Normally on a Tuesday, I’d be doing the Top Ten Tuesday prompt from The Artsy Reader Girl but today I’m sharing my top ten favorite Baby-Sitters Club books of all time. The show is coming SO soon, this July, AND the teaser trailer got me so excited. I grew up on these books – my aunt, who is a mere six years older than me, passed along her Baby-Sitters Club books to me when I was super young (along with her Sweet Valley books too) and then I added to that collection as I got older and more and more books came out. I still own all of those, original 80s covers and all, and I credit those books a lot for my love of reading AND my love of writing. My first attempts at novels when I was 13/14 were just basically BSB fan fiction.
But there’s going to be a show SO soon on Netflix and the nostalgia is coming back HARDCORE. Check out the teaser trailer –
Its going to be so so so so so great and I’m HERE for it.
Here’s a little nostalgia – I was able to meet Ann M Martin back in 2014 at ALA Conference in Las Vegas and it truly was one of the best moments EVER.
So here are my top ten BSB books of all time. I did include a few of the super specials and mysteries but it was kind of hard because those are my favorites! Let’s do this!
Little Miss Stonybrook…and Dawn!
I always like books that include the Pike family and I loved that the least likely of all of their charges – Claire and Margo – participate in the little beauty pageant and its just hilarious. Its one of the books that I remember the most.
Mallory and the Trouble with the Twins
I always love twin stories and this one wasn’t any different. I love that the twins start out as these total brats but honestly, they just want to be individuals with their own interests and Mallory helps them find that. Such a great book.
Keep Out, Claudia!
I loved that these books often dealt with really important things – like racism. The fact that this book focuses on a family that has no interest in Claudia or Jessi babysitting for them and the BSB having to deal with that – that was a hardcore book for me when I was young and I appreciate that.
Mary Anne Saves the Day
Mary Anne was my favorite babysitter and probably totally still is. I loved this book because I think this is where she becomes more than just Kristy’s shy best friend. She becomes more confident and it really sets up what makes her awesome.
The Truth About Stacy
I’m not sure why Stacey having diabetes was so…memorable to me as a young kid but I know why it means a lot to me now – I am diabetic. And I feel like I was less scared and kind of already informed when I was diagnosed because of Stacey’s stories in the BSB series. So it remains one of my favorites for sure.
Kristy and the Walking Disaster
Let’s be real – this is probably where my love of baseball fiction started LOL and baseball romance! Oh, Bart Taylor. Plus Jackie is easily one of the best characters in the BSB universe.
Poor Mallory!
I remember relating to this book SO much. I’m a lot like Mallory – the oldest in a big family, wants to be a writer, grew up being responsible for her siblings a lot. Then Mallory’s dad loses his job and the Pikes have to deal with that and I feel that so much – being poor with a big family is HARD. Another book that delves into a touchy subject, written for kids.
Dawn and the Big Sleepover
I remember reading this one a lot because its just so fun. It doesn’t really touch on a harder subject – I guess the fact that they’re raising money for another school? But it was just fun, this big sleepover that turns into a sort of disaster but still fun. I love it.
Starring the Baby-Sitters Club!
It is so hard to choose from the Super Specials – they’re awesome because you get SO many points of view. But I do super love this one. I love Peter Pan and I love the absolute drama of putting on this play and I love that some people get bigger roles than they wanted and some get smaller roles than what they wanted and its just so so fun.
California Girls!
Of course I had to include this one! I’m a California girl. The concept is insane – they win money from the lottery and decide to go to California and its just hilarious. Mallory decides she wants to be a Cali girl and dies her beautiful red hair blonde, they go to Disneyland and Universal Studios and…yeah I totally love this one.
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