Mary Anne is in big trouble. She's bought loads of Christmas presents — and has no way of paying for them all. Baby-sitting money won't be enough to pay for this mistake.
There's only one thing Mary Anne can do. She can take a second job. A job that no one can know about. Not Logan. Not Dawn. Not even Mary Anne's father.
Mary Anne's Christmas will be ruined...unless her secret life pays off.
Summary
Subplot: The BSC hosts a fundraiser for the Toys for Kids program at the hospital so kids can get presents. They host a fair and got donations for toys as prizes and canned food to help make refreshments. The money they made went to the Toys for Kids program. Participants include Charlotte Johanssen, Ramsey Family, and Rodowsky Family. Members of the BSC including Logan Bruno and the Kilbourne Family helped out with booths.
The money the BSC earned not only went to the hospital program but also to getting toys for those at the homeless shelter.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter
Dear Reader,
In The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier, Mary Anne takes on the most embarrassing job of her life in order to earn money for holiday gifts for her friends and family. When I was younger, like Mary Anne I often needed to earn money to buy gifts for my family and friends. One memorable summer, when I was about nine, I suddenly realized that my parents’ anniversary was just two weeks away and I didn’t have enough money to buy them a present. So I talked my friend Beth into holding a backyard carnival with me. The money that I earned at the carnival was spent on a gift for my parents. But what a lot of work: Beth and I had to plan an entire carnival, borrow money from our parents to buy the materials we needed, and plan, announce, and run the carnival. All of this netted me seven dollars, but I was thrilled. I went to Woolworth’s and bought them a set of orange juice glasses. Not as lavish as the gifts Mary Anne bought for her friends, but at least I didn’t have to dress up as an elf!