2 out of 5 stars
I always say "we heart kids club" in my head for this one, but apparently it should be "love". Whatevs, it's super dull either way. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. I gave this one star for the cover because it's pretty cool, though a little confusing. Not sure where they're supposed to be, I don't think this scene is in the book. And hard to tell which one is Dawn...the girl on her knees? The one on the right wearing white socks for some reason?? Anyway, I gave it another star for Mrs Schafer-Spier having a backbone so let's get into it!
I know Stacey got a book when she lived in New York for awhile, but did we really need one for Dawn in California too? I guess they were trying out the spinoff idea but it didn't work at that time. (The California Diaries don't start til 3 years later.) Maybe because the original BSC gang doesn't actually come to Cali. We're focused on Dawn and her Cali friends: Sunny, Maggie, and Jill. They have their own baby-sitting club but it's a lot more laidback than Kristy's regime in Stoneybrook. The W<3KC has no rules, no set meeting times, no record book, etc...it's basically mayhem with veggie chips.
Then, the W<3KC gets a phone call from a local newspaper that changes everything for them. They want to do an article on the club, to "show the community the good things that are happening with our kids." The girls of course do it and it brings them tons of business which they are in no way prepared for because they do not have Ms. Kristin Amanda Thomas to help them.
I'd always thought of the Baby-Sitters Club as a tight ship, and the We <3 Kids Club as sort of a surfboard riding the waves. Each was fun in its own way. Now I realized the W<3KC was in danger of wiping out.
The CA girls try to get organized, Kristy gets jealous and tries to do her own publicity stunt back in CT, which backfires and they don't have enough sitters anyway. Dawn sits for her favorite charge, Stephie, who really really wants a mom because hers died. We don't have any Claudia outfits, so I guess we're stuck with Joanna, Stephie's day-time nanny. Joanna came in, dressed [for her birthday] in a short fringed skirt and a tight-fitting beaded top, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek, elegant style.
After her sitting job, Dawn heads home to her dad and Jeff (and Mrs Bruen, the housekeeper) where they're making veggie chimichangas. Dawn is bummed, not because she has to eat something fried, but because this means that her dad's girlfriend, Carol, is coming over. Carol is okay, but she tries to be too cool and says things like "bodacious". Dawn goes into this spiral of loving California, missing Stoneybrook, loving her dad, hating her dad and Carol, and so on. It's all very exhausting. It culminates when Dawn's dad gives the big news that he asked Carol to marry him and she said yes! Dawn freaks out and decides the only thing she can do is skip school, steal her dad's credit card, and take a flight across the country back to her mom. Yeah, for real. And leaves this doozy of a note:
Dear Dad,
I won't be home from school because I'm on my way to Stoneybrook. But I'm sure you don't mind. Now you can spend as much time as you want with your future wife. You won't have a daughter around to cramp your style. Good luck with your wedding plans. Tell Jeff I still love him. And don't be upset. I'll be with people who care about me.
Love, Dawn
Wow. I know she's thirteen and upset and all, but the nerve! So she gets to Stoneybrook and her mom is waiting for her at the airport and surprise! She's not happy to see her. Mrs Schafer-Spier loses her California cool and lectures Dawn up and down and all the way home. And she sends her straight back to California the next day. Where she gets another lecture. Honestly, she deserved it. And she deserves to feel guilty later when her dad and Carol break up. (They do get back together later on and even married, if I remember my Super Specials.) And that's our Dawn book done. Thank goodness.
