BSC #23: Dawn on the Coast

By Ann M. Martin, ghostwritten by Jan Carr. Published April 1989.

Dawn is super excited. She’s going to California for two whole weeks to visit her dad and Jeff. She’s a little worried about leaving her scatter-brained mother alone for so long, though. And her mom gets a little emotional about her leaving. But Dawn promises she’ll never really leave her. Yeah, we’ll see how that works out, Dawn.

The BSC has a going away sleepover party for Dawn. It’s on a Friday, and I think they may have cancelled their meeting for it. Wow, Kristy must still be feeling guilty over being such a raging bitch in the last book.

Dawn has a weird flight out to Cali, thanks to her awful flight attendant. Dawn is sitting next to a hot guy, and he’s the only one the attendant pays attention to. Hot guy helps Dawn out, though. And the attendant has drawn fake eyelashes onto her eyelids. What is that about? I don’t even.

Dawn’s dad is taking her first week there off, so they can do fun things together. On her first day they go to Disneyland. Jeff is back to being awesome, btw.

That evening, she goes over to her friend Sunny’s house, where there’s a surprise waiting for her. Sunny has started her own baby-sitting club, the We ♥︎ Kids Club. It’s run a lot looser than the BSC. There are no officers, for example, and they spend a lot of time just talking and doing their nails. Dawn thinks it’s awesome. She even gets a job herself with some old clients, Clover and Daffodil.

Dawn’s dad takes her, Jeff, the We ♥︎ Kids Club girls, and Jeff’s friend Luke to the beach. They have a great time; Dawn and her dad get a chance to really talk. But Dawn is starting to feel funny, and she realizes just how happy she is to be home.

Dawn goes on her baby-sitting job, and it goes very well. She thinks about how easy it was. She talks to her mom after the job, and she brings up Dawn’s grandparents, Kristy, and Mary Anne. Dawn realizes she hasn’t thought about anyone in Connecticut all day.

Dawn goes to another We ♥︎ Kids Club meeting, and just loves it. Loves it so much, she starts thinking about what it would be like if she actually moved back. She even goes so far as to bring it up to her dad and Jeff at dinner that night. Her dad says it could be a possibility, but they’d have to get all the legal stuff worked out. And that’s only if she was really sure she wanted to. She doesn’t want to bring it up to her mother yet. She makes a California vs. Connecticut list, and California wins out.

Kristy helps sit for the Pikes, and Nicky misses Dawn. She reassures him Dawn will be back at the end of the week. Kristy sends her a postcard telling her about it.

Dawn tells Sunny about her quandary, and shows her the list. Sunny says she’s obviously a California girl, and tries to convince her to stay. Dawn is still wrestling with her decision. But by the end of that night, she reaches her decision.

The next day, she tells her dad and Jeff. She’s going to go back to Connecticut. Her dad understands, he thought she might go that way, but Jeff is a little bit upset. He really does miss his sister. He gets back to his normal self soon enough, though.

She calls her mom, and her mom knew she might be thinking about staying. But she’s very happy she’s coming back.

When Dawn gets on her plane home, she sees that same crazy attendant is assigned to her section, so she quickly changes seats.

When she arrives back in Connecticut, she and her mom have a sweet reunion. Both of them cry. Then Dawn sees who else is there. The entire freaking club came along, complete with a welcome home banner. Never subtle, these girls.

o   Did anyone else get two weeks off for spring break? I have never heard of that outside of BSC books.

o   Sunny’s mom makes a small appearance. Sad.

o   You can definitely tell how old this book is. Jeff and their dad are allowed to take Dawn to her gate, and only have a little bit of trouble at the metal detectors because Jeff has a “Super Special” jackknife. Could you imagine that now?