- This article is about the original book. You might be looking for the episode please see Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (episode).
Dawn's Wicked Stepsister is the 31st book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.
Back Cover Summary[]
Now that Dawn and Mary Anne are friends and sisters, Dawn wants them to do everything together — share a room, talk all night long, wear each other's clothes.
But living with Mary Anne isn't exactly what Dawn expected. Mary Anne brags about having a date to the school dance, her kitten throws up on the rug, and she hogs Dawn's baby-sitting jobs!
Dawn's always wanted a sister. Instead, she got Mary Anne, the wicked stepsister of Stoneybrook!
Summary[]
Dawn's Mom and Mary Anne's Dad have just gotten married and Mary Anne catches the flowers thrown by Sharon, Dawn's mom. Dawn is extremely envious of Mary Anne for catching the flowers instead of Dawn, thinking that she should have because it was her mother's wedding. In fact, Dawn says that she would have gladly killed to have her hands on the flowers even though she and Mary Anne are only 13. But soon Dawn calls Mary Anne sis and things are fine, for a while.....
Later, Dawn and Mary Anne struggle to be best friends when they have trouble getting along. When Mary Anne's dad Richard makes breakfast he serves Sharon bacon knowing Sharon can't stand bacon; but she says she likes whatever he makes her for breakfast. Then again, at dinner the same problem goes on when Sharon makes tofu and Mary Anne and Richard do not eat tofu.
Richard also declares spring cleaning while he is very organized and Sharon is a scatterbrain, so Mary Anne picks up after Sharon, which only irritates Dawn even more. To drive Richard crazy as revenge, Dawn messes up his sock drawer, however this scheme fails, because Richard thinks it was his fault for the mishap.
Dawn and Mary Anne are furious with one another after the events continue in the Schafer-Spier household: Sharon is disturbed about Tigger, Mary Anne's cat, throwing up on the oriental rug (which surprises Dawn as Sharon never cared about the rugs before). Therefore Mary Anne starts spending most of her time at Kristy's house during the family fight but does not bother Dawn.
Finally, Dawn pretends to be old Jared Mullray (the ghost that haunts the secret passage) to scare Mary Anne into switching rooms. Her plan works and they are finally friends again.
Dawn decides to tell everyone in her family how she feels about the family and thinks everyone should stop trying to impress everyone and to be honest with each other. Sharon suggests that Mary Anne and Richard make food they like on Sunday and that she and Dawn make food they like on Sunday. That way they both have foods they like. Everyone agrees. Richard in turn suggests they make a chore chart. Everyone agrees to that as well.
Subplot[]
Meanwhile, the "Pike plague" is going on at the Pikes when the whole family gets sick or injured, including Mr. and Mrs. Pike. Claire (5) and Margo (7) get bronchitis, Nicky (8) re-breaks his finger plus two others, Vanessa (9) sprains her ankle, Adam, Bryon and Jordan (triplets-10) get pneumonia, Mallory (11) has the chicken pox (for the second time), Mrs. Pike injures her knee while playing tennis, and Mr. Pike burns his hand while cooking dinner.
Characters[]
Dawn's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- Adam, Byron, Jordan, Nicky, Vanessa, Margo and Claire Pike
- Jamie and Lucy Newton (mentioned)
- Myriah, Gabbie and Laura Perkins (mentioned)
- Jackie, Shea and Archie Rodowsky (mentioned)
- Charlotte Johanssen (mentioned)
- Jenny Prezzioso (mentioned)
Teenagers
- Alan Gray (mentioned)
- Bart Taylor (mentioned)
- Charlie Thomas
Adults
- Dr. Dellenkamp (mentioned)
- Rioko Kishi
- Dee Pike
Locations[]
- Chez Maurice
- Spier House
- Spier/Schafer house
- Kishi House
- Pike House
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Salvation Army
- The Three Piggy Opera
- Dustbuster
- Popsicle
- Kleenex
- Buddy Holly
- Elvis Presley
- The Odd Couple: Felix Unger & Oscar Madison
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- In chapter 3 Dawn first learns about the events of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls from Mary Anne in this book. The various burglar alarms Mary Anne made in that book are also brought up.
- The Arnold girls needing their own spaces comes up a few times since it happened in Mallory and the Trouble with Twins.
- This is the first hint of the Hobart family moving in, who would later become regular clients.
- This is the second time Stacey was babysitting at the Pikes’ and called Dawn to help because of an emergency. The first time was in The Ghost at Dawn's House
Inconsistencies
- On a Friday club meeting, Claudia says she has a test tomorrow.
- Dawn says Mary Anne surprised her with a "now we're sisters" present at the wedding when actually it was Dawn who got one for Mary Anne.
- As junior officers, Mallory and Jessi can’t babysit at night unless they’re sitting for their own siblings. When Mal gets chicken pox, Mary Anne takes over her job with the Perkins. She gets home around nine thirty p.m. It’s odd that Mallory originally had that job because it’s not likely that she would’ve been allowed to babysit until nine thirty at night.
- Kristy takes Bart to the dance but in Kristy's Mystery Admirer, they say it's the first dance she's taken him to at SMS, as he comments on how much bigger it is than SDS.
- On page 44, it says "Kristy turned to dawn and me" but Dawn is the narrator of the chapter. It should be "turned to Mary Anne and me".
- In chapter 13, when Charlie picks Mary Anne up, Dawn says hi to Sam. But Sam isn’t in the car.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister, Dawn acquires a sister when she’s thirteen years old. My sister, Jane, came along when I was two, so we grew up together. While we never shared a room like Dawn and Mary Anne tried to do, we had plenty of fights. For instance, long car trips frequently ended up with the backseat divided into two, and shrieks of “She crossed over the line!” or “She’s bothering me!” or “She touched my stuff!” When we were very young, I thought Jane was a big pest. I was always concerned that she would snoop around my room, which led me to booby-trap my bookshelves. Of course, she never set off the trap. I guess all sisters have fights sometimes, but like Dawn and Mary Anne, Jane and I eventually wound up as best friends.
Trivia[]
- An episode of the Netflix series adapted the book for Season 2 called Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister.
- A reprint is scheduled to be released June 3, 2025. [1]
- Mary Anne caught Sharon's bouquet.
- Sharon didn't wear a wedding dress, just a new dress.
- Dawn has never been to a sleepover without adults around.
- Sharon changed her last name.
- Mary Anne cried while everything was moved out of the house.
- Mrs. Kishi drops off a casserole so they didn't have to cook.
- Dawn tells the reader about the BSC in this chapter rather then the usual 1, 2, or 3.
- This is the first time a BSC member left a meeting early and sick, in this case it was Mallory.
- Mallory caught the chicken pox from Jamie and Lucy Newton.
- Kristy likes to see Mary Anne come out of her shell.
- Jobs that were scheduled but unseen includes:
- Stacey baby-sits for Jamie and Lucy (later Claudia for them)
- Mary Anne sits for the Perkins (Although Mary Anne tells Dawn what happened at her job).
- Stacey with the Marshall girls
- Myriah Perkins wrote a letter (with help from Mary Anne) to Cam Geary and the president (who would have been George H.W. Bush).
- Richard has many routines and organizational methods.
- Dawn likes to go to dances alone but here she says that won't go because she wasn't invited.
- This is the first mention of Carol Olson in the series.
- Stacey would play hospital when she was younger.
- Sam prank calls the BSC.
- Kristy invites Mary Anne over to dinner during a BSC meeting.
- Dawn doesn't like to admit when she's wrong.
- Sharon and Richard are part of the PTO.
- Charlie helps take care of the Pike family when he helps makes dinner.
- Claudia tries standing on her head to "get smarter."
- In chapter 13, when Charlie picks Mary Anne up, Dawn says hi to Sam. But Sam isn’t in the car.
- Dawn says Kristy has never missed a club meeting, but she missed one in Kristy and the Snobs when Louie was really sick. This mistake is also mentioned in other books.
- This is the second time Mary Anne implied that Dawn was fat, the first time was in Mary Anne Saves the Day.
- Mallory has chicken pox scars in "unmentionable places".
Gallery[]
