Then there's Claudia Kishi. Claudia is the vice-president of our club. We always hold our meetings in her room, since she has her own phone and even her own private phone num-

ber. Claudia's summer event was the saddest of all, but it has a happy ending. Her grandmother Mimi (who lives with the Kishis, and who's a favorite of the Baby-sitters Club) had a stroke one night in July. She had to stay in the hospital for a long time and she still has to have physical therapy, but she's getting better. She can walk and talk, and someday (maybe) she'll be able to use her right hand a little more.

Dawn Schafer is my new best friend. She's the official alternate officer of the club, which means she can take over the duties of anyone who has to miss a meeting. Her family used to live inCalifornia , but her parents got divorced, so her mother moved Dawn and her younger brother Jeff all the way across country toStoneybrook,Connecticut . Claudia and Kristy and I grew up here, butNew England has been kind of an adjustment for Dawn. Anyway, over the summer, Dawn and Jeff got to fly toCalifornia to visit their father, and (after they'd come back) Dawn discovered a secret passage in the old farmhouse she lives in!

The fourth member of the club is Stacey McGill. She's our treasurer, and also sort of a newcomer to Stoneybrook. She moved here exactly one year ago from big, glamorous, excitingNew York City . Stacey, by the way, is

sort of glamorous and exciting herself. That's why she and Claudia are best friends. They're both sophisticated and love wearing flashy clothes and weird jewelry and doing things to their hair. The two of them really stand out in a crowd, and I've always been envious of them.

Anyway, Stacey's summer excitement was mine, too. We got jobs as mother's helpers with one of the families we sit for and went with them to the beach —Sea City,New Jersey .