Barnes & NobleKristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club Series #1) by Ann M. Martin

It’s Time for a Reread

The year was 1986. I was in the second grade. My childhood dog was still a puppy. It was my first year playing netball. It was also the year Kristy Thomas had a great idea. It was an idea that meant that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5.30pm to 6pm, I’d be thinking about Kristy, Claudia, Stacey and Mary Anne (and later in the series, new BSC members). I knew they would be hanging out in Claudia’s bedroom waiting for the phone to ring. She’d have junk food for those who partook and healthy options for those who didn’t. They’d talk Kid Kits (another of Kristy’s great ideas but she hasn’t thought of them yet), collect dues (ugh!) and run a thriving business (at 12!). I was never especially keen on Kristy but the bossiness that annoyed me when I was growing up seemed largely absent in this book. She’s organised and entrepreneurial. Sure, she’s a real little snot to Watson for a good portion of this book but she’s 12 and her own father is MIA, so you can kinda see where she’s coming from. There’s a nice symmetry in this book: David Michael is both the reason Kristy thought of the Baby-Sitters Club in the first place and his mother is the first parent to call at the inaugural BSC meeting to request a babysitter for him. Because of the time spent setting up the story, it’s not until the eighth chapter that we first see one of the famous handwritten notebook entries. It’s written by Claudia, who babysat for Jamie (“Hi-hi!”) Newton and his three cousins. I used to love being able to identify each babysitter by their handwriting (and seeing if I could find Claudia’s spelling mistakes). About the cover: The original covers are always going to be superior to any of the later ones. That’s a given. But why is this the very first time in 34 years that I’ve paid attention to the fact that Kristy is wearing a dress on this cover? That’s sacrilege! Weird bits (besides Kristy wearing a dress): * Classes finish at Stoneybrook Middle School at 2.42pm. Why not 2:.40 or 2.45? * Kristy has a purse. That’s almost as anti-Kristy as her wearing a dress. * I have trouble imagining Kristy voluntarily playing with dolls as a kid. Wasn’t she always a tomboy? * Kristy wears a blouse and skirt to school. Who is this imposter?! A word this book introduced to me when I was a kid: decorum. My current favourite quote: “You really haven’t lived until a dog has stepped on your face.” Full review can be found on my blog.