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This article is about the original novel. For the Netflix episode, see Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (episode).

Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls is the second book in The Baby-Sitter's Club series by Ann M. Martin. The baby-sitters receive mysterious phone calls while babysitting, and Claudia is sure it's The Phantom Caller, a sneaky jewel thief. At the end, they discover that the mysterious caller is far from being the Phantom Caller.

Back Cover

Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey have had some strange adventures since they started the Baby-sifters Club. But nothing’s been as spooky as what's going on right now. The baby-sitters have been getting mysterious phone calls when they're out on their jobs. When a phone rings and they pick up, there's no one on the other end of the line.

Claudia's sure it's the Phantom Caller, a jewel thief who's been operating in the area. Claudia has always liked reading mysteries, but she doesn't like it when they happen to her. So she and the baby-sitters decide to take action — with some very mixed results!

Main Plot

Claudia has been read The Phantom of Pine Hill, the 42nd volume in the Nancy Drew series and very spooky according to Claudia. Mimi walks in to help Claudia with her homework, and Mimi tells Claudia about when she was a child in Japan. Claudia gets a phone call from Stacey McGill about phone calls for the BSC, and Claudia goes back to read The Phantom of Pine Hill.

At Kristy's house for the weekend, Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey are bored. Mary Anne has her glasses on and has a copy of the Stoneybrook News. She then spots that the Phantom Caller, the sneaky jewel thief that robbed homes in Mercer, is on a rampage to Stoneybrook! Claudia could not believe it. She was sitting for the Marshalls' then the phone started to ring, and when she called, the caller hanged up! Kristy then tells everyone that in 5th grade, her worst enemy, Alan Gray, pulled a prank on her, and Alan had a crush on her ever since. But, Claudia, still angry about the Phantom Caller, tells Kristy to start the first emergency meeting of the BSC, and Kristy agrees.

Subplot

The BSC is getting ready for the school dance and deciding if they should go or stay home. They wonder what to wear and who to ask. Claudia has her eyes on her recent crush, Trevor Sandbourne! Will he notice her?

Characters

Claudia's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Pre-teens

Teenagers

Adults

Locations

Pop Culture and Real-Life References

  • The Phantom of Pine Hill, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Secret Garden (books)
  • Smurfs
  • Peter Rabbit
  • Superman
  • Tarzan
  • The Muppet Show
  • Ramona Quimby
  • I Love Lucy
  • The Love Boat
  • The Wizard of Oz

Continuity and Inconsistencies

Continuity

Inconsistencies

Differences in the Reprints

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader letter

Dear Reader,

When I was young, my friends and I used to baby-sit a lot, and sometimes my best friend, Beth, and I would get scared when we were sitting at night. We thought we should develop a telephone code so that we could alert each other in case of trouble. The way the code was supposed to work was that if I sensed trouble I would call Beth, give her a code word, and then she would call the police for me. Of course, we never had a phantom phone caller like Claudia did, and we never had to use our code, but we had a lot of fun scaring ourselves. Later, when I began to write the second Baby-sitters Club book, I remembered my sitting adventures with Beth and used them to help tell the story.

It’s okay to be afraid when you’re baby-sitting at night. That’s natural. I know I was sometimes scared even when I didn’t need to be, and that was because I read a lot of mysteries, especially Nancy Drews, just like Claudia. Since I liked reading mysteries so much, I decided I would try to write one. So Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls became the first mystery in the Baby-sitters Club series. Several more followed, and they were so popular that soon we launched the Baby-sitters Club Mysteries.

Trivia

  • Kirsten Dunst, a famous actress, revealed in an interview that her first cover job was posing for the Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls book cover, when she was a little girl.[1]
  • Ann M. Martin said that she and her friend made the same secret code used in the book.[2]
  • On the dedication page it reads "This book is for Brenda Bowen and Jean Feiwel with gratitude."
  • Janine's IQ is revealed to be 196.
  • Claudia hasn't been doing any of her homework since school started.
  • Claudia thinks Sam is too old for Stacey.
  • It's only been 2 months since Stacey moved to Stoneybrook.
  • Mary Anne uses her reading glasses in this book.
  • Trevor is in Kristy's math class; he sits behind her and next to Alan.
  • Headlines Mary Anne reads from the paper includes: a fire at the mall, a sale at Taylor's, get a flu shot by November, and Angry Pig Goes Hog Wild, Depressed Trucker Drives Self Crazy, along with the phantom phone caller.
  • Jobs lined up but not seen: Claudia for the Marshalls, Claudia for the Willis', The Willis family is never seen, and they’re not mentioned again.
  • Watson just gave Karen the book "The Witch Next Door" which appears later in the series.
  • Mary Anne makes her own burglar alarm.
  • Sam went on a date to the movies with one of his classmates.
  • Halloween Hop dates include: Stacey and Pete, Kristy and Alan, Claudia and Trevor
  • Kristy threatened to punch the Feldmans
  • The BSC watches reruns of older shows late at night.
  • Janine hides candy in her room.

Alternative Covers



International Covers

Baby-Sitters Club Books
The Summer Before | #1 Kristy's Great Idea | #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls | #3 The Truth About Stacey | #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day | #5 Dawn and the Impossible Three | #6 Kristy's Big Day | #7 Claudia and Mean Janine | #8 Boy-Crazy Stacey | #9 The Ghost at Dawn's House | #10 Logan Likes Mary Anne! | #11 Kristy and the Snobs | #12 Claudia and the New Girl | #13 Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye | #14 Hello, Mallory | #15 Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn | #16 Jessi's Secret Language | #17 Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery | #18 Stacey's Mistake | #19 Claudia and the Bad Joke | #20 Kristy and the Walking Disaster | #21 Mallory and the Trouble with Twins | #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter | #23 Dawn on the Coast | #24 Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise | #25 Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger | #26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye | #27 Jessi and the Superbrat | #28 Welcome Back, Stacey! | #29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary | #30 Mary Anne and the Great Romance | #31 Dawn's Wicked Stepsister | #32 Kristy and the Secret of Susan | #33 Claudia and the Great Search | #34 Mary Anne and Too Many Boys | #35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook | #36 Jessi's Baby-Sitter | #37 Dawn and the Older Boy | #38 Kristy's Mystery Admirer | #39 Poor Mallory! | #40 Claudia and the Middle School Mystery | #41 Mary Anne vs. Logan | #42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom | #43 Stacey's Emergency | #44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover | #45 Kristy and the Baby Parade | #46 Mary Anne Misses Logan | #47 Mallory on Strike | #48 Jessi's Wish | #49 Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street | #50 Dawn's Big Date | #51 Stacey's Ex-Best Friend | #52 Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies | #53 Kristy for President | #54 Mallory and the Dream Horse | #55 Jessi's Gold Medal | #56 Keep Out, Claudia! | #57 Dawn Saves the Planet | #58 Stacey's Choice | #59 Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) | #60 Mary Anne's Makeover | #61 Jessi and the Awful Secret | #62 Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever | #63 Claudia's Freind Friend | #64 Dawn's Family Feud | #65 Stacey's Big Crush | #66 Maid Mary Anne | #67 Dawn's Big Move | #68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter | #69 Get Well Soon, Mallory! | #70 Stacey and the Cheerleaders | #71 Claudia and the Perfect Boy | #72 Dawn and the We Love Kids Club | #73 Mary Anne and Miss Priss | #74 Kristy and the Copycat | #75 Jessi's Horrible Prank | #76 Stacey's Lie | #77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever | #78 Claudia and Crazy Peaches | #79 Mary Anne Breaks the Rules | #80 Mallory Pike, No. 1 Fan | #81 Kristy and Mr. Mom | #82 Jessi and the Troublemaker | #83 Stacey vs. the BSC | #84 Dawn and the School Spirit War | #85 Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO! | #86 Mary Anne and Camp BSC | #87 Stacey and the Bad Girls | #88 Farewell, Dawn | #89 Kristy and the Dirty Diapers | #90 Welcome to the BSC, Abby! | #91 Claudia and the First Thanksgiving | #92 Mallory's Christmas Wish | #93 Mary Anne and the Memory Garden | #94 Stacey McGill, Super Sitter | #95 Kristy + Bart = ? | #96 Abby's Lucky Thirteen | #97 Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby | #98 Dawn and Too Many Sitters | #99 Stacey's Broken Heart | #100 Kristy's Worst Idea | #101 Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout | #102 Mary Anne and the Little Princess | #103 Happy Holidays, Jessi | #104 Abby's Twin | #105 Stacey the Math Whiz | #106 Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade | #107 Mind Your Own Business, Kristy! | #108 Don't Give Up, Mallory! | #109 Mary Anne to the Rescue | #110 Abby the Bad Sport | #111 Stacey's Secret Friend | #112 Kristy and the Sister War | #113 Claudia Makes Up Her Mind | #114 The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier | #115 Jessi's Big Break | #116 Abby and the Best Kid Ever | #117 Claudia and the Terrible Truth | #118 Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer | #119 Stacey's Ex-Boyfriend | #120 Mary Anne and the Playground Fight | #121 Abby in Wonderland | #122 Kristy in Charge | #123 Claudia's Big Party | #124 Stacey McGill... Matchmaker? | #125 Mary Anne in the Middle | #126 The All-New Mallory Pike | #127 Abby's Un-Valentine | #128 Claudia and the Little Liar | #129 Kristy at Bat | #130 Stacey's Movie | #131 The Fire at Mary Anne's House
Super Specials
#1 Baby-sitters on Board! | #2 Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation | #3 Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation | #4 Baby-sitters' Island Adventure | #5 California Girls! | #6 New York, New York! | #7 Snowbound | #8 Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake | #9 Starring the Baby-sitters Club #10 Sea City, Here We Come! | #11 The Baby-sitters Remember | #12 Here Come the Bridesmaids! | #13 Aloha, Baby-sitters! | #14 BSC in the USA | #15 Baby-sitters' European Vacation
Portrait Collection
Stacey's Book | Claudia's Book | Dawn's Book | Mary Anne's Book | Kristy's Book | Abby's Book
Other
The Baby-Sitters Club Notebook (1987) | The Baby-Sitters Club Postcard Book (1991) | Trivia & Puzzle Fun Book (1992) | Ann M. Martin: The Story of the author of the Baby-sitters Club (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Guide to Babysitting (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Chain Letter (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Secret Santa (1994) | Audio Books on Cassette Tape (1994-5) | BSC Movie Novelization (1995) | The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club (1996) | Autograph Book (1998) | BSC Graphic Novels (2006-present) | We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers (2021) | Welcome to Stoneybrook: A Guided Journal (2021) | The Official Coloring Book (2023)




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