*Note, while I will try to avoid major spoilers, I sometimes won't be able to help it.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Baby-Sitters Club: The Things You Notice Reading as an Adult

  • Holiday Inconsistencies
    • Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade has a ton of the BSC charges dressing up as Ghostbusters (so cool!)
    • Claudia and the first Thanksgiving starts with the Pikes all dressing up as Marx Brothers
    • Baby-Sitters Beware takes place prior to Christmas and all sorts of creepy stuff happens (so far, this is the scariest of the books in my opinion.  If this was happening to my kid, I would never let them be off solving random mysteries around town) but...
    • Mallory's Christmas Wish begins the day after Thanksgiving and doesn't even mention that Mal's best friends are in danger.
  • Cover Inconsistencies
    • I was really happy to discover that Shannon is featured on the back of the books when she takes over when Dawn is in California (and on the one updated cover I have, her picture if featured as well).  However...
    • I've noticed that Mary Anne has her long hair picture featured on some of the later books, after her makeover.  Small detail, but kind of annoying.
  • Bad Editing
    • In Baby-Sitters Beware there is a Claudia chapter where she refers to Claudia's nail polish.  That one I actually noticed as a kid.  I had crossed out Claudia and written in my.  
    • I keep noticing characters being referenced as in two places at once or they appear to be having a conversation with themselves.  I can forgive inconsistencies between books, to some extent at least, but when it happens in the same paragraph it's annoying.  
  • The Kids
    • I think that I am a decent judge of kids and their abilities.  Sure, no kids are exactly the same and I know that there isn't a magic number when kids learn to talk, read, etc.  But the kids in Stoneybrook are WAY advanced.  Look at the Perkins girls  They know all sorts of songs, have all kinds of talents and can make chocolate chip cookies without a recipe.  I have been around several kids that are two-and-a-half and none of them are half as advanced as Gabbie.  Two examples of this are my boyfriends' daughter and niece.  I have been around both of them at this age (and both of them are crazy smart) and have never seen them show the advancement of Gabbie.
    • And it's not just the Perkins either.  Pretty much every toddler/post toddler seems way too advanced.  The only exception to this is babies and Emily Michelle (who even gets compared to Gabbie).  The in-between age kids seem about right (6-9ish).  There are the kids that appear like your average and normal kids.  Then there are the kids that a little more advanced (like Charlotte and Karen) but they make sense to me.  But then...
    • The BSC themselves.  I had it in my head that I was going to become all kinds of mature and basically be allowed to do whatever when I turned 13.  Mallory and Jessi still had restrictions on them (like not sitting at night) so 11 wasn't a magic number.  But 13 really was.  I couldn't wait to turn 13.  What a disappointment.  I realize now that 13-year-old girls probably appeal much more to young readers than high schoolers would, but the BSC acts far older than they are.  

Re-reading these books as an adult is certainly an eye-opener.  I still want to pass these onto young girls, but would certainly want to talk to the readers about certain things (seriously!  Some psycho is stalking you and your friends, and you don't tell your parents?  That is not okay!).  I doubt that I am going to re-do this challenge in my lifetime.  It is quite apparent that I have outgrown these books, but they will always hold a very special place in my heart.  And I know that no matter what, I am keeping every single one of the books, forever.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

3 comments:

  1. Wow, I have to say I never noticed all these inconsistencies either. And I am with you. I thought I would be all kinds of adult at age 13! LOL

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  2. I remember thinking it would be so great to be 13 because of reading the BSC and then I turned 13 and thought "A. Why did these girls want to baby-sit ALL the time? and B. Why don't I feel as adult as they sound?"

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    Replies
    1. I baby-sat once. It was for one of my parent's co-workers' son. He cried and then fell asleep. It was really easy, but I felt so guilty since I didn't get to do any BSC-worthy activities with him.

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