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A review by finesilkflower
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls by Ann M. Martin
3.0
The baby-sitters choose to fear a jewel thief.
The babysitters are spooked by a news story about a jewel thief who calls homes and then hangs up without saying anything to make sure no one is there before he comes to rob them, especially after Claudia and Kristy receive “phantom phone calls” at their babysitting jobs. Various creepy sitting jobs follow, most of which are made more creepy by the girls’ expectations of disaster. Kristy is creeped out by the Brewers’ next-door neighboor, whom Karen is convinced is a witch. Stacey is freaked by weird noises from the Johanssen basement during a power failure (it’s just the dog). Mary Anne, with a plucky resourcefulness belied by her timidity, masterminds several homebrew burglar alarms at the Thomas house (which are, of course, all set off accidentally). Finally, while tag-team babysitting Jamie Newton and his cousins, Claudia and Kristy see prowlers and call the police, only to discover that their “phantom” stalkers all along were boys who were too shy to ask them out.
A jewel thief story sets an early precedent for mysteries and seems a slightly odd choice for a second book in a baby-sitting girls series. But it’s a logical enough choice to follow a September school-starting story with October and a Halloween story. Claudia, the vice president (the initial stories are told in rank order, it seems), is a Nancy Drew fiend, so she seems like the right sitter to get a mystery story. Finally, the general moral is about safety on the job, not a bad lesson for baby-sitters. I’m pleased that the story has a mundane conclusion and that they don’t really capture the jewel thief, the way they would if this were in the Baby-sitters Club Mystery spinoff series.
Highlights: The girls come up with a secret code to tell each other on the phone if they think they might be in danger on the job, but they don’t want to give away their concerns to the children (or to an intruder who might be listening in). Kristy makes the girls rehearse the code, which they never can get right.
Lingering Questions: It’s explained how the boys knew where the girls would be baby-sitting, but why call them there instead of at home? Are the girls just always baby-sitting continuously until it’s too late to politely call their homes?
What would Claudia wear? There are times when it's revealed you've gone a whole scene not realizing that the character you are supposed to identify with is dressed like Rita from MR. F storyline on Arrested Development, and in this book, that is the point where she describes her purple short pants with suspenders, clock tights, lobster earrings, and "plaid shirt with a matching hat." Is there any way this DOESN'T come off like insane, purple, clock/lobster leiderhosen?
Signs of the Times: Stacey’s VCR is broken, so the girls read the newspaper for fun. And Charlotte can't watch MTV because she doesn't get cable. I had the misfortune of rereading this in the 2010 reprint, where both of these references are updated, Stacey saying that the "player" is broken (so they still... um... read the paper. Not look at Google News?) and Charlotte explaining that she can't watch MTV (it's still MTV) because "Mommy and Daddy block channels they don't want me to watch," which explanation makes Charlotte look out-of-character babyish and the Johansens look out-of-character restrictive. Cable still exists, you guys, and wouldn't Stacey just want to watch U4Me on Youtube anyway?
The babysitters are spooked by a news story about a jewel thief who calls homes and then hangs up without saying anything to make sure no one is there before he comes to rob them, especially after Claudia and Kristy receive “phantom phone calls” at their babysitting jobs. Various creepy sitting jobs follow, most of which are made more creepy by the girls’ expectations of disaster. Kristy is creeped out by the Brewers’ next-door neighboor, whom Karen is convinced is a witch. Stacey is freaked by weird noises from the Johanssen basement during a power failure (it’s just the dog). Mary Anne, with a plucky resourcefulness belied by her timidity, masterminds several homebrew burglar alarms at the Thomas house (which are, of course, all set off accidentally). Finally, while tag-team babysitting Jamie Newton and his cousins, Claudia and Kristy see prowlers and call the police, only to discover that their “phantom” stalkers all along were boys who were too shy to ask them out.
A jewel thief story sets an early precedent for mysteries and seems a slightly odd choice for a second book in a baby-sitting girls series. But it’s a logical enough choice to follow a September school-starting story with October and a Halloween story. Claudia, the vice president (the initial stories are told in rank order, it seems), is a Nancy Drew fiend, so she seems like the right sitter to get a mystery story. Finally, the general moral is about safety on the job, not a bad lesson for baby-sitters. I’m pleased that the story has a mundane conclusion and that they don’t really capture the jewel thief, the way they would if this were in the Baby-sitters Club Mystery spinoff series.
Highlights: The girls come up with a secret code to tell each other on the phone if they think they might be in danger on the job, but they don’t want to give away their concerns to the children (or to an intruder who might be listening in). Kristy makes the girls rehearse the code, which they never can get right.
Lingering Questions: It’s explained how the boys knew where the girls would be baby-sitting, but why call them there instead of at home? Are the girls just always baby-sitting continuously until it’s too late to politely call their homes?
What would Claudia wear? There are times when it's revealed you've gone a whole scene not realizing that the character you are supposed to identify with is dressed like Rita from MR. F storyline on Arrested Development, and in this book, that is the point where she describes her purple short pants with suspenders, clock tights, lobster earrings, and "plaid shirt with a matching hat." Is there any way this DOESN'T come off like insane, purple, clock/lobster leiderhosen?
Signs of the Times: Stacey’s VCR is broken, so the girls read the newspaper for fun. And Charlotte can't watch MTV because she doesn't get cable. I had the misfortune of rereading this in the 2010 reprint, where both of these references are updated, Stacey saying that the "player" is broken (so they still... um... read the paper. Not look at Google News?) and Charlotte explaining that she can't watch MTV (it's still MTV) because "Mommy and Daddy block channels they don't want me to watch," which explanation makes Charlotte look out-of-character babyish and the Johansens look out-of-character restrictive. Cable still exists, you guys, and wouldn't Stacey just want to watch U4Me on Youtube anyway?