Mary Anne Saves the Day

The fourth book in Ann M. Martin's The Baby-sitters Club series follows Mary Anne Spier, the shy secretary of the Baby-sitters Club, a baby-sitting business run by four twelve-year-old girls in Stoneybrook. The club meets three afternoons a week in the bedroom of vice president Claudia Kishi, who has her own phone line, and clients call during meetings to book sitters. The other members are Kristy Thomas, the bossy president and Mary Anne's best friend and next-door neighbor; Claudia, an artistic junk-food lover; and Stacey McGill, a sophisticated newcomer from New York City who has diabetes. Mary Anne lives alone with her strict, widowed father, who controls nearly every aspect of her life: She must wear her hair in braids, dress in plain, childish clothes he selects, and observe an earlier curfew than any other club member.

During a meeting, Mrs. Newton calls needing a sitter for her son Jamie and new baby Lucy. Kristy accepts the job without offering it to the others, violating the club rule she herself created. The argument spirals: Stacey calls Mary Anne a "shy little baby," and Kristy tells her to shut up. Pushed past her limit, Mary Anne erupts, calling each friend a cutting name, then storms out. No one calls after her.

At home, Mary Anne reflects on how little she and her father truly communicate despite spending over four hundred hours a year eating dinner together. In her room, she surveys the pink-and-white nursery décor he chose when she was three and wishes she could replace the framed Humpty Dumpty pictures with posters of her own choosing. That night, she tries to signal Kristy with the flashlight code they have used for years, but Kristy keeps her shade drawn.

The fight persists at school. Kristy removes the fourth chair from their lunch table so Mary Anne has nowhere to sit. Left alone, Mary Anne meets Dawn Schafer, a new student who recently moved from California after her parents' divorce. They bond quickly, and Dawn invites Mary Anne to her house, a farmhouse built in 1795. Dawn reveals that her mother grew up in Stoneybrook, and when Mary Anne says her father did too, they wonder whether their parents knew each other.

At the next club meeting, Kristy is absent. Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne handle calls in tense silence. Afterward, Mary Anne and Claudia reconcile through apology notes and a phone call. Mary Anne confronts Kristy at school and they negotiate emergency procedures for running the club during the fight. Mary Anne then conspicuously invites Dawn over in front of Kristy, who retaliates by announcing that her mother has extended her curfew, making Mary Anne's the earliest of any member.

Mary Anne baby-sits for Jenny Prezzioso, a three-year-old whose fussy mother dresses her in pristine outfits. When Jenny spills paint-water on her white dress, Mary Anne rinses the stain, blow-dries the dress, and lets Jenny paint in her underwear, getting her dressed moments before the Prezziosos return. That evening, Mary Anne asks her father to extend her curfew. He refuses, and her frustration boils over. She tells him she wants to choose her own clothes, wear her hair down, and redecorate her room. She calls him her "jailer," and he sends her to her room.

The next day, Mary Anne visits Mimi, Claudia's grandmother, for tea. Mimi advises that if Mary Anne does not like the way things are, she must find the right way to change them herself. Claudia overhears Mimi calling Mary Anne "my Mary Anne," a term of endearment Claudia believed was reserved for her alone. Claudia stops speaking to Mary Anne, leaving no club members on speaking terms.

Mary Anne and Kristy are assigned to baby-sit together for the eight Pike children. They manage the entire evening without speaking directly, and the kids relay every message around the table like a game, laughing hysterically. The Pikes return late, and Mary Anne arrives home past curfew. After a talk with her father, Mary Anne reflects that his decisions may be based on demonstrated responsibility rather than age. She resolves to act more maturely and writes an apology note to Kristy.

On Saturday, Dawn and Mary Anne search her father's old yearbooks and discover that Richard Spier and Dawn's mother, Sharon Porter, were in the same graduating class at Stoneybrook High School. Across Sharon's yearbook photo is an intimate inscription to "Richie" that reads in part, "How can we part? We have one more summer. Hold on to it, Richie. (Love is blind.)" (108). They also find a matching inscription and a dried rose pressed in Dawn's mother's yearbook.

A turning point comes when Mary Anne baby-sits for Jenny again. Jenny is listless and her temperature reaches 104 degrees. Mary Anne calls Jenny's doctor, the Prezziosos, and her own father, reaching no one. She calls Dawn, who suggests calling 911. The dispatcher sends an ambulance. At the emergency room, Jenny is diagnosed with strep throat and her fever is brought down. The Prezziosos arrive and praise both girls.

That evening, Mrs. Prezzioso calls to thank Mr. Spier, who is embarrassed he did not know about the crisis. Mary Anne recounts every responsible decision she made, and her father acknowledges she is more mature than he realized. He extends her curfew to match the other club members' hours. Mary Anne takes out her braids and shows him her hair down; he calls her "lovely" and agrees she can wear it that way sometimes. He also lets her begin redecorating her room, and they share a rare hug.

On Monday, Mary Anne gives Dawn an honest letter explaining she sometimes used their friendship to make Kristy jealous but truly values it. Dawn hugs her, ending their rift. Mary Anne slips an apology note into Kristy's locker, but Kristy never responds. At the fourth birthday party for Jamie Newton, the boy whose baby-sitting job sparked the original fight, the club members' hostilities nearly ruin the celebration. Mary Anne deliberately spills punch in Kristy's lap, Claudia throws a wet napkin in Stacey's face, and Jamie begins to cry as his mother walks in. Mary Anne takes charge, cleans up, and orders the others into the kitchen for a mandatory club meeting.

After the party, the four girls gather at Claudia's house. Mary Anne tells them they must either make up or dissolve the club. Kristy confesses she cannot even remember who she is mad at, and everyone begins to laugh. They all shout "I'm sorry" simultaneously, and each offers a specific apology. Kristy reveals her locker was broken all day, so she never received Mary Anne's note.

That evening, Dawn reports finding a prom photo of their parents together. Mary Anne raises the subject with her father, who confirms he and Sharon were very close but that her parents disapproved of him because his family did not have much money. Mary Anne points out that Dawn's mother is now divorced, and a faint smile crosses her father's face.

Mary Anne hosts a party to introduce Dawn to the other club members. When Dawn's mother drops her off, she and Mr. Spier come face to face for the first time in over two decades. Mr. Spier asks Mrs. Schafer to dinner the following night, and she immediately accepts. Upstairs, Kristy interviews Dawn about her baby-sitting experience. Satisfied, the group agrees, and Mary Anne officially invites Dawn to join the Baby-sitters Club. The five members head downstairs to celebrate, and Mary Anne raises a slice of pizza in a toast to their new member.