The Ghost at Dawn's House is the 9th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. It is the second book narrated by Dawn Schafer.
Back Cover
Dawn has always thought there was a secret passage hidden in her house. But she never thought there was a ghost... until now. All kinds of creepy things go on whenever Dawn's at home. There are even spooky noises behind her bedroom wall!
Dawn is sure there's a ghost in her house. And so are the other BSC members. But they're so busy with their baby-sitting jobs that they hardly have time for a ghost hunt. Will Dawn and her friends ever solve the mystery, or will Dawn have to share her house...with a ghost?
Main Plot
Dawn thinks her new house in Stoneybrook is haunted! She hears strange noises behind her bedroom wall (like moaning) and even finds a secret passage!
Later when she reads about the history of Stoneybrook, she discovers that the ghost of Jared Mullray may haunt the secret passage and her entire house.
Subplot
Nicky Pike, Dawn's charge, keeps disappearing while he's being baby sat for! What is going on and is he up to something?
Characters
Dawn's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- Mallory, Jordan, Adam, Byron, Vanessa, Nicky, Margo, and Claire Pike
- Myriah and Gabbie Perkins
- Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie Barrett
- Lucy and Jamie Newton
- Nina and Eleanor Marshall (mentioned)
- Charlotte Johanssen (mentioned)
- David Michael Thomas, Andrew and Karen Brewer
Teenagers
Adults
- Mrs. Perkins
- Mimi Yamamoto (mentioned)
- Mr. & Mrs. Goldman (mentioned)
- Theodore Gwynne "Trip" - Sharon's date
- Mrs. & Mr. Newton
Locations
- Schafer House
- Perkins House
- Kishi House
- Brewer/Thomas House
- Newton House
Pop Culture and Real-Life References
- In Chapter 1, Dawn and her little brother, Jeff, watch National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) during their flight to California.
- In Chapter 2, there is mention of the movie (1968) / TV series (1970-1975) The Odd Couple. Dawns says "I love my mother and we get along great, but she's kind of like Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and I'm like Felix Unger." Even in the 2020 reprint, this 50 year old reference still remains.
- In chapter 6, there's an allusion to Alice in Wonderland, when Dawn narrates "I dropped down, down, like Alice through the rabbit hole." There's also a reference to The Tailor or Gloucester.
- In chapter 7, the Brewer/Thomas kids mentions books that they want to read. These include: The Little Engine That Could, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Ramona and her Father.
- In chapter 10, to avoid going to bed Jamie wants to read "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and "Make Way for Ducklings."
- In Chapter 15, during a slumber party, the girls each suggest a movie they would like to watch. Kristy names Ghostbusters (1984), Claudia names Star Wars (1977), Stacey names Mary Poppins (1964), Mary Anne names Sixteen Candles (1984), while Dawn names The Parent Trap (1961). In the end they had to randomly select the two movies to watch as a vote ended in a five-way tie.
Continuity and Inconsistencies
Continuity
- On page 44 Dawn recalls when Buddy Barrett went missing from Dawn and the Impossible Three.
Inconsistencies
- The secret passage goes down while on the cover Dawn and Jeff are looking up. However, there is a part in the book where they are searching the house, this is most likely the scene depicted on the cover.
- In Chapter 1, Dawn mentions she baby-sat for two children, named Clover and Daffodil, while she was in California. She then goes on and says "My Dad says their parents were hippies in the sixties. Flower children, he calls them. I'm not sure what that means." This hasn't been updated even in the 2020 edition, which makes the parents of Clover and Daffodil, who are 5 and 8 years old, well into their sixties or seventies.
- In Chapter 1 of the 2020 Edition, there is mention of the 1985 movie European Vacation, starring Chevy Chase, "We saw European Vacation, starring Chevy Chase". In the 1998 UK 3-book Collection, the name of the movie isn't mentioned, only "We saw a film starring Chevy Chase."
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter
Dear Reader,
As a young reader I, like Dawn, enjoyed ghost stories. And like Claudia, I loved Nancy Drew books. One of my favorite Nancy Drews was called The Hidden Staircase, in which Nancy solves a mystery involving a secret passageway in an old house. I spent at least several afternoons one summer wandering around my own house knocking on walls hoping to find a hollow section, and feeling along the banister and floorboards hoping to find a secret trigger. Of course, since we built our house in 1960, there was no chance of finding anything secret like the passageway in Dawn’s room.
Since I so enjoyed reading about ghosts and secret passages when I was young, I wanted to write about that subject in the Baby-sitters Club series. However, to make Dawn’s story more fulfilling for the reader, I needed to create an environment that would lend itself to finding a secret passage or a ghost. Even though I never found a ghost or a secret passage in my own house, I had a lot of fun writing The Ghost at Dawn’s House. And I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Trivia
- This book is the first reference to Cam Geary.
- The brand of ice cream that Nicky buys is called Good Humor Man.
- Ann M. Martin said that she was inspired to write this because she had a desire to find a secret passage in her house. [1]
- On her vacation Claudia did a little baby-sitting, watching a little boy named Skip at the resort.
- Claudia has read more mysteries then Dawn did.
- Jeff isn't allowed having friends over if he's home alone.
- This is the first time Mallory is a second baby-sitter for her siblings.
- Nicky can go off by himself within a two block radius.
- The passage from the barn start straight going left and then a sharp right sloping up until you get a staircase.
- Sharon has been going out with different men that she met through her parents, office, or at a party.
- The passage is described as being between Dawn and Sharon's bedroom, however, in later books its described as being directly in her room.
- Mary Anne was the first BSC member to know about the passage.
- Nicky declares Dawn as his favorite baby-sitter.