I've always been relatively disinterested in Mary Anne, one of the more boring members of The BSC... or so I thought. I don't recall reading any of her books when I was younger. I didn't realize Mary Anne had such an attitude. I guess this is the first book where she really comes around and gains a mind of her own. I also didn't expect the introduction of Dawn in this book, though it makes perfect sense since her book is the 5th in the series. In this book all the babysitters are in a row over all sorts of things... Kristy being bossy and a know-it-all, Mary Anne being a baby, Stacey being snobby, and Claudia being a "job-hog". All the girls stop speaking to each other and the club nearly breaks up. Mary Anne and Claudia also get into it over favor shown towards Mary Anne from Claudia's grandmother, Mimi. Kristy, Mary Anne's best friend, is not showing any signs of forgiving Mary Anne. While eating lunch alone at school, Mary Anne meets a new girl from California, Dawn. Dawn and Mary Anne soon become fast friends and watch movies on Dawn's VCR together. One day, while sitting for a little girl with an uptight family, Mary Anne is involved in her first babysitting emergency. The little girl, who the parents comically call "angel" to the point where people aren't sure if they're actually talking about a real angel or not, gets a high fever of 104 while Mary Anne is babysitting her and her parents are about an hour away at a basketball game which the mother oddly wears a cocktail dress to (seriously, this is one of the weirder Stoneybrook families). Mary Anne goes down the list of numbers trying to reach all of the family's emergency contacts, but cannot get a hold of anyone. Remember, this was before cell phones. Mary Anne ends up leaving a message at the gym where the basketball game is being held so the parents can be paged when they arrive. Mary Anne then calls Dawn who comes over and helps with "the little angel" and the girls end up resorting to calling 911 where the girl is whisked away in an ambulance. The little girl's parents are so impressed with Dawn and Mary Anne that they pay them each TEN DOLLARS and that was after a little extra cash was thrown in by the father for looking after the girl so well. Dawn is eventually invited to become a member of The BSC after all the girls have eventually made up and have a pizza party at Mary Anne's. To go along with the BSC feud and ill children, there's the side story that Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad used to date in high school. If you're familiar with the series you'll recall that this ends up resulting in marriage.As I said earlier, I was surprised at how catty Mary Anne actually is. I also found this storyline especially interesting since twice this week my own son had to be taken to the ER for fevers over 104. I sort of felt like Mary Anne understand, lol. I'm giving Mary Anne Saves The Day 4 out of 5 stars.
True story: every time I've ever swept my bangs to the side and the bangs have gone too far, forming a daffodil bulb-type shape, I think, "Ugh. This is so Mary Anne on the cover of Mary Anne Saves The Day." (Original cover, of course.) It's a weird cover. Besides Mary Anne's odd appearance, Jenny Prezzioso's face looks like the man in the moon.This was a good reread, but I have to say- Mary Anne's father's insistence upon keeping his preteen daughter positively infantile is incredibly creepy. What sane father forces his daughter to dress like a four-year-old and keep pictures from nursery rhymes on her wall? Also weird- when Jenny Prezzioso's fever hit 104, why didn't Mary Anne give her a friggin' Tylenol before calling 911 and requesting an ambulance? If I called 911 every time one of my sitting charges had a 104 fever, I would have cost various parents tens of thousands of dollars in ambulance fees by now.The intertwining plot with the gigantic BSC fight was interesting, too. Everyone does exactly what you'd expect them to- Kristy is a grudge-holding asshole, Stacey is a snob, Mary Anne is freaked out and desperate for the fight to be over, and Claudia looks to everyone else for cues. The scene where Claudia and Stacey smush KoolAid-covered paper towels in each others' faces at Jamie Newton's birthday party is freaking priceless. Priceless, I tell you!
What do You think about Mary Anne Saves The Day (1995)?
I read about 20-25 of these books. I read them in fifth and sixth grade. I strongly remember wanting to read these because they seemed cool and my older sister read a few of them. I remember that our library had a little display of them and I also bought a lot of them through the book catalogs we got at school. I remember most strongly the set up of the books; each book started explaining the club and describing each of the members. I also strongly remember the covers.Mary Ann was my favorite. She was most like me because she was shy and quiet. I particularly liked how in this one Mary Ann breaks through her shell some and her father has to let her grow up.
—jacky
FINALLY I got to finish this! It's a bittersweet feeling, really. What a fantastic book. I don't know if it's nostalgia or if it's the writing or a combination of both, but I was so impressed by it, especially as an adult. I thought it was great when I read it twenty-odd years ago, and my opinion hasn't changed. These books are out of print and this one just happened to be in a freebie pile. My friend snatched it up for me (thanks Diana!) and I'm so happy she did. Now I'm also incredibly disappointed that it will be virtually impossible for me to find any other in the series, in French, for purchase. I have most of them in English but it's not the same. In the French version the kids are in Canada. Kind of makes me like it a little more. Mentions of Hull, Toronto, and Montréal gave me a tiny thrill.About the story: very well written account of the thoughts of a 12-year-old (from what I remember of that age). The petty fights that feel like the end of the world, the longing to belong, the fear and courage that come in the face of an emergency, the fear and courage that come in the face of confronting a parent about changes you hope for. I have already recommended the book to my older daughter in hopes that she will recognize that the feelings and perspective that she has is mirrored in millions of other girls and have been dealt with and surmounted in the past and can be overcome again. Now to comb the internet for any of the other books in the series available for purchase... here's hoping!
—Dee
This week in Stoneybrook, our favorite Babysitters get in their biggest fight ever (so far) because Kristy forgets to ask the others if they'd like to babysit their neighbors' adorable new baby before taking the job herself. Names are called. Fight lasts entire book.Meanwhile, Mary Anne proceeds on a quest to prove she's mature enough to stay out later and quit wearing her hair in braids. (view spoiler)[But has brief relapse at client's kid's birthday party, where she purposely spills fruit punch on best friend. Kid's mom conveniently forgets about "accident" by the time party's over. No consequences for the BSC. (hide spoiler)]
—Nerija
