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Claudia and the Great Search is the 33rd book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.

Back Cover Summary[]

It's no secret that Claudia and her sister are different. For one, they don't look alike at all. Claudia loves her wild clothes and funky jewelry, and Janine dresses...well, kind of nerdy. Janine is a genius, and Claudia brings home C's — when she's lucky.

Claudia opens the family photo album to see what she and her sister looked like when they were little. But there are hardly any baby pictures of Claudia! And when she goes searching for her birth certificate and birth announcement in the newspaper, Claudia can't find them.

Is Claudia Kishi who she thinks she is? Or has she been...adopted!

Summary[]

Claudia's family has a ton of baby pictures of Janine, and not nearly as much of her. This leads to her wanting to find out whether or not she was adopted.

Subplot[]

Emily Michelle has begun to have some emotional problems. Her family is worried because she seems more like a baby than a two-year-old. Claudia begins teaching her basic things that most two-year-olds know.

Characters[]

Claudia's Family

Extended Family

BSC Members

Kids

Teenagers

Adults

Locations[]

Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]

  • Green Eggs and Ham, Find a Stranger Say Good-Bye (books)
  • Don Ho - Hawaiian singer
  • Sesame Street

Continuity and Inconsistencies[]

Continuity

Inconsistencies

  • In Claudia and the Sad Good-bye and Kristy is excited about how quickly Emily Michelle is learning to speak English, however in this book she's "language-delayed." But Kristy says Dr. Dellenkamp says Emily isn’t making as much progress as she hoped. So she is making some progress.

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]

Dear Reader,

My sister and I are very good friends now, but when we were growing up, like Claudia and Janine, we couldn’t have been more different. I excelled in school, and Jane excelled at sports. She was outgoing, and I was shy. I took piano lessons and art classes, while Jane took acting and appeared in plays. We didn’t even look alike — I looked like my father, and Jane looked like my mother. But what I realized later is that there are all different kinds of families. And the biggest thing about any family is not how similar the members are, but how they celebrate their differences.

Trivia[]

  • Some printed ads have the title of the book as Claudia and the Mystery of Stoneybrook, which later became the title of a Stacey book.
  • On the dedication page it says "this book is for Jane, who is my sister (I think)".
  • Janine has been taking classes at the community college for two years now.
  • Gabbie Perkins is a little older than Marnie Barrett.
  • Claudia initially thinks that Peaches and Russ can't have kids, which later gets disproved when Claudia tells her friends that she's pregnant in Mary Anne and the Memory Garden.
  • Mary Anne lines up 4 jobs at the first BSC meeting in this book.
  • Claudia and Stacey are on the phone with each other during a sitting job which is later a rule that a sitter won't do.
  • Hannie hasn't been sat by Dawn much, which leads her to double check Dawn's name in chapter 6.
  • It takes Claudia two days to read a book unless she's rereading a Nancy Drew mystery.
  • There's a few kids that Claudia goes to school with that has birthday around hers.
  • On page 108 Stacey mentions that she has to take it easy, foreshadowing her feeling bad and going to the hospital in Stacey's Emergency.
  • Claudia hopes that Bart and Kristy start dating.
  • It’s unclear why Claudia never thought of asking Peaches if she was adopted.
  • In chapter 1 when Claudia leaves school early to go to the awards ceremony, she just walks out to her dad’s car. But since she’s a minor, her dad most likely would’ve had to sign her out of school.
  • In the 1990s Reprint the tagline is changed to “Claudia’s not sure who she is anymore.”
  • When Claudia is on her way to Dr. Dellenkamp’s office, she tries thinking of stories to explain why she’s asking questions about her birth. One of the stories she considers is telling Dr. Dellenkamp that she’s been assigned to write her autobiography. This later does become a school assignment.

Gallery[]

Baby-Sitters Club Books
The Summer Before | #1 Kristy's Great Idea | #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls | #3 The Truth About Stacey | #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day | #5 Dawn and the Impossible Three | #6 Kristy's Big Day | #7 Claudia and Mean Janine | #8 Boy-Crazy Stacey | #9 The Ghost at Dawn's House | #10 Logan Likes Mary Anne! | #11 Kristy and the Snobs | #12 Claudia and the New Girl | #13 Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye | #14 Hello, Mallory | #15 Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn | #16 Jessi's Secret Language | #17 Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery | #18 Stacey's Mistake | #19 Claudia and the Bad Joke | #20 Kristy and the Walking Disaster | #21 Mallory and the Trouble with Twins | #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter | #23 Dawn on the Coast | #24 Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise | #25 Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger | #26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye | #27 Jessi and the Superbrat | #28 Welcome Back, Stacey! | #29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary | #30 Mary Anne and the Great Romance | #31 Dawn's Wicked Stepsister | #32 Kristy and the Secret of Susan | #33 Claudia and the Great Search | #34 Mary Anne and Too Many Boys | #35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook | #36 Jessi's Baby-Sitter | #37 Dawn and the Older Boy | #38 Kristy's Mystery Admirer | #39 Poor Mallory! | #40 Claudia and the Middle School Mystery | #41 Mary Anne vs. Logan | #42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom | #43 Stacey's Emergency | #44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover | #45 Kristy and the Baby Parade | #46 Mary Anne Misses Logan | #47 Mallory on Strike | #48 Jessi's Wish | #49 Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street | #50 Dawn's Big Date | #51 Stacey's Ex-Best Friend | #52 Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies | #53 Kristy for President | #54 Mallory and the Dream Horse | #55 Jessi's Gold Medal | #56 Keep Out, Claudia! | #57 Dawn Saves the Planet | #58 Stacey's Choice | #59 Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) | #60 Mary Anne's Makeover | #61 Jessi and the Awful Secret | #62 Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever | #63 Claudia's Freind Friend | #64 Dawn's Family Feud | #65 Stacey's Big Crush | #66 Maid Mary Anne | #67 Dawn's Big Move | #68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter | #69 Get Well Soon, Mallory! | #70 Stacey and the Cheerleaders | #71 Claudia and the Perfect Boy | #72 Dawn and the We Love Kids Club | #73 Mary Anne and Miss Priss | #74 Kristy and the Copycat | #75 Jessi's Horrible Prank | #76 Stacey's Lie | #77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever | #78 Claudia and Crazy Peaches | #79 Mary Anne Breaks the Rules | #80 Mallory Pike, No. 1 Fan | #81 Kristy and Mr. Mom | #82 Jessi and the Troublemaker | #83 Stacey vs. the BSC | #84 Dawn and the School Spirit War | #85 Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO! | #86 Mary Anne and Camp BSC | #87 Stacey and the Bad Girls | #88 Farewell, Dawn | #89 Kristy and the Dirty Diapers | #90 Welcome to the BSC, Abby! | #91 Claudia and the First Thanksgiving | #92 Mallory's Christmas Wish | #93 Mary Anne and the Memory Garden | #94 Stacey McGill, Super Sitter | #95 Kristy + Bart = ? | #96 Abby's Lucky Thirteen | #97 Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby | #98 Dawn and Too Many Sitters | #99 Stacey's Broken Heart | #100 Kristy's Worst Idea | #101 Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout | #102 Mary Anne and the Little Princess | #103 Happy Holidays, Jessi | #104 Abby's Twin | #105 Stacey the Math Whiz | #106 Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade | #107 Mind Your Own Business, Kristy! | #108 Don't Give Up, Mallory! | #109 Mary Anne to the Rescue | #110 Abby the Bad Sport | #111 Stacey's Secret Friend | #112 Kristy and the Sister War | #113 Claudia Makes Up Her Mind | #114 The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier | #115 Jessi's Big Break | #116 Abby and the Best Kid Ever | #117 Claudia and the Terrible Truth | #118 Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer | #119 Stacey's Ex-Boyfriend | #120 Mary Anne and the Playground Fight | #121 Abby in Wonderland | #122 Kristy in Charge | #123 Claudia's Big Party | #124 Stacey McGill... Matchmaker? | #125 Mary Anne in the Middle | #126 The All-New Mallory Pike | #127 Abby's Un-Valentine | #128 Claudia and the Little Liar | #129 Kristy at Bat | #130 Stacey's Movie | #131 The Fire at Mary Anne's House
Super Specials
#1 Baby-sitters on Board! | #2 Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation | #3 Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation | #4 Baby-sitters' Island Adventure | #5 California Girls! | #6 New York, New York! | #7 Snowbound | #8 Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake | #9 Starring the Baby-sitters Club #10 Sea City, Here We Come! | #11 The Baby-sitters Remember | #12 Here Come the Bridesmaids! | #13 Aloha, Baby-sitters! | #14 BSC in the USA | #15 Baby-sitters' European Vacation
Portrait Collection
Stacey's Book | Claudia's Book | Dawn's Book | Mary Anne's Book | Kristy's Book | Abby's Book
Other
The Baby-Sitters Club Notebook (1987) | The Baby-Sitters Club Postcard Book (1991) | Trivia & Puzzle Fun Book (1992) | Ann M. Martin: The Story of the author of the Baby-sitters Club (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Guide to Babysitting (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Chain Letter (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Secret Santa (1994) | Audio Books on Cassette Tape (1994-5) | BSC Movie Novelization (1995) | The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club (1996) | Autograph Book (1998) | BSC Graphic Novels (2006-present) | We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers (2021) | Welcome to Stoneybrook: A Guided Journal (2021) | The Official Coloring Book (2023)
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