Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever is the 77th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series.
Back Cover[]
Dawn gets a special job through the We Love Kids Club. Actually, it's not really a baby-sitting job. Dawn has been hired to keep twelve year old Whitney company while her parents are out. Whitney, who has Down's Syndrome, is delighted to have Dawn as her friend. Dawn thinks Whitney is great, too. She's warm and fun to be around.
The only problem is Whitney doesn't know her parents are paying Dawn to be with her. And what if Whitney finds out...?
Plot[]
Dawn takes a weekly job looking after Whitney Cater. Whitney has Downs Syndrome and needs someone to stay with her. Whitney is trying to become more independent and wants to do things like pierce her ears, shop on her own, etc. Whitney helps Dawn out with other baby-sitting charges and the two of them strike up a friendship. Whitney even gives Dawn a friendship necklace. One day, Dawn lets slip that she is there as a baby-sitter instead of a friend, which upsets Whitney very much. After working things out, the members of the We Love Kids Club make Whitney a special helper and honorary member of the club, which makes Whitney very happy.
Subplot[]
- Dawn's dad has broken up with Carol and is casually dating several women, none of whom Dawn or Jeff like. Finally, he makes amends with Carol and asks her to marry him.
- Back in Stoneybrook, Franklin DeWitt and Mrs. Barrett have become engaged and need to start house hunting. The Baby-sitters Club steps in and helps keep the seven kids under control.
Characters[]
Mary Anne's Dawn's Family
BSC Members
- Kristy Thomas
- Mary Anne Spier
- Stacey McGill
- Claudia Kishi
- Mallory Pike
- Jessi Ramsey
- Shannon Kilbourne
Kids
- Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie Barrett
- Lindsey, Taylor, Madeleine, and Ryan DeWitt
- Clover and Daffodil Austin
Pre-Teens
Teenagers
- Alana - daughter of one of Jack's dates
Adults
- Mrs. Bruen
- Franklin DeWitt
- Natalie Barrett
- Carol Olson
- Clarice Dubina
- Karina Whitaker
- Kayla
- Barbara Hinkley
- James and Annette Cater
Locations[]
- Cater House
- Schafer House
- Barrett House
- Palo City Mall
- Unnamed Park
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Charlie Chaplin film The Gold Rush
- Corky from the show Life Goes On
- Keanu Reeves
- Cheaper by the Dozen (book)
- Chanel and Poison Perfume
- Troll Dolls
- Bach and Mozart
- Swiss Family Robinson
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- Dawn is living in California since the events of Dawn's Big Move.
- Dawn remembers Kristy baby-sitting Susan in Kristy and the Secret of Susan.
Inconsistencies
- Despite the family being vegetarians both Jack and Jeff eat hot dogs
- Dawn is usually pretty organized and clean, however she mentions that she doesn't clean her room when her friends come over.
- Dawn doesn't know of any girls named Alana except for a girl in her class, yet there's another that was with Stacey in California Girls!.
- At one point Dawn suddenly begins referring to herself in the third person for no apparent reason.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
Although I haven’t gotten to know anyone with Down syndrome as well as Dawn gets to know Whitney in Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever, when I was younger I worked with kids with various disabilities. During the summers when I was in college, I worked at Eden Institute, a school for children and young people with autism. But for a couple of summers when I was in high school, I worked at a day camp for kids with disabilities.
Some of the kids at the camp had Down syndrome, like Whitney; many of them did not. The day camp was a typical summer program. The counselors and the kids went swimming, did arts and crafts, put on plays, took field trips, and went to the playground. Although I had done lots of baby-sitting and some tutoring, I had not worked with kids with disabilities before, so I was a little nervous. But the day camp turned out to be a wonderful experience. I liked getting to know the kids and meeting some of their families. In fact, I enjoyed the experience enough so that a couple of years later, when a friend of mine told me about Eden Institute, I decided to volunteer there. Now, years later, Eden is still an important part of my life.
Trivia[]
- Whitney becomes an honorary member and special helper of the We ♥ Kids Club.
- Mrs. Barrett will take the DeWitt name, but the kids won't.
- The book helps prompt the start of Here Come the Bridesmaids! when two couples got engaged.
- Jeff loves to tell jokes.
- Dawn can walk to Whitney's house
- Dawn is a summer and Mallory is a fall.
- Buddy and Suzy watch celebrity mud wrestling.
- Dawn has never met anyone with down's syndrome before.
- According to Dawn, the messes Jeff makes are awesome, Jack just closes the door sometimes and says as long as he can’t smell anything, he’s assuming it’s okay.
- The Barretts and the DeWitts share a bizarre taste in food
- Dawn doesn't have a properly sized bra
- Elizabeth Thomas Brewer is friends with Natalie Barrett
- To Mary Anne a wedding is a world class event
- Shannon and Kristy narrate chapter 12
- The DeWitts and Barretts go house hunting
- This is the second time a kid goes missing on Dawn's sitting job, the first being Buddy in Dawn and the Impossible Three.
- Dawn calls Mary Anne first to tell her about her dad getting remarried.
- On the family date at the seafood restaurant, Dawn’s dad is called Richard. His proper name is Jack. It's possible this was on purpose, as it was Jack's date who referred to him that way and she clearly didn't like him (or his kids).
- The working title of book was Dawn and the Trouble With Friends [1]