Club-Read: The Baby-Sitters Club #08: Boy-Crazy Stacey

It's time for another trip to Stoneybrook... well, not for the entirety this time because we're going on a trip to the beach, with another book focusing on our favorite boy-crazy diabetic, Stacey McGill. After the drama involving Mimi's stroke and Claudia and Janine's butting of heads, I think we're due for something sillier. Though this IS Baby-Sitters Club and even eight books in I'm not ready to just give this series the benefit of the doubt. But let us inquire upon the merry adventures of Boy-Crazy Stacey. 

Well we have officially reached the end of an era with these covers. From this book onward, the cover art for both the first and second releases are the same art. So no chances for comparison. This cover is fine and sells the plot well enough. Stacey's doe-eyed look towards Scott the lifeguard who is clearly way too old for her. Sets easily the idea of a teen crush quite well. It also sets up Stacey's priorities are more fawning over Scott than the safety of the Pike gamily. So it's a cover that works fine in selling the plot.

We start the book with the basic recap of the series so far. How the club works, Stacey's diabetes, and how Kristy and her family have moved into Watson's mansion after the wedding. Stacey of course is worried about making a bad impression given she's going to be in the richer part of town, but ultimately it's all for naught since Kristy really hasn't changed despite her new locale. We also get the reminder of how the last book ended with Mary Anne and Stacey taking a job to watch the Pike kids during their vacation to Sea City, New Jersey. This will also be the first time the club isn't all together in some form or fashion, aside from that break-up period back in book four, so everyone else gets their vacations while Dawn and Mary Anne will be watching eight kids on a beach. Except for Kristy given her family are still getting all acquainted to living together. So enjoy two weeks of that I guess.

Stacey and Mary Ann arrive at the Pike residence where we once again meet all of their kids, those being Claire, Margo, Nicky, Vanessa, Jordan, Byron, Adam and the oldest, Mallory. Mr. and Mrs. Pike tell the girls that while the Pike parents intend to be around as much as possible, since this is a vacation, they'll be going off on their own, hence the need for the girls to baby-sit. Also, the main ground rule is that they don't want the kids swimming in the beach at any time that there isn't a lifeguard on duty. The girls return home and get packed, with Stacey hiding a hair dye because she wants her hair blonder. Her parents are concerned about her being away what with the diabetes and all, but Stacey has handled everything to ensure that they have doctor's numbers and everything in case of emergency. I mean, her parents were going to resort to a faith healer last time, so this is a step up.

The day of the trip arrives and everyone is in the two cars and off. We get some of the kids traits, the youngest Claire ending everything with "-silly-billy-goo-goo", so get used to that. Also the boys are really into the idea of barfing in the car, because what else is there to do pre-iPad? Everyone arrives at their summer house and get set up. They then take a tour of the town seeing all of the things to do in Sea City, from an arcade to a mini golf course to a trampoline park to a whole bunch of sugary food spots that, as established, means Stacey goes without on those. But she does spot something she does want to go with, that being a hunky lifeguard named Scott Foley. The next day everyone heads out for the beach. And it goes well for the most part, but Stacey is again transfixed by the lifeguard. Though given the lipstick smeared on him, she ain't the only one. 

They continue at the beach for a while, with Byron being bullied by his brothers for not going into the water. Stacey talks with the lifeguard who calls her cutie, which is concerning given he's confirmed to be at least his late teens. Suddenly, Margo calls for Stacey as Claire cut her foot on a shell, giving us the book cover as the hunky lifeguard is quick with his first aid kit to wrap her foot up. We learn that Scott is indeed eighteen, which means yes I do have a right for him calling an early teen "Cutie". But Stacey doesn't mind as she's head over diabetic heels in love. The next night Stacey and Mary Anne take the kids to a restaurant called Crazy Burger which features a guy in a rabbit suit named Bugs and a tree that has chocolate bars on them. We also learn from Nicky, one of the other boys, that he's getting picked on for being sissy, but also doesn't want to sit with his sisters, so there's no pleasing him. As for Mary Anne, she gets a horrible sunburn and all the kids try to come up with a way to cool her off. We're about a decade plus away before Baz Luhrmann taught us about sunscreen. 

The next day at the beach, Stacey talks more with Scott, who is calling her "Love" now, which, I get the swerve here is it's nice terms and all, but again, eighteen. There's a scare with a shark in the water, but it also may have been nothing. As the day ends, Scott gives Stacey his lifeguard whistle, which makes Stacey now convinced that he must be in love with her. The next day is wet and the Pike parents want to go to Smithtown an old timey area, but despite Mary Anne's interest, the kids go play miniature golf instead, to which Claire wins free tickets for another game. Since it's been so heavily focused on Stacey and Mary Anne, the book does give us some info on what's going on in Stoneybrook, namely with Kristy and her family. Watson tasks the kids with washing his car. As they begin, David Michael shows up with their dog Louie, who hurt his paw fighting with another dog. As Kristy and David Michael head to check on Louie, this leaves Andrew and Karen alone with a car and a hose. And given Karen already has a criminal record for the park incident in book six, well I fear the worst. And sure enough, they washed the car with sponges... Steel wool sponges. So now the old Ford's even more of a mess than before. I mean yeah, It was the kids who did it, but Kristy did leave them unattended and, I mean, I don't think trusting Karen with tools is a good idea.

The weekend arrives and Stacey and Mary Anne go out to the carnival. They ride the Ferris wheel and Stacey gets Scott a present... which immediately turns out to be a bad idea because they soon see Scott kissing a woman his age. So Stacey is embarrassed and a bit pissed at Mary Anne who pretty much knew this was going to happen, but, you know, title of the book and all. Things calm down and she apologizes to Mary Anne, then heads to the beach with the kids, all while avoiding Scott. She even manages to get Byron into the water, settling his issue with his brothers. In fact everything is wrapped up in a neat little package, except that Stacey still needs to get this Scott stuff out of her system, even if she did come to the realization that it was never going to work out given their age, but again, the language was kind of very "leading her on" which I have to cringe at. I'll get to it in the conclusion.

At the beach the next day, Stacey sees Scott with the other girls and decides to move on. She meets with one of the other mother's helpers at the beach, a boy named Toby who is actually around her age. And the two hit it off pretty well. The next night both Mary Anne and Stacey go out with the boys Toby and the other mother's helper Alex and it goes better with Stacey getting her first kiss in the tunnel of love. The final day of the trip arrives and Stacey says goodbye to Toby, while also saying goodbye to Scott. Se returns home and talks with Claudia who also had a vacation in California, which sadly isn't the focus of the next book, though she did some pottery which sounds cool. Also Mary Anne and Alex got rings with their name on it, so yeah, that got serious quick. 

So, some inside baseball on this one since I do feel I owe some explanation on why this took so long. So in 2023, after the first long break, I wanted to keep going with the BSC blogs. However, when I had finished Claudia and Mean Janine, I hit a snag. Given this book was set in the summer, I figured I would hold it out until summer 2024 for that year's (Woo!) Party Summer month. However, I just kept putting it off and putting it off. I wanted to get it done earlier this year too, but I also just kept holding it off and finally decided that I would get this one done in this year's Party Summer month. THEN when I started working on it, I hit another snag. The site that had the book available to read for free wasn't working right. Some pages would load, others wouldn't. So I had to actually buy a copy of this book. Not a physical copy because lord knows the fates would have likely intervened there too, but a copy on Amazon. I really don't like giving Bezos money, but I figured screw it, get this one done already. And while I definitely let this one sit for maybe too long, the end result was still a book I liked. Not loved, but liked.

I think what I do actually love about this book is the setting. Summer in every form. From the manic family vacation to time on the beach to sunburns and fun on the boardwalk to a carnival. It's probably the frontrunner for most summertime-feeling that I've felt for any book. I also still like Stacey as a focus. She's definitely more immature than Mary Anne, who mostly plays side character in this book, but does move on from the Scott infatuation pretty quickly. We still get a focus on her diabetes, which does get mentioned a bit, but isn't as key a focus to the book like last time. Less stuff with her parents almost letting a Peter Popoff faith heal her. And even when she's not fawning over Scott, she is responsible with the kids and has a good rapport with them. Which is always something I like about the BSC books. The girls are good with kids. Well, Stacey and Mary Anne in this case, lest we forget Kristy leaving Karen the agent of chaos unattended. Still better than Dawn almost letting a kid get kidnapped. So, you know, there could be worse cases.

I think at this point I do feel like I get how these books work. A lot of focus on watching the kids, going places, doing things, all while sprinkling the general story plot along. The Pike kids are fine, but because there's so many kids, it does fall pray to not a lot of them getting any time at all. At most, Claire, Byron and Nicky get the most focus while the others do fall mostly into Superfluous Clay territory. I also thought with the book putting so much focus on the kids not going past lifeguard time on the beach that it would lead to something, but it doesn't. I guess it makes sense, but, again, we had an almost-kidnapping in the fifth book. So if you wanted more of the girls babysitting the kids, you definitely get a lot of it in this one. I feel like it's a make-good for so little focus on babysitting in Claudia and Mean Janine. Also we don't get much of anything with Dawn or Claudia save for the very end with Claudia, which given Claudia has so far been the character I've enjoyed the most, that does stink, but given the format of the book, it makes sense. 

What I don't like is the Scott stuff. I don't have an issue with Stacey's crush, since it's normal for teens to have crushes on adults. And I do like that while the book doesn't help things with Scott's comments on Stacey, it never goes too far or too concerning, and that Stacey does accept things quick instead of making things worse. I do not at all like Scott calling her "Love" and "Cutie" though. I get it, I am in my forties reading books for a niche audience. If I was a young girl reading this in the 80s/90s (which, hey fates, I'd have preferred that) I could see myself giving it some leeway. And I get that it's needed because ultimately these are books for audiences who want that kind of romantic stuff. And Ann M. Martin never makes it more than silly fluff. But I don't know. An eighteen year old doing that just doesn't work for me. It's one of those cases where I realize what I'm reading and who it's actually for. But we do get an ending with Stacey and a boy around her age which I don't see going too far, especially pre-internet age, but works for that happier ending that the book always gets us towards. 

So in the end, this was an okay book, but probably one I rank a bit lower. Not so much because of my issue with the book, though it plays a factor, but it's one that feels the most like a series of skits and moments rather than a cohesive story. Which, given the nature of the books is, again, fine, but given the last book was far better with its plot, to go back to a more all over the place book does feel like a step down. It's not my least favorite book as, again, no almost-kidnapping, but aside from maybe a couple scenes, I don't see this one leaving much of an impact. Much like the summer, it's destined to arrive and go very quickly. Boy-Crazy Stacey gets a B. Dawn is up next with a possible haunted house? Hopefully I don't wait until Halloween for that one, but you never know...

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