BSC #4: Mary Anne Saves the Day

By Ann M. Martin. Published 1987.

The book pretty much starts out with a huge fight. Mary Anne gets called a shy little baby, Stacey a conceited snob, Claudia a stuck-up job hog, and Kristy the biggest, bossiest know-it-all in the world. Way to throw down, ladies.

The next day at school, Mary Anne’s feeling like quite the loser, because she has no one to sit with at lunch. But appearing like a California angel, is Dawn, a new girl at school. Mary Anne tells Dawn that all her friends are absent, because Mary Anne is a little bit stupid. But Dawn’s the one who keeps believing that for the next month, so who’s the real idiot here?

Mary Anne goes over to Dawn’s house, and they have a totes amazing time. They’re on their way to being besties already. Which is good, because the first meeting after the fight is kind of a disaster. Kristy doesn’t even freaking show up. Mary Anne and Claudia do end up making up with each other, and decide to talk to others to try and figure out what to do about the club. Mary Anne screws up the courage to talk to Kristy, and they decide one person will take a day to answer the phone, will take as many jobs as she can, and call around to the other girls to offer jobs she can’t take.

Mary Anne sits for Jenny Prezzioso, and she’s not nearly the brat everyone claims she is. More like a normal three-year-old. God forbid.

Mary Anne has been becoming frustrated with her father’s rules, especially not being allowed to sit as late as the other girls. So she tries to talk to him about it, but ends up just kind of whining, which does not go over well. She decides to talk it over with Mimi, over tea. But Mimi calls her “my Mary Anne” and Claudia overhears, and gets all upset because Mimi is only supposed to call her “my Claudia”. So now Mary Anne and Claudia aren’t speaking again.

Mary Anne and Kristy have to sit together for the Pikes, and they get through the entire job without speaking to each other. They get around it by speaking through the kids, who think it’s great fun.

Dawn and Mary Anne wonder if Dawn’s mom and Mary Anne’s dad knew each other in high school. They go through Richard’s yearbook, and it turns out they did, and it looks like they were more than just friends. Dawn and Mary Anne completely freak out over this.

The next time Mary Anne sits for Jenny, Jenny ends up getting sick. She has a 104 degree fever. Mary Anne tries calling all sorts of people, with no answers, and winds up calling Dawn, who comes over and tells Mary Anne to call 911. They’ll at least be able to tell her what she should do. They suggest taking her to the emergency room, and send an ambulance. Finally, at the ER, the Prezziosos show up. Turns out Jenny has strep throat, but she’ll be fine.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Mary Anne is able to stay calm and collected. Mr. Prezzioso rewards both her and Dawn with a whole whopping ten bucks each. Good to know your daughter’s welfare is worth twenty dollars there, Mr. P.!

The girls go back to Mary Anne’s house to try and look for a prom picture of their parents together. Mary Anne spots Kristy watching them from her house (a little creepy there, Kristy), and, to make her jealous, Mary Anne puts her arm around Dawn, and sticks her tongue out at Kristy. Well, at least they’re acting like twelve-year-olds. Unfortunately, Dawn sees this, and rightfully gets all weirded out and pissed off, and leaves.

That evening, Mrs. Prezzioso calls to give Mary Anne an update on Jenny, and tells Richard about what a good job Mary Anne did. Richard finally sees how mature and responsible Mary Anne is becoming, and relents to letting her sit later. He also agrees to let her wear her hair down, out of the braids.

Mary Anne writes Dawn a note, apologizing, and they make up.

Mrs. Newton has asked all four of the girls to help out at Jamie’s fourth birthday party. Unfortunately, they’re still all being complete bitches to each other. They fight over gets to check on the baby. And then, to show just how freaking mature she is, Mary Anne pours juice all in Kristy’s lap. Then Claudia and Stacey push wet napkins in each other’s faces. Mrs. Newton is shocked at their behavior, but seems to forget about it by the end of the party, after no further incidents.

Mary Anne calls for an immediate meeting. She says they need to either make up or break up. They decide to make up, because no one can remember what they were mad about anyway. Good going, girls.

Richard lets Mary Anne have a BSC plus Dawn party. When Dawn’s mother drops her off, she and Richard meet, and just kind of stare at each other. But then they end up setting up a date. Yay.

At the party, the girls quiz Dawn on her prior baby-sitting experience. They decide to ask her to become the fifth member of the club, and she accepts. They celebrate by having a pizza toast.

o   Mary Anne and her father pray before every meal. One of the very few references to religion in the BSC.  Richard asks God to watch over her mother (who’s called Abigail in this book). Mary Anne thinks this is a bit much. Damn, Mary Anne, let your dad have this small comfort.

o   Room Porn: Mary Anne’s “baby” room. White walls with pink baseboards. Pink flowered curtains and bedspread, and a pink shag rug. Pink framed pictures of Humpty Dumpty and Alice in Wonderland.

o   Mary Anne on Dawn: “She wasn’t exactly pretty, I decided, but she was pleasant, which was more important.” A little bit of the bitchy Mary Anne coming out already.

o   Dawn says she started sitting when she was nine. Really, Dawn?

Saddle Club #3: Horse Sense

By Bonnie Bryant. Published 1988.

In between summer camp riding classes, the girls of The Saddle Club are each busy with their own individual projects.

Carole is anxiously awaiting the birth of Cobalt and Delilah’s foal. The vet is there practically everyday checking on the expectant mother. She includes Carole in every step of the process, and even lets her tag along with her on another horse birth call. It’s pretty much all Carole can think about.

Max has a special project for Stevie. There’s an adult competition coming up at the stables, and Max wants something for the younger riders to do, so he comes up with a gymkhana, a competition with a bunch of silly games. He asks Stevie to pretty much be in charge of the whole thing. She tries to come up with a whole bunch of new games, things with hula-hoops, which spook the horses, and laser tag, even though she can’t actually get ahold of that. She just wants something more exciting than the old egg in a spoon standby.

Lisa at first feels left out with nothing of her own to do, but then she comes up with an idea. In order to be a real club, Lisa thinks The Saddle Club needs all sorts of rules and a mission statement. She spends a long time writing them up, and makes copies for each of the girls. She calls a meeting to ratify them, but Carole and Stevie are so busy they forget about it. So Lisa ratifies them herself, since she was the only one present at the meeting.

A new girl from France, Estelle, does have time for Lisa. She tells Lisa all about how she’s been riding since she was little, and about this magnificent white stallion of hers that she had to leave back in France. However, she doesn’t seem to have very good control over the stable horses. Lisa just figures it must be difference in American and French riding and teaching styles.

Lisa tries to set up yet another meeting, but Stevie and Carole both miss it again. Lisa had intended on asking them if Estelle could join, but goes ahead and makes her a member all by herself. Estelle doesn’t seem as excited as Lisa thought she would be, though.

One day after camp, things happen so it’s just the three girls left at the stables, and of course, that’s when Delilah decides to go into labor. They try contacting the vet, but she won’t be able to make it for about an hour and a half. Carole has learned what to do to get Delilah ready, though, and is able to do what she can, with Stevie and Lisa’s help. Then the three of them clear out and give Delilah privacy, but continue watching from the next stall. Before too long, Delilah gives birth to her foal, which is jet black, just like Cobalt was. When the adults get back to the stables, Max, tells Carole she can name him. She chooses Samson, natch.

The three girls realize how well they worked together, and that they’ve missed doing that. So Carole and Lisa help Stevie work on her games for the gymkhana. They decide they should do the egg and spoon game, which turns out to be a lot of fun when they try it out.

Lisa has to fess up to the others and tell them there are actually four members of The Saddle Club now. Stevie and Carole are not pleased. They’ve known from the beginning the Estelle didn’t know what the hell she was doing on a horse. When Lisa tries to relay some of Estelle’s stories, Carole is able to shoot them down quickly with facts, like there’s actually no such thing as a white horse, and that horses are unable to throw up. Lisa realizes everything Estelle has told her has been a lie, and she has to kick her out of the club. Estelle says she doesn’t want to be in the club anyway, and ends up quitting riding altogether.

Oh, and Lisa gets rid of all the rules. She realizes that the club is a real one with or without them.

o   Max keeps an eye on their grades in school, and won’t let them ride unless their grades are satisfactory.

o   Lisa buys each of the girls, including Estelle, a horse head pin. When Estelle quits, she throws it back at Lisa, so now they’ve got an extra fourth pin.