Stacey moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut from New York City. Her friends in New York abandoned her when she discovered that she had diabetes, and until she met Claudia, she didn't have any friends in Stoneybrook, either. But, she was invited to the Baby-Sitters Club, and now she's friends with Kristy and Mary Anne, too.Life's settled into a pleasant pattern of baby-sitting and hanging out with her friends, when the members of the Baby-Sitters Club learn that a new group, the Baby-Sitters Agency, are moving in on their territory. On top of that, Stacey's parents want to take her to yet another doctor, hoping for a miracle cure to her diabetes, when all she wants is to go to school and stay with her friends. What's Stacey to do?The Truth About Stacey is the third book in Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitters Club series. This time, the story is told from Stacey's point of view.I like the story in this one very much--both major plotlines are well-done and have good messages. The Baby-Sitters Agency, in the persons of Liz and Michelle, provides a good 'villain' for the story, and when the members of the Baby-Sitters Club begin to suspect that their rivals may not be such responsible baby-sitters as they make themselves out to be, it provides a good lesson about what's really important: to be responsible and ethical, even in the face of a challenge. To beat their rivals not through trickery, but by being better baby-sitters.The second plotline, with Stacey's parents dragging her about the country in search of a cure for diabetes is well done, too. As Dr. Graham points out at the end: "Stacey seems incredibly healthy . . . and that comes from one thing only: regulating the amount of insulin in her body." Seeking miracle cures for diseases is not productive, and I hope that children who read this book will grow up to be skeptical of such things. If everyone were as sensible as Stacey, the world would be a better (and healthier) place.I must say, I really like the technique of writing each of these books from a different character's point of view. It both gives us insight into how the characters feel about themselves and one another, and prevents the repetition of the premise in each book from getting too stale. Rather than Kristy telling us three times that she had the great idea for the Baby-Sitters Club, we get to hear instead how the formation of the club affected each of the members. Very well done, indeed.The Truth About Stacey is, like the other books in the series, a great middle grade book, with both excellent story and characterization, and I'd recommend it without reservation to anyone looking for middle grade fiction.Also like the other books in the series, The Truth About Stacey is now available as an ebook for the Kindle, so ebook readers can join in the fun, too.This review also appears on my blog.
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.comHaving diabetes is the worst thing imaginable, according to Stacey McGill. Her parents treat her like a child. The hospital stays and doctor visits make her miss school a lot, and she loses most of her friends due to them either getting mad that she's not spending any time with them or the fact that they think she's too sick.When Stacey moves to Stoneybrook, she meets Claudia, Kristy, and Mary Anne. When they invite her to join the Baby-sitters Club, she's thrilled! She's afraid, however, that when they find out about her diabetes they won't want to be friends with her anymore.Things become troublesome for the four when rivals come into town called the Babysitters Agency. With the Agency's ability to do late-night hours and having more babysitters, the Baby-sitters Club is worried that they'll have to close up shop.Stacey's plate gets even more full when she starts having to make frequent trips to New York City. With all babysitters needed "on deck" to battle the rivals, Stacey's absences start getting noticed by Kristy and the others. How long will Stacey be able to keep her secret a secret? What will happen when her new friends figure out the truth?A fun, quick story that does a great job of developing Stacey in this series. The author does a great job of balancing Stacey's internal and external problems. The plot is well-done, and the characters are likable. Readers who like realistic fiction, stories about New York, and tales about friendship will enjoy THE TRUTH ABOUT STACEY.
What do You think about The Truth About Stacey (1995)?
Genre = ComicThe Babysitting ClubThe thing I mostly liked about the book was the use of detail and emotion throughout the book. The story kept me wondering what was going to happen next with the club. The things I disliked in the book were how the words were simple and you didn't have to think about the story, it just tells you. I deffinatly need to read a higher level book next time. The thing that suprised me was the way the other babysitting agency treated the kids when they worked but still got all the customers. Most of the emotion of the people were seen in the comic strips on the faces of the drawings. This way you could read the emotion and feelings of the characters reacting to a situation compared to reading the words. I liked this book overall, but would probably not recommend to peers.
—Christina
Here's the first book about BSC member Stacey. She's diabetic. She's from New York. And in this book, that's about all we really see of her--those two things are "what she's about." I thought it was a little odd that Stacey almost seemed alienated by her own disease, while usually that's what you see OTHER people expressing, but I was hoping the character would adjust over time and not react to herself the way non-diabetic people often react to diabetic people. (My best friend throughout elementary school had this same type of diabetes.)The plot of the book--besides introducing us to Stacey--focuses on the eponymous club losing all their customers to another sitting club. They perceive these girls to have kind of stolen their idea and then one-upped them because they're older and don't have the same restrictions they do as younger sitters. They can stay out way later and have a "mature" image! Good thing not a single one of them is a decent sitter because they don't connect with children and are all rotten people, and good thing it was so easy to prove it through a one-dimensional test. BSC rules, after all. It's disappointing that they didn't think to explore how to deal with authentic competition; they just exposed the Baby-Sitters Agency as failing to know arbitrary in-depth things about random neighborhood kids that they themselves DID know, which sunk their club once and for all since every single one of them was apparently a bad babysitter. And I guess no one but the BSC ever babysat again, the end. Ehh.
—Julie Decker
Book 3 and if you're following the series in order, you see the pattern. Each book is narrated by one key character (whose name appears in the title). The series lists them in near-perfect order, presumably to ensure every character gets the same attention. Stacey's 'intro' book is not as interesting as some of the others, but it probably serves as a nice enough story about a juvenile diabetic, who still manages to live a full life. That it is written in first person might be a good thing, for readers afflicted with similarly serious diseases. Not one of my favorites in the Baby-sitter series but a must-read since it sets the reference for Stacey's character well. (If you haven't read this book but gone straight on to the other Stacey books later, you might see her as self-absorbed and shallow).
—Idea Smith
