Club-Read: The Baby-Sitters Club #10: Logan Likes Mary Anne!

Of the central cast of the Baby-Sitters Club, I think Mary Anne is the most interesting. Or at least the one with the most development overall so far. Starting the series meek, concerned about not getting in trouble, the most reserved of the group. After her first book, Mary Anne Saves the Day, her character has shifted. Going from meek to outgoing, being proven to be more responsible, while at times still letting her immaturity show from time to time. So I was definitely interested to see what her next book would entail. And it seems we have love on the horizon. Or at least very very G-rated, kid friendly love. Does it make for a good book. Let's find out with Logan Likes Mary Anne!

Not too much to say with this cover other than I guess it gets its point across. You have Logan, Mary Anne, both looking at each other with affection. So much so that you might not even notice the kid with his hand stuck in the jar. It does enough to sell the plot being about Logan as a baby-sitter and the romantic intrigue. Other than that, not really much to say.

It's the last day of summer as the Baby-Sitters club are about to enter eighth grade. Mary Anne is more into boys than usual, namely a celebrity named Cam Geary going out with a girl named Corrie Lalique who has a big I AM NOT FINISHING THAT SENTENCE. Dawn notes that Mary Anne's romantic interests have been more prominent lately, which Mary Anne notes does make her the hypocrite for scolding Stacey two books ago. The girls have their meeting and get a call to watch Jenny Prezzioso, who we were introduced to back in the last Mary Anne book. Since the other girls don't like watching her, Mary Anne takes the job. The first day of school goes down as most first days do, with everyone getting situated and really hating on the cafeteria food. Mary Anne then thinks she sees Cam Geary, but Stacey tells her that he's Logan Bruno, who just started school today. Mary Anne is enamored by Logan, but annoyed that Stacey knows more about him. Reader beware, you're in for romantic turmoil.

After the first week of school ends, Kristy is super excited about things, namely the upcoming PTA meeting, which means potential new babysitting jobs. And Kristy suggests they start to advertise at school with posters and ads. I mean, those could work, but have you considered balloon advertising? Which means the BSC is hoping to expand to other neighborhoods, even the new one Kristy lives in, which is full of snobs. But we have next book to focus on snobs, this is about jobs. In fact, the advertising works too well, with plenty of calls that will stretch the girls thin. That's when they get someone who says he'll help them out. Logan Bruno, who we learn is from Louisville, Kentucky and has a massive southern drawl that also is attractive to Mary Anne like everything else. They invite Logan to the club and it turns out super awkward on both ends as the girls get concerned about mentioning things to Logan and vice versa. They get a job for him, but since they need proof he's the real deal, they have one of them go with him to the job, that of course being Mary Anne.

Mary Anne and Logan head to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rodowsky to baby-sit their kid Jackie, who has a grashopper. A male grasshopper named Elizabeth. This is a based kid, I'll tell you that. But despite that, he's a hyperactive kid who in the span of his baby-sitting tries to do a chin-up in the shower rod and falls, spills juice on the carpet and, as the cover displays, gets his hand stuck in the jar he has Elizabeth in. He also continues to fall and injure himself, so the kid's based and seems to have a death wish. But, despite all that, the job goes well and Mary Anne is impressed with Logan's handling of the job. Claudia works the Perkinses, taking Gabbie to meet with Myriah, while also making the choice to take their dog Chewey with them, which leads to a fun, albeit brief chase after the dog. Despite Mary Anne's referral, the girls aren't quite ready to include Logan into the club. And when Mary Anne calls him about the issue, Logan is the first to say that he's currently unable to join their club. We're just swimming in awkwardness in this book. 

Stacey watches Charlotte Johanssen, the smart kid who skipped a grade. She brings up Mary Anne's upcoming birthday, to which Charlotte suggests a surprise party. Since an actual surprise party would likely give her a full-blown panic attack, the idea is changed to a mini-surprise party by just bringing her a cake. The school holds a Remember September dance. Not sure if it's on the 21st or not. Mary Anne meets with Logan and the two dance. It goes badly for Mary Anne who kicks off her shoe by mistake, embarrassing her. But Logan seems cool with it. After that, it's Kristy's baby-sitting job, which of course includes the agent of chaos herself, Karen. Dawn is here also. Karen of course mentions Morbidda Destiny, which at this point Kristy is pretty much done with Karen's accusations of witchcraft. There's also heavy emphasis that their dog Louie is really getting old, so I assume a warning for a later book. But Karen mostly cheats at the memory card game, which yeah, that's on point. Though Kristy is also finding that Mary Anne is much more different than she used to, and the distance between them now isn't helping her mood.

The next day, Logan talks with Mary Anne, and is particularly interested in getting her to watch Meatballs. Which, hey isn't the most risque movie for a kid to watch, but I mean, it was the eighties. Logan is watching Jackie yet again, who is still nearly killing himself on a regular basis. The two decide to go together to Stacey's party, which is also the secret birthday party. Mary Anne tries to get an answer as to why Logan suddenly isn't down to join the club, but he's not quite ready to mention why yet. The party arrives and a bunch of the kids are there, including Alan Gray who does this thing of putting M&M's in his eyes and pretends to be Little Orphan Annie? We really were a different society before the internet. Logan and Mary Anne talk some more, with Logan even mentioning that he likes her for being more shy and serious... before the girls show up with Mary Anne's birthday cake. Once she realizes this was a party, Mary Anne runs off in a panic. Yeah, thank god they didn't go with the full surprise party plan, they'd have literally killed her of a heart attack.

Mary Anne returns home, frustrated over what happened. That she was caught off guard like that, that she felt like even Logan betrayed her. Nobody shows up, giving her space, but Mary Anne thinks she finally alienated her friends for her actions. She talks with her dad about getting a cat, which he's cool with so long as she pays for it and that she gets one from the animal shelter as opposed to a pet shop. Mr. Spier, also pretty damn based. She calls Logan and they patch things up after the party fiasco. They head to the shelter and Mary Anne gets a gray tabby that she names Tigger. Logan also gives her a bracelet that he did intend to give her for her birthday. Mary Anne talks with Stacey and the two apologize for both fouling this up, Mary Anne for her actions and Stacey for listening to an eight year old on the subject of how to celebrate birthdays. They have a meeting/meeting Tigger/completing the birthday party later on. The next meeting has another job babysitting for the Morgans, to which Logan accepts. He says he doesn't think he should be at the meetings given how the first meeting went, but the girls opt to have him be an associate to the club and help whenever they need extra work. Less swimming in the awkwardness, more sitting at the beach and watching the awkward tides roll.

After two books that were more filler stories, it's good to be back to a book that focuses a bit more on character development and also does some worldbuilding while it can. And yes, it's two Mary Anne books that are really good. Granted, this isn't as good as the first go around, but it's still good. And why that is comes down to how Mary Anne is built as a character. That for as much as she's overcome her meekness and is more outgoing than she was in the first books, a lot of that hasn't gone away. Her anxieties are still there, only now more multiplied given her interest in boys, especially Logan Bruno. So yeah, I can see why she'd bail like she did at the party. And the scene we get of her after bailing is super relatable. Those feelings that everyone else tried to pull a trick on you, while also feeling like your actions just alienated you from everyone else. It also doesn't help when those actions happen with someone you like, much like Mary Anne does for Logan. 

This book's overall focus is the feeling of awkwardness, especially that you get as a teenager. Not just with Mary Anne, but also with Logan. I like how the book handles the situation with him not wanting to go to the meetings. In a lot of other situations it would boil down to an "ew girls", "ew, boys" situation, or a character like Logan being a baby-sitter would lead to homophobic jabs. Instead here, it's as simple as it's very awkward, especially given that Logan isn't the same as the girls, not just by gender, but the stories he tells. That worry about offending the girls, and vice versa with the girls bothering Logan. Also it probably would have been a case where if he was a full member, he would have at least had a mainline book or so and I'm guessing that for one reason or another, either worries about gender norms or wanting it to specifically focus on the POV of girls, that never came to be. So the book gives the reader a fair payoff. Keep him as a side character who can work for the club, which allows him to still be featured when the need be and continue the stuff with him and Mary Anne. Props to Ann M. Martin on that. He does get a couple "reader request" special edition books though. 

Logan is a great addition to the cast. We get enough about him that we really need. Kid from Kentucky, baby-sat before, has feelings for Mary Anne and is an overall good hand for the girls to use when the need be. And for the first relationship with any actual stability in these books for the main cast, he's a good character to give that role to. And the stuff we get with Mary Anne and Logan is cute stuff. On the baby-sitting front, this one is definitely slim picken's, with really the Jackie stuff and the Charlotte stuff mattering to the overall plot. Also Jackie Rodowsky, the walking accident, is a fun addition to the cast of kids to baby-sit. Hope we're not done with him, or I'll have to assume the worst. But the lack of baby-sitting stuff I feel actually helped this book, as there was much more time given to the overall plot, with far less need to break from it with baby-sitting shenanigans, which was one of the main reasons the last book felt so weak to me. The series is still trying to learn how to balance its gimmick ten books in, but this was one of the better uses. 

So this book is ultimately pretty good. If you want baby-sitting shenanigans you get some stuff, but maybe not enough to satisfy. But if you want character development, romance, relatable stuff for the intended demographic (I'll admit this was the first book that had me collar tugging while reading this. Yes, even I swam in the awkwardness), then it's a solid recommend. Also speaking of demographic, this book has the girls all at thirteen, which Ann M. Martin notes at the end is going to be where they stay. That while the first book was meant to spend an entire year with the club, going forward they're sort of in a Simpsons loop of staying the same age as the world moves forward. In other words: Welcome to the world of eternal preteen purgatory, AKA hell. Kristy book next. Let's see how she fares with the snobby kids. But for now, Logan Likes Mary Anne! gets a B. 

Sixteen Magazine

Young Teen Magazine

Porky Pig

Th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
People Magazine
Turtle Wax
Diet Coke

YMCA

Cabbage Patch Kids

Paddington Takes the Air

Tik-Tok of Oz
Dr. Seuss
Happy Birthday to You
Doritos
M&Ms
The Rockettes

The Memory Game

Meatballs

Little Orphan Annie

Coke

Disneyland

Goofy

Pepsi
Tigger

Winnie the Pooh