Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

I was a little embarrassed reading this book because parts of it that were supposed to be spooky actually spooked me a little bit, which made me feel silly because it's a children's book.

But the thing that really made me not like this book very much was the ending. I think "oh that boy is doing terrible things to you *because he likes you*" is actually a really unhealthy message to send to girls. In the case of Kristy going out with Alan Gray particularly I thought it was deeply problematic. When she told Claudia that even though he'd been making her miserable she was going to go out with him because "*a boy likes me*," it reminded me far too much of why I went out with my first boyfriend, which turned out to be a really terrible show more situation for me. show less

My Review: A fun, suspenseful mystery where Claudia investigates phantom phone calls while babysitting. It blends everyday worries with intrigue — ideal for readers who love a little spook and friendship in their stories.

Back when I was an avid reader of the BSC series, I was eager to read all of the books (at least the ones that were out at that time) and this book is one of the ones I remember most. People think that prank calling is no big deal, but it's not so much fun to be at the receiving end, especially when the call is meant to be scary rather than annoying. However, the BSC deal with it and the matter is resolved at the end.

Yep, I remember being thoroughly spooked by this one as a kid. Ha! Other than the continued disrespect of Mr. Spier, I'm enjoying rereading this series after 33 years!

The second in the series, I read this one in just about the same amount of time as I took to read the first: a few hours. The books are as addictive and easy to read as I remember them. In this story, the club is really starting to get rolling, when something frightening strikes the babysitters. The Phantom Caller - a thief who calls and hangs up repeatedly until his targets are no longer home - is near Storybrooke, and the girls are afraid he will break in a house where one of them is sitting! When Claudia and Kristy start receiving mysterious calls, the girls move from concerned to terrified.

Claudia is the narrator for this book, as the title would suggest, and it was fun seeing the club and the girls from a new perspective (Kristy show more was the narrator in the first book). My general thoughts on the series, as I wrote in my first review, remain the same - the characters and storylines are engaging, while the writing is adequate. Actually, I thought the writing was a bit better in this book. Or am I just becoming more immersed? Either way, I've already started the third, and I think my biggest challenge is going to be dealing with all the reviews I will have to write. show less

Well-rounded story with a mystery twist. The end is conveniently wrapped but it's still super fun and I love the girls' club and friendship.

Claudia, Stacey, Kristy, and Mary Anne formed the Baby-sitters Club a few weeks ago, and since then, things have been going well: they've had plenty of business, and no big trouble with the kids they're baby-sitting. Lately, though, there's been news of a thief, dubbed the Phantom Caller, who calls people, hangs up, and then later steals their jewelry. And he seems to be moving closer to Stoneybrook, where the girls live.

On top of all this, the boy Claudia likes, Trevor Sandbourne, doesn't seem to know she exists, and the school dance, the Halloween Hop, is coming up. Claudia's sister, Janine, is as unbearable as usual, and although Claudia tries to work on their relationship, like her grandmother suggested, there's just not enough show more time!

Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls is a middle-grade novel, the second in the Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. It's told from Claudia's point of view.

The change from Kristy's point of view in Kristy's Great Idea to Claudia's in this book is good. Despite Claudia repeating a lot of events that happened in the previous book, it's still interesting, since we get to heat her perspective on the events and on her friends. It might get a little old if there's that much repetition in future books, but it's not too bad, this time.

The story is great. There are several plotlines going at once. Primarily, the girls are trying to be brave and babysit while they're worried about the Phantom Caller, and this just intensifies when they start getting mysterious phone calls, with the caller hanging up without speaking. This plotline is great, and there's some real suspense when they're babysitting and they hear strange noises and receive phone calls like those from the Phantom Caller. You know that they're bound to be all right in the end, but could there be a thief, waiting to break into the homes, while they're babysitting?

The second plotline, with Claudia hoping that Trevor will ask her to the dance, gives us plenty of opportunity to see how all the girls feel about the subject of boys, and is a good secondary plot for the novel.

Finally, Claudia's desire to improve her relationship with her sister, though showing up rarely throughout the book, provides a good reminder that these characters have more going on in their lives than just the main events of the book, and gives a sense that they're real people with real relationships, rather than just characters in a story, serving only the purpose of furthering the plot.

Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls is another great middle-grade novel, and a good followup to Kristy's Great Idea. It's definitely worth reading, and, like the previous book in the series, will be available as an ebook for the Kindle starting October 1, 2011.

This review also appears on Barba Non DB. show less