Death By Babysitting

Nellie sucked in her breath. “You mean like somebody actually abandoned that baby and didn’t want to be traced?” How could anyone ever do that?

Book: Death By Babysitting by Susan Kimmel Wright, Herald Press, 1994

Genre: Mystery

Target Audience: Girls 14-18

Subjects: Responsibility, Abuse, Foster care/Adoption

Summary: Can too much stress kill a person? Well, if dealing with nine crying screaming babies isn’t enough to kill Nellie and Peggy, it’s certainly enough to make them so distracted they don’t even notice someone walk into the room to drop off another baby. The trouble is that the person who dropped the baby off never returned for them – at all! Even after being on the news for a few days the person never returned for their baby! Nellie and Peggy feel horrid, as if it’s their fault somehow. Surely there was some way they could have been more aware of what was going on in the room! So they set up out solve the mystery themselves. Well, Nellie sets out to do so and drags Peggy and their own friend Rick along with her. But when it is discovered the baby has been abused, Nellie starts to wonder if finding the original mother is such a good idea after all!

Notes: This book seems like a typical teen mystery case, but it tackles some serious issues. It deals with abortion, abandonment, abuse, and perspective towards life in general. In a discussion, some suggest that maybe if a baby is aborted, it was a better thing for it anyway than having to go through life with bad parents. Nellie, Peggy, and Rick have to not only think through what they believe about life, but how to get others to see the same thing. So hidden within the mystery and overly dramatic teenagers sagas is a real issue that teens need to think through carefully.

Recommendation Scale: 4/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Job 12:9-10 –Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.