Kristy and the Missing Child is the fourth book in the Baby-sitters Club Mystery series.
Back Cover[]
Kristy can hardly believe it when little Jake Kuhn is reported missing. Jake is one of the kids on her softball team. And Kristy was the last person to see Jake before he disappeared.
Even though the Baby-sitters and all Jake's friends are helping look for him, Kristy still feels horrible. And when the police can't find Jake after almost two days, things look really serious.
Kristy knows she's just a kid, but she's determined to find Jake. Wherever he is...
Main Plot[]
At the end of Krushers baseball practice, Kristy is getting ready to walk home with David Michael and Bart Taylor and is surprised when she notices Jake Kuhn walking home by himself, but Jake says he got permission from his mom to walk home by himself while she takes his younger sisters Laurel and Patsy to the dentist and Kristy doesn't think anything of it.
Later that evening, Mrs. Kuhn calls Kristy to tell her that Jake never made it home. At first she thinks that Jake went to a friend's house, but after some phone calls, nobody has seen Jake which prompts Mrs. Kuhn to believe that her ex-husband possibly took him. The divorce was recent and the kids have been missing their dad a lot.
Despite Mrs. Kuhn's claims that her Mr. Kuhn is responsible, nobody else is quite as sure because Mr. Kuhn was well-liked and the divorce was relatively friendly. It appears to be unlikely that he would kidnap his own son. Kristy knows that everyone needs to consider the possibility that Jake might be hurt somewhere, so she puts together a huge search party. She also feels responsible for Jake going missing because she was the last one to see him before he went missing.
The first day of the search party doesn't turn up much. Kristy has Matt Braddock in her search group and Matt knows all sorts of secret places that Jake might be, but he isn't in any of them. Meanwhile, the police are still pursuing the fact that Mr. Kuhn kidnapped Jake and think it he might be in Mexico.
Despite Kristy feeling hopeless, she is determined not to give up and continues to find Jake. When Kristy goes out searching with the Braddock kids, Matt remembers a construction site where some houses are being built & where Jake liked to go and get some scrap lumber.
When they go over to the construction site, they discover that Jake had fallen through a hole in the floor of one of the houses being built. Bart runs to get help, Jake is rescued and reunited with his family.
The last award was for Kristy at awards night. It was because Kristy found Jake. Right before Kristy got the award, Bart kissed her on the lips.
Subplot[]
Mary Anne has a hard time in her home ec class at school, but is able to pass the class by making Jello Jigglers. In the end, Mary Anne ends up receiving an award for "Most Improved Home Ec Student."
Characters in this book[]
Kristy's Family
- Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer
- Watson Brewer
- Nannie
- Charlie Thomas
- Sam Thomas
- David Michael Thomas
- Karen Brewer
- Andrew Brewer
- Emily Michelle Brewer
BSC Members
Kids
- Jake, Laurel, Patsy Kuhn
- Charlotte Johanssen
- Adam, Jordan, Byron, Margo, Vanessa, Claire, Nicky
- Jamie Newton
- Haley and Matt Braddock
- Gabbie Perkins
- Becca Ramsey
- Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie Barrett
Teenagers
Adults
- John Pike
- Dee Pike
- Caroline Kuhn
- Harry Kuhn
- Stoneybrook Police
- Mrs. Ploof - home ec teacher
- Mrs. Barrett
- Maureen McGill
- Howard Kingbridge (mentioned)
Places in this book[]
- Stoneybrook Elementary School - playground
- Kishi House
- Brewer/Thomas House
- Kuhn House
- Pike House
- McGill House
- Jugtown
- Stoneybrook Middle School
- Mexico (mentioned)
- Europe (mentioned)
- Stoneybrook Public Library (mentioned)
- Dallas (mentioned)
Pop Culture and Real Life References[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles
- Barbie
- The Little Mermaid
- The Brady Bunch
- Super Mario Brothers
- "The Indian in the Cupboard" (book)
- "Charlotte's Web" (book)
- Nintendo game system
- G.I. Joe
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- Kristy remembers how Bart's Bashers used to treat her team on page 26.
- Pete Black is still class president after he won in Kristy for President
Inconsistencies
- Mr. Taylor is mistakenly called "she" on page 65.
Trivia[]
- The wiki admins would like to thank Dhui1996 for contributing the reprint cover images from the BSC Reddit Community.
- Elizabeth says that Patrick lives in California, which is where he was living in Kristy's Big News. Elizabeth thinks Mr. Thomas does something with horses.
- This is the first time Kristy sits for the Kuhn Family.
- Mary Anne, Claudia, and Kristy used to go to a convenience store, Jugtown everyday when they were younger.
- Kristy gets an award for helping find Jake.
- Bart kisses Kristy.
- Mary Anne is failing home-ec in this book.
- Nannie likes to volunteer at the library and the Foodshelf.
- Harry Kuhn and Sharon Spier knew each other since they were kids.
- Caroline Kuhn and Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer took an aerobics class at the same time and became friends.
- Elizabeth drives Kristy home from a BSC meeting in chapter 6.
- Maureen and Stacey used to have popcorn picnics.
- Kristy starts crying about Jake in chapter 10.
- Stoneybrook has an abandoned gas station and an underpass by the train tracks.
- Jake and Matt are building a tree house together.
- Kristy doesn't put her hair in a ponytail for awards night.
- The working title of this book was Kristy and the Missing Kid [1]