The Babysitter’s Club BSC Forever : Everything Changes by Ann Martin

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I’m obsessed with The Babysitter’s Club series. When I was a little girl, I thought they were the coolest books ever. I always look for the old books when I’m in a thrift shop. The series has been republished but I like the old books from my childhood. I have a big collection of Babysitters Club books and I hope to collect them all. I haven’t read all of them yet.

The BSC Forever series is a spinoff of The Babysitter’s Club which focuses more on the girls rather than babysitting. This series also concludes The Babysitter’s Club story, with the girls moving on to high school having other interests. This book is a special edition where there are several story lines, told in letter, email and diary format by different characters.

The book is set during summer vacation and the girls don’t babysit in this book. Kristy is at summer camp, Maryanne is at home, Claudia goes to Monhegan island with her family and Stacey goes to New York to spend time with her dad. The other babysitter club members are mentioned but don’t feature much in this book.

I don’t think this special was as good as others in the series. The characters usually are more connected and communicate with each other more. In this book, the characters mostly interact with their closest friends rather than as a whole group.

Kristy

Kristy’s story was mostly told through diary format and letters. I didn’t like the diary format because of the abbreviations. In a diary, Kristy abbreviates her friends names and as A. for Abby, MA for Maryanne. I understand that it makes the diary entries more authentic because diaries entries are meant to be a stream of thoughts. You might shorten things to save time or use code words for secrecy.

Kristy’s storyline was about her dismay about The Babysitters Club falling apart. In the book, several characters want to pull out of The Babysitter’s Club to focus on other interests.

Claudia

The story I did enjoy was Claudia visiting Monhegan island with her family. Monhegan Island is located near Maine. It’s a small little island know for its artists colonies and fishing. I liked reading the descriptions of the island and how Claudia was enjoying hiking, painting, and drawing.

Stacey

Stacey is New York to spend time with her father as her parents are divorced. She’s 13 and dating someone who is 15. The dad doesn’t like the age difference and her father doesn’t want her to spend too much time with him. I thought there would be more fighting about this but Stacey handles it maturely.

Maryanne

Maryanne is living with her family in a temporary place since their house burnt down. Her grandmother comes to stay with the family. Maryanne is also feeling smothered by her boyfriend Logan for trying to support her.  It was a little tedious reading Maryanne’s storyline. Maryanne is a very timid character, and she doesn’t resolve anything by the end of the book.

Mary Anne and the Memory Garden by Ann M. Martin

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The Babysitters Club is a series of books about a group of girls who babysit. It was published in 1986-2000 and there are over 100 books, including spin offs of the original series and film and television adaptations. The Babysitters Club books follow the lives of the girls. They have normal issues like friendship dramas, romances, worrying about school and babysitting. There are also books which feature more sensitive or heavier themes or topics. For example, there are books on racism, ableism, dealing with medical issues such as diabetes and asthma.

This book was written in response to fans writing to Ann. Martin about how to deal with losing people and drink driving. I think Ms. Martin handles the matter sensitively in a way that will engage with young readers. 

In this book, Mary Anne grieves over her friend Amelia, who died in a car crash. Amelia’s family was driving home and hit by a drunk driver. Mary Anne becomes overwhelmed and unsure what to do. Fortunately, she goes to a therapist to help her cope. I liked how the books illustrated grief and that Mary Anne recognized that she needed more help.

The Babysitters grieve in their own way. Kristy is overwhelmed and channels her grief in starting a chapter of the organization called Students Against Drunk Drivers which is a real organization. The organization was started in 1986 but is now called Students against destructive decisions https://www.sadd.org/ .

I have been a fan of The Babysitter’s Club since I was a child. I’ve been collecting the books and this was the first time I read this story. Reading these books makes me nostalgic. The book that I have is second hand and there is a little page there is a little questionnaire page that readers can fill out. The page had been filled out by an eleven-year-old girl named Johanna in 1996. I hope she enjoyed the book as much as I did. 

Mind your own business Kristy! by Ann Martin

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My guilty pleasure reads are reading The Babysitters’ Club by Ann Martin. There are hundreds of books in the series, I’m not sure how many exactly. It’s a teen series from the late 80s to early 2000s about a group of girls who babysit in their neighbourhood. I started reading them in my teenage years and I still collect them to this day.

In this book, Kristy decides to host a softball clinic for her softball team, Kristy’s Krushers during spring break. The team consists of some of her babysitting charges who are too young to be in Little League. Kristy’s brother Charlie volunteers to help her out.

Kristy becomes envious of Charlie because he’s able to coach the children better than her. Her relationship is further strained when Charlie gets into a relationship with a new girl named Angelica and begins to shirk his responsibilities with the clinic. Kristy feels that Angelica is wrong for her brother and does what she can to break them up.

I wanted the story to go in a different direction than it did. Kristy took an instant dislike to Angelica without getting to know her. In every book, there’s some lesson that the reader can take away. I thought it was going to be that you shouldn’t be quick to judge other people. I thought that Kristy would learn to let her brother go and accept that he’s going to get into relationships. Kristy has abandonment issues after her father walked out on the family. It is a topic that is broached in this book.

I could see that Angelica was going to be the villain because she’s seventeen and smokes. In a wholesome books series like The Babysitters’ Club it means you’re a bad kid. I don’t approve of young people smoking but I don’t think that smoking means you are bad person.

I thought this book was a little bit more negative than the other books in the series but it’s obvious from the title. I find most of The Babysitters’ Clubs books in thrift stores, but you can now buy them new as they have reprinted them again in bookstores.

Dawn and the Surfer Ghost by Ann Martin

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The Babysitters’ Club was a book series for teen girls, written in late 80s and finishing in early 2000s. There are more than a hundred books in the series as well as spin off series. I loved reading the Babysitters’ Club books when I was younger and have been collecting them for a while now. I have about eighty books so far. I look for the books when I go to thrift stores and markets. They now reprinted the first four books, so some are available in department stores, but I like the old ones. I haven’t read all the books yet in the series.

Dawn and the Surfer Ghost is a book no.12 in the mystery series spinoff. The books are standalone and feature one of the babysitters’ trying to solve a mystery. The mysteries are lightweight stuff like Scooby Doo mysteries as it is a book series for kids.

There are seven babysitters in the series and the books focus on one of their viewpoints per book. This one is on Dawn Schafer, the environmental, vegetarian peace-loving babysitter. (There’s a different babysitter for every taste). Dawn has moved away from Connecticut where the other babysitters are, to live with her dad and her brother Jeff in California.

She attends surf lessons with her friend Sunny and participates as a volunteer for children’s program at the beach. A big surfing competition comes up and Dawn enters it in the beginner’s category.  One day, the best surfer on the beach goes missing. Some people think he’s dead others think he’s skipped town. Dawn is on the case to find the missing surfer.

This mystery wasn’t as good as the other ones I have read in the series. I feel that she didn’t really do any sleuthing at all. There were hardly any clues, no following leads or false accusations, no mysterious calls telling her to quit investigating like the other mysteries. It all came together in the end when she got a hunch.

What I enjoyed the most was the nostalgia from reading it. It is why I read the books.  The book was printed in 1993. It was amusing how Dawn explains what a smoothie is and there’s lots of cringeworthy surfer lingo. I can picture this book as something from one of those made for tv movies when the characters go on vacation. I think my thirteen-year-old self would have liked this book and not noticed any of the shortcomings. 

Stacey and the Mystery at the Empty House by Ann M. Martin- Review by Carlyn

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I’m crazy about The Babysitters Club series. It’s a series from the late 80s to the 90s, about seven girls who babysit. I’ve blogged about the series before which you can find in the book review section. Each book features one of the girls and this book is about Stacey McGill. Stacey McGill is a thirteen year old girl who lives in a fictional town called Stoneybrook in Connecticut. She loves dressing outlandishly and looking after children.

This book is part of the mystery spin off books from The Babysitters Club series. The mysteries are lightweight cases, such as dognapping and jewelry heists as it is a children’s book series.  In this one, Stacey is asked to housesit for a family she babysits regularly. They ask her to collect the mail and feed the dog while they go on vacation. While housesitting, Stacey notices that some things in the house are out of order.  A vase that she broke has mysteriously been fixed and a glass that she didn’t use is in the sink. Stacey and her friends think that there might be an intruder in the house. They think it is the escaped convict that has been sighted in Stoneybrook.

There’s also a secondary plot about the babysitters organizing a sleigh ride for their charges for Christmas. They all worry about whether it will snow in time for the sleigh ride. The babysitters are always organizing special event for their children. The children are lucky to have such dedicated babysitters. They do talent shows, sleepovers, plays, sailing and baseball.

I felt that this book was the weakest mystery Babysitter Club book I have read yet. The ending was lame. Normally, the girls do some detective work and then call the police and present their findings. This time around, it all turns out to be a misunderstanding and the girls don’t even solve the case. The family who Stacey house sat for make their explanations. Maybe Ann Martin didn’t want anything dark for Christmas. So it was a disappointing read. There were still some good points in the story. The children they babysit for thanked them for their hard work and dedication. I thought that was sweet and it’s nice that the kids recognized that the girls do a lot for them. 

Stacey and the Bad Girls by Ann M. Martin- Review by Carlyn

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*Spoilers included*

Stacey has quit the Babysitters Club. She’s no longer friends with the members of the club and prefers to hang out with her new friends and boyfriend. It’s summer and Stacey suddenly finds that she has more free time as she use to babysit on a weekly basis. She spends her time with her new friends, listening to their favourite band U4Me and munching on snacks. Stacey’s mum gets sick of Stacey and her friends making a mess of the house and eating all the food so she tells Stacey that she must get a summer job. So, Stacey gets a job working as a child minder for Bellair’s which is a department store.

Stacey is really good at her job thanks to all her babysitting experience. Her new friends meet her every day after work and they spend time at the mall. Stacey loves her new friends as they are into fashion and obsessed with U4Me too. However, Stacey discovers that her friends are into shoplifting and drinking alcohol. Stacey doesn’t know what to do, the girls are all thirteen years old and without them she would be all alone.

It was interesting reading this book where the Babysitters Club is at odds with each other. There have been fights in other books but that usually gets resolved by the end of the story. There was some lead up to Stacey leaving the group in previous books, where she is unhappy with babysitting all the time and wanting to do other things. The Babysitters Club involves a lot of dedication from its members. The girls have meetings three times a week and babysit on a weekly basis. That’s a lot work for thirteen year olds so I can understand why Stacey would want to quit. As a crusty old person, I feel that the whole issue could have easily been resolved if the girls had an honest chat instead of a screaming match. Stacey could have asked to do less babysitting or take some time off or leave the group but still remain friends with the other girls. However, I know without all that fuss there would be no story.

Obviously, the Babysitter girls reconcile with Stacey, she loses her bad girl friends and she rejoins the club. Stacey is one of the main characters of the Babysitters Club after all.  I also get the feeling that Stacey could have been very happy without the Babysitters Club if she found the right friends too. While the girls reconcile, they don’t resolve the issues that caused Stacey to leave the club. Stacey just apologizes and tells them she’ll work her personal life around babysitting. I felt the other girls should have apologized as well for their part but they believe that only Stacey is wrong.

There is also a secondary plot in the novel about Mary Anne and Dawn who are babysitting their cousin Amy. Amy’s parents have gone to London for a holiday and leave Amy behind. The girls have so many fun plans for Amy but Amy spends her time crying because she misses her parents. One day, the girls play hide and seek with Amy and I wasn’t surprised that Amy used that time to run away. Fortunately, Stacey finds her while working at the department store and calls Mary Anne and Dawn. The event leads the way to Stacey rejoining the Babysitters Club.

I liked this book as it was interesting to see what would happen if one of the girls quit the club.  I wish it had been a more positive book and that Stacey’s new friends weren’t bad girls but just different girls. There is also a spin off series that looks into life without the Babysitters Club called California Girls which features Dawn. Dawn hasn’t quit the Babysitters Club but she moves to California to live with her dad for a while. The focus of California Girls is less on babysitting and more on teenaged life. It also has a more mature feel than the Babysitters Club books. 

Jessi and the Troublemaker by Ann M. Martin - Review by Carlyn

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For those new to the blog, I collect Babysitter Club books for the nostalgia. In this book, eleven year old Jessi Ramsey babysits Danielle. Danielle is a character from a previous book. She had cancer but is now in remission. After being sick for so long, Danielle engages in reckless behaviour as she is eager to get into all the fun she missed. The babysitters think that Danielle is out of control and wonder whether they should tell her parents.

The Babysitter book series features seven babysitters who all have their own distinct personality and each book focuses on one of the girls. Jessi is supposed to have a special bond with Danielle yet she doesn’t use her influence to talk to Danielle at all. Whenever an incident happened with Danielle, the babysitters just patiently told them to clean up whatever mess Danielle and her friends made. The girls eventually do say something to the parents but the parents are unfazed. Everyone is so happy that Danielle is in remission that they let her get away with things.

In fairness, I understand the babysitters’ hesitancy because they are still children themselves. The babysitters are aged between 11-13 years. In our time, most people wouldn’t leave children between those ages in charge of other children. The books were written in late 80s-90s where children had a lot more freedom.

It is not until Danielle does something that gets people hurt that her parents finally see she needs boundaries.  Danielle’s friends hate her afterwards because they get in trouble too. The kid logic was amusing to read, as the kids thought Danielle should be the only one in trouble because it was her idea. I used to have the same logic when I was a kid. I did not understand that if you went along with something, you were just as guilty too. So one of the babysitters pointed out what all parents say, which is “If your friend jumped off a bridge would you do it too?” Then everything is resolved.

There’s also a second story involving Jessi’s aunt. Jessi and her sister Becca eavesdrop on their aunt and think she’s going to get remarried. They think their aunt is going to have a surprise wedding so they plan their outfits and buy a present in preparation. I thought that subplot was cute and something out of an 80s sitcom.

This book was not one of my favourites out of the series. It was alright. What I did like was that it was nice to have a character from a previous book return. There are some books in the series which have special themes or issues such as diabetes, cancer, racism, death etc and this book is one of their special themed books. Mostly characters in these books are never mentioned again so I was surprised to see this book. 

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.

                                                                             

The Babysitters club: Mary Anne and Miss Priss by Ann M. Martin-Review by Carlyn

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The Babysitters club is a book series from the late 80s-2000 about a group of girls who babysit. The books focus on the point of view of one of the girls per book. There are seven girls in the babysitters club. Kristy is the leader who is bossy and outgoing, Mary Anne is the shy quiet one, Claudia is the artist of the group, Stacey is sophisticated and fashionable, Dawn is the flower child, Jessi is the graceful one and Mallory is an aspiring writer. Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey and Dawn are thirteen years old while Jessi and Mallory are eleven. Maybe back in those days, it was fine to have kids babysit other kids. I imagine children their age would actually have their own babysitter nowadays.

 I have loved this series since I was a little girl. I am trying to get the whole collection which will take me some time as there are 131 regular books as well as special editions and spinoffs. It’s easy to find babysitter books as many of them are in second hand shops. The books are all numbered but you can start from any book as the first chapter always explains the series. The book that I am reviewing is 73. Currently I have 32 regular books and 18 special edition ones. I haven’t even read all the ones in my collection either but I am working on it. There are new editions of this series but I like to get the old ones from when I was growing up.

In this book, Mary Anne is asked to babysit four year old Jenny Prezzioso on a regular basis. Jenny is a finicky child who is afraid of getting dirty. She alienates herself from other kids, after refusing to play with them in fear of staining her nice clothes. Mary Anne worries about Jenny but doesn’t want to pry into Jenny’s family life.

There is also a subplot involving Mallory who feels frustrated in having to babysit her siblings all the time. Her ten year old triplet brothers feel too old for a babysitter. They form a kickball team with the other kids in the neighbourhood. It doesn’t work out well for them but they are too proud to ask for help.

I thought this Babysitters book was alright. It isn’t one of my favourites from the series. I thought the issue with Jenny wasn’t really resolved, she just suddenly snapped out of it at the end.  The reason for Jenny’s behaviour was to get attention from her parents. She tried to be the perfect child for them. Her behaviour is discussed by Mary Anne and Jenny’s parents but they say that are too busy to give the attention.

As for the subplot, I can sympathize with the triplets as they are only a year younger than Mallory. Reading about the kickball team reminded me of my own childhood. While I didn’t play kickball at home, I use to play cricket with the other kids in the neighborhood. I remember some of the arguments over getting out or fetching a ball which was featured in this book as well.

Have you read The Babysitters Club before? Who is your favourite babysitter?