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A review by finesilkflower
Jessi and the Jewel Thieves by Ann M. Martin
3.0
Jessi and Quint overhear a planned jewel heist in Manhattan.
Mystery Setup: Jessi goes to New York City for the weekend with Stacey because she has been invited to see Quint, her boyfriend from [b:New York, New York!|290506|New York, New York! (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #6)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387666058l/290506._SX50_.jpg|281847], dance in his first ballet as a Juilliard student. Through the window of Quint's apartment, she and Quint overhear two men in the building next door, Frank and Red, arguing about their plans to execute a jewel heist. Frank and Red look over when Quint's mom calls them, and Jessi and Quint are freaked out, sure that Frank and Red have seen them eavesdropping and now know their names. They are sure they are being following when they keep seeing Frank and Red around the neighborhood; Jessi even sees them at Quint's recital. In an attempt to gather evidence / feel safer, they tail Frank and Red a few times, and worry when they go to places that seem like possible theft targets, like the Met Museum and a diamond store.
Mystery Solution:
Emotional Arc: All the while she is mystery-chasing with Quint, Jessi is putting off having a relationship conversation with him. Long-distance isn't working for her; it feels like too much commitment and prevents her things like going to dances with other boys. Predictably - and a little too neatly - when she finally broaches the topic, Quint is on the same page and was also trying to figure out how to say the same things to her.
Baby-sitting Subplot: Back home, Becca is staying with the Pikes, and is homesick for her family. There is also a brief baby-sitting scene in NYC when Stacey and Jessi take Quint's younger siblings to the Central Park Zoo.
My take: This is a pretty enjoyable book. As a mystery, it's a little bit deflating because their attempts to solve it are ultimately fruitless and just amount to them getting worked up over nothing, but the solution is simple and plausible. Jessi's concerns about her relationship are also sympathetic, although they don't tie in much to the rest of the plot.
Geography Watch: This is another "guidebook to New York" book, with the characters' paths through Central Park so clearly described that you could trace it on a map. In fact, I did.
This is the path Frank and Red take from their building, next door to Quint's, to the Met Museum (with Jessi and Quint tailing them). The author must have gone to the park or at least looked at a map to write this segment, since the landmarks - Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Terrace, the boathouse, the Alice statue - are in a coherent order. (The only weirdness is that she states they cross the drive before Bethesda Terrace, when it would be after.) What's instructive about this is that it makes clear the Quint must live around 72nd Street. The only other information we're given about Quint's address is that he lives near Zabar's, but that's on 79th Street and if he lived up there they would have taken a more direct route through the park, without going by Strawberry Fields.
Google Maps had a little more trouble with the path Stacey and Jessi take to bring Quint's younger siblings from his apartment to the Central Park Zoo, but only because they take an intentionally slightly meandering (but still coherent!) path and stop off to look at different sites: Sheep Meadow, Playmates Arch, the carousel, the dairy, and the Delacorte Clock. All of these sites are in the southern part of the park, and it's stated that Stacey takes them down Central Park West to the entrance by Tavern on the Green (around 67th St), so Quint's place must be north of that. Tracks with him being around 72th St.
Lingering Questions: Just how rich is Quint's family? Surely it was about as ridiculously ritzy to live near Central Park in the early 90s and it is now. Both he and Stacey's dad must be extremely rich because they are constantly taking cabs everywhere, even though neither of them can live more than a few blocks from the subway.
Educational Content: Stacey gives Jessi some genuinely good math advice on how to calculate a fifteen per cent tip.
Racism Watch: Jessi and Quint cannot observe their targets in a jewelry store because they are quickly made to leave by a security guard. Quint wonders if it's because they're black, and Jessi says she doesn't think so, because the security guard was also black, so it was probably just because they were kids. This is a ridiculous piece of logic from a white writer. (1) Black people can also be racist against black people, particularly in a context where you are empowered to do a job like security or policing where implicitly racist snap judgments are part of the culture of the job, as Jessi and Quint would surely understand on a some level. (2) Why NOT have it be that they were chased out because they were black? When you have black main characters and a plot point is them being ejected from a store, it seems like just being like "yeah they were prevented from doing mystery solving because of racism, it sucks" is the simplest and most elegant solution. Adding contortions to reassure the reader that racism, while it exists in theory, never ever actually exists in practice, seems like a weird way to pander to white fragility in a context where it does not add but in fact detracts from the story.
Queer Content: Obviously since this is a BSC book there is nothing overt (there is no overt LGBT content in the entire series), but I can't help but feel that Frank and Red are a couple.
Errors: In the Kindle edition at least, Claudia's and Mary Anne's handwritten chapter openers are swapped.
Timeline Watch: At one point, Jessi says, "The Central Park Zoo recently re-opened after being closed for a long time for renovations." This is referring to the 5 years between 1983 and 1988 that Central Park Zoo was closed to revamp from an animal prison to a more modern, naturalistic zoo. What's interesting is that this book was written 5 years later, in 1993, making 5 years both "a long time" and "recently" in the context of the same sentence.
Timing: Spring. The logic of this book requires warm weather, since both Quint's and Frank/Red's windows are open. The sitters also remark on the warm weather one point, suggesting it's novel. The book was published in April 1993, simultaneouse with [b:Claudia's Friend|646460|Claudia's Friend (The Baby-Sitters Club, #63)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387753661l/646460._SX50_.jpg|632607]. April seems a little early in the year for so many open windows, but Claudia's Friend also describes it being an unusually warm spring.
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if they aged. Spring of twelfth grade for Stacey and the other older sitters, tenth for Jessi. As far as I can tell, there is no program at Juilliard for ballet students under 16, so the revised timeline makes Quint's storyline possible. (And, of course, it's a lot less ludicrous that they're wandering the city alone at 15-16 than 11.)
Mystery Setup: Jessi goes to New York City for the weekend with Stacey because she has been invited to see Quint, her boyfriend from [b:New York, New York!|290506|New York, New York! (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #6)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387666058l/290506._SX50_.jpg|281847], dance in his first ballet as a Juilliard student. Through the window of Quint's apartment, she and Quint overhear two men in the building next door, Frank and Red, arguing about their plans to execute a jewel heist. Frank and Red look over when Quint's mom calls them, and Jessi and Quint are freaked out, sure that Frank and Red have seen them eavesdropping and now know their names. They are sure they are being following when they keep seeing Frank and Red around the neighborhood; Jessi even sees them at Quint's recital. In an attempt to gather evidence / feel safer, they tail Frank and Red a few times, and worry when they go to places that seem like possible theft targets, like the Met Museum and a diamond store.
Mystery Solution:
Spoiler
Finally, on Jessi's last day there, while sitting back at Quint's trying to figure out how to jump-start their investigation, they overhear the exact same argument as last time - except that Frank messes up one of the lines and Red tells him to "check the script." They are actors! Later, Quint talks to Red - whose real name is David - and finds out that he was at the ballet because his niece is a classmate of Quint's.Emotional Arc: All the while she is mystery-chasing with Quint, Jessi is putting off having a relationship conversation with him. Long-distance isn't working for her; it feels like too much commitment and prevents her things like going to dances with other boys. Predictably - and a little too neatly - when she finally broaches the topic, Quint is on the same page and was also trying to figure out how to say the same things to her.
Baby-sitting Subplot: Back home, Becca is staying with the Pikes, and is homesick for her family. There is also a brief baby-sitting scene in NYC when Stacey and Jessi take Quint's younger siblings to the Central Park Zoo.
My take: This is a pretty enjoyable book. As a mystery, it's a little bit deflating because their attempts to solve it are ultimately fruitless and just amount to them getting worked up over nothing, but the solution is simple and plausible. Jessi's concerns about her relationship are also sympathetic, although they don't tie in much to the rest of the plot.
Geography Watch: This is another "guidebook to New York" book, with the characters' paths through Central Park so clearly described that you could trace it on a map. In fact, I did.
This is the path Frank and Red take from their building, next door to Quint's, to the Met Museum (with Jessi and Quint tailing them). The author must have gone to the park or at least looked at a map to write this segment, since the landmarks - Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Terrace, the boathouse, the Alice statue - are in a coherent order. (The only weirdness is that she states they cross the drive before Bethesda Terrace, when it would be after.) What's instructive about this is that it makes clear the Quint must live around 72nd Street. The only other information we're given about Quint's address is that he lives near Zabar's, but that's on 79th Street and if he lived up there they would have taken a more direct route through the park, without going by Strawberry Fields.
Google Maps had a little more trouble with the path Stacey and Jessi take to bring Quint's younger siblings from his apartment to the Central Park Zoo, but only because they take an intentionally slightly meandering (but still coherent!) path and stop off to look at different sites: Sheep Meadow, Playmates Arch, the carousel, the dairy, and the Delacorte Clock. All of these sites are in the southern part of the park, and it's stated that Stacey takes them down Central Park West to the entrance by Tavern on the Green (around 67th St), so Quint's place must be north of that. Tracks with him being around 72th St.
Lingering Questions: Just how rich is Quint's family? Surely it was about as ridiculously ritzy to live near Central Park in the early 90s and it is now. Both he and Stacey's dad must be extremely rich because they are constantly taking cabs everywhere, even though neither of them can live more than a few blocks from the subway.
Educational Content: Stacey gives Jessi some genuinely good math advice on how to calculate a fifteen per cent tip.
Racism Watch: Jessi and Quint cannot observe their targets in a jewelry store because they are quickly made to leave by a security guard. Quint wonders if it's because they're black, and Jessi says she doesn't think so, because the security guard was also black, so it was probably just because they were kids. This is a ridiculous piece of logic from a white writer. (1) Black people can also be racist against black people, particularly in a context where you are empowered to do a job like security or policing where implicitly racist snap judgments are part of the culture of the job, as Jessi and Quint would surely understand on a some level. (2) Why NOT have it be that they were chased out because they were black? When you have black main characters and a plot point is them being ejected from a store, it seems like just being like "yeah they were prevented from doing mystery solving because of racism, it sucks" is the simplest and most elegant solution. Adding contortions to reassure the reader that racism, while it exists in theory, never ever actually exists in practice, seems like a weird way to pander to white fragility in a context where it does not add but in fact detracts from the story.
Queer Content: Obviously since this is a BSC book there is nothing overt (there is no overt LGBT content in the entire series), but I can't help but feel that Frank and Red are a couple.
Spoiler
"They're actors in the same play" explains why they are constantly having loud, dramatic arguments about fantastical topics, but doesn't explain why they apparently live together, are always seen together (including going together to David's niece's recital), and enjoy weekend days taking in museums together. As for the diamond store, I think I see wedding bells on the horizon!!Errors: In the Kindle edition at least, Claudia's and Mary Anne's handwritten chapter openers are swapped.
Timeline Watch: At one point, Jessi says, "The Central Park Zoo recently re-opened after being closed for a long time for renovations." This is referring to the 5 years between 1983 and 1988 that Central Park Zoo was closed to revamp from an animal prison to a more modern, naturalistic zoo. What's interesting is that this book was written 5 years later, in 1993, making 5 years both "a long time" and "recently" in the context of the same sentence.
Timing: Spring. The logic of this book requires warm weather, since both Quint's and Frank/Red's windows are open. The sitters also remark on the warm weather one point, suggesting it's novel. The book was published in April 1993, simultaneouse with [b:Claudia's Friend|646460|Claudia's Friend (The Baby-Sitters Club, #63)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387753661l/646460._SX50_.jpg|632607]. April seems a little early in the year for so many open windows, but Claudia's Friend also describes it being an unusually warm spring.
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if they aged. Spring of twelfth grade for Stacey and the other older sitters, tenth for Jessi. As far as I can tell, there is no program at Juilliard for ballet students under 16, so the revised timeline makes Quint's storyline possible. (And, of course, it's a lot less ludicrous that they're wandering the city alone at 15-16 than 11.)