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bangel_ds's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
situationnormal's review
4.0
The ending seemed like an afterthought, but I loved that we brought back some of the OG kids/sitting charges from earlier books after a weird string of adding new kids to the mix in almost every book. The mysteries series seem to follow a pretty standard formula (so far), but that's somewhat comforting and doesn't take from the fun of solving the mystery.
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
As a kid my best friends sister had the whole BSC series on a book shelf in her room. I thought she was so grown up. And I envied this bookshelf. And would often poke my head into that room just to look at it.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. I'm disappointed. When it comes to mysteries, Dawn usually has the best books but this one was extremely lackluster and dull. Nothing really happened and there was a lot of filler. The mystery aspect wasn't that good and the reveal was just as bad. Oh, well. Can't love them all.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
2.0
The Baby-sitters feel the unwanted tugs of competitiveness when the children organize a "Sitter of the Month" contest. Then someone begins harrassing them anonymously at their sitting jobs--leaving creepy notes and symbolic warnings, like headless dolls.
Mystery Solution:
The Baby-sitters Club has a very black and white view of the world. Most people are basically good, and good people don't do bad things. The culprits are always one-off non-recurring characters, nobody (it was all a misunderstanding), or one of the few "bad people." Cokie Mason, the BSC's eighth-grade "rival" is one bad person. Another is Mel Tucker, a ten-year-old boy who's always making fun of the Hobart boys for being Australian. Since Mel is introduced in this book, you can predict from chapter one that it must be him.
And, it is. Dawn figures it out after Jamie Newton lets slip that Mel has been asking around about the times of the kids' sitting jobs, telling everyone he's doing "baby-sitting checks" for the Sitter of the Month contest. She devises a scheme to catch him red-handed.
All the same, I thought, reading, he is still a little boy. And the notes are still legit disturbing... Is a counterprank really the right solution here? I was pretty sure that a BSC book would not address those lingering concerns, but, to my surprise, they did! Dawn's scheme goes off without a hitch, but then Mel starts to cry and she remembers he's a child. Kristy encourages him to see a psychiatrist.
So I guess I end up impressed with the level of seriousness that they gave to the whole thing, but at the same time, it feels like an abrupt tonal shift.
Oh, and the Sitter of the Month contest ends in a seven-way tie, barf.
Structural Issues: Boy, there's a lot of filler in this book. Chapter 1 is nothing; the boilerplate is stretched out over 2 and 3. The Sitter of the Month plotline doesn't start until 4 and Mr. X doesn't make his first appearance until chapter 6. Given the blood-red-letters branding, it feels like we have to wait an awfully long time for anything spooky to happen.
Dawn is a Bad Baby-sitter: She just leaves a headless doll in a toy hamper for Lucy to find later.
Lingering Questions: Why do all the baby-sitters keep their Mr. X notes to themselves at first? It's not actually necessary to the plot at all, really (it all comes out pretty soon). Even if it were, it's so out of character irresponsible and unlikely that they would all have the same bizarre reaction. I understand Dawn brushing all signs of disquietude under the rug in order to further her chances of winning a contest because she has no conscience, but I imagine that Mallory or Mary Anne would tell the parents IMMEDIATELY.
How did the children organize themselves into a voting body with no intervention from the Baby-sitters? Karen and Andrew were involved, and they live across town! A plot point IN THIS VERY BOOK is that it's impossible for children to get across town without an adult driving them.
Mystery Solution:
Spoiler
Dawn briefly suspects Kristy because she was the only one not to receive a note, but you and I, the readers, know this cannot be, because to reveal Kristy as the culprit would mean she is STRAIGHT UP PSYCHOTIC. The notes are legit creepy. This basically rules out everyone we like.The Baby-sitters Club has a very black and white view of the world. Most people are basically good, and good people don't do bad things. The culprits are always one-off non-recurring characters, nobody (it was all a misunderstanding), or one of the few "bad people." Cokie Mason, the BSC's eighth-grade "rival" is one bad person. Another is Mel Tucker, a ten-year-old boy who's always making fun of the Hobart boys for being Australian. Since Mel is introduced in this book, you can predict from chapter one that it must be him.
And, it is. Dawn figures it out after Jamie Newton lets slip that Mel has been asking around about the times of the kids' sitting jobs, telling everyone he's doing "baby-sitting checks" for the Sitter of the Month contest. She devises a scheme to catch him red-handed.
All the same, I thought, reading, he is still a little boy. And the notes are still legit disturbing... Is a counterprank really the right solution here? I was pretty sure that a BSC book would not address those lingering concerns, but, to my surprise, they did! Dawn's scheme goes off without a hitch, but then Mel starts to cry and she remembers he's a child. Kristy encourages him to see a psychiatrist.
So I guess I end up impressed with the level of seriousness that they gave to the whole thing, but at the same time, it feels like an abrupt tonal shift.
Oh, and the Sitter of the Month contest ends in a seven-way tie, barf.
Structural Issues: Boy, there's a lot of filler in this book. Chapter 1 is nothing; the boilerplate is stretched out over 2 and 3. The Sitter of the Month plotline doesn't start until 4 and Mr. X doesn't make his first appearance until chapter 6. Given the blood-red-letters branding, it feels like we have to wait an awfully long time for anything spooky to happen.
Dawn is a Bad Baby-sitter: She just leaves a headless doll in a toy hamper for Lucy to find later.
Lingering Questions: Why do all the baby-sitters keep their Mr. X notes to themselves at first? It's not actually necessary to the plot at all, really (it all comes out pretty soon). Even if it were, it's so out of character irresponsible and unlikely that they would all have the same bizarre reaction. I understand Dawn brushing all signs of disquietude under the rug in order to further her chances of winning a contest because she has no conscience, but I imagine that Mallory or Mary Anne would tell the parents IMMEDIATELY.
How did the children organize themselves into a voting body with no intervention from the Baby-sitters? Karen and Andrew were involved, and they live across town! A plot point IN THIS VERY BOOK is that it's impossible for children to get across town without an adult driving them.
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
This started SO SLOW. It felt like it took way too long for the actual plot point to kick in. When it did though it really wasn't so bad, and even kind of interesting. Not sure why it was called Beware, Dawn! though when Mr. X was after the whole club, but whatever I guess.
I don't remember this from childhood, so it's possible I didn't read it. I might have, but who knows. I can't remember every stupid mystery they solved. The ending to this was good though, and actually had a kid with real problems who needs a child psychologist. In BSC land? No way! YES WAY!
I don't remember this from childhood, so it's possible I didn't read it. I might have, but who knows. I can't remember every stupid mystery they solved. The ending to this was good though, and actually had a kid with real problems who needs a child psychologist. In BSC land? No way! YES WAY!
xtinamorse's review against another edition
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/beware-dawn
pixieauthoress's review against another edition
3.0
I'm afraid that some bits in this book were just too unbelievable to ignore! The girls all get scary, intimidating notes left for them when they're babysitting but refrain from telling their parents - or even each other! - because they're all competing for a Sitter of the Month contest. I know that Kristy can be pretty competitive, but I'd think that people like Mary Anne and the younger sitters would be too concerned for the children's welfare to put a silly contest ahead of the children's safety. The contest was clearly just put into the story to stop them talking to each other. In the end, this book turns out to be another non-mystery where a kid was mucking about with the sitters because he was annoyed that they got him in trouble with his parents. Seems a bit long-winded (surely he'd just throw eggs or water balloons at them rather than creating threatening notes?) and unbelievable that his parents wouldn't notice him sneaking all over town. But kudos with the continuity as Mel has been featured in other books. Will be interesting to see if he shows up again. Overall, a decent story but I got annoyed at the ridiculous of it. 6/10
ssshira's review against another edition
3.0
this is my first time reading this book!
another mystery, also ghostwritten by [a:Ellen Miles|286072|Ellen Miles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (I think she wrote most of the mysteries). the main plot involves an anonymous person (mr. x) harassing the baby-sitters while they sit -- calling them and hanging up, leaving creepy notes and other gross or scary items at the door while playing ding dong ditch, etc. in the vaguely connected subplot, the kids decide to have a contest to pick their favorite baby-sitter/sitter-of-the-month. it turns out that mr. x is mel tucker, a bratty neighborhood kid who got in trouble with his parents for bullying the hobarts. his parents had found out about it thanks to the bsc's intervention, so he became mr. x to get revenge. the way it was connected to the sitter-of-the-month plot was that the kids were so excited about the contest that they were willing to tell mel who was babysitting them without getting suspicious.
highlights:
-ben hobart calls mallory a "bonzer sheila" to his friend. oh, aussies.
-dawn suggests at the brewer-thomases' house that they play let's all come in, which is karen's silly hotel dress-up game. dawn makes up characters including bruce stringbean (david michael in a white t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves and jeans, with a red bandana in his back pocket) the rock n roll star, darryl blueberry the baseball star, and ladonna the glamorous singer. I definitely chuckled.
-dawn thinks the letter she starts writing to jeff isn't cool enough so she scraps it and writes, "dearest little bro, what's up? what's fresh? everything's cool back here in stoneybrook. what's happening out there in sunny cal?"
-snake boy loose in san francisco: the monster movie that jessi and becca watch. I seriously dig this movie name.
-kristy doesn't get harassed by mr. x the way the other baby-sitters do (since she doesn't live and hasn't been sitting in the same neighborhood as the other baby-sitters), but she experiences a couple red herrings when sitting at the kormans': her mom calls and doesn't respond for a second, so kristy thinks the caller hung up. then mr. papadakis rings the doorbell and immediately ties his shoe, so kristy thinks no one is there. I liked this semi-pointless chapter -- it felt like a scene in a horror movie where a character keeps thinking they're going to get killed (and the viewer thinks it too, because of dramatic music or something), but nobody is there and meanwhile the killer is stalking someone else instead.
-at one point mr. x leaves dead flowers without the flower (just stems) on a doorstop. this is pretty creepy. mel is seriously depraved/has some serious problems. on the bright side, his parents seem to realize that. the baby-sitters comfort him once they find out he is mr. x (because he starts crying and freaking out about the prospect of getting punished), and his parents say they want to send him to a psychiatrist to work out whatever's going on with him.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-this sitter-of-the-month thing is the worst. how could you possibly TELL all the sitters you're doing this? it's cruel! forcing them to compete with each other like that! stupid kids. also the way it's resolved is INANE AS HELL. it's a seven-way tie with all of the bsc members winning. "you're all our favorite sitters!" this is such an annoyingly 1950s sitcom way to wrap this up. I know this is a bsc book and ann is all about 1950s squeaky clean crap, but it's still seriously annoying.
-the notes are written in letters cut out from a magazine, which dawn seems to think is so unusual. but that's exactly what the letters were like in [b:Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery|232092|Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417539951s/232092.jpg|1194755]. on the bright side, at least cokie mason wasn't the culprit in this book -- apparently the bsc ghostwriters CAN have a somewhat original idea!
-manipulative becca gets jessi to let her watch the snake boy monster movie by bringing up the sitter of the month contest. becca is mostly a good kid so this irritates me. also more proof that the baby-sitters should rise above this idiotic contest.
-dawn is grossed out by the idea of a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. you'd think she'd be more open-minded about food because everyone is grossed out by what she eats.
-dawn thinks that kristy is mr. x. this also pisses me off -- kristy may have problems but she would NOT do something like this. the worst she would do if she were trying to sabotage someone is short-sheet their bed.
no outfits.
claudia's kid kit:
-blocks
-baby puzzles
-teething rings
-rattles
-muggie maggie
dawn's kid kit:
-wiffle ball
jackie disaster:
-knocks over the potted palm tree in their front hall (twice)
snacks in claudia's room:
-orange tootsie pop (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-tootsie roll (n.s.)
another mystery, also ghostwritten by [a:Ellen Miles|286072|Ellen Miles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (I think she wrote most of the mysteries). the main plot involves an anonymous person (mr. x) harassing the baby-sitters while they sit -- calling them and hanging up, leaving creepy notes and other gross or scary items at the door while playing ding dong ditch, etc. in the vaguely connected subplot, the kids decide to have a contest to pick their favorite baby-sitter/sitter-of-the-month. it turns out that mr. x is mel tucker, a bratty neighborhood kid who got in trouble with his parents for bullying the hobarts. his parents had found out about it thanks to the bsc's intervention, so he became mr. x to get revenge. the way it was connected to the sitter-of-the-month plot was that the kids were so excited about the contest that they were willing to tell mel who was babysitting them without getting suspicious.
highlights:
-ben hobart calls mallory a "bonzer sheila" to his friend. oh, aussies.
-dawn suggests at the brewer-thomases' house that they play let's all come in, which is karen's silly hotel dress-up game. dawn makes up characters including bruce stringbean (david michael in a white t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves and jeans, with a red bandana in his back pocket) the rock n roll star, darryl blueberry the baseball star, and ladonna the glamorous singer. I definitely chuckled.
-dawn thinks the letter she starts writing to jeff isn't cool enough so she scraps it and writes, "dearest little bro, what's up? what's fresh? everything's cool back here in stoneybrook. what's happening out there in sunny cal?"
-snake boy loose in san francisco: the monster movie that jessi and becca watch. I seriously dig this movie name.
-kristy doesn't get harassed by mr. x the way the other baby-sitters do (since she doesn't live and hasn't been sitting in the same neighborhood as the other baby-sitters), but she experiences a couple red herrings when sitting at the kormans': her mom calls and doesn't respond for a second, so kristy thinks the caller hung up. then mr. papadakis rings the doorbell and immediately ties his shoe, so kristy thinks no one is there. I liked this semi-pointless chapter -- it felt like a scene in a horror movie where a character keeps thinking they're going to get killed (and the viewer thinks it too, because of dramatic music or something), but nobody is there and meanwhile the killer is stalking someone else instead.
-at one point mr. x leaves dead flowers without the flower (just stems) on a doorstop. this is pretty creepy. mel is seriously depraved/has some serious problems. on the bright side, his parents seem to realize that. the baby-sitters comfort him once they find out he is mr. x (because he starts crying and freaking out about the prospect of getting punished), and his parents say they want to send him to a psychiatrist to work out whatever's going on with him.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-this sitter-of-the-month thing is the worst. how could you possibly TELL all the sitters you're doing this? it's cruel! forcing them to compete with each other like that! stupid kids. also the way it's resolved is INANE AS HELL. it's a seven-way tie with all of the bsc members winning. "you're all our favorite sitters!" this is such an annoyingly 1950s sitcom way to wrap this up. I know this is a bsc book and ann is all about 1950s squeaky clean crap, but it's still seriously annoying.
-the notes are written in letters cut out from a magazine, which dawn seems to think is so unusual. but that's exactly what the letters were like in [b:Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery|232092|Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417539951s/232092.jpg|1194755]. on the bright side, at least cokie mason wasn't the culprit in this book -- apparently the bsc ghostwriters CAN have a somewhat original idea!
-manipulative becca gets jessi to let her watch the snake boy monster movie by bringing up the sitter of the month contest. becca is mostly a good kid so this irritates me. also more proof that the baby-sitters should rise above this idiotic contest.
-dawn is grossed out by the idea of a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. you'd think she'd be more open-minded about food because everyone is grossed out by what she eats.
-dawn thinks that kristy is mr. x. this also pisses me off -- kristy may have problems but she would NOT do something like this. the worst she would do if she were trying to sabotage someone is short-sheet their bed.
no outfits.
claudia's kid kit:
-blocks
-baby puzzles
-teething rings
-rattles
-muggie maggie
dawn's kid kit:
-wiffle ball
jackie disaster:
-knocks over the potted palm tree in their front hall (twice)
snacks in claudia's room:
-orange tootsie pop (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-tootsie roll (n.s.)