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The Baby-Sitters Club #68
Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter
With Dawn in California and Mallory out sick, the Baby-sitters Club must recruit a new member, but the girls begin to wonder if the new girl they have selected fits the bill.
141 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
68 people are currently reading
764 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,121 books3,092 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 40 reviews
July 16, 2015
I don't dislike Jessi's character, but I'm not fond of her either. When I read the BSC ten years ago I loved all books. Now, I kind of question a couple of things. Like, if their age range is from 11-13 why do they act like 16 year olds? I mean, Stacey has a boyfriend! I wasn't even allowed to find a boy cute at that age.
But anyway, I liked this book.
But anyway, I liked this book.
July 8, 2020
I remember being disappointed with this book as a kid and as an adult, my disappointment remains. Because Wendy isn't a bad babysitter. She's not on time for much, and she has issues with keeping her commitments. But her babysitting (what little we see of it) is fine, she consistently is good with kids, and the main issue with her is that she thinks some of the cult-like rules of the BSC are weird and cultlike. Which they are. I remember 9 year old me hoping for some drama and some terrible babysitting, but no. It was just Wendy being flaky. No endangered children, no blatant irresponsibility, just a missed BSC meeting or two.
Three stars for Wendy being like, yo, the BSC is wack! and being right about that.
Three stars for Wendy being like, yo, the BSC is wack! and being right about that.
October 27, 2022
The reading of this book was filmed in front of a live studio audience...
So right off the bat, chat agrees that the 3 ish range is very fair for this one.
We all agree that we don't like Kristy that much and think Mallory deserved better. She got no sympathy and it was awful. Who gets blamed for having mono??
Overall, the story was a little light on plot but still fun. However, it's hilarious how a group of adults can collectively be so stressed out by a kid's book. (Wendy makes the worst choices.)
It was a nice change of pace from the retrospective childhood trauma that is Goosebumps.
Forever Yours,
The Scooby Drew Crew, 2022
So right off the bat, chat agrees that the 3 ish range is very fair for this one.
We all agree that we don't like Kristy that much and think Mallory deserved better. She got no sympathy and it was awful. Who gets blamed for having mono??
Overall, the story was a little light on plot but still fun. However, it's hilarious how a group of adults can collectively be so stressed out by a kid's book. (Wendy makes the worst choices.)
It was a nice change of pace from the retrospective childhood trauma that is Goosebumps.
Forever Yours,
The Scooby Drew Crew, 2022
April 26, 2024
Neighborhood kid got suspended and her mom ordered her to read this on the day she was homebound. I was asked to read it so I could quiz her on it to make sure she actually read it. I did. She did not and I don't blame her. This was so boring and poorly-written it was almost supernatural.
October 6, 2016
this is my first time reading this book!
in this book by ghostwriter Suzanne Weyn the bsc is feeling a little lost since dawn moved to california for six months. mal is starting to get sick (foreshadowing her mono diagnosis in Get Well Soon, Mallory!), and with the bsc down two members, they are overworked and are looking for an additional member. jessi's new friend wendy seems perfect -- she loves babysitting and horse books, for goshsakes. but she isn't willing to abide by kristy's borderline fascist rules, so it doesn't work out, and shannon ends up agreeing to temporarily be a full bsc member. meanwhile, margo pike has a secret: she's been shoplifting and playing with all her stolen tiny toys in her room.
highlights:
-at one point wendy is late to a sitting job at the pikes with jessi, and she explains that it was because she was looking after her neighbor's baby while the neighbor did phone selling. "all of a sudden she hit a hot streak and people were ordering stuff like crazy from her." hahahaha this is so weird and I love every bit of it.
-the margo shoplifting plotline is handled really well. she bursts into tears once she's found out, but you can tell up until then she feels really good about having a dirty little secret. I was so totally that kid.
-wendy ends up leaving on her own because she doesn't like the rules. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. it's sort of like a non-frustrating version of the frank grimes episode of the simpsons: someone who is normal comes into the bsc and shows the reader how unusual their strictness is. I hate the frank grimes episode because I think suspending our disbelief with homer simpson is the only way to handle his outrageous plotlines, but in the bsc I love it because it grounds everything so well.
lowlights:
-jessi says that wendy likes horse books as much as she and mal do but hasn't read any by Marguerite Henry. I call bullshit. what horse girl hasn't read Misty of Chincoteague?
-in an inane subplot, the bsc members and kids make a video for dawn, only to discover that she made a similar video for them! what a leave it to beaver-tinged gift of the magi-style plotline! *barf*
-eventually shannon takes over for dawn. uh, why didn't this just happen before they bothered with trying to hire a new member?
claudia outfits:
-"For example, today she was wearing an oversized white shirt under a black vest covered with a design of shiny beads. (She'd sewed the beads on it herself.) She wore neon green leggings and black ballet slippers (on which she'd sewn a matching bead design). From one of her pierced ears hung a dangling earring made from the same beads and on the other ear she wore a small green hoop earring."
-"Claudia wore hot pink stirrup pants and a fuzzy pink sweater that made a nice contrasrt with her neon green pads and helmet." (skating outfit)
stacey outfit:
-"Stacey looked cool as ever in jeans and a short brown leather jacket. Her helmet was black with silver streaks." (skating outfit)
snacks in claudia's room:
-potato chips (n.s.)
-frosted cupcakes in the bottom drawer of her bureau
in this book by ghostwriter Suzanne Weyn the bsc is feeling a little lost since dawn moved to california for six months. mal is starting to get sick (foreshadowing her mono diagnosis in Get Well Soon, Mallory!), and with the bsc down two members, they are overworked and are looking for an additional member. jessi's new friend wendy seems perfect -- she loves babysitting and horse books, for goshsakes. but she isn't willing to abide by kristy's borderline fascist rules, so it doesn't work out, and shannon ends up agreeing to temporarily be a full bsc member. meanwhile, margo pike has a secret: she's been shoplifting and playing with all her stolen tiny toys in her room.
highlights:
-at one point wendy is late to a sitting job at the pikes with jessi, and she explains that it was because she was looking after her neighbor's baby while the neighbor did phone selling. "all of a sudden she hit a hot streak and people were ordering stuff like crazy from her." hahahaha this is so weird and I love every bit of it.
-the margo shoplifting plotline is handled really well. she bursts into tears once she's found out, but you can tell up until then she feels really good about having a dirty little secret. I was so totally that kid.
-wendy ends up leaving on her own because she doesn't like the rules. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. it's sort of like a non-frustrating version of the frank grimes episode of the simpsons: someone who is normal comes into the bsc and shows the reader how unusual their strictness is. I hate the frank grimes episode because I think suspending our disbelief with homer simpson is the only way to handle his outrageous plotlines, but in the bsc I love it because it grounds everything so well.
lowlights:
-jessi says that wendy likes horse books as much as she and mal do but hasn't read any by Marguerite Henry. I call bullshit. what horse girl hasn't read Misty of Chincoteague?
-in an inane subplot, the bsc members and kids make a video for dawn, only to discover that she made a similar video for them! what a leave it to beaver-tinged gift of the magi-style plotline! *barf*
-eventually shannon takes over for dawn. uh, why didn't this just happen before they bothered with trying to hire a new member?
claudia outfits:
-"For example, today she was wearing an oversized white shirt under a black vest covered with a design of shiny beads. (She'd sewed the beads on it herself.) She wore neon green leggings and black ballet slippers (on which she'd sewn a matching bead design). From one of her pierced ears hung a dangling earring made from the same beads and on the other ear she wore a small green hoop earring."
-"Claudia wore hot pink stirrup pants and a fuzzy pink sweater that made a nice contrasrt with her neon green pads and helmet." (skating outfit)
stacey outfit:
-"Stacey looked cool as ever in jeans and a short brown leather jacket. Her helmet was black with silver streaks." (skating outfit)
snacks in claudia's room:
-potato chips (n.s.)
-frosted cupcakes in the bottom drawer of her bureau
October 11, 2012
I actually never read a BSC book before! I am rating it 3 stars, cause I think that I would have really liked this series as a kid... I don't know why I didn't read these books (everyone else was! I read Sleepover Kids instead). My adult-self rates it lower since it really is fluff... and the title of this particular one is misleading. I was interested in what was considered a "bad baby-sitter", but the title should be changed to "bad club-member". The would-be member is really just guilty of getting to meetings late and taking on side jobs (without club approval). Oo. I don't think that I personally would have wanted to be in the BSC (too strict with too much time commitment), but I would have liked to read about all of their fun projects and situations.
December 9, 2009
Gasp! A teen baby-sitter who chews gum at meetings? Let me guess - she invites boys over and talks on the phone instead of watching the kids, too. Maybe after the BSC kicks her out, she can go star in a horror movie.
January 6, 2011
i think this may the best jessi book. it's a shame that it has very little to do with jessi. i don't hate her character, i swear! her books are just mysteriously boring.
so, dawn has shipped off to spend six months living with her father in california, leaving the babysitters club short-handed. & now that school is back in session (for their tenth time through this grade), they are busier than ever. they rely on logan & shannon to take more of the extra jobs, but it's just not enough. everyone is struggling to balance their schoolwork, babysitting, & other responsibilities. & to top it off, mallory hasn't been feeling well & asks not to be scheduled for any jobs for a little while.
kristy suggests taking on another sitter on an at least temporary basis, until dawn comes back from california. jessi suggests her new friend wendy. they have been hanging out a fair amount recently (despite the fact that we have never heard of her before this book & will not hear anything more of her after this book), she likes to babysit, & she seems to be really good with kids. she helped jessi out with a chaotic job sitting for becca & squirt. kristy tells jessi to bring wendy to the next meeting.
of course, the next meeting is totally bananas. the phone is ringing off the hook, the babysitters are all shuffling their schedules around to cover each other's jobs & fit in the new calls, & they are trying to interview wendy to judge her fitness as a sitter to boot. kristy only manages to ask wendy a few basic questions, but wendy answers them well. but kristy remembers what happened the last time they let new sitters into the club without proper screening (book #3, when they were battling the babysitters agency). wendy will have to go on a supervised job with jessi before she is allowed into the club. they'll be sitting for the barretts together.
wendy is a little sluggish about getting to the job on time, which freaks jessi out, but once they are there, wendy is great with the kids. jessi reports back to kristy & wendy is voted into the club. but things immediately go foul when wendy is late to a sitting job at the pikes. all the kids are home except for mallory & mrs. pike wants two sitters present. jessi ends up calling mary anne away from an important paper to fill in for wendy. wendy shows up about twenty minutes late & is all, "what's the big deal? i knew you would be here." when she sees mary anne, she makes up an excuse about being late because she had to do something at school. after mary anne leaves, wendy admits that she had another sitting job after school & couldn't leave until the job was over. i'm not sure why she wouldn't admit that in front of mary anne, because it makes her sound a lot more responsible than having to do some vague "something" after school. though jessi points out that all the members of the babysitters club are supposed to share their jobs around. they wouldn't have any clients if they all had private jobs. wendy protests that no one else knows her client & the baby won't go to just anyone...which is think is a fair point. it seems really unrealistic that every kid in stoneybrook is okay with being babysat by a revolving door of like nine different babysitters (counting associate members--more when you start adding people like wendy & abby to the mix). when i was a kid, i was a holy terror who hated being touched or talked to by anyone, including my parents, but especially babysitters. living in stoneybrook, with its loosey-goosey child care regime, would have been my worst nightmare.
anyway, wendy is again great with the pike kids & jessi tries to put wendy's lateness to the job & her private clients out of her mind. but when wendy shows up late to the next babysitters club meeting, & kristy confronts her about being late to the pikes' (mary anne had told her), the shit hits the fan. kristy jumps down wendy's throat over breaking the rules, & wendy protests that the rules are needlessly strict. she says she resents having to drop everything to come to club meetings three times a week, & she doesn't like the idea of handing her clients over to the club. kristy says, "you knew the rules when you joined," & wendy points out that actually, she didn't. the meeting she attended was so chaotic that no one got around to explaining the rules to her. all wendy knew was that jessi liked the club, & wendy liked jessi, so she thought the club must be cool. but she doesn't think it's a good match for her, so she quits. everyone is gobsmacked.
stacey says something about how "kristy finally met her match," & kristy is like, "yeah right," & is all disgusted with wendy. even though wendy was actually not a "bad babysitter" at all. she was a great sitter--she just didn't like all the rules involved in the babysitters club, which is pretty much the first time in the series that anyone has ever really questioned all of kristy's crazy dictatorial tendencies. jessi reflects on the fact that wendy & kristy have a lot in common, but kristy is a leader while wendy is a loner. um...wendy really doesn't seem like a loner at all. she seems like a well-adjusted, friendly, bright eleven-year-old who just doesn't want to commit to an after-school activity more rigid than the marine corps. that doesn't make her a "loner". (not that there's anything wrong with being a loner. i am one myself.)
jessi wonders if she & wendy can still be friends. she calls wendy when she gets home from the meeting, & wendy expects jessi to yell at her. but instead, they agree that they still want to be friends. & then we never hear anything about wendy ever again, because rule #37 of the babysitters club by-laws states clearly, "no outside friends." careful, jessi. you're already pushing things with all your ballet classes.
so, dawn has shipped off to spend six months living with her father in california, leaving the babysitters club short-handed. & now that school is back in session (for their tenth time through this grade), they are busier than ever. they rely on logan & shannon to take more of the extra jobs, but it's just not enough. everyone is struggling to balance their schoolwork, babysitting, & other responsibilities. & to top it off, mallory hasn't been feeling well & asks not to be scheduled for any jobs for a little while.
kristy suggests taking on another sitter on an at least temporary basis, until dawn comes back from california. jessi suggests her new friend wendy. they have been hanging out a fair amount recently (despite the fact that we have never heard of her before this book & will not hear anything more of her after this book), she likes to babysit, & she seems to be really good with kids. she helped jessi out with a chaotic job sitting for becca & squirt. kristy tells jessi to bring wendy to the next meeting.
of course, the next meeting is totally bananas. the phone is ringing off the hook, the babysitters are all shuffling their schedules around to cover each other's jobs & fit in the new calls, & they are trying to interview wendy to judge her fitness as a sitter to boot. kristy only manages to ask wendy a few basic questions, but wendy answers them well. but kristy remembers what happened the last time they let new sitters into the club without proper screening (book #3, when they were battling the babysitters agency). wendy will have to go on a supervised job with jessi before she is allowed into the club. they'll be sitting for the barretts together.
wendy is a little sluggish about getting to the job on time, which freaks jessi out, but once they are there, wendy is great with the kids. jessi reports back to kristy & wendy is voted into the club. but things immediately go foul when wendy is late to a sitting job at the pikes. all the kids are home except for mallory & mrs. pike wants two sitters present. jessi ends up calling mary anne away from an important paper to fill in for wendy. wendy shows up about twenty minutes late & is all, "what's the big deal? i knew you would be here." when she sees mary anne, she makes up an excuse about being late because she had to do something at school. after mary anne leaves, wendy admits that she had another sitting job after school & couldn't leave until the job was over. i'm not sure why she wouldn't admit that in front of mary anne, because it makes her sound a lot more responsible than having to do some vague "something" after school. though jessi points out that all the members of the babysitters club are supposed to share their jobs around. they wouldn't have any clients if they all had private jobs. wendy protests that no one else knows her client & the baby won't go to just anyone...which is think is a fair point. it seems really unrealistic that every kid in stoneybrook is okay with being babysat by a revolving door of like nine different babysitters (counting associate members--more when you start adding people like wendy & abby to the mix). when i was a kid, i was a holy terror who hated being touched or talked to by anyone, including my parents, but especially babysitters. living in stoneybrook, with its loosey-goosey child care regime, would have been my worst nightmare.
anyway, wendy is again great with the pike kids & jessi tries to put wendy's lateness to the job & her private clients out of her mind. but when wendy shows up late to the next babysitters club meeting, & kristy confronts her about being late to the pikes' (mary anne had told her), the shit hits the fan. kristy jumps down wendy's throat over breaking the rules, & wendy protests that the rules are needlessly strict. she says she resents having to drop everything to come to club meetings three times a week, & she doesn't like the idea of handing her clients over to the club. kristy says, "you knew the rules when you joined," & wendy points out that actually, she didn't. the meeting she attended was so chaotic that no one got around to explaining the rules to her. all wendy knew was that jessi liked the club, & wendy liked jessi, so she thought the club must be cool. but she doesn't think it's a good match for her, so she quits. everyone is gobsmacked.
stacey says something about how "kristy finally met her match," & kristy is like, "yeah right," & is all disgusted with wendy. even though wendy was actually not a "bad babysitter" at all. she was a great sitter--she just didn't like all the rules involved in the babysitters club, which is pretty much the first time in the series that anyone has ever really questioned all of kristy's crazy dictatorial tendencies. jessi reflects on the fact that wendy & kristy have a lot in common, but kristy is a leader while wendy is a loner. um...wendy really doesn't seem like a loner at all. she seems like a well-adjusted, friendly, bright eleven-year-old who just doesn't want to commit to an after-school activity more rigid than the marine corps. that doesn't make her a "loner". (not that there's anything wrong with being a loner. i am one myself.)
jessi wonders if she & wendy can still be friends. she calls wendy when she gets home from the meeting, & wendy expects jessi to yell at her. but instead, they agree that they still want to be friends. & then we never hear anything about wendy ever again, because rule #37 of the babysitters club by-laws states clearly, "no outside friends." careful, jessi. you're already pushing things with all your ballet classes.
December 31, 2021
Omg I cannot believe how differently I feel about this on re-reading. So here's the sitch: Dawn (kid-favourite, anti-gun, pro-environment OG) has relocated, Shannon has a busy schedule (we're all busy, Shannon) and Mallory is mysteriously feeling fatigued all the time (us too, Mallory, us too). So Wendy joins the BSC as a temp. Wendy is somewhat lax about the rulebook.
Now, we know Kristy operates a tight ship: starts meetings on time and suffers no sloppiness in customer service. I have always kind of sympathized with Wendy, who can't stand these rules and doesn't get why Kristy cares so long as shit gets done and clients are happy.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I now bloody well get where Kristy is coming from. Woman's running a small business for heaven's sake! Protocols and expectations are set for a reason, and deviations create a lot of operational inefficiency. It's not that Wendy is a bad person, she's just more suited to freelancing than formal employment. Eventually, Wendy leaves amicably and everyone is still friends.
There's also a very entertaining sub-plot of the kids recording a performance of Snow White to send to Dawn. The kids are angels, rearrange stuff to include a deaf friend in the performance, and make the plot about environmental pollution (the apple falls in toxic waste or something). Super fun!
Now, we know Kristy operates a tight ship: starts meetings on time and suffers no sloppiness in customer service. I have always kind of sympathized with Wendy, who can't stand these rules and doesn't get why Kristy cares so long as shit gets done and clients are happy.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I now bloody well get where Kristy is coming from. Woman's running a small business for heaven's sake! Protocols and expectations are set for a reason, and deviations create a lot of operational inefficiency. It's not that Wendy is a bad person, she's just more suited to freelancing than formal employment. Eventually, Wendy leaves amicably and everyone is still friends.
There's also a very entertaining sub-plot of the kids recording a performance of Snow White to send to Dawn. The kids are angels, rearrange stuff to include a deaf friend in the performance, and make the plot about environmental pollution (the apple falls in toxic waste or something). Super fun!
November 30, 2023
This one wasn't too bad but it made me realize I probably read it as a kid since I definitely remember Mallory getting sick and actually being diagnosed with mono. Anyway this time the girls are short two sitters. Dawn went to California and Mallory can barely stay awake. So they branch out and bring in Jessi's friend Wendy. Despite the title Wendy isn't a bad babysitter. She's not a responsible one for sure given she shows up late for a job which is very irresponsible in my eyes. She's great with the kids but sucks at time management. Of course she refuses to follow BSC rules and bossy old Kristy is pissed at her for it. Eventually they part ways but Jessi and Wendy remain friends. There is a b and c plot in this one. The c plot has Margo Pike shoplifting which was more interesting than the b plot. I guess being somewhat in the middle of eight kids makes you act out for some attention. The b plot involves the kids making a video for Dawn. They start off with Snow White but turn it into an environmental thing where the evil witch is the biggest polluter and it fits for Dawn. Dawn in California makes a video for them which is cute. This one wasn't bad. Slightly more realistic to 11 and 13 hear olds than other books are.
September 12, 2021
Surprisingly really enjoyed this one? Maybe it's the cooler weather here but it meshed with the Fall vibes (also so much less Dawn even though she's mentioned every five seconds--and I'm not a doctor but isn't it pretty obvious what's wrong with Mallory? Come on, pediatricians of Stoneybrook.)
I actually kind of like Wendy and tbh points were made athough not being on time for ANY sitting jobs being OK is a strange hill to die on--Kristy is right, why would anyone trust a sitter who is never there when they say they'll be? She's right about the timeliness for meetings though, and that she shouldn't have to offer up the jobs she already has to the BSC who don't know the parents--can't she just record those jobs in the club record book and call if a day?
The video the kids made sounds ridiculous but fun (although did it have to take up like half of the book?) but my favorite storyline was actually the one with Margo that sort of got pushed to the back burner.
I actually kind of like Wendy and tbh points were made athough not being on time for ANY sitting jobs being OK is a strange hill to die on--Kristy is right, why would anyone trust a sitter who is never there when they say they'll be? She's right about the timeliness for meetings though, and that she shouldn't have to offer up the jobs she already has to the BSC who don't know the parents--can't she just record those jobs in the club record book and call if a day?
The video the kids made sounds ridiculous but fun (although did it have to take up like half of the book?) but my favorite storyline was actually the one with Margo that sort of got pushed to the back burner.
January 4, 2014
In which an alleged bad babysitter comes on board for a minute.
Had a hard time rating this one. I hate Jessi so much. But I liked Wendy a lot. A middle school student who ACTS like a middle school student. No wonder K. Ron and the gang didn't like her. I loved that she was the titular "Bad Babysitter," yet she didn't really do anything that would make her a bad babysitter.
Had a hard time rating this one. I hate Jessi so much. But I liked Wendy a lot. A middle school student who ACTS like a middle school student. No wonder K. Ron and the gang didn't like her. I loved that she was the titular "Bad Babysitter," yet she didn't really do anything that would make her a bad babysitter.
December 26, 2021
You knew this new babysitter wasn't going to work out. I knew this new babysitter wasn't going to work out.
I thought this was a pointless book, but then I realized that no one has randomly bullied Mallory since the Sea City super special, so thank god Jessi was here to basically tell her to stop being lazy and just try harder to feel better.
I thought this was a pointless book, but then I realized that no one has randomly bullied Mallory since the Sea City super special, so thank god Jessi was here to basically tell her to stop being lazy and just try harder to feel better.
November 6, 2020
I don’t know what the big deal was with Wendy. She was late, which isn’t good, but that didn’t make her the personification of pure evil. The plot was a bit too thin for my taste. I normally like Jessi books but this one was kind of meh..
December 18, 2020
(LL)
This book was kind of useless. If Wendy becomes a bigger part of Jessi’s life or the BSC then perhaps it could have been good, but it felt unnecessary. The plus side was the topic of shoplifting with Margo and how it was handled, which is why I gave it three stars, as it was a good subplot.
This book was kind of useless. If Wendy becomes a bigger part of Jessi’s life or the BSC then perhaps it could have been good, but it felt unnecessary. The plus side was the topic of shoplifting with Margo and how it was handled, which is why I gave it three stars, as it was a good subplot.
October 5, 2010
I loved the video of the subplot! Wasn't too keen about the main plot though - seemed to show everybody from their worst side.
June 27, 2016
I liked how Wendy wasn't scared of Kristy
September 6, 2017
Why are Jessi books so boring? Also, sadly, this one barely even had anything to do with her. The poor kid.
February 14, 2024
I've always hated the title of this book. Wendy wasn't a bad baby-sitter!! She was GREAT with kids. Yes, it was irresponsible of her not to call when she knew she was going to be late to a job, but she didn't put any kids in danger or exhibit bad behavior. The BSC just didn't want her joining their cult if she wasn't going to conform to Kristy the Dictator's rules.
I think this is the start of the girls really becoming Flanderized in their character traits, especially Kristy with her need to control everyone's lives. Jessi lives in a state of panic about being literally "one half-second late!" to a meeting. Come on. These girls are supposed to be friends. Friends don't treat each other with disdain for being one minute late. Kristy is a bully, and I'm glad Wendy stood up to her and said that the club rules were too controlling. Claudia also rightly points out that it's not a big deal if clients occasionally have to use another sitter. What happens when these girls go on their frequent two-week Super Special vacations to California and Sea City and Hawaii and Europe, etc? The club obviously has to be on hiatus then, but of course for convenient plot purposes, no one in Stoneybrook needs a sitter during that time, and the clients don't desert them while they're on vacation.
And you're telling me that in all 130+ books of the series, NO ONE ever needed a baby-sitter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 5:30 and 6:00? In this book, Kristy has a conniption because she claims EVERY SITTER must be present for the entirety of these 30-minute meetings, or the club will possibly implode. Thankfully, Wendy points out the ridiculousness of this, as well as the unfairness of her being expected to not take any sitting jobs without offering them to the other girls. Go, Wendy. The "club" was a cult and a dictatorship, and I'm glad she was happy to do her own thing and to still remain friends with Jessi in the end.
But Jessi's a terrible friend to Mal in this book. Mal is suffering from chronic fatigue (which in the next book will be revealed to be mono) and Jessi has no sympathy for her. The other girls in the BSC only seem to casually be concerned, and act like she's an inconvenience. "The best friends you'll ever have", my ass. God forbid you get a haircut, or make friends outside of the club/cult. Or be Mallory, because she's the butt-monkey of the series despite being the ONE character that most awkward, bookish girls could relate to.
So although the main plot is terrible, this is the only book in which I actually like the subplot of the Barretts and the Pikes. Their play about Snow White and Captain Planet and the Zorbs was honestly creative, genuinely funny, and cute. I wish more of the baby-sitting plots would have been like that. But be honest, most of us read these books for the middle school drama (and the outfits! And the shopping trip montages!) and not the baby-sitting.
I think this is the start of the girls really becoming Flanderized in their character traits, especially Kristy with her need to control everyone's lives. Jessi lives in a state of panic about being literally "one half-second late!" to a meeting. Come on. These girls are supposed to be friends. Friends don't treat each other with disdain for being one minute late. Kristy is a bully, and I'm glad Wendy stood up to her and said that the club rules were too controlling. Claudia also rightly points out that it's not a big deal if clients occasionally have to use another sitter. What happens when these girls go on their frequent two-week Super Special vacations to California and Sea City and Hawaii and Europe, etc? The club obviously has to be on hiatus then, but of course for convenient plot purposes, no one in Stoneybrook needs a sitter during that time, and the clients don't desert them while they're on vacation.
And you're telling me that in all 130+ books of the series, NO ONE ever needed a baby-sitter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 5:30 and 6:00? In this book, Kristy has a conniption because she claims EVERY SITTER must be present for the entirety of these 30-minute meetings, or the club will possibly implode. Thankfully, Wendy points out the ridiculousness of this, as well as the unfairness of her being expected to not take any sitting jobs without offering them to the other girls. Go, Wendy. The "club" was a cult and a dictatorship, and I'm glad she was happy to do her own thing and to still remain friends with Jessi in the end.
But Jessi's a terrible friend to Mal in this book. Mal is suffering from chronic fatigue (which in the next book will be revealed to be mono) and Jessi has no sympathy for her. The other girls in the BSC only seem to casually be concerned, and act like she's an inconvenience. "The best friends you'll ever have", my ass. God forbid you get a haircut, or make friends outside of the club/cult. Or be Mallory, because she's the butt-monkey of the series despite being the ONE character that most awkward, bookish girls could relate to.
So although the main plot is terrible, this is the only book in which I actually like the subplot of the Barretts and the Pikes. Their play about Snow White and Captain Planet and the Zorbs was honestly creative, genuinely funny, and cute. I wish more of the baby-sitting plots would have been like that. But be honest, most of us read these books for the middle school drama (and the outfits! And the shopping trip montages!) and not the baby-sitting.
September 15, 2017
I still kind of legitimately love this one - mostly because of the "Snow White and the Seven Zorbs Unite with Captain Planet" play they put on for Dawn.
However, I never understood why they didn't just make Wendy an associate member? She's a great baby-sitter but can't stand the rigidity of the club, which I completely understand. So why not just call on her when she's needed? I guess she was late to jobs too, so maybe that wouldn't work, but it seems like it would have been a good solution.
However, I never understood why they didn't just make Wendy an associate member? She's a great baby-sitter but can't stand the rigidity of the club, which I completely understand. So why not just call on her when she's needed? I guess she was late to jobs too, so maybe that wouldn't work, but it seems like it would have been a good solution.
Read
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.
June 28, 2023
The babysitters have no work/life balance. They're all going to be burnt out by the time they're 16!!!
Why are none of their parents stepping in? Mallory is suffering from severe burnout and exhaustion!! Kristy is not a good leader/boss. She has no empathy for her friends. She puts their clients and business over the well being of her staff (friends). Dawn's Babysitting Club sounds so much better.
Why are none of their parents stepping in? Mallory is suffering from severe burnout and exhaustion!! Kristy is not a good leader/boss. She has no empathy for her friends. She puts their clients and business over the well being of her staff (friends). Dawn's Babysitting Club sounds so much better.
August 8, 2024
4 stars. If you know me you know that Kristy is my least favorite character in this series. She's insufferable at best. So imagine my total glee when new character and Dawn replacement Wendy comes in and goes toe to toe with Kristy. I loved it. Wendy is awesome. She's a good baby sitter but she's always late to the meetings which drives Kristy mad but Wendy was having absolutely none of her shit. Justice for Wendy!
April 8, 2021
With Dawn in California and Mallory out sick, the Baby-Sitters Club is struggling to find sitters for their jobs. So Jessi asks her friend, Wendy, to join the club. Wendy is a great baby-sitter, but she doesn't like the BSC rules...leading her to quit. Thankfully, Shannon steps in to take Dawn's place until she returns.
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.
June 19, 2025
I think Jessi and Mallory are the author’s fill in characters and you can tell by their storylines.
Wendy’s not wrong about Kristy though because meeting three times a week is a huge commitment. Wendy’s also not a bad babysitter.
It’s also funny because in this book we’re supposed to believe that Dawn and Jessi are super close but they never hang out.
Wendy’s not wrong about Kristy though because meeting three times a week is a huge commitment. Wendy’s also not a bad babysitter.
It’s also funny because in this book we’re supposed to believe that Dawn and Jessi are super close but they never hang out.
December 23, 2025
I liked each of the three (four?) plotlines we got here, but the book felt kind of unfocused because the plotlines didn’t relate to each other all that much.
Why call the book Jessi and the Bad Babysitter when said bad babysitter is barely in it?
Why call the book Jessi and the Bad Babysitter when said bad babysitter is barely in it?
August 16, 2017
How could someone NOT want to join the BSC?
October 16, 2019
Review on www.Audible.com please listen to this book.
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