Mallory is going away to boarding school, but her best friend, Jessi, doesn't want her to go. It's the biggest fight in BSC history -- and Mary Anne is caught in the middle!

Mary Anne and Stacey are in Sea City working as mother's helpers for the Pike family. When each of the girls meets up with her boyfriend from last summer, things start to get complicated.

Stacey quits the club, but suddenly realizes that her new "friends" are using her as a cover for their drinking, shoplifting, and other ideas of summer fun.

The rest of the Baby-sitters are shocked when Mary Anne, tired of being a plain Jane, gets a chic new haircut and a new wardrobe, and their reaction enrages the excited Mary Anne.

Claudia, who has always been very different from her sister, comes to the conclusion that she must be adopted.

In one of the strongest Baby-sitters Club books ever, the club must deal with a client who is abusive toward his children. Ann M. Martin addresses a difficult and important topic in her characteristic sensitive and informed style.

When Stacey sits for the two Brooke kids, she can't help noticing that their dad is a very cute single father, and the perfect match for her single mom.