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A review by ssshira
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls by Ann M. Martin

4.0

the bsc get phone calls with hangups at their babysitting houses. they think it's connected to the local burglar who uses this method to find out if people are home before breaking in and taking their jewelry. turns out it's just boys (alan gray -- barf!-- and trevor sandbourne, the shy poet) who want to ask kristy and claudia to the halloween dance but are scared to do it at school/call them at their homes.

highlights include an early example of claudia and janine being almost friends (janine hides junk food in her room too! what a revelation!), mary anne's rigging of anti-burglary devices including a doorstop that turns on a tape deck blasting "poundin' down the walls" by the slime kings (I want ann m martin to name my next band and all our songs), the description of classmate alexander kurtzman "who carries a briefcase and wears a jacket and tie, and lives to obey rules," and the description of sam thomas's date: "you should have seen who--or maybe I should say what--he took to the movies last friday. she's a freshman in high school and she had spiky yellow hair with green stuff at the ends, and these little lace gloves with the fingertips cut out. now, what is the point of wearing gloves if--" thanks, konservative kristy!

one claudia outfit (too few! esp. considering this is a claudia book! at least the outfit is RIDICULOUS)
-Today, for instance, I’m wearing purple pants that stop just below my knees and are held up with suspenders, white tights with clocks on them, a purple-plaid shirt with a matching hat, my high-top sneakers, and lobster earrings.

four snacks in claudia's room:
-licorice whips in her desk
-root beer barrels under her mattress
-chocolate bar in her notebook
-saltwater taffy in her pencil jar