Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls, #2

So, Claudia is totally holding Kirsten Dunst on this cover.

It was a dark and stormy night in Stoneybrook (because AMM loves using this cliche whenever there is a mystery in town...or out of town). Claudia has finished her 7th grade homework (that's right, we haven't hit the neverending 8th grade year yet) and is trying to decide if she should paint or read a Nancy Drew book. Ok, rant time, AMM always goes on about how Claudia's parents don't approve of her Nancy Drew addiction, but really? Mrs. Kishi is a librarian, and the Nancy Drew series is considered classic, why would she have a problem with that? I mean, it's not To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's also not the Sweet Valley High series or Flowers in the Attic or anything, so why is that an issue? Plus, considering how indifferent Claudia is about school, you think they would be happy with her interest in reading anything. Rant over.

Oh, and we get told again that Janine's IQ is 196. Why the crap is she still in high school? She already takes college courses for fun, so it would seem that by the time she graduates high school she would have accrued enough college credits to start as a junior or senior (umm...totally had a friend in college that did that, got enough AP credits in high school to start college as a junior. Way to make me feel like an underachiever...). Just find it hard to believe that Janine's teachers never pushed for her to at least skip a grade or something.

Anyway, before Claudia can make up her mind on what leisure activity to start, Stacey calls to gossip about the upcoming Halloween Hop. Claudia tells Stacey about her crush on classmate Trevor Sandbourne (that totally sounds like a soap opera name), a boy that writes poetry for the SMS newspaper, and Stacey is still crushing on Sam Thomas. They gossip a little bit about Kristy and Mary Anne, because they still aren't really close to them yet, still eat lunch with other friends and think K and MA dress like little girls (pre-Kristy tomboy phase, apparently). This struck me as more believable with the BSC friend dynamic, because it is a little hard to believe that 7 girls who are so different can be so close without some snark/gossip. Yes, I know some of the later books have some fights in them, just seemed a little too Leave it to Beaver-ish to have these girls always be so buddy-buddy.

After Girl Talk is over, Claudia flips on the radio and hears a news flash about the latest burglary by the Phantom Phone Caller in a neighboring town. Apparently the Phantom Phone Caller will call a home and hang up if someone answers, just waiting for the homeowners to leave. As soon as he doesn't get an answer when he calls, he will break in and steal valuable jewelry. Claudia remembers that she had some hang ups when she sat for the Marshalls a few days ago and shivers, but then remembers that the PPC has never hit Stoneybrook, and feels better. However, a few days later, Claudia's next door neighbors, the Goldmans, are buglarized, and Mrs. Goldman mentions having a few hang ups earlier in the day. Let the panic begin...

At the next BSC meeting, the girls (Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey) get on the subject of the PPC, and how they can protect themselves on the off chance he tries to hit a home while they are there. They come up with an elaborate telephone code so that if they think there is a burglar in the house, they can call one of the other girls to let them know there is trouble without alerting the thief (and all I could think about here was that urban legend where the pyscho is calling the babysitter from inside the house, and we know how that ends...) The code is something along the lines of "Have you seen my red ribbon?" Kristy makes them practice this for a whole meeting so that they will have it down pat. They also devise some homemade burglar alarms that can be used, like stacking pots and pans by the front door and such, and the girls feel reassured that they will be ok if something happens. Plus, Kristy decides to take the club record book to school so that the girls can memorize where everyone is babysitting that day just in case something should happen.

Claudia sits for the Marshalls again, and gets a couple more hang up phone calls. She gets all freaked out, about jumps out of her skin when someone starts jiggling the garage door, but it turns out to be the Marshalls coming home. Plus, when Kristy is babysitting for Karen and Andrew (this is before Watson and her mom are married), she gets a few hang up calls too. Mary Anne gets so freaked out by this, that the next time she is sitting for David Michael, she decides to rig up some of the Home Alone style alarms, even though she hasn't gotten a call. She stacks canned goods up by the front door, pots and pans by the garage door, and rigs some redonkulous broomstick/tape deck contraption at the back door. She freaks out when the stereo starts blaring loud music, but it turns out Louie switched it on when he came through the dog door. Then she hears a loud crash, but it's just the Thomases coming home. Even though Kristy acted kind of like a baby when she was getting phone calls, she laughs at Mary Anne's burglar alarms (that's a great friend).

A few days later, Kristy and Claudia have a joint sitting job for Jamie Newton and some of his cousins, and the phone starts ringing. Then they hear something outside one of the windows, so Claudia calls the police. They show up, and catch Alan Gray, the resident prankster, lurking outside. Alan confesses to calling whatever home Kristy is at (which he knows because she brought the club notebook to school) because he wanted to ask her to the Halloween Hop. Surprisingly, Kristy immediately accepts, telling Claudia later that she was just excited that a boy liked her. Kristy, this can't have been that much of a shock, as much as Alan Gray has tormented you in the past, you had to know that he secretly liked you, that is middle school crush 101. After Claudia gets home, Trevor Sandbourne calls and asks her to the Hop, and admits that he had been calling her to try to get up the nerve to ask her out as well. He said that his buddy Alan Gray has been feeding him Claudia's babysitting schedule (umm...not sure if I can see Alan Gray being friends with someone who writes poetry, just sayin'...).

Oh, and the police catch the actual PPC a few days later, and Stoneybrook is safe again. Hooray. Janine tells to Claudia that she admired how brave Claudia was and how well she handled to situation at the Newton house. Plus, she admits to Claudia that she hides candy all over her room, too. Which, just seemed completely out of character for Janine, and I don't think that ever gets mentioned again. Nice to know that Janine is not some weird robot/Stepford child at least.


Fashion!!!

What Claudia Wore: "Today, for instance, I'm wearing purple pants that stop just below my knees and are held up with suspenders, white tights with clocks on them, a purple plaid shirt with a matching hat, my high-top sneakers, and lobster earrings."

I really hope these were her high-tops, that would be epic.

Claudia, take two: "I straightened my bow tie with the little Scottie dogs on it and patted my hair to see if any damage had been done. My hair is long, and I can do lots of things with it. That day I had fixed it in five slim braids and looped each one up on my head, holding them in place with beaded barrettes that had sparkly streamers attached to them."

Claudia and Stacey, dance outfits: baggy jeans and bulky sweaters

Kristy, dance outfit: red plaid jumper and red turtleneck