Jessi's Gold Medal is the 55th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.
Back Cover Summary[]
Jessi is honored — and surprised — when she's asked to participate in a synchronized swimming competition. Sure Jessi knows ballet. But water ballet is a different story. All that swimming is hard work!
Jessi and her partner practice their routines over and over again. Everyone — especially the Baby-sitters — is expecting them to win the gold. But Jessi's not so sure....
Can she do it?
Summary[]
Jessi joins synchronized swimming, and is paired up with a girl called Elise. They are training for a gold medal at the Stoneybrook Middle School Festival. Meanwhile, Kristy challenges Alan Grey for the obstacle race. The bet was the loser gets to be the servant of the winner. Kristy wins and Alan becomes her servant.
Stacey is doing the butterfly in swimming, Dawn does some sort of throwing thing and Claudia does the backwards race. Mallory pretends to injure herself, which turned out that she DID injure herself accidentally, so that she can not participate in the sports carnival.
Mary Anne does nothing. When she was babysitting for Charlotte, Charlotte suggested her to get involved. So Mary Anne ended up selling hotdogs and drinks.
Subplot[]
Jessi has a brilliant idea of an Olympic Game hosted by the BSC for the little kids. It was a great success.
Characters[]
Jessi's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- David Michael Thomas, Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle Brewer
- Scott and Timmy Hsu
- Hannie and Linny Papadakis
- Bill and Melody Korman
- Charlotte Johanssen
- Johnny, James, and Mathew Hobart
- Jamie Newton (mentioned)
- Jackie and Archie Rodowsky (mentioned)
- Matt and Haley Braddock (mentioned)
- Jordan, Adam, Byron, Vanessa, Nicky, Margo, and Claire Pike
- Arnold Twins (mentioned)
- Buddy and Suzi Barrett
- Jenny Prezzioso
- Jake, Laurel, and Patsy Kuhn
Pre-teens
- Elise Coates
- Maya Condos - student in Jessi's gym class
- Benny Ott - student in the boys gym class
Teenagers
- Julie Mansfield (mentioned)
- Alan Gray
- Woody Jefferson (mentioned)
- Alexander Kurtzman (mentioned)
- Justin Forbes (mentioned)
- Logan Bruno (mentioned)
Adults
- Madame Noelle
- Mrs. Rosenaur - gym teacher at SMS
- Ms. Walden
- Ms. Cox - synchronized swimming instructor
- Dr. Johanssen
- Mrs. Hobart (mentioned)
- Mrs. Rodowsky (mentioned)
- John Pike (mentioned)
- Watson Brewer
Synchronized Swimming Team
- Abby
- Hannah
- Monica
Locations[]
- Stamford Ballet School
- Ramsey House
- Stoneybrook Community Center
- Kishi House
- Stoneybrook Middle School
- Mr. Benjamin Taylor
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Mikhail "Misha" Baryshnikov
- Sleeping Beauty (ballet)
- James Earl Jones
- Bride of Frankenstein and Freddy Krueger
- The 1996 Summer Olympics
- Peter and the Wolf
- Mickey Mouse
- Queen Nefertiti and King Tut
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- Mallory and Mary Anne's dislike for sports and gym class.
- Alan's crush on Kristy.
- Stacey remembers the events of Little Miss Stoneybrook ...and Dawn.
Inconsistencies
- Janet Gates is a middle school student despite the fact that she should be at Stoneybrook High School as a freshman.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Jessi’s Gold Medal, Jessi finds that everyone expects she’ll do well on the synchronized swim team simply because she is a talented dancer. Over the years, I have found that many people expect that I will be a good speaker simply because I am a writer. The truth is, many writers are good speakers — but not all of them. However, even though I knew that I did not like public speaking, I felt that because I was expected to be a speaker, I should be one. For years I spoke at schools and at conferences. I thought that I would get better at it, or at least that I would learn to enjoy it. But neither one happened. Finally I realized that I truly am not a good speaker, so I stopped doing any kind of public speaking. It wasn’t worth the anxiety it caused. Since then, I’ve become very careful about people’s expectations. And I did learn something about speaking — to speak up when I’m not comfortable with something. That’s a lesson everyone should learn!
Trivia[]
- This is one of the books where Charlotte Johanssen is mentioned to be in fourth grade, where she's supposed to be.
- Mr. Thomas has married someone else and is yet to be divorced until the events of BSC in the USA.
- Alan Gray still has a crush on Kristy.
- Charlotte hates gym class and sports
- Spuds Diamond is an Olympic coach.
- A Sports Festival is going on at SMS.
- Stacey enters and does the breast stroke in the swimming portion
- Kristy and Alan Gray have a relay race competition
- Claudia participates in the backyward race.
- Dawn does the javelin throw.
- Jessi picks up synchronized swimming easily because of her dance lessons.
- Jessi sometimes eats two bowls of cereal.