#99: Stacey's Broken Heart

Tagline: Will Stacey and Robert be together forever?

Cover: Why do these covers always ask such stupid questions? Anyway, the cover. Is it just me, or does Robert look like he's saying something like "Stacey, I know we're young, but I promise I'll take care of you and the baby." My interest is definitely more in the guys in the background, silently arranging some kind of train-based rendezvous.

Plot!: It's summer time in Stoneybrook, and Stacey is heading to New York for a week-long baby-sitting job with the Walkers, the arty couple from the building she used to live in. The problem is that she's nervous about being away from Robert, her boyfriend. But while she's there she meets Ethan, who's older and a city guy, and Robert starts seeing other people, and they break up. Meanwhile, Kristy is on vacation with her family, and Abby's in charge of the BSC. She decides to have a Mexican festival, and it's kind of a disaster, because Abby sucks as president and they all miss Kristy's tyrant ways.

Points of Interest:

• Stacey says that the popular kids' values "are the pits." Take that, popular girls.
  
• But that doesn't keep Robert from smiling at Andi Gentile! But Robert! Think about their values.
  
• Another girl, Sheila MacGregor, wore a tight purple unitard to play tennis in. Huh?
  
• The Walkers are a big deal on the New York arts scene, apparently: she's an illustrator, and he does oil paintings, and they're having a show at a major gallery. But when they need someone to watch their kids, they call a 13-year old girl who lives in Connecticut. What about every other time they need a sitter?
  
• Stacey and Robert spend time together playing a video game, Marvel in the Mist. Cool?
• Stacey talks about how much she loves a tan, even though she knows it's, like, bad for you. I can totally see Stacey's Skin Cancer being a later BSC book.
  
• Stacey says that Mary Anne's haircut is adorable. That's definitely not what they said when she got it cut! Mary Anne's Makeover is probably my most favourite BSC book.
  
• Heh. Stacey says Mal has "inner beauty." Poor Mallory!
  
• Okay, the time line is a little weird on this one. I think that this is right around the same time as Dawn Schafer, Undercover Babysitter, but in this one she's not in Stoneybrook anymore. And Stacey leaves town, but in the other book she's here. It's been awhile since I read Dawn and Too Many Sitters, so I'm a bit confused on the timeline.
• Stacey wonders if she's heartless because she's not upset about leaving her boyfriend for a week. No, really.
  
• In this book, when Abby's in charge, she says it's okay to be a few minutes late - not 15, but up to a few minutes. This jumped out at me because it also came up in Jessi's Baby-sitter, when Jessi's ten minutes late and said that she would have called if she was 30 minutes late, but not for ten minutes. Who decides these things? It's all about a slope, isn't it?
• How long is Kristy going to be away for? Abby's making sweeping changes, like cutting dues.
  
• Instead of calling Stacey at home, Emily Bernstein calls Stacey at a BSC meeting to say she saw Robert with another girl. Are the McGill's not listed in the phone book? I guess TECHNICALLY they haven't been in Stoneybrook a year, so they might not be listed.
  
• Stacey wears sunglasses to spy on Robert at the mall. And Claudia is like, "take those glasses off, you look ridiculous." CLAUDIA.
• Robert and Pete Black go see a romantic movie together. Maybe he's into Pete Black.
  
• Abby goes overboard on this Mexican festival, spending the BSC's money and then her own, and insisting that the members pay her back. And then makes posters (with Caludia Butterfly in charge of spelling) without knowing where the festival will be held, and then tells the kids it's a race to finish the posters. She's really not cut out for this.
  
• The New York part doesn't really get going until Chapter 9. Until then, it's just baby-sitting and paranoia.
  
• Stacey and her dad have this long, awkward converation about her relationship with Robert while they're in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not only is it awkward to be talking about this stuff with your dad (especially since you still have anger at him over the divorce), but can you imagine what it must be like for the other people there?
  
• Ethan, Stacey's soon-to-be beau, has deep blue eyes, long black hair, high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a wide mouth. Hot?
  
• Claudia saw Robert kissing Andi - on the lips! Cue Saved by the Bell audience-style "ooooo-oooo"
• For all of her sports experiences, Abby isn't really a team player, is she?
  
• Stacey and Robert break up. He didn't want to do it earlier, because he wasn't sure about what was going with Andi and he didn't want to upset her. Real nice, Robert.
  
• Stacey decides that she's sadder but wiser, and that she'll live. Yay.
  

Final Thought: Stacey's little headshot on the cover is really unfortunate. She's all jaw and teeth. Not that the cover picture does her any pictures, either.