42 pages • 1 hour read
Ann M. MartinKristy's Great Idea
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
Kristy heads to her first official Baby-Sitters Club job babysitting for Buffy and Pinky. When she arrives at the house, she’s excited until she sees that it is relatively dark and shows no signs of child activity. She is greeted by a friendly woman who takes her inside, where Kristy continues to observe no signs of children.
When the woman says that Buffy and Pinky are being kept in the laundry room, Kristy is horrified until she finds out that Buffy and Pinky are St. Bernards. Kristy tries to explain that she isn’t a dog-sitter, but the woman is in a tight spot and insists, so Kristy reluctantly agrees. She spends the next few hours chasing after the dogs and trying to keep them amused, counting down the minutes until her first job is over. She decides that it will be a good idea to keep a log of babysitting experiences for the club so that they can avoid future mishaps like this.
Chapter 8 Summary
Claudia is the second babysitter to write her first log, and she reports that the Newton family she babysat was chaotic and challenging. When Claudia arrived at the Newton house, there were four kids to watch instead of the two she expected, and all but one were very young. Claudia was left to navigate their drama on her own, putting an end to tussles and enduring the eldest child’s hatred of girls.
When the kids began screaming and running around the room, Claudia noticed that one of them was sitting on the floor calmly. She remembered something that her mother told her about ignoring bad behavior to get it to stop and sat down calmly to read a story. Soon, the other children were surrounding her and listening in, and by the time Claudia got to the second book, which happened to be Where the Wild Things Are, all the kids had calmed down.
Chapter 9 Summary
Stacey’s bubbly handwriting details her time babysitting David Michael at Kristy’s house. She had the easiest first job because David Michael is both used to babysitters and fairly easy to get along with. While she was there, Kristy’s older brother Sam came home and hung out with Stacey and David Michael. Sam and Stacey liked each other right away, and Sam only stayed to spend time with her. Kristy knows that her brother is good-looking but still doesn’t see what Stacey would see in him. Regardless, when Kristy tells Stacey about her experience of dog-sitting, the two laugh together.
Chapter 10 Summary
Mary Anne’s delicate handwriting describes her experience babysitting for Watson’s children, Karen and Andrew. Watson’s house is huge and filled with all sorts of amazing toys; they also have an overweight cat named Boo-Boo who is both grumpy and dangerous to strangers. Andrew is relatively quiet and mainly says “yup,” while Karen talks constantly and has a vivid imagination. Karen told Mary Anne about their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Porter, who Karen believes is a witch named Morbidda Destiny.
Just then, Mrs. Porter looked through the window and down at Boo-Boo, who was trampling the flowers in her garden. Karen panicked, believing that Mrs. Porter was going to put a spell on her cat. Mary Anne rushed over and grabbed Boo-Boo, who clawed and scratched her until she let go. When Mrs. Porter came outside with a rake and shook it at Boo-Boo, calling him a “rapscallion,” Karen was sure that she had cursed the cat. Mary Anne tried to explain that it’s just an insulting word, but Karen’s belief was firm. When Boo-Boo started running in circles, it seemed like Karen’s suspicions were confirmed. Eventually, Boo-Boo ran back toward the house and was let inside. Mary Anne was grateful when it was finally time to go home.
Chapter 11 Summary
During the next club meeting, a call comes in from a new customer named Mrs. Marshall. After their initial experiences, the girls now know to ask her whether she has pets and how many children she has. Claudia offers to babysit, and then the girls figure out how much money they’ve made so far. They decide that they will all chip in for a pizza and pop party, but then they realize that Stacey might not be able to do that. She tells them that she has to go out of town anyway but once again makes up a reason as to why.
That night, Kristy gets home and sees Watson sitting comfortably on the couch, almost like he lives there. It makes her uncomfortable, and to make matters worse, her mother asks her to put on a dress for dinner, which Kristy hates wearing. When Kristy hears that they will be eating leftovers, she realizes that her mother and Watson are past the point of needing to impress one another and knows that it’s a sign that they’re getting closer.
At the dinner table, Kristy asks what the celebration is for, and her mother announces that Watson proposed to her. Although she hasn’t accepted it yet, she is considering it. While her brothers congratulate their mother, Kristy starts bombarding her with questions about where they’ll live, whether Karen and Andrew will live there, and more. Kristy’s mother admits that she doesn’t know any of that yet and wants to take things one step at a time. Kristy is in shock, wondering how her mother could get married again after such a horrible divorce.
Chapters 7-11 Analysis
In these chapters, each babysitter has a chapter devoted to their first official job and the experiences they had. With the exception of Kristy’s chapter, which becomes the learning experience that leads to the idea of a log, each chapter is introduced in a unique style of handwriting written by each girl. These early babysitting experiences provide opportunities for Self-Growth Through Responsibility and Agency.
Kristy foreshadows just how unexpected her experience will be when she says, “If only I’d had some idea just how interesting they were going to be” (65). Hints are given that Pinky and Buffy are dogs rather than children, like when the house has no evidence of children in it and the fact that their names are not typical human names. The experience helps Kristy realize that certain screening questions should be asked, particularly with new clients who are unfamiliar to anyone in the club. When future clients call, they are asked whether they have pets and how many children need care. The girls’ ability to learn from their mistakes reflects their growing maturity and confidence in conducting their business, as they refine their processes and decide what they are or are not willing to do. They also start keeping a log of their experiences to provide additional information for the next babysitter, which reflects their improved organization. All this collaboration pays off, and their business continues to grow.
Claudia and Mary Anne also demonstrate unexpected talents during their babysitting jobs. Claudia shows that she can remain calm in a tough situation and calm children down without using force or discipline, which increases her confidence and belief in her own authority. Mary Anne shows patience and bravery when she attempts to save Boo-Boo from the next-door neighbor. In these ways, each one of the girls begins to benefit from being a part of the club, which helps further their character arcs by showing how they develop new skills and adapt to new challenges.
Kristy continues to face the challenge of Navigating Family Changes in these chapters, with her mother’s potential engagement to Watson raising the stakes. Kristy struggles to empathize with her mother, believing that marrying Watson will only lead to a terrible end. There are various hints that Kristy’s perception of the situation is, however, not entirely accurate: Her mother’s clear happiness suggests that the relationship is a positive force in her life, while her siblings’ eagerness to congratulate their mother and Watson after the announcement reinforces the idea that, for them, Watson is a welcome addition to their lives. Kristy’s anxiety in response to the news, as illustrated by her flurry of questions, shows that she has not yet learned to cope with these changes in the way that the rest of the family has. Overcoming these worries will thus form an important part of her development in the novel’s concluding chapters.
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By Ann M. Martin
