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Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) is the 59th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series.

Back Cover Summary[]

Mallory has never been a sports person. In fact, you could say gym is her least favorite subject. But now Mal's worst subject has turned into an absolute nightmare. Gym class has gone co-ed!

Mal feels totally gross in her ugly, oversized gym suit. And once the boys find out she can't play volleyball, they decide to make her life miserable.

Mal's always hated gym. But she's beginning to hate boys even more!

Summary[]

Mallory hates gym, but now she hates it even more, since the new game is volleyball. After getting clobbered with a ball and and getting stepped on, Mallory decides it's time to call it quits. She’s not going to play, even if it means detention for her. She talks to Ben Hobart, her boyfriend, and he convinces her to try it again, but the other team keeps targeting the ball at her. So she still does not play. After her mom finds out about her detention, Mallory talks to Ms. Walden, who tells the other team to stop targeting the ball at only Mallory. But now, Mallory must play volleyball. Soon the game changes to archery, and Mallory is happy because she is good at it. She tries out for the team and gets in. Her brothers bake her a cake, and she realizes that boys aren’t so bad after all.

Subplot[]

Mallory and Ben Hobart trades their brothers because Mallory's brothers were getting on her nerves and vice versa.

Characters[]

Mallory's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Pre-teens

  • Ben Hobart
  • Helen Gallway—girl in Mallory's gym class
  • Chris Brooks, Glen Johnson, Robbie Mara, Tom Harold,Noah Fein—students in the boys gym class

Teenagers

Adults

Locations[]

Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]

  • Sesame Street
  • Return of the Master Killer
  • A Slice of Death
  • G.I. Joe
  • The Care Bears
  • GameBoy and Nintendo
  • Operation (board game)

Continuity and Inconsistencies[]

Continuity

Inconsistencies

  • Glen went from being Glen Johnson to Glen Brown unless there are two boys named Glen in the same gym class.
  • Buddy and Suzi Barrett are said to be seven and four years old, when they were aged up to 8 and 5.
  • It's mentioned the Newtons live on Bradford Court as and the Perkins Family's dog runs through the Newtons' yard and then immediately goes into Claudia's yard, however the Perkins lives across the street from Claudia.

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]

Dear Reader,

Boy, can I relate to Mallory’s feelings about gym class! Gym was definitely my all-time least favorite subject in school. I hated it in kindergarten and all the way into college. Like Mallory, I wasn’t particularly coordinated, and I could always think of a thousand other things I would rather be doing. But the worst part about gym for me was that, like Mary Anne, I was shy and hated being singled out. In gym class, I felt that everyone was looking at me. I’m glad that I’ll never have to take another gym class. However, I recently took up cross-country skiing, and I do exercise every day. And that’s important.

Trivia[]

  • This is one of the few times where Logan Bruno comes to a BSC meeting.
  • Mallory makes the archery team at the end of the book.
  • Ben Hobart is part of the SMS Express in this book.
  • Mallory has never liked gym.
  • Squirt is going through his "terrible twos."
  • The Rodowsky kids only half painted Bo's doghouse.
  • James Hobart loves to exgerrate.
  • Jessi sees the bright side of everything according to Mallory.
  • Mallory makes the SMS archery team by the end of the book. She notes there is something romantic and adventurous about shooting with a bow and arrow. It appealed to the writer in her.
  • Ten kids including Mallory are on the SMS archery team.
  • Jessi can’t lie well.
  • Mallory’s detention takes place on the same day it’s assigned, and her parents receive written notification of it in the mail. In real life, if a student gets detention, most schools send a note home with the student for a parent or guardian to sign, and the student serves their detention the next day.

Gallery[]

Baby-Sitters Club Books
The Summer Before | #1 Kristy's Great Idea | #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls | #3 The Truth About Stacey | #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day | #5 Dawn and the Impossible Three | #6 Kristy's Big Day | #7 Claudia and Mean Janine | #8 Boy-Crazy Stacey | #9 The Ghost at Dawn's House | #10 Logan Likes Mary Anne! | #11 Kristy and the Snobs | #12 Claudia and the New Girl | #13 Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye | #14 Hello, Mallory | #15 Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn | #16 Jessi's Secret Language | #17 Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery | #18 Stacey's Mistake | #19 Claudia and the Bad Joke | #20 Kristy and the Walking Disaster | #21 Mallory and the Trouble with Twins | #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter | #23 Dawn on the Coast | #24 Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise | #25 Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger | #26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye | #27 Jessi and the Superbrat | #28 Welcome Back, Stacey! | #29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary | #30 Mary Anne and the Great Romance | #31 Dawn's Wicked Stepsister | #32 Kristy and the Secret of Susan | #33 Claudia and the Great Search | #34 Mary Anne and Too Many Boys | #35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook | #36 Jessi's Baby-Sitter | #37 Dawn and the Older Boy | #38 Kristy's Mystery Admirer | #39 Poor Mallory! | #40 Claudia and the Middle School Mystery | #41 Mary Anne vs. Logan | #42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom | #43 Stacey's Emergency | #44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover | #45 Kristy and the Baby Parade | #46 Mary Anne Misses Logan | #47 Mallory on Strike | #48 Jessi's Wish | #49 Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street | #50 Dawn's Big Date | #51 Stacey's Ex-Best Friend | #52 Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies | #53 Kristy for President | #54 Mallory and the Dream Horse | #55 Jessi's Gold Medal | #56 Keep Out, Claudia! | #57 Dawn Saves the Planet | #58 Stacey's Choice | #59 Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) | #60 Mary Anne's Makeover | #61 Jessi and the Awful Secret | #62 Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever | #63 Claudia's Freind Friend | #64 Dawn's Family Feud | #65 Stacey's Big Crush | #66 Maid Mary Anne | #67 Dawn's Big Move | #68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter | #69 Get Well Soon, Mallory! | #70 Stacey and the Cheerleaders | #71 Claudia and the Perfect Boy | #72 Dawn and the We Love Kids Club | #73 Mary Anne and Miss Priss | #74 Kristy and the Copycat | #75 Jessi's Horrible Prank | #76 Stacey's Lie | #77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever | #78 Claudia and Crazy Peaches | #79 Mary Anne Breaks the Rules | #80 Mallory Pike, No. 1 Fan | #81 Kristy and Mr. Mom | #82 Jessi and the Troublemaker | #83 Stacey vs. the BSC | #84 Dawn and the School Spirit War | #85 Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO! | #86 Mary Anne and Camp BSC | #87 Stacey and the Bad Girls | #88 Farewell, Dawn | #89 Kristy and the Dirty Diapers | #90 Welcome to the BSC, Abby! | #91 Claudia and the First Thanksgiving | #92 Mallory's Christmas Wish | #93 Mary Anne and the Memory Garden | #94 Stacey McGill, Super Sitter | #95 Kristy + Bart = ? | #96 Abby's Lucky Thirteen | #97 Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby | #98 Dawn and Too Many Sitters | #99 Stacey's Broken Heart | #100 Kristy's Worst Idea | #101 Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout | #102 Mary Anne and the Little Princess | #103 Happy Holidays, Jessi | #104 Abby's Twin | #105 Stacey the Math Whiz | #106 Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade | #107 Mind Your Own Business, Kristy! | #108 Don't Give Up, Mallory! | #109 Mary Anne to the Rescue | #110 Abby the Bad Sport | #111 Stacey's Secret Friend | #112 Kristy and the Sister War | #113 Claudia Makes Up Her Mind | #114 The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier | #115 Jessi's Big Break | #116 Abby and the Best Kid Ever | #117 Claudia and the Terrible Truth | #118 Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer | #119 Stacey's Ex-Boyfriend | #120 Mary Anne and the Playground Fight | #121 Abby in Wonderland | #122 Kristy in Charge | #123 Claudia's Big Party | #124 Stacey McGill... Matchmaker? | #125 Mary Anne in the Middle | #126 The All-New Mallory Pike | #127 Abby's Un-Valentine | #128 Claudia and the Little Liar | #129 Kristy at Bat | #130 Stacey's Movie | #131 The Fire at Mary Anne's House
Super Specials
#1 Baby-sitters on Board! | #2 Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation | #3 Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation | #4 Baby-sitters' Island Adventure | #5 California Girls! | #6 New York, New York! | #7 Snowbound | #8 Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake | #9 Starring the Baby-sitters Club #10 Sea City, Here We Come! | #11 The Baby-sitters Remember | #12 Here Come the Bridesmaids! | #13 Aloha, Baby-sitters! | #14 BSC in the USA | #15 Baby-sitters' European Vacation
Portrait Collection
Stacey's Book | Claudia's Book | Dawn's Book | Mary Anne's Book | Kristy's Book | Abby's Book
Other
The Baby-Sitters Club Notebook (1987) | The Baby-Sitters Club Postcard Book (1991) | Trivia & Puzzle Fun Book (1992) | Ann M. Martin: The Story of the author of the Baby-sitters Club (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Guide to Babysitting (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Chain Letter (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Secret Santa (1994) | Audio Books on Cassette Tape (1994-5) | BSC Movie Novelization (1995) | The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club (1996) | Autograph Book (1998) | BSC Graphic Novels (2006-present) | We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers (2021) | Welcome to Stoneybrook: A Guided Journal (2021) | The Official Coloring Book (2023)
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