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A review by finesilkflower
Beware, Dawn! by Ann M. Martin
2.0
The Baby-sitters feel the unwanted tugs of competitiveness when the children organize a "Sitter of the Month" contest. Then someone begins harrassing them anonymously at their sitting jobs--leaving creepy notes and symbolic warnings, like headless dolls.
Mystery Solution:
The Baby-sitters Club has a very black and white view of the world. Most people are basically good, and good people don't do bad things. The culprits are always one-off non-recurring characters, nobody (it was all a misunderstanding), or one of the few "bad people." Cokie Mason, the BSC's eighth-grade "rival" is one bad person. Another is Mel Tucker, a ten-year-old boy who's always making fun of the Hobart boys for being Australian. Since Mel is introduced in this book, you can predict from chapter one that it must be him.
And, it is. Dawn figures it out after Jamie Newton lets slip that Mel has been asking around about the times of the kids' sitting jobs, telling everyone he's doing "baby-sitting checks" for the Sitter of the Month contest. She devises a scheme to catch him red-handed.
All the same, I thought, reading, he is still a little boy. And the notes are still legit disturbing... Is a counterprank really the right solution here? I was pretty sure that a BSC book would not address those lingering concerns, but, to my surprise, they did! Dawn's scheme goes off without a hitch, but then Mel starts to cry and she remembers he's a child. Kristy encourages him to see a psychiatrist.
So I guess I end up impressed with the level of seriousness that they gave to the whole thing, but at the same time, it feels like an abrupt tonal shift.
Oh, and the Sitter of the Month contest ends in a seven-way tie, barf.
Structural Issues: Boy, there's a lot of filler in this book. Chapter 1 is nothing; the boilerplate is stretched out over 2 and 3. The Sitter of the Month plotline doesn't start until 4 and Mr. X doesn't make his first appearance until chapter 6. Given the blood-red-letters branding, it feels like we have to wait an awfully long time for anything spooky to happen.
Dawn is a Bad Baby-sitter: She just leaves a headless doll in a toy hamper for Lucy to find later.
Lingering Questions: Why do all the baby-sitters keep their Mr. X notes to themselves at first? It's not actually necessary to the plot at all, really (it all comes out pretty soon). Even if it were, it's so out of character irresponsible and unlikely that they would all have the same bizarre reaction. I understand Dawn brushing all signs of disquietude under the rug in order to further her chances of winning a contest because she has no conscience, but I imagine that Mallory or Mary Anne would tell the parents IMMEDIATELY.
How did the children organize themselves into a voting body with no intervention from the Baby-sitters? Karen and Andrew were involved, and they live across town! A plot point IN THIS VERY BOOK is that it's impossible for children to get across town without an adult driving them.
Mystery Solution:
Spoiler
Dawn briefly suspects Kristy because she was the only one not to receive a note, but you and I, the readers, know this cannot be, because to reveal Kristy as the culprit would mean she is STRAIGHT UP PSYCHOTIC. The notes are legit creepy. This basically rules out everyone we like.The Baby-sitters Club has a very black and white view of the world. Most people are basically good, and good people don't do bad things. The culprits are always one-off non-recurring characters, nobody (it was all a misunderstanding), or one of the few "bad people." Cokie Mason, the BSC's eighth-grade "rival" is one bad person. Another is Mel Tucker, a ten-year-old boy who's always making fun of the Hobart boys for being Australian. Since Mel is introduced in this book, you can predict from chapter one that it must be him.
And, it is. Dawn figures it out after Jamie Newton lets slip that Mel has been asking around about the times of the kids' sitting jobs, telling everyone he's doing "baby-sitting checks" for the Sitter of the Month contest. She devises a scheme to catch him red-handed.
All the same, I thought, reading, he is still a little boy. And the notes are still legit disturbing... Is a counterprank really the right solution here? I was pretty sure that a BSC book would not address those lingering concerns, but, to my surprise, they did! Dawn's scheme goes off without a hitch, but then Mel starts to cry and she remembers he's a child. Kristy encourages him to see a psychiatrist.
So I guess I end up impressed with the level of seriousness that they gave to the whole thing, but at the same time, it feels like an abrupt tonal shift.
Oh, and the Sitter of the Month contest ends in a seven-way tie, barf.
Structural Issues: Boy, there's a lot of filler in this book. Chapter 1 is nothing; the boilerplate is stretched out over 2 and 3. The Sitter of the Month plotline doesn't start until 4 and Mr. X doesn't make his first appearance until chapter 6. Given the blood-red-letters branding, it feels like we have to wait an awfully long time for anything spooky to happen.
Dawn is a Bad Baby-sitter: She just leaves a headless doll in a toy hamper for Lucy to find later.
Lingering Questions: Why do all the baby-sitters keep their Mr. X notes to themselves at first? It's not actually necessary to the plot at all, really (it all comes out pretty soon). Even if it were, it's so out of character irresponsible and unlikely that they would all have the same bizarre reaction. I understand Dawn brushing all signs of disquietude under the rug in order to further her chances of winning a contest because she has no conscience, but I imagine that Mallory or Mary Anne would tell the parents IMMEDIATELY.
How did the children organize themselves into a voting body with no intervention from the Baby-sitters? Karen and Andrew were involved, and they live across town! A plot point IN THIS VERY BOOK is that it's impossible for children to get across town without an adult driving them.