Club-Read: The Baby-Sitters Club #32: Kristy and the Secret of Susan

Okay, so from the jump, this was one I was  VERY concerned about when I learned about its existence. We're in very special episode territory once again with the BSC. And we have a story about autism. An autism story from 1990. So I'm very interested to see how Ann M. Martin handles the subject matter. I trust her to at the very least do as good a job as she possibly can, but I still feel concerned. But one can only hope this goes well. We'll find out with Kristy and the Secret of Susan.

Both covers are just okay at best, and I guess sell the concept at the very least. I like the reprint cover a bit more here. While neither cover fully screams "kid with autism" it does feel more prevalent in the original cover with Susan's face having a more blank expression, where the reprint doesn't do that so much. In other words, it doesn't try to "other" Susan as much. More of a testament to how much the world has learned about autistic people in the 35 years from both releases. 

A quick comment before starting this one. Given the subject matter of the book being such that it had to get an update in the reprint, I'll be covering the book first from the original 1990 version (which the eBook takes from) and afterwards I'll circle around and post about what the 2025 reprint changes.

Kristy opens the book with the basic preamble about her family as she heads off for the club meeting. At the meeting she learns that a new family has moved into Mary Anne's old house. A family from Australia names the Hobarts with four boys, which given we're in 1990 means we have to make Crocodile Dundee references. But more intriguing to Kristy is the Felder family that live across the block. She sees their daughter Susan being hand-led, seemingly staring off and flapping her free hand over her face. Claudia says that their daughter is Susan and she goes to a special needs school. But we'll learn more after the primer on the club and all the members which, yes, is still getting longer, especially now that we're post Dawn and Mary Anne becoming sisters. It's the entire second chapter of the book and, at least on the ebook version I read, takes up just about 10% of the overall book to get through. And that's just the introduction to the girls, the next six percent is on the club's foundation and what positions the girls fill in said club. I swear I won't harp on this every single time but it's also the first time I really went "Oh god these are getting longer" after reading through it.

The phone rings and it's Mrs. Felder, who asks for the club to baby-sit Susan while she goes out in the afternoons to get groceries and other stuff. She tells Kristy that Susan is autistic and is being transferred to a new school. Neither Kristy nor the girls really know what autistic means, with Claudia thinking it's like Down's syndrome. When I said this was a book that wasn't going to age well, oh boy did I mean it. Kristy takes up the offer with Mrs. Felder being relieved, thinking the girls wouldn't take the job. Kristy looks up the term, but doesn't get many answers outside of it being described as being similar to schizophrenia. She meets with Mrs. Felder and Susan and sees that Susan likes to flap and click her tongue and doesn't talk. Mrs. Felder sets things a bit more straight with Kristy about Susan's autism and how she is usually in her own world, doesn't talk, though she does sing, and doesn't really like to be touched or hugged. She's also a savant, which means that while her IQ is supposedly low, she can play the piano amazingly. Also she can pinpoint correct dates as well. Kristy takes the job and takes Susan out back. And speaking of outback, she sees the Hobarts having to deal with kids making fun of their accents and lack of Dundee-ish abilities. I mean what kind of Australian are you if you haven't played Knifey-Spooney? 

Mallory and Jessi babysit Mal's siblings, who are still very confused about the Hobarts. Given them being Australian the kids at school have taken to calling them the Crocs. Mallory notes that she and the other pikes have been called the Spiders on account of there's eight of them, which honestly, why complain that's kind of badass. Though Jessi notes that she's been called far worse which, hey valid. They introduce themselves to the Hobarts, eldest boy Ben, eight year old James, six year old Matthew and four year old Johnny. The Pike kids play with them for a bit and everyone has a good time until some kids show up and again mock the Hobarts for being Australian, before leaving saying "See you later... crocodile". You know these kids suck at hurling insults when they don't go for the obvious "after while". 

The next day Kristy relays her experience with Susan to the others and if you were already wondering why this book needed an overhaul, one paragraph is enough to accentuate it. Kristy refers to Susan having a "low IQ", "acting blind and deaf" and "acting like a slow two year old". Kristy also thinks Susan is being treated like an outcast and could use friends, and maybe if she meets the Hobarts, that's killing two birds with one stone. Mallory tries to talk about the Hobarts, but gets tongue tied talking about Ben, who it's clear she has a crush on. Kristy sits for Susan again and has a hard time getting her away from the piano, but she manages to do and takes Susan over to the Hobarts as Mallory is also there with the Pike kids. The boys from earlier return to heckle the Hobarts some more. They're introduced as Bob and Craig. They then turn their attention to Susan, but James defends her, saying that she's his friend. When Susan reveals the correct day a date falls on, they're all impressed. We follow up with a chapter as Kristy and Stacey babysit for Kristy's family. Not too much to it, but Kristy talks about how frustrated she is that when she told Mrs. Felder about James befriending Susan, that she didn't really react to it, still planning to send Susan to a special school. Kristy wants to change Mrs. Felder's mind about it, while also referring to Susan as "one of the most handicapped kids I've ever seen" due to her screaming and needing to be dressed. Again, if you needed more proof as to just how much needed to be altered, then yeah. 

Kristy sits for Susan again who won't leave the piano despite her attempts. One of the Bob and Craig boys, who is actually named Mel Tucker, arrives as he's interested in Susan and impressed when he sees that she can play almost any song on the piano just by asking her. She can even sing every song from The Music Man. After Mel leaves, James shows up. He mentions his issues of not having friends he can do much with since moving from Australia, and that he really wants to be friends with Susan. The next day Stoneybrook Middle School holds an assembly to which Kristy notices the kids near the front. Ones in wheelchairs, ones with Down's syndrome and more notably, an autistic kid named Drew who can carry conversations. This makes Kristy again think that maybe Susan shouldn't go to a special school. But that's cut off when she sees kids mocking the special needs kids and throwing spitballs at them. She talks with the special needs teacher who invites her to visit their class sometime. Later, Kristy and the girls see that Mallory and Ben are starting a relationship, but more importantly, it seems that nobody's giving Ben a hard time on the whole Australian stuff anymore.

Kristy sits for Susan once again, noting that Mrs. Felder looks exhausted with Susan being up most of the night and wandering around. The other "Bob and Craig" boy, Zach Wolfson, shows up, wanting to see Susan get more dates correct. After he leaves, another girl shows up wanting to hear her sing, and another girl after that. One girl accidentally slips that this experience is worth it, which makes Kristy realize what's going on and why Mel was so keen on seeing Susan's abilities. He had been charging kids to see Susan perform like she's a circus act, only with more R slurs thrown about. I don't condone corporal punishment, but someone is asking for a lariat to the larynx. Kristy is rightfully pissed off over this, but also feels bad that she let this happen in the first place, naively thinking that nobody would actually try to pull this crap on Susan. She takes Susan over to the Hobart residence where Claudia is babysitting.

Claudia babysits the Hobarts who are again bullied by Zach. That is until James smashes a crate with his fist, which impresses Zach so much that he kind of wants to be friend with James. Also Kristy arrives, noting Zach wasn't in the group of kids when Mel was pulling his sideshow act. She relays the incident to Claudia while noting that she doesn't think Susan will ever fit in with regular kids. The last day of Kristy's baby-sitting job arrives and Mrs. Felder is packing for Susan's special school. Kristy is upset, feeling she failed in her mission to keep Susan from having to leave. Kristy asks about when Susan was young and Mrs. Felder brings up that Susan started so well, being able to seemingly learn everything, right down to being able to read. They thought they had a genius kid, but when she turned two, she mentally regressed and hasn't changed much since, aside from learning basic skills like using the toilet and eating. After talking with Mrs. Felder, Kristy takes Susan for a walk and sees James and Zach together. James talks with Susan a bit and everything seems like it's leading to some sort of happy ending... until Susan wets herself, which upsets Kristy feeling ashamed for both herself and Susan.

Friday afternoon comes and it's time for Susan to be moved to her special school. Kristy arrives and meets Mr. Felder who we just never met in this book. He's always never around at the same time Kristy's sitting. Kristy tells him that she did hope to help Susan change and stay, but he tells her that Susan will be fine in her new school in California. Mrs. Felder also reveals that she's pregnant and will have another baby girl, a sister for Susan that they plan to name Hope. The Felders make their leave as James shows up to say goodbye to them. The book ends with Kristy at the meeting early as Claudia is trying to unlock a box like Nancy Drew would. She talks with Claudia about wanting to keep Susan from going, but realizes that Susan will get the help she needs there and is in good hands. Mallory and the others arrive and we learn the Hobarts are fitting in well and Mallory and Ben are in a relationship. So hey, there's that super mega happy ending right on schedule.

So with the original book covered, It's time to see what the 2025 reprint does with this book's glaring issues. Note that these changes mentioned will focus only on the verbiage towards autism and Susan, not other stuff like, say, the Hobarts referring to fairy floss as candy floss in the reprint.  

WHAT DOES THE REPRINT CHANGE?

• Kristy mentioning that Susan "looked sort of... odd" is replaced with Kristy saying she "moved in a way I wasn't used to". 
• Mrs. Felder doesn't refer to Susan as handicapped.
• Mrs. Felder doesn't mention Susan going to a "special school" during the initial phone call.
• Kristy's confusion over the word Autism is removed.
• Claudia thinking autism is similar to Down's Syndrome is removed.
• The text about Kristy looking up the term Autistic is completely edited, no longer referring it to being "like schizophrenia". It gets referred to as a "bio-neurological developmental disability". It reads far better in understanding people with autism and doesn't refer to them as "withdrawing from reality". 
• Mrs. Felder saying Susan "could speak, but she doesn't" is removed.
• Kristy mentioning almost saying "In front of her?" when Mrs. Felder is going to talk about Susan is removed.
• Mrs. Felder's explanation on autism is completely changed. "Symptoms" is changed to "Traits", "Susan is in her own world and she doesn't want to leave it" is changed to "she experiences the world differently than we do", adds that her support needs are higher than most autistic people, Susan's actions being called "strange behavior" is altered to "exhibit behavior that seems strange to you", "she rarely makes eye contact with anyone" removes "with anyone", and it adds text that while Susan's way of living is different from hers or Kristy's it's still a way of living and that her mind works differently.
• Kristy asking "what caused it" and "will Susan get better" are removed as are Mrs. Felder's responses, including the comments of most autistic people never being "what most people consider normal" and that they "might be able to live in a group home, work a part-time job or a sheltered workshop, but that's it".
• Kristy saying that Susan's future "looked bleak" is removed.
• Susan isn't referred to as a "savant". 
• Susan's IQ and being "untestable" are never brought up. 
• Mrs. Felder noting that she used to play songs for Susan on the piano is removed.
• Some updated text noting that Susan never reacted to anyone telling her how days, weeks, months and years work, and that teachers have no idea how she can tell people what day of the week a date will or did fall on.
• Kristy thinking Susan is being "treated like an outcast" is completely removed, with new text about when Mrs. Felder will be around during Kristy's baby-sitting jobs. 
• Mrs. Felder saying that if she left, Susan wouldn't be upset as she has "no connection to anyone" is removed.
• Kristy's narration asking "Could Susan tell the difference between her mother and me?" is removed.
• Kristy explaining autism to the girls is completely overhauled, removing the Downs syndrome comment, her IQ, and saying that Susan acts "blind and deaf".
•  Kristy saying that Susan "acts like a two year old... a slow two year old" is altered to "Susan acts like she's younger than eight". 
• Susan being referred to as an outcast is changed to "different" and Kristy's initial comment about Susan being an outcast is removed. 
• "Lots of autistic people have eating and sleeping problems" is changed to "some autistic people have eating and sleeping problems".
• Some of the dialogue of Kristy tightening her grip on Susan's hands is altered.
• Kristy saying "she looked a little odd" is removed.
• Mallory saying that Susan "can't talk" is changed to "doesn't talk much". 
• The entire dialogue of Kristy talking about how Susan's mom didn't really react to James calling Susan his friend is removed, as is her telling Stacey that she wants to change Mrs. Felder's mind on sending Susan away to a special school. 
• The entire subplot of Kristy wanting to keep Susan in Stoneybrook is dropped in the reprint.
• Kristy calling Susan "one of the most handicapped kids she's ever seen" and describing her issues getting Susan in her pajamas are completely removed. 
• Susan's skills being compared to a chicken playing the piano is removed, as is Kristy saying that Susan is really special.
• Kristy describing the girl in the wheelchair is completely altered, removing mentioning that she's slumped and "looked like she had no bones". She is also given the name of Sarah.
• Kristy's description of the boy in the wheelchair is slightly altered.
• Kristy's description of the looks and actions of the Down's Syndrome students is removed.
• The paragraph about a girl who's blind and deaf and a boy who's deaf is completely removed.
• The paragraph of Kristy thinking that Susan and Drew could be the same and her again bringing up that Susan shouldn't go to a special school is removed completely. In its place is a paragraph about Kristy noting that Mrs. Felder told her about how autistic kids can have a wide range of behaviors.
• "The teacher of the handicapped kids" is changed to "the special needs teacher"
• The teacher asking "how did you know?" when Kristy asks about Drew being autistic is changed to "what makes you ask?" 
• Mrs. Felder being described as "looking like she was escaping" is removed, as is the dialogue talking about her being exhausted, Susan being up all night and prowling the house and the Felders considering locking her bedroom at night.
• Gina referring to Susan as "the incredible retard" and "the amazing dumbo" are changed to "the incredible freak". 
• Kristy saying Susan "couldn't see right through them" and "didn't know what was going on" are altered to hoping Susan couldn't sense what was going on.
• Kristy telling Claudia about the R-slur and dumbo comments is removed. 
• Kristy's comments about thinking that Susan doesn't know where she is or who they are is removed, as is Kristy saying Susan doesn't fit in with regular kids. It is replaced with narration of Kristy saying that Susan sees things differently and that as her sitter she should let her do the things she wanted to do.
• Kristy's narration of having failed in her mission to keep Susan in Stoneybrook is altered to her being happy that Susan is going to a place that can better understand her needs. 
• Kristy's thoughts of believing that the Felders packing Susan off is an easy way out is removed. 
• Paragraphs comparing the empty looking room of Susan's to the brighter, fuller room of Kristy's two year old sister Emily Michelle are removed. 
• Mrs. Felder's description of Susan's upbringing is completely overhauled, presenting it in a less doomed light. 
• Susan wetting her pants is completely removed and replaced with her playing with some grass. As such, the narration of Kristy feeling ashamed is removed.
• Kristy thinking Mr. Felder would look like a morose, little man is removed.
• Kristy talking to Mr. Felder about hoping to change Susan and keep her from having to move away is removed as is some of Mr. Felder's response before mentioning the school in California. 
• Mrs. Felder mentioning having tests done to check if Susan's baby sister will have autism is removed.
• Much of Kristy's final dialogue on Susan is removed. Mainly in hoping Susan wouldn't move and trying to help her fit in. 

 

This book is woefully dated. And not in a "Oh it's a 90s book so terms and pop culture are dated" way, it's dated because it's not exactly a take on the autism spectrum that has aged well at all. But, in fairness to it, this feels like one of the first pieces of kids media to even try to explain autism to kids. And I think Ann M. Martin tried her best here to explain it in the best way possible for the time. The problem is that in the 36 years since this book's release we now know more about the spectrum than we did back then to the point that going back to a book like this is rough. It's also a far different environment where I think Kristy and the girls, were they in a 2026 world, would have more of an education on autism than they do in 1990. Which is why this has to be the first situation in any series I've covered where I had to check the reprint as well as the original. So I covered the book through the original text (or at least the version used for the eBook) and whenever the book got to talking about Susan, I had to take my copy of the reprint and double check on what the book did to change things. 

And yep, this is a book that absolutely got overhauled when it comes to tackling how not just how autism is referred to but also how Susan is spoken about. The original heavily others Susan as having a "bleak future" and presenting autism as a horrible situation where nobody who has it can ever really succeed. That has been proven to be untrue in the decades since this book's publication. The reprint fixes all of this, explains autism to the reader in a far more educated light, doesn't treat it as some doomsday scenario, and doesn't other Susan as an outcast or someone to be pitied. It also drops a notable piece of the plot where Kristy is concerned about Susan having to go to a new school. It is actually a lot more heavy lifting for a book update than I would have really expected and I respect Scholastic for it. 

Though you could make the argument that there's so much editing going on that it almost feels like a different book in places, and there's the argument of the importance of integrity in keeping a work close to its original format. This is a case though where I can actually see Scholastic's reasoning. It needed a massive overhaul. When you're having characters using R-slurs and treating autism like a death sentence, it's hard to just put that back out to a new audience. And while this was an issue that likely was prevalent for decades, I'm assuming it was the eBook that really led to this getting changed up like it was. Because it is a rough read as it is and could be looked at as insulting to autistic people and even family members of autistic children. Some could argue this book could have been skipped and not much would be lost, but Susan does return later on apparently. That, and the idea of just skipping a book in a series feels honestly worse than putting it out at all. As such, I think Scholastic and those who edited the book were smart to not shelve it and at least try to do another attempt at it. One I feel does a far better job and is proof that the series wants to grow and evolve with the times. And this is really the first major case where said growth isn't just editing pop culture references or technology and I think they did a fine job.

As a book itself, taking away the issues with it, it's not too bad a book. Kristy's role is fine enough, a kid who really hasn't had to deal with an autistic kid, let alone one with the needs that Susan needs, and while a lot of it is misguided, it does still read like a kid trying to understand the situation and the charge she's sitting for. The original read makes Susan out as someone to feel bad for, while the reprint tries to put a more hopeful spin, focusing on the positives to her. You don't get much character from her, but that's also by design given her autism. I like the addition of the Hobarts, especially James. New kids in town who are being treated poorly. Something we've covered before in this series, be it through Jessi's family dealing with the racism of Stoneybrook and beyond or Derek having to deal with being a celebrity in a normal school. We get just enough of them to build to stuff in the future, and even though one could argue we're starting to fill up on the roster of normal charges, I'm never too bothered by a new family being added. Zach is also okay I guess, but Mel might be the worst character we've covered in the series. Easy to hate.

So in the end, I have to rate this a bit differently than others. Both in terms of the original and the reprint. The original has good intentions but crashes and burns in terms of how it represents and talks about autism. A victim of being too soon before more concrete answers and explanations were available. It treats Autism like a horrible thing for anyone to have to endure, and for all of its attempts to spin any positivity it feels like it constantly gets smacked with one bad explanation or moment. Like when we're getting to the point of Susan peeing herself and the R-slur being thrown about, the attempts to give this book the benefit of the doubt wears thin. We also never get Kristy in the special needs class which feels weird, but I'd imagine given the heavy lifting done in the reprint, it likely would have been something that would not have been well done either. So for the original, I think if you need to read these books in their original format, then sure, but otherwise this one's a non-recommend. The reprint is more positive, but also loses a lot of drama to it, trying too hard to put a positive bow that it also feels at times like the book trying to be as positive as it can be on the subject without falling into even more scrutiny. I'd still recommend it as it at least feels like an honest attempt at trying to rectify things. It kind of goes to show that sometimes, good intentions can still not go all to well. Not a knock on Ann M. I think she really had good intentions, but in the end, it's an unfortunate misstep. Oh well. Kristy and the Secret of Susan's original version gets a C+. The reprint gets a B. 

Next time, we're finally out of the heavy content and back to sillier Stoneybrook as Claudia's worried that she might be adopted. Sure, whatever, a goofy plot sounds fine after this, let's go.

Crocodile Dundee

Twinkies

Oreos

The Wizard of Oz

VCRs

Dorothy

Munchkinland

Yellow Brick Road

Way Down Upon the Swanee River

The Monster Mash

The Music Man

I Love You Madly, Madly, Madame Librarian, Marian

Sheik of Araby (California Here I Come in the reprint)

Wells Fargo Wagon

Big Bird

Oscar the Grouch

Gary, Indiana

Nancy Drew

Mentos