BSC Super Special #4- Baby Sitters’ Island Adventure

I never read this BSC book as a kid, mainly because it did not seem very interesting to me. Reading this as an adult- wow… I had thought the Ramseys were good parents, and after reading this book, I now feel that the Ramseys should have had DCF called on their behinds! Before I even begin this recap, let me just tell you what the freakin’ Ramseys did- they allowed Jessi, an ELEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD, to spend the WHOLE WEEKEND ALONE with her eight year old sister and one and a half year old brother- with NO parents yes you have that right!! And then Jessi gets all pissy at Aunt Cecilia- OK I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning…

Claudia and Dawn have both been taking sailing lessons. Dawn and Claudia race each other in a sailing race,  and it’s a draw. Claudia blames her dangly earrings.  🙂 Dawn and Claud agree to a rematch on Saturday, and they decide to sail to Greenpoint Island. Each girl picks her ” crew”- Dawn picks Jeff, her brother, who is visiting from California, and Haley Braddock. Claudia takes Becca Ramsey and Jamie Newton. Yes, the Newtons feel it’s a great idea for Jamie, who is four years old, to go sailing with an inexperienced 13 year old. Need I mention that Jamie is also sick? Mrs. Newton does say she doesn’t think Jamie should go because he’s sick but Jamie whines, so Mrs. Newton gives in. I used to like her. And yes the Ramsey parents are away for the weekend when Becca is off sailing with Claudia and Dawn. Sheesh.

Well, the ” adventure-” Dawn and Claudia veer way off course after a huge rainstorm, and end up on a deserted island. Very Gilligan, I know. Dawn and Claudia brought candy bars and oranges and all that stuff, so they have enough food for about a day…. but the BSC’ers and the kids end up being at that island for almost three days. And yes obviously they all get rescued because otherwise you’d have no more BSC books, and you would have been a sad child. It turns out that Claudia is the one who stays cool under pressure in this situation, and Dawn pretty much falls apart in a crisis, which Dawn feels terrible about. Also, Jamie is becoming really sick.  Claudia rallies the kids together, and again, does well in this crisis, which makes Claudia very proud of herself in the end.

The rest of the BSC’ers don’t get great plots- but they all revolve around their feelings around Dawn and Claud being lost. Kristy cancels a Krushers/ Bashers tournament because she’s worried about her friends and Krushers ( Becca and Haley are Krushers cheerleaders, Jamie a player) and Bart thinks Kristy is just canceling the game because she’s afraid of losing! Bart is really an ass-clown in this book. But Kristy and Bart make up later when Bart realizes he was being an ass-clown.

Before Dawn left for her ill-fated sailing journey, she and Mary Anne had a major fight because Dawn forgot to tell Mary Anne about a phone message from Logan. Mary Anne gets so steamed and fucking dramatic about it that she tells Dawn she never wants to see Dawn ever again! Then Mary Anne cries a lot thinking Dawn is dead, and they never even made up! Stacey is visiting her dad in NYC for the weekend, and Ed McGill is also an ass-clown. Stacey hears about her friends and baby sitting charges being shipwrecked, and because she is worried she wants to leave NYC early and go help the other BSC’ers and assorted grown-ups try to find the BSC’ers and pals. Mr. McGill refuses to let Stacey leave, and is a real prick about it. Why wouldn’t he get that Stacey can’t exactly have great fun if she’s worried about her pals?

Mallory is just concerned that Vanessa’s best friend Haley and the various other kids are missing. She’s also trying to support Jessi, who is again all pissy because when she hears Becca is lost,  she needs to get to the community center to help find Becca, and has to call Aunt Cecilia to watch Squirt because she CAN’T REACH HER PARENTS!! Why aren’t they easily reachable? UGH! Well, reasonably so, Aunt Cecilia thinks her bro is a fuggin idiot for leaving an 11 year old alone with the 2 other kids, and she is mad at Jessi for letting Becca go sailing with Dawn and Claudia, but then Aunt Cecilia cools a bit when she learns later that the Ramseys OK’ed that before their trip.

UGH I just mostly hated this book because it was sort of boring to me ( as I knew they’d all be OK!) and the parenting decisions in this book are so fuckin’ unbelievable, they make Octo Mom and Alice Wakefield seem like the premier moms of the universe!!!

Next, I get to recap a book I did love reading as an adult, though  I never read it as a kid- Elizabeth the Impossible, from Sweet Valley Twins. I will try to write a longer recap on that one. I also have Baby Sitters Remember, Dear Sister, Mallory and the Trouble with Twins, and Sweet Valley Twins Left Behind coming up! Also look for more Unicorn Club and Freshman Dorm drama!