Book Review: Mary Anne Saves the Day

Mary Anne Saves the Day (The Baby-Sitters Club #4) by Ann M. Martin

Category: Children's book

Synopsis: The Baby-Sitters Club is a group of four 12 year old friends who run a baby-sitting business. They are Kirsty (the bossy tom-boy president), Claudia (the arty vice-president), Stacy (the fashionable treasurer) and Mary Anne (the shy, quiet, secretary). This book sees the girls in the fight of their lives. It starts over something silly but soon spirals out of control. The fight forces Mary Anne to look hard at herself and the relationship she has with her friends and her father. When one of the children she is watching becomes seriously ill Mary Anne has to act quickly in order to get the girl the medical attention she needs.

My Thoughts: Mary Anne and Kirsty were always my two favourite baby-sitters. I felt I could relate to those two more. I was never arty or fashionable but I was a rather insecure tom-boy who was rather serious. I first read The Baby-Sitter Club books when I was about 8 or 10 (my copy of this book has the address of our house down south printed in a rather untidy scrawl and we moved up north when I was 10) and I remember thinking the book rather exciting. What would I do if something like that happened when I was babysitting? I also liked how Mary Anne was able to stand up for herself.

Today I can appreciate that the book shows young girls (I am assuming mostly girls would read these books) how to act in case of an emergency. I was also highly amused by the following excerpt:

"She's very sophisticated, and is even allowed to have her hair permed, so that she has this fabulous-looking shaggy blond mane, and she wears the neatest clothes--big baggy shirts and tight-fitting pants" (pg5).

First off it amused me because the perm thing really dated it but the second part? that amused me because my students wear "big baggy shirts and tight-fitting pants". Oh heavens above we have come full circle!!



Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate if you click on the link above and buy the book I get a very small percentage to buy books for myself. The above book has been in possession for close to twenty years.