The Baby-Sitters Club Wiki
Advertisement
The Baby-Sitters Club Wiki

Mallory on Strike is the 47th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.

Back Cover Summary[]

Mallory couldn't imagine not being in a big family like hers. There's always someone to do things with, and she likes to help take care of her younger brothers and sisters.

But now Mallory's working on an important writing project, and she needs peace and quiet. So why won't everyone leave her alone? Nicky needs help tying his shoes, Claire wants a sandwich, and someone has to break up the fight among the triplets.

Mallory feels like a baby-sitting slave.

And there's only one thing to do: This Baby-sitter is going on strike!

Summary[]

Mallory is super excited. Her writing class teacher announced that there's going to be a writing contest. Mallory has to be in it! That day she wants to get started right away. But her mum keeps asking for favours and to do this or that. And now she never even has time to do her homework.

She goes on strike.

Subplot[]

Characters[]

Mallory's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Pre-Teens

  • Benny Ott (mentioned)
  • Rebecca Mason - girl in Mallory's creative writing class who turned her story in early (mentioned)

Teenagers

Adults

Locations[]

Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]

  • Sports Illustrated
  • Marguerite Henry
  • Skipper doll
  • the Nutcracker
  • Cinderella
  • Mother May I?
  • Miss America
  • The Three Little Pigs

Continuity and Inconsistencies[]

Continuity

Inconsistencies

  • Vanessa isn't described with her glasses, but she's supposed to have them.
  • Mallory says Jessi doesn’t have glasses or braces. But in Hello, Mallory, Jessi has reading glasses and she tells Mallory that she’ll be getting braces soon.
  • The schedule Mallory makes for her chores, BSC, and working on her story ends every day with "bed" at 9:00 p.m. Except we learned in earlier books that bedtime for Pike kids aged 9 and up is 10:00 p.m., and even though each Pike kid has a "bedtime," it just means it's the time they have to be in bed, but not actually go to sleep so Mallory could stay up and write.

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]

Dear Reader,

In Mallory on Strike, Mallory protests when she feels that she is being taken advantage of as a built-in baby-sitter. Unlike Mallory, something I rarely had to do was baby-sit for my sister. She is only two years younger than I am, so by the time I started baby-sitting she barely needed a sitter herself. Sometimes we were left baby-sitting for each other, which was fun because we were on our own. Our parents let us fix frozen dinners and eat them on trays in front of the TV. A big treat!

Mallory also feels that she has no privacy. In my family, privacy was important to my sister and me, and we were lucky because we had our own rooms. It’s too bad we didn’t have two back seats in our station wagon, because that would have solved a problem on long car trips. Each of us wanted our own space in the car. In order to create it, we would divide the back seat in half, and we weren’t allowed to cross the line. If we did, a fight usually ensued. Neither Jane nor I ever went on strike, but our parents frequently threatened to pull the car over until we could settle down.

Trivia[]

  • David Michael has a friend named Carver Ensign; this is the only book he appears in.
  • The Prezziosos live on Burnt Hill Road and are friends with the Pikes.
  • Jessi's studying French.
  • Jessi wears size 6 shoes.
  • One of Mallory's favorite foods is bacon.
  • Mallory is 10 minutes late for a BSC meeting; Kristy gives Mallory "The Look" sign.
  • Jessi and Mallory like Mexican food.
  • Pamme Reed, an author, comes to SMS. This is the second time an author has visited SMS; the first in Mary Anne Misses Logan.
  • Mallory describes how Byron is different from the other two triplets but doesn't give a distinction between Jordan and Adam.
  • Mallory's worst classes are math and science.
  • Claudia says that Chez Maurice is her parents’ favorite restaurant.
  • Mallory has spent two months working on a short poem.
  • Claudia has eaten eels and didn't even know it.
  • It's unclear why Mallory never went to the library or stayed at school to write instead of going home.
  • Claudia has a sitting job with the Rodowsky's.
  • The Sobaks, Addisons, and the Perkins are jobs that Mallory either passed on or couldn't sit for anyway.
  • The Perkins called twice in the same BSC meeting for Sunday morning and Monday afternoon.
  • Claudia is into fifties styles in this book.
  • Stacey describes herself as frugal.
  • Jordan doesn't like pepperoni, Nicky doesn't like onions, and Margo can't have crust on their pizza.
  • In the end, Mallory is allowed private time to herself for projects to write in her parents room with a do not disturb sign.

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)
Advertisement