Clubs and Schools Books

This is the classic story where a girl comes home from a school trip and tells her mother what happened - but backwards and forwards in that roundabout way kids have, skipping half the details. Her mother has to try to fill in the gaps that way.

The illustrations are a riot. This one is definitely a keeper.

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to laugh at the round about way kids tell stories, taking you on a winding and tiring road that makes you put the story pieces together in a straight line. I originally bought this book when our son was very young, and recently re-purchased it (he is now 16) to get a chuckle out of his long winded, end-to-beginning way of telling stories!

This is a true children's classic, and I don't care that it was not written back in the far day with cutesy pictures. This tells a great story in a "backwards" format where what should have been a simple explanation becomes worse and worse as more details are brought in. The illustrations are amazing and hilarious and do more than their part in telling this charming story. This is a great way to show logic and sequence and more kids need to know this story!

I'm 21 and I still love this book. Maybe it's not exactly a comedy routine, but it's so much fun; you have to smile reading it.

I liked this because the boa ate the wash. My favorite character is Jimmy. You should read this book because it is a really good book.

this book wuz great! the thing i didnt like tho was that stevie was actin more like lisa! i mean, stevie would never get that excited over a report. but otherwise, it wuz great! (i also liked carole:the inside story & lisa:the inside story. those were great!)

This was a pretty good book. It wasn't as good as Saddle club "69. But this was my second book that I read of the saddle clubs series.I like the movie danger in Vermont! it was exciting! I like the fox hunt movie better than Vermont.

I loved this book! It captures the excitment from Stevie's point of veiw. It's definitely for Stevie lovers and I certainly am. I love the excitment in Vermont with Dinah and I understand her anger with her brothers somtimes, too, because I have three just like her! It's a really great book!

I loved this book! I found Stevie's views very funny; and I loved getting more detail then what was in snow ride, racehorse, and foxhunt. (The books that Stevie is talking about.) Wonderful book! Worth buying!

This book was GREAT! It is sooo unlike stevie to be exited about a school report.And what she finds about Veronica is amazing!This book is a MUST for stevie-lovers(even though i am more like Lisa,for i get very good grades and am a begining rider in western)!

Jim Benton captures the adolescent females' mind so well. The Dear Dumb Diary series has kept my daughter and myself laughing.

Yes, entertaining, etc., but when my 1st grade daughter came up to me and asked me what a "turd" is, I was upset. I asked her where she heard the word and she showed me Dear Dumb Diary, page 24, where one can also find the word "turdpie."

Upset doesn't even begin to describe my feelings at reading this junk.

So, if words like this are your thing, go for it, buy the books for your kids, but please, read it first.

Calling all super duper popular girls! Angeline, thats you! Ok so I guess I'll tell you about Angeline. Who is the most popular girl in the middle school! Well I'll tell you about her long, silky, blonde, beautiful, nice hair.
HA HA HA! It got tangled in her keychains and the school nurse cut the left side of her hair OFF! You may not belive this but read the book to belive it! THIS IS SUCH A FUNNY DIARY!

I like to read the books my children are reading, it adds to our dinner conversation. My seven year old daughter and I both enjoyed reading this book. My daughter is a "girly-girl" and this book was an easy and entertaining read for her, in fact she has come back to the book shelf more than once to read this book! Her reading level is high, but since she is only seven it's hard to find books that she enjoys reading that contain appropriate content. We are both eager to read the next book.

Everybody loves a fun read, right? Children (0-99) will have at least one laugh (guaranteed).

this book made me think of claudia getting caught up in a cult about art which was how the new girl ashley acted, and she was forgetting her priorities and letting her friend control and pressure her to devote her life to art and all this strange stuff but in the end claudia gets back to reality

I read this book at school...
It begins when Claudia's,class gets' a new student.Claudia was thinking how'll the new student will be.When the new student arrives,everyone was suprised in seeing the way she was dresses.She was wearing "different"clothes,that even Claudia was suprised.Well,when the teacher says the new girls name;Ashley(I forgot her last name),Claudia asked Ashley if she was related to a painter.That's how they begin being friends,& how Claudia misses her BSC meetings.I think that the BSC member were being alittle selfish,I mean Claudia is good in art,and her having a friend who also liked art,was suprising.but Ashley was being quite selfish,too,she wanted Claudia all for her self.Will Claudia leave the baby sitters club for sure?Just for Ashley?Read this book to find out!

Overall,i give this book 3 stars because of the selfishness,it's an OK book,but there are better BSC books,than this.

Check out all my review!
-Ana

There are five girls in the Baby Sitters Club in this book. Their names are Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Stacey McGill, and Dawn Scafer. Mallory and Jessi haven't joined yet. Kristy has brown hair and brown eyes. She lives with her mom, step dad, brothers, Sam, Charlie, and David Miachel, her stepbrother, Andrew, and her stepsister, Karen. She has a dog. Her best friend is Mary Anne. Mary Anne has brown hair and brown eyes too. She lives with her dad. Stacey has blond hair. She came from New York. She lives with her parents. She has diabetes. Claudia is Japenese. She has black hair. She lives with her parents, sister Janine, and grandma. She's best friends with Stacey. Dawn has blond hair. She used to live in California. She lives with her mom and brother Jeff.

In this book, a new girl comes to their school, Ashley Wyeth. She wears clothes like Claudia. At art class, Claudia sees Ashley. There's going to be an art contest and Ashley's going to help Claudia enter.But then she keeps missing meetings to look at things to make for the contest with Ashley. Then Ashley sees her baby sitting and gets mad at her.

I read this twice. I get it from the library.
I don't know why Claudia liked Ashley. She didn't even let her go to the meetings, and she didn't want Claudia to be in the Baby Sitters Club. She only liked Claudia because she was good at art too. And she didn't want to be friends with anyone else.

Will Claudia quit the club or will she stop going places with Ashley while her friends are having meetings? And what does she make for the art contest? Read this book to find out.

Tough one to review for me! I found myself a little bothered that the BSC was judgemental about the new girl, but Martin made an effort to resolve that, so I'll give it my usual BSC 5 stars, with the hope that the next "oddball" to enter Stoneybrook will be treated better.

Claudia loves her art, and her friends, and she's never had to choose between them before. When new-girl Ashley arrives, Claudia's very impressed with her - she has multiple piercings in her ears, dresses very bohemian, and she went to the Keyes Art Society, an art school in Chicago! Not only that, but she think Claudia has real artistic talent, if only she'd spend more time on it. Like, ALL her time. Ashley begins to pull Claudia away from her friends and Claudia, flattered, allows it. The BSC is not happy with the traitor in their midst and lets her know it. Can Claudia manage to have her art, Ashley and the BSC, or will she be forced to give up something, or someone, she really cares about?

Martin's BSC books always impress me with their ability to moralize without boring a reader to sleep, and Claudia and the New Girl pulls that off, as well. The girls realistically respond to the thought of Claudia ditching them for Ashley, which takes a few amusing, very pre-teen, turns - the notes they leave her are hilariously on-target!

When Claudia makes a friendship with Ashley, Claudia does not join the BSC meetings anymore it's like she throws a temper tantrum. Mary Anne, Staey, Kristy and Dawn are raging war. They will do anything to make Claudia join the BSC MEETINGS!

A lot of people try to avoid learning swear words in other languages. I don't understand why. These words are part of the language, and you shouldn't avoid them because they make you feel bad. Barry Farber and A.G. Hawke say in their books that you shoud avoid learning profanity in other languages. I say you should as long as you avoid SAYING them. Just KNOW them. I discuss this in my new book below.


Brandon Simpson

These phrases will go over really well at my Alliance Francaise meeting! I can't wait to join the French conversation group.

We are taught such prissy French in school or language courses, this is real world and very helpful. French movies are more understandable, too.

Before travelling to France a few years back, I studied Merde! religiously, thinking if I integrated some of its colorful terms into my vocabulary I could be cool and "blend in." However, every time I used a word from this book around real French people, I was met with blank stares. I showed the book to my French-speaking uncle (who lives in Paris), and after reading it through he told me that most of the words in the book are either completely outdated and never used in conversation today, or their "definitions" are just plain wrong.

Merde! is entertaining enough, but I strongly advise against using it as a real reference, lest you want to risk looking like a complete moron (as I did on several occasions, thanks to this book).

A book that actually succeeds at what Merde! attempts is Berlitz's Hide This French Book. Get that instead.

Contains lots of slang and is very thprough. I tend to agree with other reviewers however, this should be treated essentially as a vocab book, since no converstions are really present. If you want to see how slang is used in conversation, perhaps StreetWise French by Ian Pickup and Rod Hares and/ or the Dictionary of Colloquial and Slang Expressions by Struth are better choices. That said this book is fun to read and does provide exercises for you test your knowledge. If you study this book and apply it correctly you wil become la gosse legume avec ton amis francais!

How did you ever get all of theses books i can't even find one!!! PLaese tell me where you got them i really want to read this it sounds great!!

Oh God Stacey! I hate you! All the boy's like you. You are so lucky! Yea right! At least I don't have 5 ex-boyfriends coming to town all on the same day! It's a cool book but it kinda seems unrealistic because,well,I just don't think all of your ex-boyfriends coming to your town all on the same day.Her ex-bf's:
Jeremy- broke up with her beacause he started to have new feelings for Cluad...
Ethan- Stace broke up with a few days before she went out with Jeremy
Toby- guy she and Mary Anne met at Sea City. First kiss was with him. He broke up with her because she was getting too serious.
Robert- were together for a long time.
Sam-Kristy's older bro.Talked about math alot on dates.

I didn't find this book interesting because all it talks about is Stacey and guys. This series never even talks about the Baby-Sitters Club anymore.I didn't get my moneys worth. In the story, Stacey's ex- boyfriends all come to see Stacey in Stoneybrook. The five of them all colide at this big party.It's the most dullest book I've read in my life. I agree with the person below me. DON'T READ THIS BOOK!

This is by far the best book ever!All of Stacey's ex-boyfriends are back.How well will she handle the BFT( BoyFriend Trap).Way to go Ms.Martin.
P.S: I OWN all of the "Friends BSC Forever" books!

Lots of Love,
Fulliem Quach xoxoxoxo

Okay- here's a summary of the book...

Stacey is going out with Jeremy, the boy she and Claudia had a fight over (he likes Stacey, but lately Stacey starts thinking that he secretly loves Claudia instead). Claudia and Stacey SORT-OF make up about "the fight" and start talking again. Stacey learns that her favorite math teacher ever, Mr. Zizmore, is moving away to Houston, Texas. She decides to throw a going away party with some of his students and teachers at SMS.

Here's where it gets REALLY interesting... at this party, Toby (the guy Stacey met at Sea City and kissed, which was her first kiss ever), Sam (Kristy's brother that goes to high school that Stacey went out with for awhile), Pete (another boyfriend), Robert (the boyfriend that Stacey had before Ethan and turned really needy all of a sudden), Wes (Stacey's huge student-teacher crush-ee), Ethan (Stacey's most current ex-boyfriend that is fifteen and lives in New York), and Jeremy (Stacey's current boyfriend) ALL ARE THERE.

Okay, so the plot is completely crazy (what thirteen year old girl has accumulated that many boyfriends?) and all are appearing after long absences on that one particular Saturday, but all in all it's a fun book!

A matter of Trust is a great book for high school starters because it talks about teens in high school who are beginning to learn the real value of trust. The main character, Darcy, has a close friend, Hakeem. She isn't sure if he is her boyfriend or just a friend. Her ex-friend, Brisana, is trying to make a move on Hakeem. Darcy doesn't know if she is just trying to take Hakeem becausae Darcy left her for new friends that Brisana doesn't think are good enough for Brisana. This book has a unique plot because it's not something you may read but it's something you may see going on in real life sometimes. This book is suspenseful and memorable.

I didn't get to read this book. I received another book from the series called The Bully and a kid in my homeroom class loved it. He is African-American and Hispanic in a school with very few students of those groups. He has a hard time reading and is very sensitive to it. I've had so many books his English teachers gave him ditched in my room so he could say he lost them. I bought four of this series before summer for him and he snatched them up in a second. It made me feel good and he was so happy he sang a song while finishing up a project in class. I'm glad this series is available to readers.

I'm a middle school English teacher in the Bronx. This series of books has really captured the interest of some of my students who seemed to hate every book before now. Although I've not personally read this book, and I hear the Bluford series isn't what you'd call great literature, these books do help motivate some kids to read more.

A Matter of Trust
By: Anne Shraff
Review By: Victoria M.C.C.

A matter of Trust is a compelling book about love, violence, and family. The main character, Darcy, is 17 and deals with problems like a lot of other teenagers. She has a boyfriend named Hakeem, and he gets criticized because of his speech problem. It hurts Darcy, but she's a good friend so she tried to deal with it.
An old friend of hers, Brisana, has jealousy on the brain. At first she talks about Hakeem and makes fun of him like everyone else. Then, she starts coming on to him and tries to separate Darcy and Hakeem. The tension between these girls is at a very high point. You just want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next.
In the book it also talks about Darcy's relationship with her father. Sometime in the past her parents separated. It hurt her and she never really got over it. Her dad came back and all of a sudden wanted a relationship with his family again. Darcy doesn't quite take it to well. Her little sister on the other hand, is very excited about spending time with her dad again.
I know a lot of people who go through parents getting divorced, or splitting up, and it gets to you. I think this book can connect to people's issues and problems. This story may be fiction, but the events and problems could really happen.
I like to read books that relate to me. That's why I enjoy this story so much. She's a teenage girl, with a boyfriend, parents who have been fighting, and a couple best friends. Don't you just wonder what happens to Darcy's parents? Possibly if Brisana and Darcy ever makeup, and be friends again? Maybe if she and Hakeem finally confess their feelings for each other? The only way to find out is when you pick up and read A Matter of Trust.

In the book just a matter of trust is about a girl that, got to a high school and has a great boy friend but has not so normal home life. Her dad walked out on her and her mother and little sister(really sad), now she cant tack him back but her sister is having no problem doing that. Her boy friend is extreamly talented but is to scared to go up on the stage or for that matter he is not even able to up to the front of the class and he studers alot. But she finnaly lets her dad back in her life, after have a nice dinner with him and a really nice place. but in the end it is so good well i guess that it would probley be a bad thing for me to tell you what happens in the end of the book. So you better get sdtarted reading that book.

The Society is a good book. Not one of my favorites, but I did really like it! This book is about two siblings Scott and Becka (Rebecca) dealing with losing their father. They have just moved to Crescent Bay and something is strange. Becka's new friends are wearing "lucky" pouches that they depend on. Becka recognizes the pouches as having been used by witch doctors! And Scott's new friend Darryl introduces him to the Society, a group of kids performing demonic rituals with Ouija boards and spirits-demon spirits. Scott and Rebecca have to put their faith completely in God and trust him to determine the outcome as the final showdown approaches. And only then do they realize what they've gotten themselves into as the power behind it is revealed and they find real demons only ready to back down when Scott and Rebecca find the power of the one true victorious God.

I like the author's very descriptive writing. But it wasn't exactly the best; it didn't try to relate very much to the reader.

I read this book out of bordom on vacation. I ended up loving it! My only sadness is that I do not have any more to read! This book is an awsome example of God's power over the kingdom of darkness, and when we have Christ in us, we have the same power as well. Bill Meyers is a great writer and I believe he really outdid himself with this series. I give total thumbs up.

In this first book of the series, the story starts out strong and sets up for the next ones. This is not a book to be read by yourself alone if you scare easily. It addresses spiritual warfare and demonic activity. But it is seen in the light of God's power.

The storyline is strong, the characters are likeable. The book will keep you turning the pages to see what will happen next. This is a well-written book for youth, with a cautionary message of dabbling in the occult. The only flaw is that I think the children should have talked to their mother about what they were going through. But of course, that would change how the events unfold! I look forward to reading the next books in this series.

The Forbidden Doors Series is OUTSTANDING. I was so excited to find a series directed toward teens and preteens to help them understand the new-age dangers that are REAL in the world and our schools today. It is well written and provides insight to the false religions, no matter how they are painted by the secular world. I read them aloud to my 9 & 10 year olds at night. At this age they are intrigued by the stories, and are asking questions that open the door to a teaching opportunity about the issues presented in each book. They beg me to read every night. ~ I have now purchased the series for my teenage niece who does not have a foundation in Christ. I pray the insightfulness will help educate her when she is introduced to these dangers in school.

I first stumbled upon the FORBIDDEN DOORS series by accident at the local library. I saw a little cross sticker on the binding, assumed it to be Christian fiction of some sort and picked it up. When I read the back cover for THE SOCIETY, I started getting excited. I've always loved an intense, suspense-filled story, and finding a series of Christian books falling under that genre, I knew I had picked up something I would love. Since reading THE SOCIETY, I have purchased all twelve of the FORBIDDEN DOORS books, and have enjoyed every one of them.

THE SOCIETY introduces us to Scott and Becka Williams, typical teenagers who have recently moved to Crescent Bay, California. As they begin to become plugged in at school, they find themselves constantly running into the darker side of spiritual things: ouija boards, amulets, and charm pouches. Using this as the basis for the plot, Becka and Scott are very well-rounded characters, dealing with the recent loss of their father, fitting in at school, and ridicule for being Christians. This book also introduces series-long elements such as the elusive Z, an internet contact, strange things in the garage of their new home, and even a romantic interest for lead, Becka.

Fans of tight-plotted suspenseful stories with a bit of mystery will thoroughly enjoy THE SOCIETY by Bill Myers. Granted, this is a quicker read, but with humor, suspense, and romance running throughout, most will find this a splendid book.

I have owned this book for almost twenty years now and i still read it all the time...and im almost 25. The story is thoughtful and funny at the same time, and who didnt want a club house with a drawbridge as a kid...good for children and growups alike...five stars

I was probably around seven when I read this book. It really sparked my imagination. Now, at 25, I still remember the clubhouse and the cook-out with the salmon and the honeycomb. I don't know what that means, but for it to be this memorable almost 20 years later has to mean something!

Brother and his friends get angry at Sister cause she shows off every time she wins at something. They build a fort far away in the woods. She finds out about it, but they won't let her inside nor any of her girls.

Papa helps her build a girl only fort. Then a cook out is made and the boys from the boy fort come to eat.

In the end they play together without restrictions.

Further this book shows that being a sore winner is just as rotten as being a sore loser.

Do the boy cubs not want Sister Bear around simply because she is a girl or is it that she is boastful about being better than the (older) cubs? Should Papa Bear force the boys to let Sister Bear in their club or is there a better way to handle this situation? These are just some of the issues covered in this good book.

"The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed" is not just about boys versus girls. It highlights that it is important to be a good winner and promotes resolving issues in a win-win manner (rather than ripping your adversary limb from limb).

My son enjoyed this book. After reading it he said he was going to start a club for his boy friends and his girl friends. His sign would say "No Bullies Allowed".

No Girls Allowed was a good book. It was about sister bear always wanting to hangout with brother bear and she was always slowing them down but, soon she started beating the boys in all of their activities. She was a bad winner she would hoot and holler and do cartwheels. The boys got sick of it and decided to ditch her. They made a club and no girls were allowed, so she and papa bear and the other sister bears around decided to build their own fort and they did and decided to invite the boys in so the boys invited them to their club. The book would be for ages 2-7. It teaches kids that no matter if someone is annoying they have feelings too and you should conceder them.

Blegh, Bonnie has done better--that's for sure. At first I thought it was good, but after Stewball and Lisa fall off a cliff, and actually land on their feet--now that's unrealistic! And Bonnie did a mistake. The Rocky Mountain fever, which is what Carole and Kate catch, is caught by a tick bite. Now, living out in the country, I have PLENTY of experience with tick bites. Lisa recalls seeing Carole and Kate itching alot. And you DO NOT itch from a tick bite. It's flea bites that you itch with.
So if you like realistic books, I'd suggest a different saddle club book.

I loved this book because it had so much action. The Saddle CLub was invited to the Bar None ranch for a holiday. But when they find out that Stevie is not able to come they have to go on with out her. But when Kate gets sick and is not able to go with them to a medior shower with them they go with out her. The Carole gets the same sickness and Lisa has to find her way back to the Bar None for help. She gets caught by robers and she has to go over a cliff to find her way back. Stevie is at her hated cozins wedding but meets a boy who has two sweet horses. But when she gets back her cozien sees that she has been riding she finds out where she has been and get angrey. But she was out walking in a thunder strom and finds one of her friends horse hurt. But then she had the owner call the vet. And Lisa is able to help Carole. This is a 100 star book if i could give it that many stars.

The Saddle Club gets invited to The Bar None to see their friends Kate and Christine. But their joy is soon deflated when they find that Stevie has to go to her hated cousin's wedding. Uck! Lisa and Carole go, though, and they visit an archeology site. Then Kate falls seriously ill, and they go and watch the meteor shower without her. It seems fun, is what they think. But then Carole catches the same disese as Kate. Lisa has to fight her way around theives to save she and Carole's lives.

Meanwhile, Stevie's dreading her visit until she meets two sweet horses and their incredibly cute owner. then one of the horses is injured during a storm, and Stevie has to save her.

This was a good book in all, but it was a little unrealistic, especially during Lisa's ride. And it was surprising. I still give it five stars though, because, like other Saddle Club books, it forced my eyes to stay reading it.

The Saddle Club gets invited to The Bar None to see their friends Kate and Christine. But their joy is soon deflated when they find that Stevie has to go to her hated cousin's wedding. Uck! Lisa and Carole go, though, and they visit an archeology site. Then Kate falls seriously ill, and they go and watch the meteor shower without her. It seems fun, is what they think. But then Carole catches the same disese as Kate. Lisa has to fight her way around theives to save she and Carole's lives.

Meanwhile, Stevie's dreading her visit until she meets two sweet horses and their incredibly cute owner. then one of the horses is injured during a storm, and Stevie has to save her.
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This was a good book in all, but it was a little unrealistic, especially during Lisa's ride. And it was surprising. I still give it five stars though, because, like other Saddle Club books, it forced my eyes to stay reading it.

The Saddle Club gets an invitation out West to the Bar None Ranch,to visit their friend Kate Devine,an out-of-town member of the Saddle Club.Stevie has to go to her cousin's wedding,so she can't make it.Everyone is sad because Stevie adds a lot of fun into their trips.But Lisa and Carole cheer up when they see they'll be riding on a first class buisness jet with Mr.Devine and a cheerful flight attendant.
The girls are enjoying their trip out West.And everyone is making them feel very welcome,except a ranch-hand named Paula that is.On the first day at the Bar None,Kate takes the girls out on a beautiful ride,stopping at a deep blue waterfall fed pond for a swim with the horses,a picnic lunch,and lots of fun!
And although being around horses all day is good enough,this year there is even a neat archaelogical dig in a nearby canyon!
But on the way home from a visit to the dig,Kate falls ill.It looks like Lisa and Carole will be by themselves for the rest of their visit.But Paula takes a liking to the girls-finally-and helps them have fun.
And what better way than a midnight trail ride to see the meteor shower Paula told them about.With a great seat overlooking the canyon the dig is in,the girls settle down for what promises to be an unforgettable night!Then,Carole falls deathly ill with the same sickness that has put Kate in bed.Lisa has to leave her to get help.
But there are other people in the desert that night,and they don't want an eye-witness of the crime they are committing,so they try to kill Lisa.But she and Stewball,the well-trained cowhorse she is riding since her normal horse was injured,make a narrow escape.But Lisa finds herself on a dangerously steep and rugged cliff.And riding down it is her only hope of saving Carole.The only catch is,if Lisa and Stewball don't make it,chances are neither will Carole.Is Lisa's love for her friend enough to get her and Stewball down the seemingly impossible and save Carole before its too late?
This is a great book!I didn't put it down until I finished.It has you on the edge of your seat!Definitely one of the best Saddle Club books.