Stacey's Ex-Best Friend is the 51st book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.
Back Cover Summary[]
Stacey can't wait! Her best friend from New York, Laine Cummings, is coming to Stoneybrook for a whole week. Laine can spend a day at SMS, attend club meetings, and maybe even go to the Valentine Dance.
But the minute Laine arrives, things don't go as planned. Laine thinks Stacey's sleepover with her friends is so childish. And she can't believe Stacey's still into baby-sitting. Laine's used to hanging out at high school parties. She even has a fifteen-year-old boyfriend!
Stacey doesn't want to lose her childhood friend. But Laine's growing up way too fast for Stacey. Is this the end of their friendship?
Summary[]
When her best friend Laine comes to Stoneybrook for a visit, Stacey realizes that life in New York City may have changed Laine for the worse, making her too mature and snobby for her own good.
Subplot[]
The BSC throws a Valentine’s Day Masquerade Party for their charges. All the guests have to sign their cards with a code.
Characters[]
Stacey's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- Adam, Byron, Jordan, Vanessa, Nicky, Margo and Claire Pike
- Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold
- Haley and Matt Braddock
- James, Mathew and Johnny Hobart
- Becca Ramsey
- Charlotte Johanssen
- Buddy Barrett
- Karen Brewer
- David Michael Thomas
- Nina and Eleanor Marshall (mentioned)
Pre-teens
- Ben Hobart
- Curtis Shaller
- Quint Walter (mentioned)
Teenagers
- Laine Cummings
- Austin Bentley
- Pete Black
- Rick Chow
- Bart Taylor (mentioned)
Adults
- Mr. Marshall (mentioned)
- Mrs. Cummings (mentioned)
Locations[]
- McGill House
- Kishi House
- Stoneybrook Middle School
- Arnold House
- Hobart House
- Spier/Schafer Barn
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Joy Luck Club
- Black Beauty
- The Limited
- HSN
- Fiorrucci
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- On page 34 Stacey mentions the trip she and the BSC took to Disney World from Baby-sitters on Board!.
Inconsistencies
- Stacey doesn't have a phone in her room anymore, despite that she had one before.
- Laine attends a club meeting in chapter 9. But in other books, Kristy says meetings are serious and non-club members can only attend if they are interested in joining the club.
- In chapter 15, Stacey writes Laine a goodbye letter. She includes half of a Best Friends necklace that Laine gave her in Welcome Back, Stacey!. But in that book, the necklace was half of a gold locket. And in that book, Stacey told her mother that she’d wear it every day. But in this book, she takes the necklace out of her jewelry box.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Stacey’s Ex-Best Friend, Stacey and the members of the Baby-sitters Club plan a Valentine’s Day party for their sitting charges. I love writing about Valentine’s Day. In fact, every time I’m plotting a BSC or a Baby-sitters Little Sister book that will be published in February, I ask my editor if Valentine’s Day can be one of the themes.
When I was young, I always looked forward to Valentine’s Day. In elementary school, a week or so before Valentine’s Day, we would make folders out of red construction paper and tape them to the fronts of our desks. During the next few days whenever kids brought their valentines into class they would walk around the room and distribute them in the folders. We were not supposed to open them until our class party on Valentine’s Day. The year I was in fifth grade, I decided to make all of my valentines instead of buying them in the store. I had a lot of fun, but I was a little embarrassed by them and wondered if they were as good as store-bought ones. So I decided not to sign them. I thought I could give them to my classmates anonymously. What I hadn’t counted on was that I would be the only student not to sign her cards. So by process of elimination, everyone had figured out exactly who made the cards. But I still love sending Valentine’s Day cards. In fact, I send cards for every possible occasion. But now I’ve learned to sign them.
Trivia[]
- This is one of the few times Kristy cancels a club meeting because of the dance.
- Laine starts calling Stacey by her full name.
- Dates
- Stacey and Austin Bentley
- Laine and Pete Black
- Mary Anne and Logan Bruno
- Kristy and Bart Taylor
- Mallory and Ben Hobart
- Jessi and Curtis Shaller
- This is Laine's last appearance in the main series, but she shows up again in the Friends Forever book Stacey's Problem.
- Nicky and Marilyn had a crush on each other.
- Claudia has a rag doll named Lennie that she brings with her to a sleepover.
- Carolyn has a crush on James Hobart.
- Stacey and Laine used to have a telephone code.
- The Hobarts wanted to get dressed up for the Valentine's Day party.
- Ben and Mallory had a fight about the card catalog.
- Laine gets a cashier job which technically would be illegal since she's 13.
- The book Laine is reading is made up.
- Stacey once bought a China clown from the Home Shopping Network.
- The tri-state area is New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
- Stacey's doctors have told her to gain weight.
- Charlie painted his car four different times and decorates it.
- Stacey and Laine's friendship officially ends.