Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
So first off, Janine is not mean at all in this story. Claudia is a little bit of a brat at times and doesn’t really give Janine room to say or do anything. However, I do think the sibling dynamic is an accurate portrayal with sometimes you love them and sometimes they annoy you to no end. I think the story of Mimi being sick and the slow recovery and her expression of frustration is also good for young kids to understand as well. Overall, I’m still really enjoying the Babysitters Club series still after seven books.
BSC re-read as a 32 year old #7..
Janine came across as a super pain in the ass when I was a kid, but in this re-read Claudia comes off as a jerk. All of their "fights" stem from miscommunication but Claudia seems to be the only one flying off the handle and getting nasty.
Also, poor Mimi. I always loved her character ❤️
Janine came across as a super pain in the ass when I was a kid, but in this re-read Claudia comes off as a jerk. All of their "fights" stem from miscommunication but Claudia seems to be the only one flying off the handle and getting nasty.
Also, poor Mimi. I always loved her character ❤️
As this book went along it got better but boy, I can not STAND Claudia in the beginning of this book!! She doesn’t even attempt to see things from Janine’s point of view. I felt awful for Janine in this book. She just wants to fit in!! And Claudia is just terrible to her time and time again. Ugh. This really bothers me, but the rest of the book was fun and enjoyable so I have a hard time giving it less than 4 stars. Mimi’s stroke is another really sad part of this book but at least it has a semi-happy ending. I liked the play group! And I like when Claudia sits for the Newtons. I wish Kristy didn’t have to move away even though her new house is fun to read about! I just think it was sweet when all the babysitters could walk to their meetings. Anyways, not my favorite, but you know I could never really hate a Babysitters Club Book.
This one can be harder to read, as it deals with the fragility of our elders. Excellent dove into unlike siblings and family dynamics during a crisis.
Before I get to my actual review, a quick disclaimer: Ever since I learned that Netflix was reimagining one of my favorite childhood book series, I had decided that I would be embarking on a re-read of this series, reliving a series of books that helped to shape me into a voracious reader. I am so excited to embark on this travel back in time. I don't expect to be mentally stimulated -- I mean, I'm not exactly a pre-teen middle-schooler these days -- but I make no apology for choosing to enjoy this series from the perspective of adulthood. Don't expect me to have any sort of psychoanalyst or feminist sermonizing on the appropriateness of the situations or the effects on a young girl reading these books; there's plenty of that to go around already. I'm here for the nostalgia and the meander down memory lane.
**********
As many times as I re-read this series growing up, this was never one of my favorites. I didn't skip over it, but I always cringed as I finished the book before it, because I knew the next book wasn't one I looked forward to all that much.
What I liked about Claudia and Mean Janine:
Andrew - That little dude's personality made me laugh right out loud. He gets overshadowed by his tornado of a big sister, but when he smirked and growled? The best.
Claudia's relationship with Mimi - Theirs was a relationship I always enjoyed. It was one of the few ways I was able to connect with Claudia's character and it resonated deeply.
What I didn't care for:
Claudia and Janine's bickering - I'm not a parent, but when these two sniped and sparred, it was enough to set my teeth on edge. I remember squabbling with my brother when we were kids and now I totally understand why it drove the adults in our lives nuts.
What left me conflicted:
The subject matter - On the one hand, it addressed a stressful and scary situation a child might find themselves facing with a beloved grandparent. On the other, man, was it ever something heavy, and (I can see now that I know I'm an enneagram 9) as a child, I would rather numb out those kinds of thoughts than face the fear it churned up in my mind.
I know exactly why I didn't much like this one when I was a child: I was close to my Gram like Claudia was close to Mimi, and Mimi suffering a stroke filled me with terror. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to my beloved Gram. (As irony would have it, my own Gram did have a stroke, although I was an adult when it happened, and my sweet Gram did not recover.) Reading this as an adult, having lived through it now, I was right back there alongside Claudia; it strikes a chord deep in my psyche still, though I am now better equipped to handle it. I had originally rated this book two stars, remembering how much I dreaded it while growing up, but in retrospect, the subject matter was dealt with so gently that I've granted it a third. It still wasn't one of my favorites though.
**********
As many times as I re-read this series growing up, this was never one of my favorites. I didn't skip over it, but I always cringed as I finished the book before it, because I knew the next book wasn't one I looked forward to all that much.
What I liked about Claudia and Mean Janine:
Andrew - That little dude's personality made me laugh right out loud. He gets overshadowed by his tornado of a big sister, but when he smirked and growled? The best.
Claudia's relationship with Mimi - Theirs was a relationship I always enjoyed. It was one of the few ways I was able to connect with Claudia's character and it resonated deeply.
What I didn't care for:
Claudia and Janine's bickering - I'm not a parent, but when these two sniped and sparred, it was enough to set my teeth on edge. I remember squabbling with my brother when we were kids and now I totally understand why it drove the adults in our lives nuts.
What left me conflicted:
The subject matter - On the one hand, it addressed a stressful and scary situation a child might find themselves facing with a beloved grandparent. On the other, man, was it ever something heavy, and (I can see now that I know I'm an enneagram 9) as a child, I would rather numb out those kinds of thoughts than face the fear it churned up in my mind.
I know exactly why I didn't much like this one when I was a child: I was close to my Gram like Claudia was close to Mimi, and Mimi suffering a stroke filled me with terror. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to my beloved Gram. (As irony would have it, my own Gram did have a stroke, although I was an adult when it happened, and my sweet Gram did not recover.) Reading this as an adult, having lived through it now, I was right back there alongside Claudia; it strikes a chord deep in my psyche still, though I am now better equipped to handle it. I had originally rated this book two stars, remembering how much I dreaded it while growing up, but in retrospect, the subject matter was dealt with so gently that I've granted it a third. It still wasn't one of my favorites though.
I LOVE THE KISHI FAMILY
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-175-claudia-and-mean-janine/
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-175-claudia-and-mean-janine/
Having an evil sister? Maybe this book can help change your perspective about siblings.
Claudia's grandmother has a stroke.
Amidst BSC plans for an informal neighborhood playgroup, Claudia drops out to deal with a family emergency: her beloved grandmother Mimi has a stroke. Claudia "babysits" Mimi during her slow recovery, and fights with her sister Janine, whom she feels isn’t pulling her weight in the family crisis.
Mimi’s stroke is frightening and heartrending, and Claudia’s thoughts and emotions during the aftermath are complex and realistic (fear, grief, guilt, duty, love, failure, comparing Mimi to a baby, hating herself for comparing Mimi to a baby, etc.) The playgroup storyline is a bit of rehash of book 6, but it’s quickly demoted from main plot to backdrop as the hospital visits and Mimi-therapy take over Claudia’s life (a touch of realism, really; you’re never conveniently between things when an emergency happens). "Mean Janine" is at best a C-plot, but an interesting one, as the emergency forces both girls to confront their roles in the family: Claudia martyrs herself and feels unappreciated, while Janine accepts her parents’ assessment that she is too busy to help while quietly feeling isolated and unneeded. Both girls are convinced that the family loves the other one best.
As a kid, I think I accepted the Claudia/Janine stuff as general sister bickering, which is I think how it's supposed to be read; but reading it as an adult, it amazes me how little I sympathize with Claudia in the "Mean Janine" plot. It's more like "Janine and Mean Claudia"!
I do sympathize with Claudia in parts of plot--her confusion and panic at seeing Mimi in the hospital, her feelings of guilt because her last conversation with Mimi before the accident was an argument--but in every single interaction with Janine, it seems to me that Claudia is clearly in the wrong. She becomes upset at complete non-infractions, mostly Janine failing to read her mind and offer her the particular sort of comfort that Claudia wanted at the moment. It's because she's MBTI "F" and Janine is "T", I guess. Like Janine, I'm 100% "T" and I don't understand "F" people.
Timing: July between seventh and eighth grades. This is the first book which occurs in a month other than its release date. Although the books are still being released one every two months, this book (covering about a month) follows immediately on the events of the previous one--apparently Ann M. was aware that the girls were growing up too fast for the number of books she was capable of writing, but she had not yet "solved" the problem. (After all, they do go into eighth grade in a couple of books. Time is still passing... for now.)
Amidst BSC plans for an informal neighborhood playgroup, Claudia drops out to deal with a family emergency: her beloved grandmother Mimi has a stroke. Claudia "babysits" Mimi during her slow recovery, and fights with her sister Janine, whom she feels isn’t pulling her weight in the family crisis.
Mimi’s stroke is frightening and heartrending, and Claudia’s thoughts and emotions during the aftermath are complex and realistic (fear, grief, guilt, duty, love, failure, comparing Mimi to a baby, hating herself for comparing Mimi to a baby, etc.) The playgroup storyline is a bit of rehash of book 6, but it’s quickly demoted from main plot to backdrop as the hospital visits and Mimi-therapy take over Claudia’s life (a touch of realism, really; you’re never conveniently between things when an emergency happens). "Mean Janine" is at best a C-plot, but an interesting one, as the emergency forces both girls to confront their roles in the family: Claudia martyrs herself and feels unappreciated, while Janine accepts her parents’ assessment that she is too busy to help while quietly feeling isolated and unneeded. Both girls are convinced that the family loves the other one best.
As a kid, I think I accepted the Claudia/Janine stuff as general sister bickering, which is I think how it's supposed to be read; but reading it as an adult, it amazes me how little I sympathize with Claudia in the "Mean Janine" plot. It's more like "Janine and Mean Claudia"!
I do sympathize with Claudia in parts of plot--her confusion and panic at seeing Mimi in the hospital, her feelings of guilt because her last conversation with Mimi before the accident was an argument--but in every single interaction with Janine, it seems to me that Claudia is clearly in the wrong. She becomes upset at complete non-infractions, mostly Janine failing to read her mind and offer her the particular sort of comfort that Claudia wanted at the moment. It's because she's MBTI "F" and Janine is "T", I guess. Like Janine, I'm 100% "T" and I don't understand "F" people.
Timing: July between seventh and eighth grades. This is the first book which occurs in a month other than its release date. Although the books are still being released one every two months, this book (covering about a month) follows immediately on the events of the previous one--apparently Ann M. was aware that the girls were growing up too fast for the number of books she was capable of writing, but she had not yet "solved" the problem. (After all, they do go into eighth grade in a couple of books. Time is still passing... for now.)
Having an evil sister? Maybe this book can help change your perspective about siblings.