Lately Claudia's been wishing she could clone herself. She just can't be everywhere she needs to be—doing her schoolwork, keeping up with the BSC, hanging out with her seventh-grade friends, and seeing her new boyfriend, Josh. If she could bring some of those people closer together, her life would be a lot easier. A party might help, but her parents probably won't let her have one. But wait! Her parents are going away for four days. Claudia convinces her sister that a quiet little gathering of friends will be okay. But unfortunately for Claudia, the party isn't quiet or little — and it's definitely not okay.
Uh-oh.
Main Plot[]
Claudia wants her BSC friends and her seventh-grade friends to get to know each other. When her parents go to Chicago, they leave Janine and Claudia home alone. Claudia convinces Janine to let her have a party so her groups of friends can get acquainted. Unfortunately, she’s not clear on who is invited and more people show up than expected.
Subplot[]
Bill and Melody Korman aren’t getting along. After a few disastrous jobs with them, Jessi says that they need a situation that’ll force them to work together. On a sitting job, Mary Anne takes them for a walk and pretends to lose the house key. Bill and Melody work together to find a way into the locked house before finding the house key in Skyler’s stroller (where Mary Anne planted it).
Donut Express - Claudia and Josh go on a date here.
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
Twist Magazine
Ramona Quimby Age 8
Mask of the Avenger (movie)
Titanic
Sense and Sensibility
Catherine the Great
Yahtzee
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
It is narrated that Mallory is having problems at school that started in Kristy in Charge.
Claudia's favorite food is still spaghetti which was first mentioned way back in California Girls!.
When Claudia hears about her parents' trip to Chicago (before finding out she and Janine aren't invited), she hopes she'll get to visit the Art Institute again. She visited the Art Institute in BSC in the USA.
Inconsistencies
Claudia and Janine count 21 people at the party but only 18 are there.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Claudia’s Big Party, Claudia and Janine are left on their own for a weekend, and Claudia finds that her relationship with her sister is changing. Claudia and Janine have never been close, but now Claudia sees that her sister would like to be her friend too. When I was growing up, I was the big sister like Janine, and Jane was my little sister, like Claudia. We were just two years apart, but for a long time we weren’t very close.
We had different friends and very different interests. I excelled in school, and my sister excelled in sports and was involved in lots of activities. It was not until we had grown up and each moved to New York City that we became friends and spent a lot of time together. Now my sister is not just my sister, but a mother too, and I have a brand-new nephew Henry, named after our father. Relationships constantly change—so who knows...maybe one day Claudia and Janine will be best friends too!
Trivia[]
Just before the events of this book Janine and Jerry broke up.