The Truth About Stacey

Ann M. Martin's The Truth About Stacey follows seventh-grader Stacey McGill, a recent transplant from New York City to Stoneybrook, Connecticut, as she faces two crises: A rival baby-sitting business threatens the club that gave her a new circle of friends, and her overprotective parents plan to take her to yet another doctor for her diabetes.

The Baby-sitters Club consists of four seventh-graders who meet three times a week in the bedroom of vice president Claudia Kishi, who has her own phone line. President Kristy Thomas runs the club, secretary Mary Anne Spier tracks schedules, and Stacey serves as treasurer. During a Friday meeting, Claudia's older sister Janine rushes in with a flyer for a competitor: The Baby-sitters Agency, run by eighth-graders Liz Lewis and Michelle Patterson. The agency advertises a network of sitters aged 13 and up who can work later hours and weekends. When Kristy calls using a fake name, Liz quickly offers three available sitters, demonstrating a range the club cannot match.

Stacey reflects on the past year. Before moving to Stoneybrook, she lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side. About a year earlier, she began experiencing symptoms that were diagnosed as diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to process glucose. She learned to give herself daily injections and follow a strict diet. Her parents, who had also learned they could not have more children, became intensely overprotective, shuttling her to a parade of doctors in search of a miracle cure and pulling her out of school so often that her education suffered. Her former best friend, Laine Cummings, turned against her after a bedwetting incident at a sleepover, and because Stacey's parents kept the diagnosis secret, Stacey never explained her condition. Laine led their friend group to shun her. By the time the family moved to Connecticut, Stacey had no friends left. The Baby-sitters Club became her lifeline.

Stacey's mother reveals that she has scheduled a trip to New York to see yet another doctor. Stacey protests, but her parents insist. At a Saturday planning session, Kristy presents strategies to fight the agency, including doing free housework, lowering rates, creating Kid-Kits (decorated boxes of games and books to bring on jobs), and recruiting older sitters. Claudia and Mary Anne reject the more extreme ideas and threaten to quit. Stacey, terrified of losing her only friendships, speaks up to keep the group together. They compromise: They will use the Kid-Kits and offer special deals to loyal customers, saving other measures as last resorts.

The Kid-Kits prove popular. Stacey brings hers to a job with Charlotte Johanssen, a lonely seven-year-old who is bullied at school. On their walk home, Liz Lewis appears handing out helium balloons printed with the agency's phone number. Meanwhile, the club's call volume drops sharply.

When Mrs. Newton, a frequent client, gives birth to a girl named Lucy Jane, the club throws a party for three-year-old Jamie Newton to celebrate his new role as big brother. But Jamie slips away in tears, telling Stacey he overheard his mother calling the agency for older sitters, meaning the club will no longer baby-sit for him. Stacey declares war on the agency.

The agency sets up a recruitment counter at school with a crowd of interested students. Kristy recruits two eighth-graders, Janet Gates and Leslie Howard, who claim to have left the agency. On their first weekend, however, neither girl shows up for her job, leaving two families stranded. The club confronts them at school, and Janet and Leslie laugh, revealing they are still agency members. Liz put them up to joining the club as saboteurs, deliberately skipping jobs to damage its reputation. Kristy cries, the first time Stacey has ever seen her do so. The club resolves to continue as the original four, proving their worth through quality.

Evidence of the agency's negligence mounts. Jamie tells Stacey his new sitters only watch television and talk on the phone, and one has burned a hole in his family's chair with a cigarette. Charlotte confides that her agency sitters ignore her, and one even invites her boyfriend over. Stacey advises both children to tell their parents.

During Thanksgiving vacation, Stacey's parents reveal the New York trip will last five days rather than the three they originally promised. The new doctor is Dr. Barnes, a holistic practitioner. Charlotte's mother, Dr. Johanssen, a physician herself, warns Stacey that Barnes is practically a quack who will recommend expensive, unnecessary therapies. Dr. Johanssen arranges for Stacey to see a reputable specialist in New York and writes a letter for Stacey to present to her parents.

The agency crisis peaks when the club finds Jamie playing alone by the street in freezing weather while his sitter, Cathy Morris, remains inside the house unaware. Each club member consults a trusted adult, and all agree they must speak up. The four girls go to the Newtons' house and tell Mrs. Newton everything. She is horrified, promises to contact other parents and confront the agency, and gives Kristy permission to address Liz and Michelle directly. The next morning, the club quizzes Liz and Michelle on basic facts about the children they sit for, such as Jamie's favorite sandwich and Charlotte's favorite game. Liz and Michelle cannot answer correctly. The club walks away feeling a measure of victory.

In New York, Stacey endures four hours of tests at Dr. Barnes's clinic without ever meeting the doctor. Afterward, she surprises her parents with the appointment Dr. Johanssen helped arrange: a consultation with Dr. Philip Graham, a renowned childhood diabetes specialist. Dr. Graham praises Stacey's current doctor as superb and dismisses Barnes's clinic as worthless. He identifies Stacey's real problem: She feels unsettled because each new doctor changes her treatment, preventing her from gaining control of her condition. He recommends stability above all. That evening, Stacey and her parents agree to stop seeing Dr. Barnes and to give Stacey a voice in future medical decisions.

Stacey's family stays with Laine's family during the trip, and Stacey's parents have finally told the Cummingses about her diabetes. At a movie, Stacey and Laine, seated together, finally argue openly. Laine apologizes, explaining she was jealous of the attention Stacey received from teachers and was frightened by a classmate's claim that Stacey's condition was contagious. Stacey admits she should have told Laine the truth. They reconcile, spending the rest of the evening catching up, and their friendship is restored.

Stacey returns to Stoneybrook to find the agency has collapsed. Parents contacted by Mrs. Newton confirmed their children's complaints and stopped calling Liz and Michelle. At the club meeting, calls flood in, including one from Mrs. Newton asking Stacey to watch both Jamie and baby Lucy, the first time the club is trusted with the newborn. Kristy observes that the club won because its members are genuinely good baby-sitters. Liz and Michelle, meanwhile, have launched a new venture called Makeovers Inc. that suits their real interests.

In a final phone call, Laine and Stacey catch up excitedly. Stacey shares that Charlotte will skip to third grade for a fresh start, and that her parents are giving her a phone for her room so she can call Laine regularly. After hanging up, Stacey imagines making Laine an honorary member of the Baby-sitters Club if she ever visits Stoneybrook.