Scan barcode
situationnormal's review against another edition
4.0
Finally, another BSC book with an actual plot that carries the entire book along and has to do (somewhat?) with babysitting. Also, love that character development for Kristy/relationship development between Kristy and Bart, although I have my doubt that it will be sustained in later books. I think the subplot of Mary Anne failing home ec was sort of shoe-horned in there, but it did provide some nice levity because this plot is heavy heavy as far as BSC plots go.
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
3.0
3 stars. I remember this book scaring me when I was younger. LOL. Like, I was so terrified while reading this. Now, while it was good for what it was, it felt a bit too After School Special as well. It's cheesy but there are some moments that do really work. Kristy being so intent in helping find Jake was great and I liked the discussion the kids had about their fear of being kidnapped. That was all fine. The tone of this was just a bit of a mess and I couldn't stand Mary-Anne here. I get she was worried about failing Home Ec but girl there's a child missing! Priorities. She came across as really out of character and self centered. Overall, this was fine.
finesilkflower's review
2.0
After coaching a game for her kids' baseball team, the Krushers, Kristy gets word that her relief pitcher, Jake Kuhn, never made it home. He's missing! Kristy organizes neighborhood kids to comb the area looking for the missing boy.
Secondary storylines, if you even want to call them that: Mary Anne is failing home ec, and SMS is having an awards show.
** SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON **
Like most BSC mysteries, this one is profoundly unsatisfying. Kristy isn't even instrumental in solving the mystery; Matt Braddock is the one who does it, in the end. The mystery gets solved when the length of the book dictates it should be, not because of any special action of sequence of events initiated by the club members. The club members don't even really spend time on the case or following up clues in this one. Most of the "clues" we learn about are boring, vague tidbits of information about the official investigation (Mrs. Kuhn called. The police found a suspect! Mrs. Kuhn called back. The suspect didn't work out!) For most of the book, Kristy is just having feelings about Jake's disappearance.
And that's what bothers me the most about this one, I think. It doesn't feel true to character. On paper I can see how it would work. Kristy's the kind of person who takes her responsibilities serious and would feel personally guilty if a child disappeared sort-of-not-really on her watch. But she's also the kind of person who deals with upsetting situations by brushing aside emotion and jumping into action. And here she does jump into action, sort of--she sets up search parties--but she also spends a whole LOT of time waiting, receiving information thirdhand, leaving the heavy lifting to adults, processing her emotions, and feeling fragile, which is just wrong. It makes her read a lot more like Mary Anne than Kristy.
The subplots are dumb. Mary Anne's problems with Home Ec aren't interesting from the outside, and the "comedic" plot is way too light to pair with the serious main plot. I can see it working if Kristy was the one who was having these problems (or if Mary Anne was the narrator of the book), and she herself was super annoyed that this dumb teacher was getting on her case about ridiculous things like making a bad Jell-O or sewing her practice skirt wrong when A CHILD IS MISSING DAMN IT.
The awards show thing isn't even integrated with the rest of the book. It's briefly mentioned in chapter 2, buried in the exposition, and then not mentioned at all until they all attend the event in the final chapter and Kristy gets a special award for her work on the Jake thing. It would have been more interesting to use that chapter check in the aftermath of Jake's experience.
The only saving grace of the book: there are a few conversations with little kids where they express their fears about being kidnapped and the adults/baby-sitters explain how they can stay safe with strangers. And Kristy and David Michael think about their own father in light of the talk of kidnapping dads. It's a little cheesy, but it works well and feels like a natural way to discuss these heavy topics.
Ghostwriter: Ellen Miles
Timing: It's baseball season and daffodils are in season, which makes me think early spring--maybe April. But then SMS is having an awards show, which seems like it would be part of the end-of-school-year events (particularly for a graduating class). Split the difference and say May.
Revised Timeline: Checking, I see that the real release date was May 1992, the same month as [b:Mallory and the Dream Horse|539982|Mallory and the Dream Horse (The Baby-Sitters Club, #54)|Ann M. Martin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1175635306s/539982.jpg|527368]. My Revised Timeline for that one was spring of eleventh grade (ninth grade for Mallory). Too bad, would have worked better as senior year for Kristy et al. I guess I don't object to the idea of a juniors' awards night (or junior/senior awards night), especially since the whole awards night thing is the most forgettable part of the book.
Secondary storylines, if you even want to call them that: Mary Anne is failing home ec, and SMS is having an awards show.
** SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON **
Like most BSC mysteries, this one is profoundly unsatisfying. Kristy isn't even instrumental in solving the mystery; Matt Braddock is the one who does it, in the end. The mystery gets solved when the length of the book dictates it should be, not because of any special action of sequence of events initiated by the club members. The club members don't even really spend time on the case or following up clues in this one. Most of the "clues" we learn about are boring, vague tidbits of information about the official investigation (Mrs. Kuhn called. The police found a suspect! Mrs. Kuhn called back. The suspect didn't work out!) For most of the book, Kristy is just having feelings about Jake's disappearance.
And that's what bothers me the most about this one, I think. It doesn't feel true to character. On paper I can see how it would work. Kristy's the kind of person who takes her responsibilities serious and would feel personally guilty if a child disappeared sort-of-not-really on her watch. But she's also the kind of person who deals with upsetting situations by brushing aside emotion and jumping into action. And here she does jump into action, sort of--she sets up search parties--but she also spends a whole LOT of time waiting, receiving information thirdhand, leaving the heavy lifting to adults, processing her emotions, and feeling fragile, which is just wrong. It makes her read a lot more like Mary Anne than Kristy.
The subplots are dumb. Mary Anne's problems with Home Ec aren't interesting from the outside, and the "comedic" plot is way too light to pair with the serious main plot. I can see it working if Kristy was the one who was having these problems (or if Mary Anne was the narrator of the book), and she herself was super annoyed that this dumb teacher was getting on her case about ridiculous things like making a bad Jell-O or sewing her practice skirt wrong when A CHILD IS MISSING DAMN IT.
The awards show thing isn't even integrated with the rest of the book. It's briefly mentioned in chapter 2, buried in the exposition, and then not mentioned at all until they all attend the event in the final chapter and Kristy gets a special award for her work on the Jake thing. It would have been more interesting to use that chapter check in the aftermath of Jake's experience.
The only saving grace of the book: there are a few conversations with little kids where they express their fears about being kidnapped and the adults/baby-sitters explain how they can stay safe with strangers. And Kristy and David Michael think about their own father in light of the talk of kidnapping dads. It's a little cheesy, but it works well and feels like a natural way to discuss these heavy topics.
Ghostwriter: Ellen Miles
Timing: It's baseball season and daffodils are in season, which makes me think early spring--maybe April. But then SMS is having an awards show, which seems like it would be part of the end-of-school-year events (particularly for a graduating class). Split the difference and say May.
Revised Timeline: Checking, I see that the real release date was May 1992, the same month as [b:Mallory and the Dream Horse|539982|Mallory and the Dream Horse (The Baby-Sitters Club, #54)|Ann M. Martin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1175635306s/539982.jpg|527368]. My Revised Timeline for that one was spring of eleventh grade (ninth grade for Mallory). Too bad, would have worked better as senior year for Kristy et al. I guess I don't object to the idea of a juniors' awards night (or junior/senior awards night), especially since the whole awards night thing is the most forgettable part of the book.
nawarafra's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have never read this book before and the only book with Bart that I've read before is Stacey's Ex-Best Friend, which only mentions him twice. So to see Kristy have this big crush really came outta nowhere for me, I spent the entire book wrapping my head around the fact that Kristy 'boys are gross' Thomas has a crush on a boy, but good for her because Bart actually seems pretty nice.
Mrs. Kuhn unloading on Kristy was kinda screwed up if I'm being honest, some of these parents have no sense of boundaries. If I were Kristy's mom I wouldn't give two shits about our friendship and just go off on that woman. But I did appreciate her insistence that Kristy should stop feeling guilty about what happened to Jake because my heart did go out to Kristy.
I also appreciated that this book discussed what children should do when someone tries to grab them because not every child has an adult in their life to tell them what to do, so I think it was a fantastic idea to include this in the book. I personally think that these aren't just safety rules that apply to kids, anyone can benefit from doing whatever it takes to get someone to notice that you are in danger. I wish I knew all of this as a kid, it's honestly a miracle that I'm still alive.
I don't care what anyone says, Mary-Anne's b-plot of nearly failing home-ec was the funniest thing from any of these books. Everyone torn between being amused by the irony of it all but also terrified because Mary-Anne is losing her mind was hilarious.
Things that I would give a limb to be adapted to the Netflix series:
Mrs. Kuhn unloading on Kristy was kinda screwed up if I'm being honest, some of these parents have no sense of boundaries. If I were Kristy's mom I wouldn't give two shits about our friendship and just go off on that woman. But I did appreciate her insistence that Kristy should stop feeling guilty about what happened to Jake because my heart did go out to Kristy.
I also appreciated that this book discussed what children should do when someone tries to grab them because not every child has an adult in their life to tell them what to do, so I think it was a fantastic idea to include this in the book. I personally think that these aren't just safety rules that apply to kids, anyone can benefit from doing whatever it takes to get someone to notice that you are in danger. I wish I knew all of this as a kid, it's honestly a miracle that I'm still alive.
I don't care what anyone says, Mary-Anne's b-plot of nearly failing home-ec was the funniest thing from any of these books. Everyone torn between being amused by the irony of it all but also terrified because Mary-Anne is losing her mind was hilarious.
Things that I would give a limb to be adapted to the Netflix series:
- "A big brother can be a big help when your family is splitting up. Believe me, I know." Well, you know what Kristy, all I've seen your older brothers do is flirt with your underage friends, so show me these big brothers that you speak of.
- "Then I held up my hands and started to conduct them." Kristy being the conductor in this grass orchestra or whatever you wanna call it was truly the most Kristy thing that she could've done, and it's such a fun moment that it doesn't even have to be a part of this specific book being adapted, it can truly be a part of any of them.
- "Adam! My dearest darling favourite triplet-with-a-name-beginning-with-A!" Mallory is me as a big sister, truly.
sammah's review
3.0
I had literally just mentioned in a previous book that I HATE the softball stuff in a lot of the Kristy books. It's always so boring, so naturally this one starts off with plenty of it and drags out some more later on for good measure. I do remember this book vividly from my childhood though, and it always blew my mind that nobody checked the construction area RIGHT BY THE SOFTBALL FIELD for Jake. They just auto-blamed the kids poor dad, who wasn't even in the country at the time of hid disappearance.
The Stoneybrook Police Department clearly leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, the softball stuff was hard to muddle through, and so was the b-plot. It was, for some reason, about Mary Anne failing home ec. She saved her grade by making jell-o jigglers, which she believes for awhile that she invented. I used to LOVE making jigglers as a kid, they need to make a come back. I had a mold kit to make dinosaur ones, and it was freaking awesome.
The Stoneybrook Police Department clearly leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, the softball stuff was hard to muddle through, and so was the b-plot. It was, for some reason, about Mary Anne failing home ec. She saved her grade by making jell-o jigglers, which she believes for awhile that she invented. I used to LOVE making jigglers as a kid, they need to make a come back. I had a mold kit to make dinosaur ones, and it was freaking awesome.
xtinamorse's review
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/kristy-and-the-missing-child
ssshira's review
5.0
this is my first time reading this book!
in the first GOOD mystery (ghostwritten by [a:Ellen Miles|286072|Ellen Miles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], who wrote all of the mysteries up to this point), jake kuhn disappears while walking home from krushers practice. kristy blames herself since she was the last person to see him, so she organizes search parties to find him. jake's parents are recently divorced, and mrs. kuhn thinks her ex-husband kidnapped jake, but he is in mexico and no one can get ahold of him. meanwhile mrs. kuhn is acting vaguely weird and maybe a little suspicious, and jake's little sister patsy thinks that she saw her dad's car (an uncommon car) in town. it turns out that oh and in a subplot that I should find inane but for some reason I really enjoy (I think I just like seeing mary anne fail because I hate her so much), mary anne is failing her home ec class until she has an epiphany about how to make jello. seriously. I love it.
highlights:
-this is the first time the bsc sits for the kuhns, even though they've been in all of the kristy books that talk about the krushers (since all three of them are on the team).
-this mystery is actually really interesting. it's a subject that isn't totally pointless like a ghost cat or a missing ring. a kid is actually missing. plus there are some red herrings, and it's hard to predict where the mystery will go. I was actually engaged and interested for this whole book. wild!
-mary anne failing home ec is so dumb and funny. I think part of why I like it so much is because mary anne is someone who is typically depicted as so domestic, what with between being in a serious relationship, enjoying the "sewing arts" with mimi in the early books, and just generally being sensitive and feminine and all that jazz. so when she fails at home ec I really enjoy it. also she is having trouble MAKING JELLO. seriously mary anne, I was making jello on my own when I was seven. I revoke your domesticity card!
-kristy narration: "I didn't have the resources the police did: walkie-talkies, squad cars, computers." I love that computers are considered cutting-edge inaccessible technology. oh, 1992. you funny.
-kristy narration: "all I could think about was jake. where was he? who was he with? was he safe?" I'm sorry, did I just step into hotel la rut?
-there's a great thirteen-year-old moment when kristy is thinking about jake but then looks in the mirror and gets distracted by trying to figure out what she would look like to someone who was about to kiss her. I totally did this! thirteen-year-olds are so funny!
-kristy thinks she wants to wear a dress to the awards night ceremony (a silly superlative ceremony for eighth graders) but then remembers that along with dresses you typically wear slips, pantyhose, and pinchy shoes, so she decides it's not worth the effort. I love kristy.
-at the awards night ceremony kristy wins an award for having worked so hard to find jake. I really like this -- it reminds me of the class protector award. it's a sign of sms students being considerate and thoughtful, not just shallow middle schoolers.
-also erica blumberg's excuse for not doing homework (which led to her winning an award), that her mom composted her homework, made me chuckle.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-in naming all of the brewer-thomas family pets kristy leaves out emily junior the rat
-why is mrs. kuhn kind of sketchy about the whole thing? she seems to know where jake is or something -- I kind of expected the mystery to end with her revealing that jake was with his dad and she knew about it but was trying to make him look bad so he wouldn't get custody. but no, she didn't know where he was and her weird behavior is never explained. I guess she was just upset and it made her act strangely?
-there is a reference to security blankets but not to nina marshall, who had a security blanket IN THE PREVIOUS BOOK ([b:Mallory and the Dream Horse|539982|Mallory and the Dream Horse (The Baby-Sitters Club, #54)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417626716s/539982.jpg|527368]). COME ON. I know these books are all written by different people, but same with tv show episodes, and they make the chronology and references work for the most part in tv shows. I should think they would make ghostwriters read each other's manuscripts before writing the books.
-kristy narrates that it would be hard to imagine any father abducting his own son. but THAT HAPPENED. remember mr. barrett kidnapping buddy in [b:Dawn and the Impossible Three|233719|Dawn and the Impossible Three (The Baby-Sitters Club, #5)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390193163s/233719.jpg|226353]?
-kristy refers to louie as "a dog we used to have." eh, ellen miles doesn't really know kristy's voice I guess. kristy would never be so cavalier about louie. she would say something like, "our old dog, louie, whom we all loved but who passed away."
no outfits.
awards we hear about at the award night:
-class clown: justin forbes
-best excuse for not doing homework: erica blumberg (her mom composted her homework)
-most often seen sleeping: someone named jerry
-worst dresser: mr. kingbridge (as an honorary eighth-grader)
-most improved home-ec student: mary anne spier
-award for commitment to finding jake kuhn: kristy thomas
snack in claudia's room
-doritos (n.s.)
in the first GOOD mystery (ghostwritten by [a:Ellen Miles|286072|Ellen Miles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], who wrote all of the mysteries up to this point), jake kuhn disappears while walking home from krushers practice. kristy blames herself since she was the last person to see him, so she organizes search parties to find him. jake's parents are recently divorced, and mrs. kuhn thinks her ex-husband kidnapped jake, but he is in mexico and no one can get ahold of him. meanwhile mrs. kuhn is acting vaguely weird and maybe a little suspicious, and jake's little sister patsy thinks that she saw her dad's car (an uncommon car) in town. it turns out that
Spoiler
jake had fallen into the unfinished basement of a new model home that was under construction and had badly hurt his leg. plus there were no stairs to get out. after a couple days kristy's search party (mainly lead by matt braddock's knowledge of jake's hangouts) finally finds him saves him.highlights:
-this is the first time the bsc sits for the kuhns, even though they've been in all of the kristy books that talk about the krushers (since all three of them are on the team).
-this mystery is actually really interesting. it's a subject that isn't totally pointless like a ghost cat or a missing ring. a kid is actually missing. plus there are some red herrings, and it's hard to predict where the mystery will go. I was actually engaged and interested for this whole book. wild!
-mary anne failing home ec is so dumb and funny. I think part of why I like it so much is because mary anne is someone who is typically depicted as so domestic, what with between being in a serious relationship, enjoying the "sewing arts" with mimi in the early books, and just generally being sensitive and feminine and all that jazz. so when she fails at home ec I really enjoy it. also she is having trouble MAKING JELLO. seriously mary anne, I was making jello on my own when I was seven. I revoke your domesticity card!
-kristy narration: "I didn't have the resources the police did: walkie-talkies, squad cars, computers." I love that computers are considered cutting-edge inaccessible technology. oh, 1992. you funny.
-kristy narration: "all I could think about was jake. where was he? who was he with? was he safe?" I'm sorry, did I just step into hotel la rut?
-there's a great thirteen-year-old moment when kristy is thinking about jake but then looks in the mirror and gets distracted by trying to figure out what she would look like to someone who was about to kiss her. I totally did this! thirteen-year-olds are so funny!
-kristy thinks she wants to wear a dress to the awards night ceremony (a silly superlative ceremony for eighth graders) but then remembers that along with dresses you typically wear slips, pantyhose, and pinchy shoes, so she decides it's not worth the effort. I love kristy.
-at the awards night ceremony kristy wins an award for having worked so hard to find jake. I really like this -- it reminds me of the class protector award. it's a sign of sms students being considerate and thoughtful, not just shallow middle schoolers.
-also erica blumberg's excuse for not doing homework (which led to her winning an award), that her mom composted her homework, made me chuckle.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-in naming all of the brewer-thomas family pets kristy leaves out emily junior the rat
-why is mrs. kuhn kind of sketchy about the whole thing? she seems to know where jake is or something -- I kind of expected the mystery to end with her revealing that jake was with his dad and she knew about it but was trying to make him look bad so he wouldn't get custody. but no, she didn't know where he was and her weird behavior is never explained. I guess she was just upset and it made her act strangely?
-there is a reference to security blankets but not to nina marshall, who had a security blanket IN THE PREVIOUS BOOK ([b:Mallory and the Dream Horse|539982|Mallory and the Dream Horse (The Baby-Sitters Club, #54)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417626716s/539982.jpg|527368]). COME ON. I know these books are all written by different people, but same with tv show episodes, and they make the chronology and references work for the most part in tv shows. I should think they would make ghostwriters read each other's manuscripts before writing the books.
-kristy narrates that it would be hard to imagine any father abducting his own son. but THAT HAPPENED. remember mr. barrett kidnapping buddy in [b:Dawn and the Impossible Three|233719|Dawn and the Impossible Three (The Baby-Sitters Club, #5)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390193163s/233719.jpg|226353]?
-kristy refers to louie as "a dog we used to have." eh, ellen miles doesn't really know kristy's voice I guess. kristy would never be so cavalier about louie. she would say something like, "our old dog, louie, whom we all loved but who passed away."
no outfits.
awards we hear about at the award night:
-class clown: justin forbes
-best excuse for not doing homework: erica blumberg (her mom composted her homework)
-most often seen sleeping: someone named jerry
-worst dresser: mr. kingbridge (as an honorary eighth-grader)
-most improved home-ec student: mary anne spier
-award for commitment to finding jake kuhn: kristy thomas
snack in claudia's room
-doritos (n.s.)
liannakiwi's review
3.0
(LL)
This was fine. The ending wasn’t great, but I guess for a mystery book written for kids (8-13) it wasn’t too bad. Convenient that Matt had some information that he didn’t share for two days, but it furthered the plot. Nothing exciting.
This was fine. The ending wasn’t great, but I guess for a mystery book written for kids (8-13) it wasn’t too bad. Convenient that Matt had some information that he didn’t share for two days, but it furthered the plot. Nothing exciting.
More...