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situationnormal's review against another edition
4.0
The mysteries have been my jam lately. This one was easily solvable, and I have a very hard time seeing how this would at all affect the BSC's business except that they would be afraid to accept larger bills in case they were fake, but still. The Harriet the Spy-esque game was cute. (But wasn't it super irresponsible for the BSC to keep taking these kids on stakeouts?)
lemonflower's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
lberestecki's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
finesilkflower's review
3.0
Who's infusing Stoneybrook with counterfeit money?
Stacey is humiliated when the police question her for using counterfeit money on a mall shopping trip. The BSC vows to uncover the counterfeiters and clear Stacey's name (the stakes are ridiculously low, though, since the cops believe Stacey from the beginning that she got the cash as change at another store, noticed nothing wrong with it before she tried to spend it, and has nothing to do with the crime.) Suspiciously, a mysterious new family has just moved to town--but since the son is cute, Stacey is willing to give him a pass.
This book is boring, obvious, completely unbelievable, and totally unsatisfying as a mystery (the "clues" are entirely found by random chance and being at the right place at the right time for the wrong reasons; none of the "detective work" turns up anything of consequence), but since it's a BSC mystery, I'm grading on a curve.
There are several good things about this one, actually. I like that the two issues, money/shopping and cute boys, tie into Stacey's character. Also, the idea of counterfeiting money is one that's just plain interesting to kids. Anyone who is old enough to grasp the concept of money has asked themselves: why not just photocopy it and make your own? Then you could buy anything you want! This book answers that question in a kid-friendly way: one, it's a felony (kids don't necessarily know which crimes are a big deal: I remember being shocked when my mom told me that forgery was a felony: I did it all the time!!) Two, it's really hard! Claudia tries to draw a dollar bill and realizes how difficult it is, which is a fun experiment for a kid at home.
The actual storyline is pretty weak, but Stacey gets a bit of forbidden romance, and there is some classic bumbling BSC detective work. What more can you expect from a mystery? You know they will save anything actually with any sort of emotional heart for the main series.
Femslash Watch: "Kristy rang the bell. A girl answered it. A pretty girl with long, shiny brown hair in a braid down her back. Kristy noticed right away, she told me later, that this girl had gorgeous hazel eyes. 'You must be Kristy,' the girl said, smiling shyly.
"'Yup,' replied Kristy. 'Are you Tasha?'
"The girl nodded. Then she looked at Charlie and raised her eyebrows. 'Is this your boyfriend?' she asked Kristy.
"'Oh, no!' exclaimed Kristy. 'I'd never bring my boyfriend on a job. I mean, if I even had a boyfriend.'"
Let there be no mistake: Kristy is available. Available for you, Tasha Hoyt.
Timing: Although it was published in August, it takes place during the school year; there is a scene at school and some mentions of classes shared with the new kids. There's not much to go on, since the new kids are established as frequent and abrupt travelers, but it seems like it may take place early in the year. Published concurrently with #66 [b:Maid Mary Anne|558279|Maid Mary Anne (The Baby-Sitters Club, #66)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1175792497s/558279.jpg|545456], but that book takes place during the summer. Still, Dawn is still around per Chapter Two (though I don't think she does a single thing in the book), so we know it's before #67 [b:Dawn's Big Move|774632|Dawn's Big Move (The Baby-Sitters Club, #67)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1178236291s/774632.jpg|760675].
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if they aged in every book. Let's place this one in fall of freshman year of college for Stacey and the gang. This is a somewhat awkward first-book-of-college since it's so un-momentous. I do think Stacey being an adult raises the stakes a bit, since an eighteen-year-old cash-strapped co-ed would be (marginally) more likely to be suspected of white-collar crime than a thirteen-year-old baby-sitter. She could at least feel herself to be a Person of Interest, rather than the way it actually happens, where the cops straight up tell her they consider her no more than a witness.
Stacey is humiliated when the police question her for using counterfeit money on a mall shopping trip. The BSC vows to uncover the counterfeiters and clear Stacey's name (the stakes are ridiculously low, though, since the cops believe Stacey from the beginning that she got the cash as change at another store, noticed nothing wrong with it before she tried to spend it, and has nothing to do with the crime.) Suspiciously, a mysterious new family has just moved to town--but since the son is cute, Stacey is willing to give him a pass.
This book is boring, obvious, completely unbelievable, and totally unsatisfying as a mystery (the "clues" are entirely found by random chance and being at the right place at the right time for the wrong reasons; none of the "detective work" turns up anything of consequence), but since it's a BSC mystery, I'm grading on a curve.
There are several good things about this one, actually. I like that the two issues, money/shopping and cute boys, tie into Stacey's character. Also, the idea of counterfeiting money is one that's just plain interesting to kids. Anyone who is old enough to grasp the concept of money has asked themselves: why not just photocopy it and make your own? Then you could buy anything you want! This book answers that question in a kid-friendly way: one, it's a felony (kids don't necessarily know which crimes are a big deal: I remember being shocked when my mom told me that forgery was a felony: I did it all the time!!) Two, it's really hard! Claudia tries to draw a dollar bill and realizes how difficult it is, which is a fun experiment for a kid at home.
The actual storyline is pretty weak, but Stacey gets a bit of forbidden romance, and there is some classic bumbling BSC detective work. What more can you expect from a mystery? You know they will save anything actually with any sort of emotional heart for the main series.
Femslash Watch: "Kristy rang the bell. A girl answered it. A pretty girl with long, shiny brown hair in a braid down her back. Kristy noticed right away, she told me later, that this girl had gorgeous hazel eyes. 'You must be Kristy,' the girl said, smiling shyly.
"'Yup,' replied Kristy. 'Are you Tasha?'
"The girl nodded. Then she looked at Charlie and raised her eyebrows. 'Is this your boyfriend?' she asked Kristy.
"'Oh, no!' exclaimed Kristy. 'I'd never bring my boyfriend on a job. I mean, if I even had a boyfriend.'"
Let there be no mistake: Kristy is available. Available for you, Tasha Hoyt.
Timing: Although it was published in August, it takes place during the school year; there is a scene at school and some mentions of classes shared with the new kids. There's not much to go on, since the new kids are established as frequent and abrupt travelers, but it seems like it may take place early in the year. Published concurrently with #66 [b:Maid Mary Anne|558279|Maid Mary Anne (The Baby-Sitters Club, #66)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1175792497s/558279.jpg|545456], but that book takes place during the summer. Still, Dawn is still around per Chapter Two (though I don't think she does a single thing in the book), so we know it's before #67 [b:Dawn's Big Move|774632|Dawn's Big Move (The Baby-Sitters Club, #67)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1178236291s/774632.jpg|760675].
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if they aged in every book. Let's place this one in fall of freshman year of college for Stacey and the gang. This is a somewhat awkward first-book-of-college since it's so un-momentous. I do think Stacey being an adult raises the stakes a bit, since an eighteen-year-old cash-strapped co-ed would be (marginally) more likely to be suspected of white-collar crime than a thirteen-year-old baby-sitter. She could at least feel herself to be a Person of Interest, rather than the way it actually happens, where the cops straight up tell her they consider her no more than a witness.
sammah's review
2.0
Oh man. Gimme a break, ya'll. I never read this one as a kid, but now I see where David spawned from. We don't see him again, I don't think, until the Friends Forever Series book Kristy and the Kidnapper. So random. So strange. So BSC it hurts.
I could write a long review about everything in this that was insane. We don't have that kind of time though. So let me just say that, even for a BSC Mystery? This was pretty silly.
I could write a long review about everything in this that was insane. We don't have that kind of time though. So let me just say that, even for a BSC Mystery? This was pretty silly.
xtinamorse's review
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/stacey-and-the-mystery-money
ssshira's review
3.0
this is my first time reading this book!
while on a sitting job for charlotte at the mall, stacey unknowingly receives counterfeit money as change and tries to use it to buy some earrings. she is mortified when the sales clerk tells her the money is counterfeit, so she decides to try to find the counterfeiters. meanwhile a weird new family (featuring a pair of 8th-grade twins, plus a sitting charge-age kid) moves to town, and it seems like they're in the witness protection program or something, because none of them can remember their own names and kristy finds a school ID that has a different name for one of them. stacey dates the 8th-grader twin boy, and eventually she finds out that
highlights:
-such a perfect stacey quote: "I like to split the cost when I'm dating, especially if it's a first date. I want the guy to know I'm indepedent."
-when claud says that money from canada looks like play money, charlotte says that she thinks our money looks like play money to people in other countries. charlotte johanssen (an eight year old) is way more mature than claudia kishi (a thirteen-year old, and her supposed caretaker).
-stacey's hypotheses about what goes on in the faculty lounge: "do they lie around on couches and eat chocolates? is it a pretty room, with decorative lamps and nice wallpaper and lots of big, comfortable chairs and the sweet smell of potpourri wafting through it?"
-terry's dad is a counterfeit cop for the secret service! I didn't even know that was an aspect of the secret service. I thought this was totally unrealistic and actually had to do some research into the secret service to verify that it was accurate. do the secret service people really constantly need to move into new towns and be undercover, changing their names all the time? if so, do they actually have kids that move with them and change their names too? what a weird/crappy way to grow up.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-there's a reference to mrs. kishi not needing to whisper in the library since she's in charge of it. NOBODY NEEDS TO WHISPER IN THE LIBRARY. AHHHHH!
-terry: "I never understand why people get tattoos if they're going to be criminals." what an unnuanced way of looking at the world. as though everyone who ever commits a crime has known for their whole life that they are going to be a criminal.
charlotte johanssen outfit:
-"Charlotte had gotten dressed up for our day out, in a pink skirt and a white, frilly blouse."
-stacey outfits:
-"I was wearing my favorite white miniskirt with a new blue-and-white-striped sweater."
-"What about your white sweater and those blue-and-white polka-dot leggings?...You look great in that outfit, especially when you put that white bow in your hair."
snacks in claudia's room:
-m&ms (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-red licorice (n.s.)
while on a sitting job for charlotte at the mall, stacey unknowingly receives counterfeit money as change and tries to use it to buy some earrings. she is mortified when the sales clerk tells her the money is counterfeit, so she decides to try to find the counterfeiters. meanwhile a weird new family (featuring a pair of 8th-grade twins, plus a sitting charge-age kid) moves to town, and it seems like they're in the witness protection program or something, because none of them can remember their own names and kristy finds a school ID that has a different name for one of them. stacey dates the 8th-grader twin boy, and eventually she finds out that
Spoiler
his dad works for the secret service, investigating counterfeiting schemes (and he ends up helping them once they find the counterfeiter). they move to towns where there's a lot of counterfeiting, and to protect everyone in the family's identities they have to change their names and backstories all the time. kinda bonkers, right? it's a little elaborate for an [a:Ellen Miles|286072|Ellen Miles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]-ghostwritten book.highlights:
-such a perfect stacey quote: "I like to split the cost when I'm dating, especially if it's a first date. I want the guy to know I'm indepedent."
-when claud says that money from canada looks like play money, charlotte says that she thinks our money looks like play money to people in other countries. charlotte johanssen (an eight year old) is way more mature than claudia kishi (a thirteen-year old, and her supposed caretaker).
-stacey's hypotheses about what goes on in the faculty lounge: "do they lie around on couches and eat chocolates? is it a pretty room, with decorative lamps and nice wallpaper and lots of big, comfortable chairs and the sweet smell of potpourri wafting through it?"
-terry's dad is a counterfeit cop for the secret service! I didn't even know that was an aspect of the secret service. I thought this was totally unrealistic and actually had to do some research into the secret service to verify that it was accurate. do the secret service people really constantly need to move into new towns and be undercover, changing their names all the time? if so, do they actually have kids that move with them and change their names too? what a weird/crappy way to grow up.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-there's a reference to mrs. kishi not needing to whisper in the library since she's in charge of it. NOBODY NEEDS TO WHISPER IN THE LIBRARY. AHHHHH!
-terry: "I never understand why people get tattoos if they're going to be criminals." what an unnuanced way of looking at the world. as though everyone who ever commits a crime has known for their whole life that they are going to be a criminal.
charlotte johanssen outfit:
-"Charlotte had gotten dressed up for our day out, in a pink skirt and a white, frilly blouse."
-stacey outfits:
-"I was wearing my favorite white miniskirt with a new blue-and-white-striped sweater."
-"What about your white sweater and those blue-and-white polka-dot leggings?...You look great in that outfit, especially when you put that white bow in your hair."
snacks in claudia's room:
-m&ms (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-red licorice (n.s.)
liannakiwi's review
3.0
(LL)
This was fine. It’s decent for the mystery books of the series, as it’s better than most of the mysteries so far.
This was fine. It’s decent for the mystery books of the series, as it’s better than most of the mysteries so far.
kitten_nuisance's review
2.0
It's good to know that the BSC archives are around to satisfy my needs for truly ridiculous plots and motivations. I remember that this one about tweens and eight-year-olds helping to catch counterfeiters (sort of--really, they happened to be around for a variety of coincidences due to a terrible plan they'd enacted) was purchased in conjunction with the one where Claudia (slightly more legitimately, IIRC) helps solve a mystery about a museum being robbed. I wonder what my parents thought when I proudly plucked these from the Waldenbooks shelf and demanded that I immerse myself in these plots immediately.
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