i wasn't crazy about this book when i was a kid, & i think i like it even less as an adult.first, our A plot: claudia has nothing in common with her older sister, janine. claudia dresses in wild outfits, janine wears kilts & button-downs. claudia hates school, while janine is studying to be a physicist (apparently). claudia has lots of friends & is always off on a babysitting job or art class, & janine's best friend is a computer. the bottom line is that claudia feels insecure when she compares herself to janine, because she thinks she's not as smart & she worries that her parents prefer janine because she is more academically-inclined. when janine uses big words, it makes claudia feel dumb & she lashes out. meanwhile, janine is insecure because she thinks claudia is pretty & popular & that her parents would like her better if she were more social & fun, like claudia. typical sibling rivalry bullshit. janine isn't actually "mean" in this book at all. in fact, claudia's the one who says some mean shit & should really pony up with the apologies.anyway, the girls get into an argument one night after dinner & it makes mimi, their grandmother, upset. she goes to bed early. then the girls hear her fall down. it turns out, she had a stroke. she spends a few days in the hospital & is released, but has lost a lot of motor skills & language. she has to do physical therapy to help regain use of her right arm, & occupational therapy to learn how to do things with her left hand. claudia drops out of the BSC morning playgroup to stay with mimi & drill her on language flash cards. the B plot is the dumbass BSC playgroup. the girls thought babysitting for all those kids in the run-up to kristy's mom's wedding was awesome & they should do a summer group babysitting project. NOOOOOOO! jenny prezzioso is one of the kids who comes to the playgroup & she wears frilly little dresses & throws tantrums & is a brat. even though book four established that the pirssiness & fancy dresses were pretty much all mrs. prezzioso's idea & maybe jenny wasn't into it. karen convinces jenny that andrew is a monster, so when andrew tells jenny to wear a smock, she does. & the kids wash louise (the thomas family collie) & paint his claws & apparently french braid his fur (what? how?) so he'll look appropriately fancy for watson's posh neighborhood. hijinks ensue.& there's also some crap where jamie newton is jealous of all the attention his baby sister, lucy, gets during her christening & almost dumps a pitcher of punch over her. which would have been HILARIOUS. i wish he would have followed through. claudia sees that jamie is just jealous of lucy & lucy can't help the attention she gets, & she realizes that's the same problem she has with janine. they talk & hug it out & confess their insecurities. turns out janine hides junk food in her room too. how do these girls not have eating disorders? hiding food is a classic symptom. anyway.wah wah (sad trombone). kind of a yawn. maybe i just wasn't into all the mimi/stroke stuff. it was a real bummer, especially knowing what comes in book #26.
The Baby-Sitters Club decides to extend the idea they explored in the earlier book (Kristy's Big Day) and host a summer playgroup for small children. Unfortunately Claudia must deal with bigger problems - her grandmother's stroke and its aftermath, not to mention friction with her older sister. The characters of Janine and Mimi are not very well explored through the series but this book tries to do some of it. Unfortunately, it's not very entertaining and I'm left with the feeling of too much, too late. Each time I read this book now, I skip over the Mimi and Janine sections to the parts with the playgroup.
What do You think about Claudia And Mean Janine (1987)?
Claudia and her sister Janine are pretty much polar opposites. Claudia's the artistic one and Janine's the smart one. And they've mostly dealt with being family by staying away from each other. This is no longer an option when their live-in grandmother has a stroke and they have to come together to help her, leaving them both wanting to pull out each other's hair--or their own.So how do you get babysitting into this book? Painfully. The unrealistic distractions the other sitters come up with are hacky and hollow, and when Claudia fights with her sister, the dialogue is super awkward. Apparently smart people have to be shown as smart by being strait-laced, nerdy, socially awkward, and full of poorly used "dictionary words" to pigeonhole them into that role. I think this book missed a good chance to show a realistic family struggle because it was trying too hard to fit a formula.
—Julie Decker
Definitely not the greatest of the early BSC books, but it's alright. I laughed out loud at the part where Mimi yells, "Buh-buh-BEQUIET!!!" at Mary Anne when she's acting overly schoolmarm-ish. That passage alone was worth the time spent rereading Claudia and Mean Janine, because 1. it's really bizarre when saintly Mimi gets mad and 2. it's hilarious when people make Mary Anne cry. I enjoyed the friction between Janine and Claudia, followed by the partial resolution. Do these two siblings ever manage to fully make it work?
—Robin
Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
—April
