper also). Chewy the Perkin’s dog follows them and they think there will be trouble because he’s kinda hyper. Jacques and Pooh Bear are also hyper but the dogs behave. The fat hamster still hasn’t moved. (I bet we can all guess why). At the BSC meeting, Kristy wants to start a checklist to make sure they’ve been keeping up with the club notebook, and this leads to an argument about how each one (other than Mal and Jess) doesn’t like her job. No one wants the checklist. Mal and Jess decide to just stay neutral. Maryanne brings Myriah and Gabbie over to see the animals, and in an idiotic move opens the cage Barney’s in (the snake) and he gets loose. But Myriah saves the day because in school she’s studying animals and smartly guesses he'll be somewhere warm. They find him on the back porch in the sun, capture him, and put him back in his cage. At the next meeting, Claudia and Kristy get into an argument because Kristy has made the checklist and put it up over some pictures of Claudia and Stacey. When Kristy reminds Claudia, she’s the president she tells her it’s time for new elections. Kristy sees no one is gonna take her side so she says they’ll have a special meeting. Mal and Jess again try to stay neutral. Kristy also gets called out by Jackie Rodowsky who wants to run for the class job of watching Snowball (the rabbit). He tries to prove he can be as neat as his opponent. She buttons his shirt for him. He tries to get Bo (their dogs) food and drops it. She immediately steps in. Then she jumps into planning his speech. After he tells her she’s bossy (in a nice way) she starts to wonder is she really. (UH Did it really take 22 books to realize this?). At the next meeting, they have another fallout when Kristy tells them she made the ballots and how the voting will go. Maryanne tries to explain to her how democracy works. That morning Jessi asks her mom what to do about the election. She doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of the other girls. Her mom says nope she’ll have to figure it out. But she does say vote for the person who she thinks will do best for each position. At the Mancusis house, Jessi is cleaning up because they’ll be coming back the next day and when she tries to clean out the hamster’s cage the fat one tries to bite her. The election is later, but she knows she has to do the right thing. So, she calls her mom and she, her mom, and Squirt take the hamster to the vet. Kristy puts the election of until the next day and says Jessi did the right thing. The hamster is a she and she’s pregnant. The next day all the club members vote for the exact same one that previously held the position and they all laugh it off. After the election, they go to see the hamster and it delivers ten babies (in all six while they’re there). Later the Mancusis come back and congratulate Jessi on doing a great job and say that with everything going on they didn’t even realize. Then they say in 3 weeks they’ll give the babies away to anyone who wants one. Jessi and Mal get one. Then Kristy gives one to Jackie who lost the election to take care of Snowball.
My Thoughts:
I DEFINITELY can agree with the checklist being unnecessary. I use to work for this company for about 2 years and the last year I was there someone came up with the “great” idea that before we clocked up there was a checklist of things we had to go back and look at. Then there was a sign-out sheet that we put the time we signed out. It annoyed me to no end because by the end of the day after my last call I just wanted to sign out of all the sites and be done! So I thought it was very unnecessary.
And then is it really LOGICAL to have all those animals in the house unsupervised ALL-DAY LONG! Wouldn’t your house be FUNKY to high heavens if one of them couldn’t get out to go to the bathroom and had an accident? Or some of em got bored and just happened to knock something over! That is NOT a good idea! When my stepmom goes anywhere for any period of time she puts her dogs in a kennel. With all of these, It might be expensive but it's probably no less than what Jessi’s being paid. Or was this the idea to have an 11-year-old watch them so they wouldn’t have to pay as much?
Really Maryanne? And then I don’t even see Maryanne getting anywhere near a snake, as easily as she gets scared and cries. Maybe I could see if this was Kristy or Dawn. But MARYANNE letting the lid off a snake’s cage. And then this incident reminds me lately of something that happened just months ago when I went to the beauty shop and my beautician started yelling. It turned out there was a snake in the backroom on a heater. She made us run outside and we had to reschedule. I remembered the snake part of this more than the pregnant hamster. But I thought it would be later in the book. Because of that and just because I don’t really care for animals, this was not one of my favorite books.
Then I seriously think these people are crazy to call a BABYSITTING club to watch their pets. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Can they not READ?! Or is there aren’t any pet kennel places in Stoney Brooke
Rating: 4
Plot: Jessica has upcoming free time. No ballet lessons for a week and her regular charges Matt and Haley Braddock will be on vacation. The BSC gets an unusual offer from the Mancusis to sit their pets because a sitter canceled and if they don’t get another, they’ll have to miss their dream vacation. Kristy is against it and thinks of her first sitting job. But Jessi says she’ll do it. Now get this. This lady has 3 dogs, five cats, some birds and hamsters, two guinea pigs, a SNAKE, and a bunch of rabbits and turtles. HELL NAH! Jessi agrees to go over on Friday evening and meet them so they can give her special instructions on how to care for all the pets. Saturday goes ok. Jessi notices one of the hamsters is fat is not very social but shrugs it off. Claudia comes by the next day and brings Jamie and Nina (because they’re kinda hyper also). Chewy the Perkin’s dog follows them and they think there will be trouble because he’s kinda hyper. Jacques and Pooh Bear are also hyper but the dogs behave. The fat hamster still hasn’t moved. (I bet we can all guess why). At the BSC meeting, Kristy wants to start a checklist to make sure they’ve been keeping up with the club notebook, and this leads to an argument about how each one (other than Mal and Jess) doesn’t like her job. No one wants the checklist. Mal and Jess decide to just stay neutral. Maryanne brings Myriah and Gabbie over to see the animals, and in an idiotic move opens the cage Barney’s in (the snake) and he gets loose. But Myriah saves the day because in school she’s studying animals and smartly guesses he'll be somewhere warm. They find him on the back porch in the sun, capture him, and put him back in his cage. At the next meeting, Claudia and Kristy get into an argument because Kristy has made the checklist and put it up over some pictures of Claudia and Stacey. When Kristy reminds Claudia, she’s the president she tells her it’s time for new elections. Kristy sees no one is gonna take her side so she says they’ll have a special meeting. Mal and Jess again try to stay neutral. Kristy also gets called out by Jackie Rodowsky who wants to run for the class job of watching Snowball (the rabbit). He tries to prove he can be as neat as his opponent. She buttons his shirt for him. He tries to get Bo (their dogs) food and drops it. She immediately steps in. Then she jumps into planning his speech. After he tells her she’s bossy (in a nice way) she starts to wonder is she really. (UH Did it really take 22 books to realize this?). At the next meeting, they have another fallout when Kristy tells them she made the ballots and how the voting will go. Maryanne tries to explain to her how democracy works. That morning Jessi asks her mom what to do about the election. She doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of the other girls. Her mom says nope she’ll have to figure it out. But she does say vote for the person who she thinks will do best for each position. At the Mancusis house, Jessi is cleaning up because they’ll be coming back the next day and when she tries to clean out the hamster’s cage the fat one tries to bite her. The election is later, but she knows she has to do the right thing. So, she calls her mom and she, her mom, and Squirt take the hamster to the vet. Kristy puts the election of until the next day and says Jessi did the right thing. The hamster is a she and she’s pregnant. The next day all the club members vote for the exact same one that previously held the position and they all laugh it off. After the election, they go to see the hamster and it delivers ten babies (in all six while they’re there). Later the Mancusis come back and congratulate Jessi on doing a great job and say that with everything going on they didn’t even realize. Then they say in 3 weeks they’ll give the babies away to anyone who wants one. Jessi and Mal get one. Then Kristy gives one to Jackie who lost the election to take care of Snowball.
My Thoughts:
I DEFINITELY can agree with the checklist being unnecessary. I use to work for this company for about 2 years and the last year I was there someone came up with the “great” idea that before we clocked up there was a checklist of things we had to go back and look at. Then there was a sign-out sheet that we put the time we signed out. It annoyed me to no end because by the end of the day after my last call I just wanted to sign out of all the sites and be done! So I thought it was very unnecessary.
And then is it really LOGICAL to have all those animals in the house unsupervised ALL-DAY LONG! Wouldn’t your house be FUNKY to high heavens if one of them couldn’t get out to go to the bathroom and had an accident? Or some of em got bored and just happened to knock something over! That is NOT a good idea! When my stepmom goes anywhere for any period of time she puts her dogs in a kennel. With all of these, It might be expensive but it's probably no less than what Jessi’s being paid. Or was this the idea to have an 11-year-old watch them so they wouldn’t have to pay as much?
Really Maryanne? And then I don’t even see Maryanne getting anywhere near a snake, as easily as she gets scared and cries. Maybe I could see if this was Kristy or Dawn. But MARYANNE letting the lid off a snake’s cage. And then this incident reminds me lately of something that happened just months ago when I went to the beauty shop and my beautician started yelling. It turned out there was a snake in the backroom on a heater. She made us run outside and we had to reschedule. I remembered the snake part of this more than the pregnant hamster. But I thought it would be later in the book. Because of that and just because I don’t really care for animals, this was not one of my favorite books.
Then I seriously think these people are crazy to call a BABYSITTING club to watch their pets. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Can they not READ?! Or is there aren’t any pet kennel places in Stoney Brooke
Rating: 4
October 28, 2021
I really wanted to like this book, because it has a nice plot, and Jessi's sweet gentleness and care for the hamster got me in the feels. But, omg, SO MUCH OF THIS BOOK was recap. So much so that I actually started calculating how much of each book is information we already know from the older books. And this book is 11.56% old information about every single member's biography, the club's history, club position... blah... Sorry, Jessi.
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December 21, 2019Yes, I read this at age 32. Yes, it was as lame as a book written in 1989 for pre-teen girls should be.
May 10, 2023
Jessi Ramsey is one of my favorite BSC members and I love when it's her turn to be featured. She is so severely underutilized and it's about time for her and Mallory to be promoted from junior officers. I thought this was a stellar installment except for the behavior of the senior officers, Mary Anne and Kristy. I've never liked Kristy and thought she was an obnoxious cow. She was so bossy and seems like a terror to befriend. I do know that I have bratty tendencies too, but she's consistently insufferable. In this book, Jessi volunteers to pet sit for a household with zero children and at least 15 different animals. There's 3 dogs, several cats, hamsters, fish, birds, and a snake. I did my fair share of pet sitting, but I've thankfully never cared for reptiles.
The second element that threw me for a loop was Mary Anne went to visit the animal house and left the top off the snake cage? She said she was distracted by one of the birds and forgot to replace it. Mary Anne isn't a dumb bunny and it seemed so out of character for her. Sure, she's a total crybaby and is the only BSC member with a boy toy, but she's not a featherbrain. Jessi ended up saving the day when she realized that one of the hamsters(?) was ill and took it to the vet. Turned out it was pregnant and half the neighborhood were promised a rodent baby once they were old enough. It's always great to read BSC after heavy reads or I just need something quick to refresh my literary palate. Jessi Ramsey is an angel and I hope people like her as much as me. I don't know too many BSC fans, but she is so underrated. She's my lil' dancing queen and I will be not be accepting criticism at this time. Thank you!
The second element that threw me for a loop was Mary Anne went to visit the animal house and left the top off the snake cage? She said she was distracted by one of the birds and forgot to replace it. Mary Anne isn't a dumb bunny and it seemed so out of character for her. Sure, she's a total crybaby and is the only BSC member with a boy toy, but she's not a featherbrain. Jessi ended up saving the day when she realized that one of the hamsters(?) was ill and took it to the vet. Turned out it was pregnant and half the neighborhood were promised a rodent baby once they were old enough. It's always great to read BSC after heavy reads or I just need something quick to refresh my literary palate. Jessi Ramsey is an angel and I hope people like her as much as me. I don't know too many BSC fans, but she is so underrated. She's my lil' dancing queen and I will be not be accepting criticism at this time. Thank you!
February 28, 2023
Jessi has a week off so she takes a job pet sitting. This isn't in her normal wheelhouse, but hey, money is money, right? She takes care of the Mancusi's menagerie of animals which include a snake, a lot of rabbits, 3 dogs, a guinea pig and some hamsters. Jessi becomes increasingly worried about one hamster who is just sedentary. Meanwhile in BSC land, Kristy is on the warpath and the club decides that they want to have elections to put people in their seemingly right positions. This book has a special place in my heart because it was the very first BSC book I ever bought. I bought it with my grandmother at Cheap John's in the late 80's; she thought it was a book about how to care for your pets. Little did I know, I was swept into Ann M Martin's wild world!
May 24, 2019
Such a sweet book. When a phone call comes in asking for a pet sitter the girls don’t know what to do. Should they take it even though they usually only watch kids? In the end Jessi volunteers for the week long job. With no pets of her own she loves taking care of all the animals but what happens when she notices one of the hamsters starting to act strange? Hopefully she can figure out what’s wrong! And to top it off the girls in the club are arguing and wanting to take a vote on who should be president , secretary , etc. Will things change if new people are elected to take someone else’s spot? You will just have to read to figure out.
December 2, 2020
4 stars. Cute, but the whole plot of the girls fighting about the club got on my nerves a bit. Jessi and Mallory were the only mature ones in that situation. Other than that, the main plot with Jessi pet sitting was really fun. I love animals so it was interesting to see her having to watch all of those pets at once. Not a favorite in the series of mine but still a really entertaining read. I just hate that Jessi’s story got bogged down with everything else that was going on in the BSC.
{Challenges completed:
✔Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Advent Calendar Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Baking Challenge}
{Challenges completed:
✔Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Advent Calendar Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Baking Challenge}
June 2, 2021
I'm so glad I decided to re-read this series and I'm so glad I found them all on Audible as well. I'm going through the whole series since January 2021 and this is where I'm at right now.
I enjoyed this one more than most of the others I've read so far. I'm not a pet person but that doesn't change the feeling of the book for me.
This whole series, no matter what rating I give each book, is highly recommended. I'm positive the kids will enjoy them all and have fun while reading them. Totally worth buying the whole series on Audible if you can't find the physical books. Some adults will also enjoy them. Try it out!
I enjoyed this one more than most of the others I've read so far. I'm not a pet person but that doesn't change the feeling of the book for me.
This whole series, no matter what rating I give each book, is highly recommended. I'm positive the kids will enjoy them all and have fun while reading them. Totally worth buying the whole series on Audible if you can't find the physical books. Some adults will also enjoy them. Try it out!
September 15, 2022
I really liked this. I guess I had forgotten all the details from when I read it as a kid. I thought Jessi was going to have a lot more mishaps with the animals than was written. I liked how responsible Jessi was and that the overwhelming situation didn't turn into a whole disaster (like in some of the previous books.)
The story seemed like it was more about the club going through a rough patch, because Kristy was extra bossy, and them holding elections to make the decision making more fair.
If only real life were that simple.
Anyway, this is one of the good ones.
5 out of 5 Animals.
The story seemed like it was more about the club going through a rough patch, because Kristy was extra bossy, and them holding elections to make the decision making more fair.
If only real life were that simple.
Anyway, this is one of the good ones.
5 out of 5 Animals.
September 23, 2019
Jessi’s second book
One of the better ones, some of the usual complaints such as Kristy and Claudia but also Dawn and Mary-Anne all seemed to be on their menstraul cycle, the problem is when they are in bad moods for no reason to older readers this is an obvious one and all girls have to learn to control themselves so might have been a good thing to mention now and then unless one wants to think their cycles did not begin till they were fifteen, in that case the girls were mostly cranky for no reason. Still this one was decent
One of the better ones, some of the usual complaints such as Kristy and Claudia but also Dawn and Mary-Anne all seemed to be on their menstraul cycle, the problem is when they are in bad moods for no reason to older readers this is an obvious one and all girls have to learn to control themselves so might have been a good thing to mention now and then unless one wants to think their cycles did not begin till they were fifteen, in that case the girls were mostly cranky for no reason. Still this one was decent
May 15, 2022
3.5 stars
Jessi’s probably my least favorite babysitter. I don’t really have anything against her. She just doesn’t seem to have much of a personality is all. 😂 I’m hoping she’ll gain one as the series goes on.
The most interesting part of this one was the big fight and election that the club had! Also the pregnant hamster was fun. 🐹
Spoiler alert… the girls end up voting the same people back into their same club offices. Lol! Missed opportunity for a funny storyline where everyone does someone else’s job, if you ask me! 🤣
Jessi’s probably my least favorite babysitter. I don’t really have anything against her. She just doesn’t seem to have much of a personality is all. 😂 I’m hoping she’ll gain one as the series goes on.
The most interesting part of this one was the big fight and election that the club had! Also the pregnant hamster was fun. 🐹
Spoiler alert… the girls end up voting the same people back into their same club offices. Lol! Missed opportunity for a funny storyline where everyone does someone else’s job, if you ask me! 🤣
April 26, 2024
There's always a sense of nostalgia that I feel whenever I read one of these books. This one brought me back to my first pets and growing up with so many of them. Pets can give you a sense of responsibility that, as Jessi finds out in this book, nothing else can give you as a kid. Jessi shows just how responsible she is by taking care of her charges pets even missing a club meeting to take care of a possibly sick animal. She also learns the value of voting for what she believes is right rather than following the crowd or trying not to make someone upset.
September 19, 2019
Surprisingly, not too much drama in this potentially drama-filled scenario where Jessi is solely responsible for a menagerie of animals for an entire week. The drama lies in the babysitters and their bickering, which I always sort of enjoy. The girls are arguing about who should fill what club roles, and Jessi and Mallory are caught in the middle. But Jessi's pet-sitting has a couple of small hitches which fill in the gaps and make this one different, but fun.
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August 27, 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
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
August 13, 2017
I remember that this book was super boring to me as a kid. So much so that my original copy is pretty much pristine and not worn from use like a lot of the others.
I still find it super boring, and put off reading it as long as possible. It's so sad. Jessi had the makings of a pretty interesting character, and this is the crap she got stuck with. Being 11 was pretty rank I guess!
I still find it super boring, and put off reading it as long as possible. It's so sad. Jessi had the makings of a pretty interesting character, and this is the crap she got stuck with. Being 11 was pretty rank I guess!
December 20, 2019
Interesting book!
It was a great book!! It had amazing characters and story’s. I love when it end in a happy ending!! ( whitch it did ) the story was a little short though but that’s all my negitive thoughts about this book. It was funny and at some point sad. But I really loved this book!! It definitely deserves a 5 star rating!🤪😛
It was a great book!! It had amazing characters and story’s. I love when it end in a happy ending!! ( whitch it did ) the story was a little short though but that’s all my negitive thoughts about this book. It was funny and at some point sad. But I really loved this book!! It definitely deserves a 5 star rating!🤪😛
March 4, 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.
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