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This is about the originals. If you want to see the graphic novels, see Mallory and the Trouble with Twins (Graphic Novel)

Mallory and the Trouble with Twins is the 21st book in the original The Baby-Sitters Club series. Mallory Pike sits for troublesome twins and her parents let her get her ears pierced.

Back Cover[]

Mallory knows she's a good baby-sitter. She's been looking after her seven younger brothers and sisters for years. So when Kristy offers her a steady job baby-sitting for the Arnold twins, Mal thinks it'll be easy money.

The twins sure are cute in their little matching outfits. But once Mrs. Arnold leaves, Marilyn and Carolyn turn into twin terrors! They run around the house like spoiled brats, and Mallory can't even tell them apart.

Taking care of Marilyn and Carolyn is a baby-sitting nightmare. But Mallory's a responsible member of the Baby-sitters Club — and she's not giving up!

Summary[]

Mallory Pike sits for troublesome twins and her parents let her get her ears pierced. Her parents also let her get a hair cut.

Subplot[]

Characters[]

Mallory's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Teenagers

Adults

  • Linda and Jack Arnold
  • Mr. Bischoff - Marilyn's car pool to piano lessons
  • Margaret Cohen - Marilyn's piano teacher
  • Sue - woman who pierces ears at the mall

Locations[]

Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]

  • Baby Island, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Paddington (books)
  • Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Dominos
  • Raggedy Ann
  • Barbie
  • Winnie the Pooh

Continuity and Inconsistencies[]

Continuity

Inconsistencies

  • It was described that the twins had on white dresses with pink lace for their birthday party. On the cover, they are wearing pink dresses.

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]

Dear Reader,

When I was young, I thought it would be fun to have an identical twin sister. A popular TV show then was The Patty Duke Show, about a teenage girl and her cousin growing up in Brooklyn. Patty and Cathy were identical. They looked so much alike that they were able to fool people. I knew several sets of twins, including my cousins Lyman and Jimmy, but none of them were identical. They couldn’t get away with what Patty and Cathy could on the show. So I created twins who could — Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold. In fact, I like identical twins so much that I put a set in the Baby-sitters Little Sister series, and the newest member of the Baby-sitters Club is a twin, too. Who knows what kind of trouble Abby and her sister, Anna, will get into?

Trivia[]

  • A reprint was released on July 26, 2022 [1]
  • Logan attends a BSC meeting and jokes about Marilyn and Carolyn's name.
  • There's a fundraising project at Stoneybrook Elementary School where Mrs. Arnold needs a regular sitter. It lasts until 6:00 p.m.
  • Nicky is making a model of the solar system for the science fair.
  • Jessi couldn't tell the triplets apart when she first met them.
  • The BSC had sat for the twins prior to this book despite this being their debut book.
  • There's a store that sells miniatures and doll house furniture that Claudia makes earrings out of.
  • Mimi sometimes tries to teach Claudia Japanese.
  • Stacey calls in chapter 7.
  • The Arnold twins are the last characters to age.
  • Elizabeth and Watson's new hobbies is going to estate sales.
  • Kristy has and wears a matching dress with Karen, a pink sweatshirt and blue pants, like the ones in Karen's Worst Day.
  • Dawn is tall enough to help Mr. Arnold put up crepe paper at the party.
  • The cover is described in chapter 10.
  • Mallory is good at bargaining.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Pike agree to let Mallory get her ears pierced. Mrs. Pike said that she didn't have to wear anything plain and could wear fun earrings which gets contradicted in later books.
  • Mrs. Pike says that it's okay for Mallory to pick her own clothes out as long as its sensible.
  • Marilyn wants to look more grown up and Carolyn wants something cool.
  • Kristy likes to watch the guys working at Donut Delite.
  • Mary Anne and Kristy have earrings for non-pierced ears.

Alternative Covers[]

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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