Review Detail

Middle Grade Fiction 177
It's good to know CPR... and how to kill a demon!
(Updated: June 30, 2026)
Overall rating
 
4.0
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
N/A
Writing Style
 
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Kelly desperately wants to attend Camp Miskatonic-- she's overhead Deanna, head of the Princess Pack at her school talk about it, and it sounds awesome. The problem? It costs $4,000 to go for the summer, and Kelly's family is struggling financially. She has managed to raise $3,000 by doing various chores for neighbors, but still has a way to go. When her friend Tammy suggests babysitting, Kelly is reluctant to look into that activitiy. When her mother volunteers her to babysit Ms. Zellman's son Jacob on the night of a big Halloween party, Kelly isn't happy. However, the money is good, and her mother is worried that Ms. Zellman, who is her boss, will fire her if Kelly doesn't babysit. Once settled in for the night with Jacob, Kelly isn't a great babysitter. She texts her friends, lets Jacob eat candy as a bribe to get her phone back from him, and just wants him to go to sleep so she can watch her Korean soap opera on Netflix. She's been warned that Jacob has nightmares, but she doesn't realize the monsters are real. When one attacks Jacob and drags him off, Kelly calls his regular babysitter, Liz, who comes to the rescue with her other charge strapped in a front pack! With the help of Mama Vee, Kelly's former babysitter,the Grand Guignol, aka The Bogeyman, and all of his evil hench monsters are put in their places!
Good Points
Liz is a great character, and I love that she bills herself as a "professional babysitter". Kelly doesn't understand this at first, but she certainly does later! Her Babysitter's Guide is filled with lots of descriptions of different monsters so that she can identify them, as well as the best way to battle them. She also carries a back pack full of objects that are made to look normal but are really monster fighting equipment.

The babysitter's have to battle an amazing array of monsters, from Toadies and Shadow Monsters to the apparition Cat Lady. The Bogeyman is quite scary and evil, and Liz has a long history with him that motivates her to do away with him once and for all. Because the organization is organized and effective, it changes the way that Kelly feels about being a babysitter.

Readers who like Lorey's Nightmare Academy, Coville's The Monsters of Morley Manor, Lubar's Monsterriffic Tales or Stine's Goosebumps books will enjoy following Kelly's adventures in babysitting, and may pick up a few points in case they are babysitters themselves!
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