Meet the Baby-Sitters Club

The first book of the series.

The Baby-Sitters Club is a graphic novel series. There are four books in this series. I love the books because I enjoy the characters, and the characters face real-life problems.

The characters are Kristey, the president of The Baby-Sitters Club; Claudia, the vice president; Mary Anne, the secretary; and of course, Stacey, the treasurer. They all love baby sitting. So far, I have read three books from the series. I am going to read the other book as well.

So, do you want to meet the characters? 

Stacey McGill is a nice girl. She lived in New York, but then moved to Stoneybrook. She is the fashion icon. When they need supplies, they go to Stacey. One thing that stresses her out is the fact that she has diabetes.  

Claudia Kishi loves art. She even takes classes. She has a sister named Jannie. They always fight, but they usually get over it. They live with their grandma and their mom and dad. Claudia's grandma had a stroke one day, and they were all sad. Claudia kept baby sitting though. She helped her grandma, too. Mary Anne had to sit for Mimi, the grandma. When you need art supplies, count on Claudia.

Mary Anne is the one who loves studying and loves her hair in braids. Mary Anne is very shy though. She loves baby sitting. She's punctual all the time. Her mom died, and it is tough for her and her dad,  but they're pulling through it. She is very smart. Always count on Mary Anne.

Kristy Thomas had the plan to set up the babysitting club. She is in softball because she likes sports. She likes wearing baseball caps. She has two older brothers and one younger brother. If you need any questions answered about the baby-sitters club, go to Kristey.

I recommend this series to kids ages 8-13. There is a lot of drama with the characters. Friends argue, characters have to deal with divorced parents, another character has diabetes, one character's grandma has a stroke, and there are naughty kids to babysit. All of these things make this story interesting. I never know what problem is going to happen next.  

The White Witch Roams Rose Hall

Rose Hall
photo taken from Wikipedia.org

There is a place in Montego Bay, Jamaica that may be haunted. That house is Rose Hall Great House. There is quite a story about what happened at this plantation, which is now a museum. Some people say that this story may not be true and some people think that it is true. After our family went on the tour there in January 2017, I think it is true! This scary story begins with a lady named Annie Palmer... 

This is Annie Palmer
photo taken from Exemplor

The tale of Annie Palmer starts on the island of Haiti. Annie was raised by her parents. Then her parents got yellow fever and died, so she got adopted by a nanny who taught her this weird witchcraft voodoo. 

Later in 1820, she married John Palmer, the owner of Rose Hall Plantation in Jamaica. This was a plantation of sugarcane. This time in history slaves worked the plantation. Annie was one of the bosses. She was evil. That is why she is called the white witch. Annie poisoned John Palmer after she became bored with him. Annie had two other husbands and killed them as well. She had an affair with one of the slaves; his name was Takoo. He murdered her in her sleep in 1830. 

We toured Rose Hall when we were on vacation in Jamaica; it was creepy! There was a night tour and a day tour. We went on the night tour because we thought it would be scary. My sister could not make it to the end. She started crying when the actors jumped out and scared us. My dad had to take her out and my mom and I finished the tour.

When we first got there, we paid for our tickets in the gift shop. Next, we sat and listened to musicians who were drumming.  After that, the tour guide took pictures of us in front of Rose Hall. The tour guy said that we could not take pictures, so a man took pictures of us. The tour guide told us many stories about the history of the plantation and the house.

There were many actors who played the roles of slaves, Annie, and her husbands.  We saw this woman in white standing in the window. It was creepy. Then we went into the ballroom. The ballroom had fancy decorations such as a huge chandelier. We saw a painting of Annie, and it looked like her eyes were moving. My dad noticed that first. That was creepy, too. 

The tour guide showed us a secret tunnel that the slaves used. It led from the house to the ocean. He took us to the basement, too. That was where the slaves went down and got the water. At one point, POOF! someone popped out of the basement and we all jumped and screamed. It was an actor playing a slave! The basement was pitch black; we could not see anything!

This is an actor who scares guests
photo taken from MyLittleAdventure

Then we went upstairs and there was a room where Annie killed her husband. There was a bed with blood. Next, we saw a maid drop a baby from a window. 

We went in a dungeon next. It was where Annie put the slaves who did not listen. There was a bear trap to prevent them from leaving. At the end of the tour, we saw Annie's grave. The tour guide said that her body is just bones because it was so long ago.

This is the bear trap
photo taken from TripAdvisor

I recommend that you go there. I like scary things. I would not recommend that little kids go there. It is fun though.

 Johnny Cash wrote a song about Annie Palmer. He tells a good story about the White Witch of Rose Hall.

This is Annie's grave
photo taken from TripAdvisor