it was a relief to finally get to this book because they have been foreshadowing it for at least twnty books--seriously. it's not unusual in the babysitters club series to shadow maybe four or five books in advance, but stacey has been looking thin, pale, & sickly pretty much since her parents got divorced back in book #24 or whenever it was, & it all finally comes to a head here.basically, this book is all about stacey feeling like crap physically, sneaking one of claudia's ho hos, guzzling a package of M&Ms in the girls' bathroom at school, sneaking home some chocolate fudge that charlotte & becca made while stacey was sitting for them, going to new york to see her dad even though she didn't feel well & had fallen way behind on schoolwork, & having to go to the hospital. she thinks maybe she got sick because she strayed from her diet, but impending puberty also played a role. stacey has to stay in the hospital for about a week, which seems like a really long time. she is even on a constant insulin drip for a little while. while she's in the hospital, her parents are of course worried about her. but they arrange to not visit her at the same time. if one shows up while the other is there, one will wander off to get coffee & wait until their ex has vacated the premises. stacey is naive enough to believe that maybe mrs. mcgill is staying in stacey's room at her father's new apartment. has she not noticed that her parents' divorce is fairly acrimonious? it's nice to think they can put their differences aside while stacey is sick, but it's not very realistic.anyway, stacey gets mad one day when she basically forces them to hang out together in her room, & they start bickering. mrs. mcgill says something scathing about how mr. mcgill would be more up-to-date on the changes in stacey's condition if he didn't work on weekends. mr. mcgill basically accuses mrs. mcgill of letting stacey get sick, since she already felt crummy when she came to NYc from stoneybrook. stacey yells at both of them & kicks them out of her room. she apologizes later & the book ends with stacey having a heart-to-heart with both parents about not wanting to be put in the middle of their squabbles.the B-plot involves charlotte, who becomes a hypochondriac after stacey lands in the hospital. charlotte's parents & sitters theorize that charlotte thinks she can be in the hospital with stacey if she gets sick enough. i don't remember diliking charlotte when i read these books as a child, but she sometimes grates on my nerves as an adult. the whole passage where charlotte & becca dress up like martians & make fudge was REALLY difficult to read. fucking precocious brats. i would suicidally indulge in chocolate too if i was stacey.
Ahh, yes, the book that convinced thousands of children everywhere that they had diabetes, just like Stacey. Hypochondriacs, just like Charlotte, sprung up by the hundreds as they suddenly become thirsty after playing football in summer.I can't help but feel reading this years and years after it was first published that diabetes is a euphemism for AIDS. This would make sense, given the era, and everyone treats her diabetes as though it's some awful secret. Sure, she has brittle diabetes (which is apparently linked with depression- tmyk!), and diabetes can be hard to control, but there's definitely a fear factor here.Mary Anne and Claudia still have atrocious handwriting.
What do You think about Stacey's Emergency (1996)?
I'm fairly certain I read this as a kid but all I remember is Stacey eating lots of sweets and then getting ill, which I thought was linked. Thus I was surprised when having lunch with a diabetic friend, she simply checked her insulin then ate a slice of banoffee pie and a bit of chocolate cake. Then another friend informed me that if Jo was ever low on insulin and looked ill we were to feed her lots of sugary foods. Thanks AMM for forevering confusing children about diabetes!Anyway, I did really enjoy this story. It covered the issue of Stacey's diabetes (although perhaps not terribly realistic), the impersonality of staying in a hospital and her parents' divorce. Although I thought a lot of this was very realistic, I was annoyed at two things: how Stacey's parents couldn't grow up and be civil to each other for the sake of their daughter, and how terrible it is that Charlotte's parents let her get so attached to Stacey that she can't cope when she goes to hospital. Charlotte may be a bright kid, but several times in this book I thought that it would have been for the best for her parents to keep her in the dark a bit. Like her reading about murders and muggings in The Times? NO! Give this girl a BSC book and let her stay a kid! Despite this, a great book. 9/10
—Rachel Brand
When I first started reading these books I was like eight or nine years old. I was introduced to diabetes, and for years, thought that this was what diabetes was like. I had thought that diabetics couldn't eat candy, and while it is true that twenty years ago, diabetes treatment wasn't as advanced as it is now, this didn't mean that diabetics couldn't eat sugar! Sugar is a vital component in nutrition and diabetics need to eat fruit which has natural sugar, and it is okay for them to have refined sugar like candy as long as they are careful with it. Stacey's diabetes is illustrated in broad, vague strokes not just in this book, but others.The one thing I did find realistic was the stress and illness that caused Stacey to end up in the hospital. Having diabetes is hard enough without adding other factors in it, so this was realistic.
—Delicious Strawberry
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
