Ann Martin - Jessi And The Jewel Thieves

Claudia is the vice-president. We meet in her room because she's the only member of the club with her own phone and a private line. That's important, because otherwise we'd be tying up somebody else's line with our calls. Claudia's other duties include (officially) answering calls during non-meeting times and (unofficially) providing junk food for our meetings.

Claud considers it a pleasant part of her job to have junk food on hand. Why? Because she loves the stuff. Nothing makes her happier than cruising the aisles of a candy store or convenience mart, deciding between Munches and Doritos, Kit-Kats and Snickers, Life Savers and Jawbreakers. Claudia does not look like a person who

practically lives on junk food. She has a flawless complexion, and she's not at all overweight. In fact, she's gorgeous. She's Japanese-American, with long black hair and almond-shaped eyes. And she is one of the best dressers at Stoneybrook Middle School. She has a real flair for putting together trendy, one-of-a-kind outfits, and for fixing her hair in amazing styles.

Claud is an incredibly talented artist. She paints, she draws, she sculpts, she makes jewelry. You name it, she does it, and she does it well. She just loves art. What she doesn't love is school, and unfortunately that shows in her grades. She's one of those people who is always having to hear her parents say things like, "If you would just apply yourself," and "You have so much potential." She also has to hear teachers say, "Are you really Janine's sister?" Claudia's sister Janine is a real live genius. You know that lady who answers brain-teasers in the newspaper? The one who's supposed to be the smartest woman in the world? Well, Janine will probably replace her when she decides to retire. Luckily for Claudia, Mr. and Mrs. Kishi are good parents, and I think they try not to compare their daughters when it comes to grades.

The secretary of the BSC is Mary Anne Spier, who is Kristy's best friend. You might

think she would be as loud and outgoing as Kristy is, but she's not. She's extremely shy and sensitive. They do look alike, though: Mary Anne has brown hair (although she recently got it cut), and brown eyes and is also short for her age.

As secretary, Mary Anne takes care of that record book I told you about. Her neat, even handwriting fills every page, and she does a perfect job of keeping track of all our appointments. I think she has the hardest job in the BSC, but she seems to like it.

Mary Anne's mom died a long, long time ago, and Mr. Spier was the one who brought up Mary Anne (their only child). I guess he was worried about being a single parent, so he kind of overdid it. He was very, very strict about what Mary Anne could wear, and how she could fix her hair and that kind of stuff. But he's loosened up now, and Mary Anne has become a trendier dresser. (She'll never compete with Claudia, though!)

Mary Anne has a kitten named Tigger, and a cute boyfriend named Logan Bruno. And not too long ago she also acquired a stepsister! Not just a stepsister, but a best friend and a co-member of the BSC named Dawn Schafer. Here's how it happened: Dawn grew up in California, but her mother had grown up in Stoneybrook. And when Dawn's parents got

a divorce, her mom decided to move back to Stoneybrook, bringing Dawn and Dawn's younger brother, Jeff, with her.

Dawn and Mary Anne became friends soon after Dawn moved here, and soon after that they discovered that their parents had been high school sweethearts! Mary Anne's dad and Dawn's mom started to date again, and before long they were married. Isn't that a romantic story?

Dawn, by the way, is the BSCs alternate officer. That means she can fill in whenever any other officer can't make it to a meeting. For example, on Friday she'd take over Stacey's job.

Dawn has long, long pale blonde hair (it's almost white, really) and big blue eyes. She dresses in this way cool casual style, and she is very mellow and laid back. She's also a health-food nut, and will not touch any of the snacks that Claudia provides. Instead, she usually brings an apple or some stone-ground wheat crackers to our meetings.

When Dawn moved here, she moved into this neat old farmhouse with a secret passage and maybe even a ghost. Now Mary Anne and her dad live there too. But unfortunately, Dawn's brother does not live there. Jeff just couldn't adjust to life in Stoneybrook, and he ended up going back to California to live with

his dad. Dawn misses him like crazy, but she understands. She wasn't nuts about Connecticut, either, when she first arrived. She hated the snowy cold weather for one thing. But I think being part of the BSC has made all the difference, and now Dawn considers Stoneybrook her home (or one of her homes).

I haven't told you yet about the treasurer of the BSC. that’s Stacey, the one I was going to New York with. She's a math whiz, so her job is a breeze for her. She keeps track of the money in our treasury, and also collects our dues. We pay dues every Monday, and even though it's just a small amount we always give Stacey a hard time. We hate to part with our money, and she loves to collect it and save it up! She likes the idea of having a little "nest egg" set aside for a rainy day, but we always end up spending what we save. For one thing, we pay Kristy's older brother to drive her to meetings, since she now lives too far away to walk to Claud's. We also use it to buy stuff like Magic Markers and stickers for our Kid-Kits. And once in a while, we have a pizza bash — that is, if we can worm the money out of Stacey!

Stacey is Claudia's best friend, and they definitely share a certain sophistication that the rest of us lack. Since Stacey grew up in New York City, she's very cosmopolitan. She's al-

ways doing the latest thing to her blonde hair, whether it’s a perm or a body wave or rolling it up on little rubber things. She wears makeup and nail polish (often with sparkles in it) and she dresses like she just stepped out of a magazine.

There's one thing about Stacey that you'd never guess by looking at her: She's a diabetic. In case you don't know anyone with diabetes, let me explain. It's a disease in which your body doesn't produce this stuff called insulin, which helps digest sugars. So, to deal with her diabetes, Stacey has to A: watch her diet very, very carefully and hardly ever eat sweets, and B: give herself shots of insulin every day. Stacey doesn't seem to mind any of this too much. I guess she's used to it. I have to say that A would be nearly impossible for me, even though, as a ballet dancer, I should eat that way, and as for B — well, I can't even imagine B.

I bet you're wondering what my BSC job is. Well, both Mallory and I are junior officers, which simply means we take on many of the afternoon sitting jobs, since neither of us is allowed to sit alone at night (except for our families). Anyway, this frees up the older BSC members for night jobs.

I've told you a little about Mallory, but let me fill you in on the rest. She has red hair

and freckles, braces and glasses. I happen to think she's very cute, but she won't listen to me. She'd like to wear contacts, get her braces off, and become glamorous. And I bet she will, someday. It's tough being eleven and having to be patient about these things. We both have a lot of trouble with it.

Mal's great with kids, which is lucky considering the size of her family. And, like me, she has ambitions. She'd like to be a writer and illustrator of children's books. Since she's talented and determined, her dream will probably come true.

There are two other members of the BSC, CUT associate members. They don't come to meetings, but they're on standby to fill in or help out. One of them is Logan Bruno, Mary Anne's boyfriend. The other is Shannon Kilbourne, a girl from Kristy's new neighborhood.