Stacey vs the BSC by Ann M. Martin - Review by Carlyn

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I’ve been collecting Babysitters Club books for some time now. I still haven’t read all of them nor do I have the entire collection. When I was little, I use to flick through them whenever I visited the library. I was too young to read them but I couldn’t wait to read them when I got older. I read these books for the nostalgia as it’s all in the 80s and 90s which was when I was growing up. It’s not quality writing but it’s entertaining.

The Babysitters Club series is about a bunch of teenage girls who babysit. The club is well organized with a club president, secretary, treasurer and alternate officers. The books focus on one girl in each book. Stacey vs the BSC is obviously about the babysitter named Stacey. Stacey is 13 years old, who loves fashion, boys and babysitting. She use to live in New York City but moved to the fictional town of Stoneybrook after her parents divorced.

Stacey made friends with members of the Babysitters Club and joined it as the treasurer of the club. As Stacey became more acquainted with life in Stoneybrook, she begins to make new friends and gets a boyfriend. Suddenly, she starts skipping club meetings and cancelling babysitting. She wants to hang out with her new friends much to the disapproval of the Babysitters Club.

I had some sympathy with Stacey in this book. Adolescence is a volatile time and it’s only natural for people to go through phases and meet new people.  In the book, Stacey’s has a hard time trying to balance BSC duties with hanging out with new friends. The girls have meetings three times a week and babysit regularly which is a lot for a thirteen year old girl. I can understand how Stacey would want to experience more and have fewer responsibilities.

Another issue I could relate to is losing a friend when they get a new boyfriend/girlfriend. I understand that they are so in love that they want to spend all their time together that they neglect their friends. I’ve heard of cases where girls break up with their boyfriends only to find that they have no friends anymore. The friends stop inviting them to things because they usually are too busy with their special someone.  

It was also interesting to see the Babysitters Club in a different light as Stacey became embarrassed by them when comparing them to her new friends. Some of her new friends are more fashionable and sophisticated than the BSC members.

It was easy to see that it all wasn’t going to end well. Resentment brewed between the club members and Stacey.  I think it could have all been resolved had they had an honest conversation instead of giving looks and terse remarks. What was interesting about this book was that the storyline continued in other books. Usually, issues are resolved by the end of the book and hardly ever mentioned again.   In the end, I know that the Babysitters Club will win out because Stacey is a key member.