Ann Martin: Baby-Sitters Club 057

"My friends said I was obnoxious," I blurted out.

That made her laugh. "Well, maybe just a little bit," she admitted. "But it was for a good cause. Besides, you've changed." "Do you really think so?" I said hopefully.

"I can see it and so can the students. So what do you say?" "Well . . . sure," I replied. "And I'll keep my fingers crossed that they'll want me." "Oh, they'll want you," Mrs. Gonzalez assured me, patting my hand. "I haven't a single doubt about it." Well, after getting an A on my report, plus the offer to co-chair the project, I was flying. At lunchtime I raced all the way to the cafeteria. Stacey was waiting to greet me.

"We did it!" she cried.

I wrapped my arms around her and squealed, "We got an A!" "Of course, you got an A," Claud said matter-of-factly from behind us.

"Absolutely!" Kristy set her hamburger and fries on the table and slid into a chair. "Your project was pure genius!" I waited until Mary Anne and Logan joined the table to make my big announcement. "Mrs. Gonzalez asked me to co-chair the recycling project." "Yes!" Mary Anne squealed.

"All right!" Kristy said, giving me a high five.

"Don't get too excited," I warned them. "The school has to vote on it first, and you know what happened last time." "That's all in the past," Claud replied. "This time I'm sure they'll elect you." "I hope you're right," I said. "Mrs. Gonzalez said that after reading my essay, she'd decided I'd changed for the better." "What did you say in your essay?" Stacey asked, raising a piece of celery to her mouth. "I never read yours." "Well, I titled it Saving the Planet - You Can't Do It Alone. Then I described how working on the project turned me into a bossy jerk. I said how I got so self-righteous and obnoxious that no one, not even my friends in the Baby-sitters Club, wanted to help me." I smiled at Stacey and added, "I also mentioned what a saint you were for putting up with me." "Oh, Dawn! "That's not true." "Your paper sounds more like True Confessions than an essay," Claudia said. "Did Mrs. Gonzalez like it?" "She loved it. She especially liked the ending where I wrote - "I pulled my report out of my book bag and, flipping to the last page, read out loud, "I've discovered that in order to make big changes in the world we have to begin at home - within ourselves. Now that I've begun to clean up my own act, I think I'll be better equipped to help others clean up the world." "Gee, Dawn," Mary Anne said after a few moments of silence, "that was really great." "It's the truth," I said with a shrug. "I mean, look at the BSC. It's a success because we work together." I looked around the table and realized how proud I was to have such good friends. "And when you work together, you can do almost anything. Even save a planet." About the Author ANN M. MARTIN did a lot of baby-sitting when she was growing up in Princeton, New Jersey. She is a former editor of books for children, and was graduated from Smith College.

Ms. Martin lives in New York City with her cats, Mouse and Rosie. She likes ice cream and 7 Love Lucy, and she hates to cook.

Ann Martin's Apple Paperbacks include Yours Turly, Shirley; Ten Kids, No Pets; With You and Without You; Bummer Summer; and all the other books in the Baby-sitters Club series.

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BSC057 - Dawn Saves the Planet

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