Book #1: Kristy’s Great Idea

Photo by La-Rel Easter on Unsplash

Book #1: Kristy’s Great Idea

Synopsis: Kristy has The Idea for the club. We learn about Kristy, Mary Anne, and Claudia and then Claudia invites her new friend Stacey to join, although Stacey seems a little different from the beginning. Maybe it’s just because she’s from NEW YORK…or maybe it’s something else. It turns out that Stacey has a secret: she’s diabetic, which is finally revealed in a slumber party scene at the end of the book. In true BSC fashion, though, everyone is cool with it and just shrugs and says they’ll stop offering her Claudia’s hidden candy all the time. No biggie. Meanwhile: Kristy babysits for dogs and adjusts to her mom’s beau, Watson, who is going bald.

Thoughts: When I started re-reading the BSC books, one of the big questions in my mind was whether or not they would stand up to the test of time. I’ve re-read other beloved childhood series and been crushed to realize how problematic they can be (e.g. Little House on the Prairie, re: racism). Thirty-four years after its debut, Kristy’s Great Idea actually holds up pretty well. Sure, a lot of people don’t have landlines anymore and today’s middle schoolers are more likely to advertise for baby-sitting jobs via Instagram than by drawing up fliers or putting an ad in the newspaper, but for the most part this book feels pretty timeless.

While some of the lines feel a little (or very) absurd, that’s probably more to do with Ann M. Martin speaking to a younger audience than it is anything else. We see this when Kristy is describing her dad and says, “My father can be sort of a jerk sometimes. He hasn’t called us in over a year.” My response to this is “Sometimes? Try always.” But I think Martin knew what she was doing and simultaneously articulates Kristy’s love for her dad, her disappointment and hurt from his actions, and her longing for something different in a way that a tween in a similar situation might understand.

In terms of actual baby-sitting, this book introduces us to Kristy’s siblings and (spoiler alert) step-siblings-to-be (Charlie, Sam, David Michael, Karen, and Andrew); several of the babysitters watch various combinations of these siblings and siblings-to-be. We also meet Jamie Newton, the cutest 3-year-old ever, and some of his cousins, plus Kristy accidentally takes a job babysitting for two dogs, Buffy and Pinky. You’d have thought the names would have tipped her off…

One strange and sort of unbelievable part of the book concerns Kristy’s mom’s relationship with Watson. We’re told early on that they’ve been dating for four months.  About two-thirds of the way through the book, Kristy’s mom and Watson tells the kids that they’re talking about getting engaged but that nothing is set, yet by the end of the book, there is a giant rock on Mrs. Thomas’s left ring finger. It all moves suuuuuuuper fast.

Lingering Question: Is Mrs. Porter (Watson’s neighbor), dubbed “Morbidda Destiny” by Karen, actually a witch?

Next time: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls.