Jessi can't believe it. Her dreaded Aunt Cecelia is moving in to take care of Jessi and her brother and sister. How humiliating—Jessi's going to have a baby-sitter!
Plus, Aunt Cecelia is a drill sergeant. She tells Jessi when to go to bed, how to wear her hair, and she even forbids her to go to a Baby-sitters Club meeting.
Jessi knows she's old enough to take care of herself—but how can she tell Aunt Cecelia that?
Summary[]
Jessi's Mom is going back to work! The dreaded Aunt Cecelia is going to be living with them and taking care of Squirt. But she starts running the lives of Jessi and Becca too. She even lays out their clothes for them! One day Jessi is 10 minutes late home from helping Jackie Rodowsky and she has to miss a BSC meeting! She and Becca start playing tricks on Aunt Cecelia to try and get her to leave.
Subplot[]
SES has a science fair. A few BSC charges enter. Jessi is taking over with Jackie's science fair project. When Jackie does not win, she realizes that she was taking over just like Aunt Cecelia because she cared.
Mallory is worried that her dad is going to lose his job. This happens in Poor Mallory!.
Inconsistencies
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
My sister Jane and I had lots of baby-sitters when we were growing up. We didn’t like some of them, especially the old ones who smelled funny. But we did have some favorites. One of them was my friend Beth’s older brother Johnny. He was the one who taught us how to burp. Another one, also named Johnny, invented bowling on the stairs (I wrote about that in a Baby-sitters Little Sister book). My best baby-sitters had a sense of humor, and did fun things with us. I tried to remember that a few years later when I became a baby-sitter myself.
Trivia[]
Aunt Cecelia made her first appearance in Super Special 4: Baby-sitters' Island Adventure when Becca got lost and Jessi's parents were not home. This is her first appearance in the main series.
On the dedication page it says "This book is dedicated to the memory of Eugene Dougherty who taught me how to make writing exciting."
Mrs. Ramsey used to pick up Jessi after dance class.
Jessi has always wanted to see Texas.
Mallory entered the science fair for three years when she was at SES and Kristy did as well.
Charlie once said "a set of wheels is, like, totally necessary."
Logan had sat for the Arnold girls and Marilyn accidentally locked herself in the basement. He had to rescue her through the outside cellar door.
Jessi got fourteen phone calls from the BSC when she missed a meeting.
Charlotte wins third prize at the science fair
Gallery[]
Original cover
1996 reprint. The art is mostly the same but Jessi's face and sweater are different.
UK cover
Original cover with "win a trip to New York City"
Original back cover
Quebec cover
French cover by Philippe Munch
Italian cover
French cover by Émile Bravo for Claudia and Mean Janine, Jessi’s Baby-Sitter, and Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies
French back cover by Émile Bravo for Claudia and Mean Janine, Jessi’s Baby-Sitter, and Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies