Mary Anne breaks up with Logan.Mary Anne, feeling smothered by Logan, asks to "cool [their] relationship," which Logan takes as a breakup. Mary Anne misses him and is sad, but when Logan makes a grand romantic gesture and unilaterally declares their relationship no longer cool, Mary Anne realizes she needs to break up with him for real. Meanwhile, Jenny Prezzioso dreads the arrival of a new brother or sister, but is charmed when she actually sees baby Andrea.This book is basically why I don’t like Mary Anne. I’m an introvert. I’m a breaker-upper. I do relate to her desire for space and reading (alone). I even relate to her difficulty expressing that desire (how do you tell someone you’d rather be alone than hang out with them without making it sound like you hate them?) But she is so passive-aggressive about it! We are treated to pages on end of internal monologue whining about how cold she is on their stupid skating date and how upset she is that Logan ordered for her in a restaurant, but to Logan, she just sort of mumbles "I’m a little cold" or "That’s not what I wanted" and backs down quickly when he responds. It’s realistic, certainly, but it’s like listening to a friend who complains and complains but never does anything. She gets more sympathetic during the actual ambiguous breakup, which confuses and saddens her even though she initiated it. Logan is a little out of character throughout, since I don’t recall him ever showing "smothering" tendencies before, but it makes sense given Mary Anne’s passivity (you can see why the dominance would develop) and Mary Anne does have a history of being attracted to the bossy.Timing: February, leading up to and surrounding Valentine’s Day. Revised Timeline: February of tenth grade.
I liked the Baby-Sitters Club books for the most part when I was a kid, but the focus on mysteries and dating drove me up the wall. I was actually kinda eager to see Mary Anne and Logan have a fight or whatever, as I figured they would based on the title. However, I was kind of irritated by how Logan suddenly started acting like a jerk in order to manufacture plot (I guess). Logan does a bunch of insensitive things. Mary Anne finally grows a backbone and tells him she wants some cool-down time from their relationship. Instead of listening to her, he gives her some illusionary space and then pushes her into a surprise date. I was glad, actually, that she didn't melt and decide he's so romaaaantic. She actually broke up with him for not listening to what she said. Good for her. I liked that, even though their arguments were stupid and seemed suddenly invented. I think that the babysitting-related plot was mostly about one of their bratty sitting charges having to deal with having a new baby in the house, and just like Logan was trying to change Mary Anne's feelings with gifts, the kid's mom was rewarding her by trying to distract her from being bratty. That kind of stuff never works.
What do You think about Mary Anne Vs. Logan (1996)?
Mary Anne and Logan have been arguing a lot lately, so when Mary Anne decides she needs a break and Logan responds by pressuring her for a surprise date, she decides he needs to go to the dump. Are they broken up for good?These two were an enduring couple who mooned over each other whenever they were apart, so seeing them suddenly fighting made it seem staged so we could have a book about standing up for yourself. I did appreciate, though, that Mary Anne didn't nod and smile when Logan ignored her request for space and tried to get her to go on a date with him instead. I was glad to see her backbone for a minute there. The babysitting plot, of course, paralleled this where one of Mary Anne's sitting charges' mothers had to learn that rewarding a kid for bratty behavior isn't going to make the behavior stop.
—Julie Decker
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.Since I liked the Mary Anne stories, especially the Logan ones, I must have read this one, but I don't really remember it.
—jacky
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
