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The Baby-Sitters Club #72
Dawn and the We Love Kids Club
Dawn's California baby-sitting club is perfect for her. The We Love Kids Club holds informal meetings, they eat healthy snacks, and they don't keep records. And now, after being interviewed by the local newspaper and TV station, the We Love Kids Club is famous!
But fame is not easy for Dawn and her friends. Their laid-back club is swamped with business. And Dawn's father has just sprung a gigantic - and awful - surprise on her.
Dawn thought that moving back to California was going to be a good thing. But now there's not one good thing about it.
135 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
59 people are currently reading
735 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,127 books3,096 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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January 20, 2011
another book about dawn in claifornia. this one introduces the reader more thoroughly to the we <3 kids club, which was inspired by the babysitters club but takes a more "claifornia casual" approach to running a babysitting club. the girls in the we <3 kids club (dawn, sunny, jill, & maggie) don't hold regular meetings. they don't have officers. they don't keep a notebook, or organize countless neighborhood parades & fairs, or have kid-kits, or even really keep a record book. they do have a file box full of healthy recipes. basically, they may as well not even be a club, because parents call them for babysitters at their own homes whenever they want. just like all parents everywhere without access to babysitting clubs. the girls only have meetings when they feel like it, they don't tell parents about them, & sometimes they have them outside by sunny's pool, away from the phone.
but this doesn't prevent the local newspaper from getting in touch to profile them for a story on "enterprising teens". they agree to the story, & the day it appears in the paper, the local TV station gets in touch about including a segment on the we <3 kids club on the local news. the girls are wicked pumped. they do the segment (which takes hours to film--i am a little skeptical that the news crew would have put that much money & effort into a four-minute piece on a babysitting club) & then they all gather together with popcorn & VCRs at the ready to watch & record it. dawn's father's girlfriend, carol, buys dawn a director's chair with her name printed on the back, & sunglasses & a visor to acknowledge dawn's new "superstar" status.
dawn mails copies of the news segment & the newspaper article to the babysitters club. they all think it's pretty cool, but kristy becomes jealous. she thinks it's unfair that she came up with the idea of babysitting clubs, but it's the sloppy we <3 kids club that's getting all the fame. she starts trying to connive ways to get the babysitters club in the paper or on TV...even though they were already in the paper in snowbound!, when the blizzard hit stoneybrook. & in babysitters' island adventure, when dawn & claudia got stuck on a desert island with a bunch of sitting charges (which really should have hurt business more than it did). & also that time that dawn busted up the dog-napping ring. & when kristy found jake kuhn after he went missing. i could go on. plus the babysitters club has been struggling to cover all their incoming jobs since dawn moved to california & mallory has been out with mono. so they really don't need any extra publicity.
anyway, the we <3 kids club doesn't need the publicity either. even though the newspaper & TV station did not make their contact information available, they have been swamped with calls for sitters anyway & they are struggling to keep up & become organized. they are double-booking themselves for jobs & upsetting parents & charges alike. dawn suggests on a few occasions that they take steps to organize themselves more like the babysitters club, but the other girls are resistant. they feel that the babysitters club's rules are "too rigid".
meanwhile, dawn's father announces that he & carol (his girlfriend) have become engaged. at first, dawn hulks out & runs away to her room. she doesn't like carol because she thinks carol talks too much & tries too hard to seem young & hip to dawn & her friends. carol is like thirty years old. she is a dinosaur to dawn. as someone who is older than thirty, i think dawn is a brat. i don't know why dawn assumes that carol is trying to be hip for dawn's benefit. maybe that's actually just carol's personality.
anyway, dawn realizes she is wrecking everyone's evening, so she mans up & re-joins the party. they have a celebratory dinner as a "family," & then jack (dawn's dad) & carol leave to have celebratory dessert out on the town. this is when dawn begins to feel that jack would rather spend all his time with carol than with her, & she plots her escape from palo alto.
the next morning, she writes a letter explaining her decision to go back to stoneybrook, & she packs a bag. she then walks to school, & fakes sick at the door & goes back home. everyone else has left the house for the day, so dawn is free to steal her dad's credit card number & book herself on the next flight to connecticut. she takes a cab to LAX & gets on the plane. somewhere over nebraska, she starts feeling guilty. but then she falls asleep. she wakes up when the plane is landing, & goes looking for a pay phone to call sharon to come pick her up. but sharon is already there, & she is NOT happy.
of course jack has called sharon in a panic when he came home from work & found dawn's note. he also called the police, because he was worried dawn may have hitchhiked to the airport. there was no way for him to know what flight she was on or that she'd gotten on the plane safely, so he was FREAKING OUT. sharon is like, "you are going right back to palo alto tomorrow, you are paying your father back for both plane tickets, & you are not calling any of your stoneybrook friends tonight." dawn feels like her mom is rejecting her just like her dad supposedly did by going to a restaurant with carol. because dawn is totally self-absorbed. i mean, she's 13, of course she's self-absorbed, but i am of an age where i relate more to the parents & i would be so fucking pissed if my (hypothetical) child wasted my money & used up my emotional energy this way.
so dawn goes back to california. jack is like, "why'd you do it?" & dawn explains that she is basically resentful of carol. jack's like, "i love carol, but you're my daughter & nothing will change that." dawn feels better. but she also feels guilty, because it's obvious that carol feels the need to pussyfoot around the family. carol seems to feel responsible for dawn's poor decisions. jeff tells dawn that jack & carol had a big fight after dawn ran away, because jack wanted to handle the situation on his own, & carol wanted to help, & jack said no, & carol took it as a rejection. because apparently carol is really selfish too. hint to carol: if you really want to be helpful, you back the fuck off when the person declines your help. otherwise you are transparently just being selfish.
a few days later, jack & carol have another fight, apparently because carol wants to go out & go "restaurant-hopping" every night (is that code for carol being a lush?) & jack's like, "dude, i have kids, i can't do that," & she's like, "your kids will always be more important than me! boo hoo!" um...YEAH. at least as long as they are still CHILDREN! what the fuck? so they actually break up. &...that's how the book ends.
also, kristy resolves her jealousy of the we <3 kids club, & sunny buys a day planner & the we <3 kids club becomes better-organized. there's also a very tedious babysitting sup-plot about asthmatic stephie robertson & how much she wants a mother (her own mother died when stephie was a baby). stephie is like a mini-mary anne, & you know i can't stand mary anne, so this plot was not fun for me.
but this doesn't prevent the local newspaper from getting in touch to profile them for a story on "enterprising teens". they agree to the story, & the day it appears in the paper, the local TV station gets in touch about including a segment on the we <3 kids club on the local news. the girls are wicked pumped. they do the segment (which takes hours to film--i am a little skeptical that the news crew would have put that much money & effort into a four-minute piece on a babysitting club) & then they all gather together with popcorn & VCRs at the ready to watch & record it. dawn's father's girlfriend, carol, buys dawn a director's chair with her name printed on the back, & sunglasses & a visor to acknowledge dawn's new "superstar" status.
dawn mails copies of the news segment & the newspaper article to the babysitters club. they all think it's pretty cool, but kristy becomes jealous. she thinks it's unfair that she came up with the idea of babysitting clubs, but it's the sloppy we <3 kids club that's getting all the fame. she starts trying to connive ways to get the babysitters club in the paper or on TV...even though they were already in the paper in snowbound!, when the blizzard hit stoneybrook. & in babysitters' island adventure, when dawn & claudia got stuck on a desert island with a bunch of sitting charges (which really should have hurt business more than it did). & also that time that dawn busted up the dog-napping ring. & when kristy found jake kuhn after he went missing. i could go on. plus the babysitters club has been struggling to cover all their incoming jobs since dawn moved to california & mallory has been out with mono. so they really don't need any extra publicity.
anyway, the we <3 kids club doesn't need the publicity either. even though the newspaper & TV station did not make their contact information available, they have been swamped with calls for sitters anyway & they are struggling to keep up & become organized. they are double-booking themselves for jobs & upsetting parents & charges alike. dawn suggests on a few occasions that they take steps to organize themselves more like the babysitters club, but the other girls are resistant. they feel that the babysitters club's rules are "too rigid".
meanwhile, dawn's father announces that he & carol (his girlfriend) have become engaged. at first, dawn hulks out & runs away to her room. she doesn't like carol because she thinks carol talks too much & tries too hard to seem young & hip to dawn & her friends. carol is like thirty years old. she is a dinosaur to dawn. as someone who is older than thirty, i think dawn is a brat. i don't know why dawn assumes that carol is trying to be hip for dawn's benefit. maybe that's actually just carol's personality.
anyway, dawn realizes she is wrecking everyone's evening, so she mans up & re-joins the party. they have a celebratory dinner as a "family," & then jack (dawn's dad) & carol leave to have celebratory dessert out on the town. this is when dawn begins to feel that jack would rather spend all his time with carol than with her, & she plots her escape from palo alto.
the next morning, she writes a letter explaining her decision to go back to stoneybrook, & she packs a bag. she then walks to school, & fakes sick at the door & goes back home. everyone else has left the house for the day, so dawn is free to steal her dad's credit card number & book herself on the next flight to connecticut. she takes a cab to LAX & gets on the plane. somewhere over nebraska, she starts feeling guilty. but then she falls asleep. she wakes up when the plane is landing, & goes looking for a pay phone to call sharon to come pick her up. but sharon is already there, & she is NOT happy.
of course jack has called sharon in a panic when he came home from work & found dawn's note. he also called the police, because he was worried dawn may have hitchhiked to the airport. there was no way for him to know what flight she was on or that she'd gotten on the plane safely, so he was FREAKING OUT. sharon is like, "you are going right back to palo alto tomorrow, you are paying your father back for both plane tickets, & you are not calling any of your stoneybrook friends tonight." dawn feels like her mom is rejecting her just like her dad supposedly did by going to a restaurant with carol. because dawn is totally self-absorbed. i mean, she's 13, of course she's self-absorbed, but i am of an age where i relate more to the parents & i would be so fucking pissed if my (hypothetical) child wasted my money & used up my emotional energy this way.
so dawn goes back to california. jack is like, "why'd you do it?" & dawn explains that she is basically resentful of carol. jack's like, "i love carol, but you're my daughter & nothing will change that." dawn feels better. but she also feels guilty, because it's obvious that carol feels the need to pussyfoot around the family. carol seems to feel responsible for dawn's poor decisions. jeff tells dawn that jack & carol had a big fight after dawn ran away, because jack wanted to handle the situation on his own, & carol wanted to help, & jack said no, & carol took it as a rejection. because apparently carol is really selfish too. hint to carol: if you really want to be helpful, you back the fuck off when the person declines your help. otherwise you are transparently just being selfish.
a few days later, jack & carol have another fight, apparently because carol wants to go out & go "restaurant-hopping" every night (is that code for carol being a lush?) & jack's like, "dude, i have kids, i can't do that," & she's like, "your kids will always be more important than me! boo hoo!" um...YEAH. at least as long as they are still CHILDREN! what the fuck? so they actually break up. &...that's how the book ends.
also, kristy resolves her jealousy of the we <3 kids club, & sunny buys a day planner & the we <3 kids club becomes better-organized. there's also a very tedious babysitting sup-plot about asthmatic stephie robertson & how much she wants a mother (her own mother died when stephie was a baby). stephie is like a mini-mary anne, & you know i can't stand mary anne, so this plot was not fun for me.
November 29, 2016
in this book ghostwritten by dawn-lover Peter Lerangis, the we love kids club get some local media recognition and get overrun with clients. dawn, someone who is used to the bsc, shares some tips straight from kristy and the other SERIOUS BUSINESS OWNERS in the bsc. meanwhile, her dad and his girlfriend carol get engaged, and dawn responds by stealing her dad's credit card to buy a plane ticket and fly to stoneybrook. then mr. schafer and carol split up (though not for long -- see Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever) in an even more inane subplot, stephie roberston really really REALLY wants a new mommy.
highlights:
-kristy is SO JEALOUS that the we love kids club is getting publicity, so she keeps trying to get some for the bsc. at one point she pretends to be a representative from the "thomas talent agency" and says, "I have exclusive rights to the story of an extraordinary organization known by every parent in the Southwestern Connecticut radius" called the baby-sitters club. later she sends a video of the we love kids club on the news to a local connecticut news station saying they should do a similar story on the bsc, but she forgets to rewind the tape, so the tv people put on the video and see a commercial for indestructible pantyhose instead.
-erick and ryan dewitt call dawn and stephie wendy and tiger lily (because they're playing peter pan). did they know dawn actually played wendy in the peter pan play, in Starring the Baby-sitters Club!, or is this just a funny coincidence?
lowlights/nitpicks:
-mr. schafer makes chimichangas and dawn likes them. BUT THEY'RE FRIED. she wouldn't eat fried food, would she?
-stephie wants a mom real bad. she talks to a picture of her, and when she makes a drawing of her house she draws her mom floating in the sky (and she says, "that's my mom, in heaven"). later she writes a story about a flower saying it's her mom, since her mom died and grew into something beautiful. as someone who was once a little girl with no mom, I can attest that this is inane and not realistic.
-dawn running away to stoneybrook. like, did she think that her dad wouldn't notice? she is such a freakin' baby. I hate her so much.
outfits:
joanna (stephie's nanny):
-"Joanna came in, dressed in a short fringed skirt and a tight-fitting beaded top, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek, elegant style."
rhonda lieb (from the news, interviewing the we love kids club):
-"She had short brown hair, a friendly smile, and was wearing a beautiful cotton cardigan over a white T-shirt and gray stirrup slacks."
descriptions of the w<3kc members in the article:
-dawn: "a silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells."
-sunny: "an aptly named fireball of boundless enthusiasm."
-maggie: "savvy, hip, and just this side of au courant."
-jill: "warm and nurturing, the calming force of the group."
the note dawn leaves behind for her father:
I won't be home from school because I'm on my way to Stoneybrook. But I'm sure you don't mind. Now you can spend as much time as you want with your future wife. You won't have a daughter around to cramp your style. Good luck with your wedding plans. Tell Jeff I still love him. And don't be upset. I'll be with people who care about me. UGHHHHHHH.
snacks in claudia's room:
-reese's pieces under her mattress
highlights:
-kristy is SO JEALOUS that the we love kids club is getting publicity, so she keeps trying to get some for the bsc. at one point she pretends to be a representative from the "thomas talent agency" and says, "I have exclusive rights to the story of an extraordinary organization known by every parent in the Southwestern Connecticut radius" called the baby-sitters club. later she sends a video of the we love kids club on the news to a local connecticut news station saying they should do a similar story on the bsc, but she forgets to rewind the tape, so the tv people put on the video and see a commercial for indestructible pantyhose instead.
-erick and ryan dewitt call dawn and stephie wendy and tiger lily (because they're playing peter pan). did they know dawn actually played wendy in the peter pan play, in Starring the Baby-sitters Club!, or is this just a funny coincidence?
lowlights/nitpicks:
-mr. schafer makes chimichangas and dawn likes them. BUT THEY'RE FRIED. she wouldn't eat fried food, would she?
-stephie wants a mom real bad. she talks to a picture of her, and when she makes a drawing of her house she draws her mom floating in the sky (and she says, "that's my mom, in heaven"). later she writes a story about a flower saying it's her mom, since her mom died and grew into something beautiful. as someone who was once a little girl with no mom, I can attest that this is inane and not realistic.
-dawn running away to stoneybrook. like, did she think that her dad wouldn't notice? she is such a freakin' baby. I hate her so much.
outfits:
joanna (stephie's nanny):
-"Joanna came in, dressed in a short fringed skirt and a tight-fitting beaded top, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek, elegant style."
rhonda lieb (from the news, interviewing the we love kids club):
-"She had short brown hair, a friendly smile, and was wearing a beautiful cotton cardigan over a white T-shirt and gray stirrup slacks."
descriptions of the w<3kc members in the article:
-dawn: "a silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells."
-sunny: "an aptly named fireball of boundless enthusiasm."
-maggie: "savvy, hip, and just this side of au courant."
-jill: "warm and nurturing, the calming force of the group."
the note dawn leaves behind for her father:
I won't be home from school because I'm on my way to Stoneybrook. But I'm sure you don't mind. Now you can spend as much time as you want with your future wife. You won't have a daughter around to cramp your style. Good luck with your wedding plans. Tell Jeff I still love him. And don't be upset. I'll be with people who care about me. UGHHHHHHH.
snacks in claudia's room:
-reese's pieces under her mattress
February 27, 2018
Can we be real for a minute? Did anyone really like Dawn Schafer? I mean, when it came time to choose your favorite BSC member, did anyone on planet earth choose Dawn Schafer?
She must be completely impossible to be around. I mean, she's that friend who's a vegetarian, but instead of just eating her garden burger and shutting up about it, she's always telling you what's in your cheeseburger and how long it's been since she's had a chicken nugget, and you're like, who cares?
And she's not even right. I mean, in the Babysitters Club Super Special, New York, New York, everyone else from the BSC grabs a soda when they get to Stacey's dad's apartment (Stacey's mom and dad are divorced, remember?), and Dawn drinks fruit juice, because it's healthier. I mean, get real, Dawn. Ever checked out how much sugar is in a glass of juice? You might as well just drink a glass of ginger ale, though maybe it doesn't allow for quite as much self-congratulation.
I started reading Dawn and The We (heart) Kids Club, which is about some sort of bastardized BSC that Dawn runs in California with four other blonde, featureless Dawn-ettes. I say started because I couldn't get through it. It started to go downhill for me when Dawn meets up with her California BFF, Sunny, who is eating a bag of vegetable chips. I just couldn't go on. You understand.
I assume (from reading the back matter) that the We (heart) Kids Club crumbles because there are no rules and no officers and no one ever arrives on time for meetings which Kristy would never allow. Everyone knows that a babysitting club can't run with such shoddy leadership. Not that I would ever want to finish this particular book, but I don't even need to. I can tell the end from the beginning.
It occurs to me that I've never actually read a BSC book from Dawn's perspective. I mean, does she even have one? Apart from being blonde, "healthy", and from California, what the H do we really know about her?
She must be completely impossible to be around. I mean, she's that friend who's a vegetarian, but instead of just eating her garden burger and shutting up about it, she's always telling you what's in your cheeseburger and how long it's been since she's had a chicken nugget, and you're like, who cares?
And she's not even right. I mean, in the Babysitters Club Super Special, New York, New York, everyone else from the BSC grabs a soda when they get to Stacey's dad's apartment (Stacey's mom and dad are divorced, remember?), and Dawn drinks fruit juice, because it's healthier. I mean, get real, Dawn. Ever checked out how much sugar is in a glass of juice? You might as well just drink a glass of ginger ale, though maybe it doesn't allow for quite as much self-congratulation.
I started reading Dawn and The We (heart) Kids Club, which is about some sort of bastardized BSC that Dawn runs in California with four other blonde, featureless Dawn-ettes. I say started because I couldn't get through it. It started to go downhill for me when Dawn meets up with her California BFF, Sunny, who is eating a bag of vegetable chips. I just couldn't go on. You understand.
I assume (from reading the back matter) that the We (heart) Kids Club crumbles because there are no rules and no officers and no one ever arrives on time for meetings which Kristy would never allow. Everyone knows that a babysitting club can't run with such shoddy leadership. Not that I would ever want to finish this particular book, but I don't even need to. I can tell the end from the beginning.
It occurs to me that I've never actually read a BSC book from Dawn's perspective. I mean, does she even have one? Apart from being blonde, "healthy", and from California, what the H do we really know about her?
March 29, 2026
*BSC Besties Book Club February 2026 read
December 24, 2023
I give this five stars for being interesting. Despite being in California Dawn gets her own book. At first I thought we'd skip chapter two but no we get double the fun with an introduction to the We Love Kids Club as well as the BSC. So anyway the California club is featured in both the paper and on TV. Kristy gets jealous and tries to sell a BSC story to to tge news unsuccessfully which is hilarious. The club in California gets super busy and because they're so unorganized double book themselves. In other plots Stephie the asthmatic girl from California Girls is desperate for her dad to remarry and it's kind of sad. Then Dawn's dad and Carol get engaged Dawn throws a fit commits theft by stealing her dad's credit card and flies to Stoneybrook thinking everyone there will be thrilled to see her. They aren't and she's sent right home and learns the engagement is off. This was a good one if only that it foreshadowed some of the drama to come in California Diaries.
December 20, 2020
(LL)
Most of the stuff in the book really wouldn’t have been able to happen. There is no way a child would have been able to get onto a plane by themselves without an adult there at all. I know this is from the 90s, but it’s still not likely she’d get past security as she doesn’t have an ID. Parents need to call the school to tell them they aren’t coming in or the school will call the parent. Perhaps this could have happened in the 90s, however, there is no way in hell it would happen now. It’s not a good message overall, and Carol and Dawn’s dad breaking up so soon afterwards and saying they had all these issues before is just way too convenient...even for a kid’s book.
Also, Dawn is supposed to be in California, so she shouldn’t be getting her own books. Stacey didn’t get a New York based book when she moved. Stacey got some subplots in other books, which is at most what Dawn should get until Dawn either moves back or decides to stay in California.
Most of the stuff in the book really wouldn’t have been able to happen. There is no way a child would have been able to get onto a plane by themselves without an adult there at all. I know this is from the 90s, but it’s still not likely she’d get past security as she doesn’t have an ID. Parents need to call the school to tell them they aren’t coming in or the school will call the parent. Perhaps this could have happened in the 90s, however, there is no way in hell it would happen now. It’s not a good message overall, and Carol and Dawn’s dad breaking up so soon afterwards and saying they had all these issues before is just way too convenient...even for a kid’s book.
Also, Dawn is supposed to be in California, so she shouldn’t be getting her own books. Stacey didn’t get a New York based book when she moved. Stacey got some subplots in other books, which is at most what Dawn should get until Dawn either moves back or decides to stay in California.
November 5, 2020
I know a lot of people take issue with Dawn up and running (well, flying) away to Stoneybrook at the announcement of her dad's engagement. But being a divorced kid sucks. It's hard when your parents live in the same city and you get to see your dad regularly, so I totally understand where Dawn is coming from. Plus, she's 13. What teenage girl isn't a little overdramatic?
So that plot point hurt the heart, and tears were shed. Dawn was right, feelings are weird. But what is also weird is the complete tonal shift of this book. I feel like the whole W♥KC getting hella popular and blowing up is kind of dropped in favour of the engagement drama. We do get a half-assed chapter of resolution, but I would have liked to see more baby-sitting mishaps (and more Kristy being jealous lol.) Though I do really enjoy this book, and I love the drama, so my complaints are more observations.
So that plot point hurt the heart, and tears were shed. Dawn was right, feelings are weird. But what is also weird is the complete tonal shift of this book. I feel like the whole W♥KC getting hella popular and blowing up is kind of dropped in favour of the engagement drama. We do get a half-assed chapter of resolution, but I would have liked to see more baby-sitting mishaps (and more Kristy being jealous lol.) Though I do really enjoy this book, and I love the drama, so my complaints are more observations.
January 2, 2022
This book had a lot going on and not in a good way.
Dawn has become the most conceited, obnoxious person to me. Dawn definitely believes herself to be the center of the universe that no one can live without. Fucking EVERYTHING is about Dawn and how it affects her and makes her feel. She is so fake and annoying and tries so hard to be a "cool girl."
I can't stand the We <3 Kids Club, all the kids are annoying, the girls are totally forgettable, and I don't get why we're getting these Dawn books. Mallory is on sick leave in Stoneybrook, still sitting with the BSC, but has a 19-book gap between Get Well Mallory and her next book, but we're going to get 8000 Dawn in California books. Okay.
Dawn has become the most conceited, obnoxious person to me. Dawn definitely believes herself to be the center of the universe that no one can live without. Fucking EVERYTHING is about Dawn and how it affects her and makes her feel. She is so fake and annoying and tries so hard to be a "cool girl."
I can't stand the We <3 Kids Club, all the kids are annoying, the girls are totally forgettable, and I don't get why we're getting these Dawn books. Mallory is on sick leave in Stoneybrook, still sitting with the BSC, but has a 19-book gap between Get Well Mallory and her next book, but we're going to get 8000 Dawn in California books. Okay.
March 19, 2024
I remembered the first third or so of this really well from when I'd read it as a kid, but I'd totally forgotten about what was really the much bigger plot. I often think Dawn acts really selfish and bratty in her books, whereas in this one, I think she's supposed to come across that way, but I really didn't think she did. I found her way more sympathetic than I often, while the adults around her were emotionally immature and self-absorbed, yet also pretty quick to rip into her and call her names. (I actually think that's somewhat of a common theme in these books.) There was a lot of great emotional insight in this book, but I did feel like Dawn really carried the emotional load for everyone, especially the adults.
January 28, 2026
3.5 stars? This was CHAOTIC, but I really loved each of the (many) plots and subplots it had going on. The We 🖤 Kids Club trying to get themselves organized. The unbelievableness of the We 🖤 Kids Club getting so much media attention all of a sudden. Keanu Reeves both canonically existing in this universe and having had dinner at one of the characters’ houses. Kristy’s jealousy of Dawn rearing its head again. Carol. Dawn stealing her father’s credit card information (!) and running away on a cross-country flight—god, I wish there were more reckless teenager moments like that in this series.
It was a mess, but it was a fun mess. Appropriate for its themes that human relationships are messy.
It was a mess, but it was a fun mess. Appropriate for its themes that human relationships are messy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2023
Yikes, Dawn! Poor Carol!
The main plot about the We Love Kids Club getting too busy after their bout with fame was fine, and Kristy's jealousy and attempt to replicate with the BSC is par for the course.
The main thing here is the subplot about Dawn's response to her father announcing he'll marry Carol. And...it was really bad. () I feel for Carol and how terrible it must make her feel. And as much as I feel for Dawn, I'm also glad she faced consequences for her actions, and responded rather maturely in the end.
The main plot about the We Love Kids Club getting too busy after their bout with fame was fine, and Kristy's jealousy and attempt to replicate with the BSC is par for the course.
The main thing here is the subplot about Dawn's response to her father announcing he'll marry Carol. And...it was really bad. () I feel for Carol and how terrible it must make her feel. And as much as I feel for Dawn, I'm also glad she faced consequences for her actions, and responded rather maturely in the end.
March 10, 2024
Dawn should have gotten in WAY more serious trouble for the stunt she pulled. I hate that this book is called "The We Love Kids Club" when instead the major storyline is Dawn STEALING HER FATHER'S CREDIT CARD AND GETTING ON A PLANE because she didn't want Carol as a stepmother! Seems like that should have been the main focus of the book, not just the last few chapters.
I did find it amusing to see Kristy calling up the news media to run a story on the BSC and getting shot down every time. Ha!
I did find it amusing to see Kristy calling up the news media to run a story on the BSC and getting shot down every time. Ha!
June 20, 2025
Dawn is much less annoying in this book.
In the this is definitely dated section we have the booking a plane ticket with a credit card number by phone, no ID being required to travel and apparently it’s fine for Dawn to be an unaccompanied minor?
As an aside though I don’t think Dawn’s father is as great as she thinks he is if he’s constantly yelling at his ex-wife and his current girlfriend. Dawn keeps talking about Carole being 32 like she’s too old but also somehow too young for her father but he can’t be that much older.
In the this is definitely dated section we have the booking a plane ticket with a credit card number by phone, no ID being required to travel and apparently it’s fine for Dawn to be an unaccompanied minor?
As an aside though I don’t think Dawn’s father is as great as she thinks he is if he’s constantly yelling at his ex-wife and his current girlfriend. Dawn keeps talking about Carole being 32 like she’s too old but also somehow too young for her father but he can’t be that much older.
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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.
September 12, 2017
This book is really the apex of shitty Dawn behavior. She goes way over the top by stealing her dad's credit card number, booking herself a flight, and leaving in the middle of the day to go back to Connecticut. Lucky her parents laid down the law, but still. I hate Dawn, and this just really compounded that feeling of hate.
September 17, 2017
As with all Dawn books, I just have such fond memories of this one. Dawn was always my favorite baby-sitter, and even though I can see how sanctimonious she can be sometimes now that I'm an adult, I still enjoy re-reading her books the most.
However, I realized during this book that I am now exactly Carol's age, and that definitely freaked me out a little bit.
However, I realized during this book that I am now exactly Carol's age, and that definitely freaked me out a little bit.
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.
December 5, 2024
3 stars. I love Dawn but WTF? She felt a bit out of character here. I understood why she was upset but how the hell did she think running away was going to solve the issue? The only thing I enjoyed about this book was the subplot of Kristy getting jealous of the We Love Kids Club getting local news attention. That was funny. Other than that this book was a train wreck.
August 28, 2020
contains possibly the greatest exchange of all time:
“And she cried,” Jeff went on. “And you know what else? On the way out, she threw her engagement ring on the floor.”
“So it’s off?”
Jeff looked puzzled. “Yeah, I said she threw it.”
“And she cried,” Jeff went on. “And you know what else? On the way out, she threw her engagement ring on the floor.”
“So it’s off?”
Jeff looked puzzled. “Yeah, I said she threw it.”
October 23, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book
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October 4, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
September 18, 2023
how on earth did dawn get away with ditching school and flying all the way from california to connecticut without telling anyone
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2024
I loved it but prefer it in stonybrook.
July 18, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
March 24, 2023
I always say "we heart kids club" in my head for this one, but apparently it should be "love". Whatevs, it's super dull either way. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. I gave this one star for the cover because it's pretty cool, though a little confusing. Not sure where they're supposed to be, I don't think this scene is in the book. And hard to tell which one is Dawn...the girl on her knees? The one on the right wearing white socks for some reason?? Anyway, I gave it another star for Mrs Schafer-Spier having a backbone so let's get into it!
I know Stacey got a book when she lived in New York for awhile, but did we really need one for Dawn in California too? I guess they were trying out the spinoff idea but it didn't work at that time. (The California Diaries don't start til 3 years later.) Maybe because the original BSC gang doesn't actually come to Cali. We're focused on Dawn and her Cali friends: Sunny, Maggie, and Jill. They have their own baby-sitting club but it's a lot more laidback than Kristy's regime in Stoneybrook. The W<3KC has no rules, no set meeting times, no record book, etc...it's basically mayhem with veggie chips.
Then, the W<3KC gets a phone call from a local newspaper that changes everything for them. They want to do an article on the club, to "show the community the good things that are happening with our kids." The girls of course do it and it brings them tons of business which they are in no way prepared for because they do not have Ms. Kristin Amanda Thomas to help them.
I'd always thought of the Baby-Sitters Club as a tight ship, and the We <3 Kids Club as sort of a surfboard riding the waves. Each was fun in its own way. Now I realized the W<3KC was in danger of wiping out.
The CA girls try to get organized, Kristy gets jealous and tries to do her own publicity stunt back in CT, which backfires and they don't have enough sitters anyway. Dawn sits for her favorite charge, Stephie, who really really wants a mom because hers died. We don't have any Claudia outfits, so I guess we're stuck with Joanna, Stephie's day-time nanny. Joanna came in, dressed [for her birthday] in a short fringed skirt and a tight-fitting beaded top, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek, elegant style.
After her sitting job, Dawn heads home to her dad and Jeff (and Mrs Bruen, the housekeeper) where they're making veggie chimichangas. Dawn is bummed, not because she has to eat something fried, but because this means that her dad's girlfriend, Carol, is coming over. Carol is okay, but she tries to be too cool and says things like "bodacious". Dawn goes into this spiral of loving California, missing Stoneybrook, loving her dad, hating her dad and Carol, and so on. It's all very exhausting. It culminates when Dawn's dad gives the big news that he asked Carol to marry him and she said yes! Dawn freaks out and decides the only thing she can do is skip school, steal her dad's credit card, and take a flight across the country back to her mom. Yeah, for real. And leaves this doozy of a note:
Dear Dad,
I won't be home from school because I'm on my way to Stoneybrook. But I'm sure you don't mind. Now you can spend as much time as you want with your future wife. You won't have a daughter around to cramp your style. Good luck with your wedding plans. Tell Jeff I still love him. And don't be upset. I'll be with people who care about me.
Love, Dawn
Wow. I know she's thirteen and upset and all, but the nerve! So she gets to Stoneybrook and her mom is waiting for her at the airport and surprise! She's not happy to see her. Mrs Schafer-Spier loses her California cool and lectures Dawn up and down and all the way home. And she sends her straight back to California the next day. Where she gets another lecture. Honestly, she deserved it. And she deserves to feel guilty later when her dad and Carol break up. (They do get back together later on and even married, if I remember my Super Specials.) And that's our Dawn book done. Thank goodness.
Blogged at SeeJennRead
I know Stacey got a book when she lived in New York for awhile, but did we really need one for Dawn in California too? I guess they were trying out the spinoff idea but it didn't work at that time. (The California Diaries don't start til 3 years later.) Maybe because the original BSC gang doesn't actually come to Cali. We're focused on Dawn and her Cali friends: Sunny, Maggie, and Jill. They have their own baby-sitting club but it's a lot more laidback than Kristy's regime in Stoneybrook. The W<3KC has no rules, no set meeting times, no record book, etc...it's basically mayhem with veggie chips.
Then, the W<3KC gets a phone call from a local newspaper that changes everything for them. They want to do an article on the club, to "show the community the good things that are happening with our kids." The girls of course do it and it brings them tons of business which they are in no way prepared for because they do not have Ms. Kristin Amanda Thomas to help them.
I'd always thought of the Baby-Sitters Club as a tight ship, and the We <3 Kids Club as sort of a surfboard riding the waves. Each was fun in its own way. Now I realized the W<3KC was in danger of wiping out.
The CA girls try to get organized, Kristy gets jealous and tries to do her own publicity stunt back in CT, which backfires and they don't have enough sitters anyway. Dawn sits for her favorite charge, Stephie, who really really wants a mom because hers died. We don't have any Claudia outfits, so I guess we're stuck with Joanna, Stephie's day-time nanny. Joanna came in, dressed [for her birthday] in a short fringed skirt and a tight-fitting beaded top, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek, elegant style.
After her sitting job, Dawn heads home to her dad and Jeff (and Mrs Bruen, the housekeeper) where they're making veggie chimichangas. Dawn is bummed, not because she has to eat something fried, but because this means that her dad's girlfriend, Carol, is coming over. Carol is okay, but she tries to be too cool and says things like "bodacious". Dawn goes into this spiral of loving California, missing Stoneybrook, loving her dad, hating her dad and Carol, and so on. It's all very exhausting. It culminates when Dawn's dad gives the big news that he asked Carol to marry him and she said yes! Dawn freaks out and decides the only thing she can do is skip school, steal her dad's credit card, and take a flight across the country back to her mom. Yeah, for real. And leaves this doozy of a note:
Dear Dad,
I won't be home from school because I'm on my way to Stoneybrook. But I'm sure you don't mind. Now you can spend as much time as you want with your future wife. You won't have a daughter around to cramp your style. Good luck with your wedding plans. Tell Jeff I still love him. And don't be upset. I'll be with people who care about me.
Love, Dawn
Wow. I know she's thirteen and upset and all, but the nerve! So she gets to Stoneybrook and her mom is waiting for her at the airport and surprise! She's not happy to see her. Mrs Schafer-Spier loses her California cool and lectures Dawn up and down and all the way home. And she sends her straight back to California the next day. Where she gets another lecture. Honestly, she deserved it. And she deserves to feel guilty later when her dad and Carol break up. (They do get back together later on and even married, if I remember my Super Specials.) And that's our Dawn book done. Thank goodness.
Blogged at SeeJennRead
May 20, 2021
Dawn and the We <3 Kids Club are highlighted in the Palo City newspaper...which causes some organizational issues. At home, Dawn is dealing with her father's sudden engagement to Carol.
August 20, 2016
This one was good but so unbelievable.
Dawn and the We Love Kids Club as interviewed for a newspaper and a news spot on television, and become quite famous for baby sitting. Soon they are swamped, and Dawn shows some wonderful leadership skills in helping them get back on track.
Even though the BSC only really has six members (Dawn in California and Mallory is still recovering from mono), Kristy goes nuts about the We Love Kids Club gaining publicity, and tries to rope the girls into helping get them on TV, or at least the newspaper. No one is interested, and Kristy fails when she goes out on her own. In these later books, Kristy becomes an awful person to pretty much everyone. She is petty, mean and obsessed with publicity (remember all the ways she tries to get on tv when Mal's family do that reality special? Yuck).
Dawn chucks a fruity when her Dad and Carol announce their engagement, and flies out to Stoneybrook using her dad's stolen credit card number. She flies back the next day and has to pay her parents back, apparently by using her baby sitting money... hahahaha. For funsies I looked up the cost of a flight from LAX to Hartford, which seemed to be $350 each way. Even adjusting flight costs for 18 years ago (as well as rates for baby sitting), Dawn is going to have to work forever to pay it off.
Anyway, I liked rereading this one. Dawn seems lot nicer in Cali than Connecticut!
Dawn and the We Love Kids Club as interviewed for a newspaper and a news spot on television, and become quite famous for baby sitting. Soon they are swamped, and Dawn shows some wonderful leadership skills in helping them get back on track.
Even though the BSC only really has six members (Dawn in California and Mallory is still recovering from mono), Kristy goes nuts about the We Love Kids Club gaining publicity, and tries to rope the girls into helping get them on TV, or at least the newspaper. No one is interested, and Kristy fails when she goes out on her own. In these later books, Kristy becomes an awful person to pretty much everyone. She is petty, mean and obsessed with publicity (remember all the ways she tries to get on tv when Mal's family do that reality special? Yuck).
Dawn chucks a fruity when her Dad and Carol announce their engagement, and flies out to Stoneybrook using her dad's stolen credit card number. She flies back the next day and has to pay her parents back, apparently by using her baby sitting money... hahahaha. For funsies I looked up the cost of a flight from LAX to Hartford, which seemed to be $350 each way. Even adjusting flight costs for 18 years ago (as well as rates for baby sitting), Dawn is going to have to work forever to pay it off.
Anyway, I liked rereading this one. Dawn seems lot nicer in Cali than Connecticut!
November 15, 2021
I feel almost bad for giving this one star because it wasn't nearly as bad as Dawn and the Surfer Ghost. But then again what could be?
Not only am I not very interested in Dawn and her California friends, but the ghostwriter made Dawn even more insufferable than she is in other books by having her do the most irresponsible thing any of the BSC has ever done. By far.
Dawn's dad is pretty awful, too, so maybe that's where she gets it from. And even her babysitting charges have zero personality.
The into good part about this one was hearing about the delicious sounding food they had for dinner every night.
Not only am I not very interested in Dawn and her California friends, but the ghostwriter made Dawn even more insufferable than she is in other books by having her do the most irresponsible thing any of the BSC has ever done. By far.
Dawn's dad is pretty awful, too, so maybe that's where she gets it from. And even her babysitting charges have zero personality.
The into good part about this one was hearing about the delicious sounding food they had for dinner every night.
May 1, 2013
Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
July 3, 2007
I can't wait for Dawn to go back to Connecticut. California-Dawn is boring!
I never before realized that the "so young" Carol is 32!!! Suddenly I feel OLD!
I never before realized that the "so young" Carol is 32!!! Suddenly I feel OLD!
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