babysittersclub - Profile (original) (raw)
on 1 March 2002 (#483705)
Stoneybrook, Connecticut, United States
About // Rules // FAQ // Timeline // Obtaining Books // Links // Thanks // Miscellaneous
About
babysittersclub is the place to talk about all things BSC. Got a question? We'll be glad to answer it! Have a memory? Share it with us!
This community is open for discussion of basically anything BSC-related: the books, the movie, the TV show, the book spinoffs (Little Sister, California Diaries), Ann M. Martin's other work, the memorabilia.. as long as it has to do with the Baby-sitters Club (or Ms. Martin), then it's up for discussion here!
We're a fun, easy-going group of people always ready to chat. Don't be shy, come on in and say hello to your friends!
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Rules
- We are a very open-minded group of people, and we discuss many random topics about the BSC. Please treat the opinions of others with respect and maturity. Friendly debate is allowed, but please no flaming.
- Community/website promotion is allowed, provided that your community/website is somehow related to the Baby-sitters Club. And please, no spamming the community with ads. If you have an ad on the first page, then there's no need to post again.
- Pictures and icons are welcome, but in the cases of many icons or large pictures, please use an lj-cut.
- When a quiz is posted, please post results in the comments of that entry. We don't need a community full of quizzies!
- Please make sure to read at least the last page of entries, just to make sure your topic hasn't been discussed recently. If it has, someone will kindly point you in the direction of the post. Also, please read the FAQ, as it might answer some questions we get all the time.
- Please, no screening comments on posts you make. It defeats the purpose of the community. Any entries made with the "screen comments" enabled will be deleted.
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FAQs
What happened to Dawn?
Dawn moved back to Palo City, California in book #88 - Farewell, Dawn, to live with her father, his wife, and her brother Jeff. (In the California Diaries series, her half-sister is born.) She does make a few guest appearances throughout the rest of the Baby-sitters Club series, though.
Who is Abby?
Abigail Stevenson moved from Long Island, New York, to Kristy's neighbourhood in Stoneybrook in book #89 - Kristy and the Dirty Diapers. She lives with her mother and identical twin sister, Anna. Her father died in a car accident when the twins were 9. Abby suffers from allergies and asthma, she's Jewish, soccer is her life and she has an odd sense of humour. Both her and her sister were asked to join the Baby-sitters Club, but Anna declined as she wanted to spend more time on her violin.
Why did Ann M. Martin stop writing Baby-sitters Club books?
From her page on the Scholastic website: "It was with mixed emotions that I realized that the time had come for the BSC members to graduate from middle school, and for me to explore new creative writing challenges. I love the projects I’ve taken on, but I admit that there are still times when I miss writing about the adventures of the baby-sitters!"
Did the Baby-sitters Club ever age?
The girls started out the series at age 12 and in the seventh grade. Within the first ten books of the series, the girls then are age 13 and in the eighth grade and stay that way throughout the series. However, in the final Friends Forever book, Graduation Day, the girls finally finish middle school.
How many Baby-sitters Club books are there?
The original BSC series goes to book 131, with 36 Mysteries, 15 Super Specials, 6 Portrait Collections, 4 Super Mysteries, 3 Reader Requests, 2 hard-cover letter-style books. Also, there were 12 Friends Forever books, and 2 Friends Forever Specials.
What is Friends Forever?
Friends Forever is the series that started after the last BSC book. It dealt with a scaled-down version of the Baby-sitters Club (only the original four members remained) and focused more on the lives of the girls. Many fans agree that it isn't as good as the original BSC series.
What were the Baby-sitters Club spinoffs?
Baby-sitters Little Sister were books aimed at a younger audience. They focused on the adventures of Krsity's step-sister, Karen Brewer. There were 122 Little Sister books, and 6 Little Sister Super Specials.
The California Diaries series was introduced after Dawn moved back to California, and is about Dawn and her friends. They were aimed at an older audience, and written in diary form, in 'handwriting'. There were 15 California Diaries books.
Also, the Little Sister series spawned a spinoff of it's own, The Kids In Ms. Colman's Class. Ms. Colman was Karen's second-grade teacher, and this series focused on her classmates. There were 12 books in this series.
What's this I hear about ghostwriters?
It's true, Ann M. Martin did not write every Baby-sitters Club book. Ms. Martin would write detailed outlines for each book, and then go over the final product, but a vast majority of the books were written by other authors. Ms. Martin thanks the writer at the beginning of the book ("The author gratefully acknowledges [name] for their assistance in preparing this manuscript.") and at the end of Graduation Day, she lists all the people who "gave the Baby-sitters Club a voice."
Can you explain the new and old covers?
The old, or original covers, went up to #88 - Farewell, Dawn. From books #89 on, a newer stlye was used on the covers. Also, all the books released prior to the new cover were given a makeover, and re-released with the newer covers. Also with the newer covers, there were extra pages at the back of the books that included a letter from Ms. Martin, pictures of the narrator, and fill-in pages about that book. Below, both are the covers for #1 - Kristy's Great Idea. Old on left, new on right.
Wasn't there a TV show?
Yes. The TV show was aired on the Disney Channel, between 1990 and 1993. It was the best representation of the books. The TV.com listing can be found here.
And a movie?
The movie was released in 1995, starring Rachael Leigh Cook as Mary Anne, Schuyler Fisk as Kristy, and Larisa Oleynik as Dawn, just to name a few. Though the central plot was pretty BSC-ish, to the hardcore Baby-sitters Club fan it just wasn't BSC enough. The IMDb listing can be found here.
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Timeline
1 - The Baby-sitters Club is formed. The members are Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi and Stacey McGill.
4 - Dawn Schafer joins the BSC.
6 - Kristy's mother marries Watson Brewer, and Kristy's family moves into Watson's mansion across town.
10 - Logan Bruno become the first associate member of the Baby-sitters Club.
11 - Shannon Kilbourne joins the BSC as the second associate member.
13 - Stacey moves back to New York with her family.
14 - Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey join the Baby-sitters Club as junior members.
15 - Dawn's brother Jeff moves back to California.
20 - Kristy starts a softball team, Kristy's Krushers, for kids that can't get into Little League. She also gets a crush on Bart Taylor, the coah of the rival team.
24 - Kristy's family adopts a Vietnamese girl, Emily Michelle.
26 - Claudia's grandmother Mimi dies.
28 - Stacey's parents get a divorce, and Stacey and her mother move back to Stoneybrook.
30 - Mary Anne's father and Dawn's mother get married.
31 - Mary Anne and her father move into Dawn's house.
36 - Jessi's Aunt Cecelia moves in with the Ramseys.
38 - Bart sends Kristy love letters.
41 - Mary Anne and Logan break up.
46 - Mary Anne and Logan get back together.
M5 - Mary Anne finds out that she lived with her grandparents for a year after her mother died.
60 - Mary Anne gets a hair cut and changes her style.
67 - Dawn decides to move to California for 6 months.
69 - Mallory comes down with mono.
70 - Stacey begins dating Robert Brewster.
72 - Dawn's father proposes to Carol Olson, which freaks Dawn out. She flies back to Stoneybrook without telling anyone, but her mother sends her back to California the next day.
76 - Stacey learns that her father is dating Samantha Young.
SS12 - Dawn's father marries Carol.
81 - Dawn returns to Stoneybrook.
83 - Stacey quits/is kicked out of the BSC.
87 - Stacey re-joins the Baby-sitters Club on probation.
88 - Dawn moves back to California for good.
89 - Abby Stevenson is asked to join the Baby-sitters Club.
95 - Kristy and Bart break off whatever relationship they have.
96 - Abby and her twin sister Anna celebrate their Bat Mitzvah.
97 - Claudia's Aunt Peaches gives birth to a baby girl, whom she names Lynn.
99 - Stacey and Robert break up.
100 - The Baby-sitters Club is on the verge of a break-up, and all the members are on probation.
101 - Claudia is put back into seventh grade.
106 - Claudia begins to date Mark Jaffe.
CD1 - Dawn's stepmother Carol learns that she is pregnant.
113 - Claudia and Mark break up, and she begins to date Josh Rocker. Claudia is also able to move back to eighth grade.
CD7 - Dawn's half-sister, Elizabeth Grace, is born.
M36 - The members of the Baby-sitters Club decide to stop solving mysteries.
126 - Mallory moves to boarding school in Massachusetts.
128 - Claudia and Josh decide to be just friends.
131 - Mary Anne's house burns down.
FFSpecial1 - Jessi, Abby, Logan and Shannon all quit the Baby-sitters Club. Stacey's father wants Samantha to move into his apartment.
FF1 - Kristy and her older brothers go to California for their father's wedding.
FF2 - Stacey begins dating Jeremy, and Claudia gets mad at her.
FF3 - Mary Anne and Logan break up.
FF7 - Stacey and Jeremy break up, and Claudia begins to date Alan Gray.
FF10 - Stacey lerns her father is getting remarried to Samantha.
FF11 - Mary Anne and her family move into their new home, the renovated barn.
FFSpecial2 - The members of the Baby-sitters Club finally graduate grade eight.
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Books
Completing your BSC collection is a big task, luckily there are many resources to help.
- eBay is the best place to start, as there are usually large lots of books that don't cost too much. However, finding the higher numbers or specific books can be a task.
- Amazon has used books, which is great to get specific numbers. Unfortunately the shipping can be a little pricey.
- If you're looking to get rid of some of your doubles, try bsc_trade. It's also a good place to browse what other people have, or advertise what books you need.
- Signing up for sites like BookMooch or PaperBackSwap helps to find books you're looking for (and clear out your doubles!)
- Going to used book stores, thrift shops, garage sales, etc. are great ways to find books, and cheap.
- Giving a list of what books you need to family or friends is a great help, so they can keep their eyes open if they come across these books.
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Links
Information
- Ann M. Martin on Scholastic.com
- Raina Telgemeier
- The Baby-sitters Club Companion
- Stoneybrookite
- Dibbly-Fresh Gallery
- BSC Wikipedia
- Say Hullo!
- U & Me 4 BSC
- Mocking the BSC - Cover to Cover
Communities
- BSC Trade (bsc_trade)
- BSC Icons (bsc_icons)
- BSC Snark (bsc_snark)
- California Diaries (cd_discussion)
- Main Street(camdenfalls)
Fan Fiction
- Baby-sitters Club on FanFiction.net
- BSC Fanfiction (bsc_fanfiction)
- BSC Femmeslash (bsclove)
- BSC Slash Fic (bscslashfic)
RPG
- Stoneybrook Live (stoneybrooklive)
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Thanks
Special thanks to the following people for the help they've given:
- BSC fonts are from the Clubhouse Activity Centre.
- Layout: "Your Biggest Flan" from thefulcrum.
- The community icon and header were made by 
chicken_queen.
- Most importantly, thanks to the community members for making babysittersclub a fun place to keep the BSC alive, and BIG thanks to Ann M. Martin for creating such a wonderful cast of characters.
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Miscellaneous
- If you are unsure how to join babysittersclub, log in and click here.
- To post in babysittersclub, go to the update journal page. After typing out your post, beside the "Update Journal" button there is a pull-down menu that says "Post to:" Select 'babysittersclub', click the "Update Journal" button, and voila! (Please note: You must be a member to post.)
- This community is maintained and moderated by chicken_queen. To contact the mod, email chicken_queen@hotmail.com.
abby stevenson, avriel hillman, baby sitters club, baby-sitter's little sister, baby-sitters club, babysitters club, bre blair, bsc, california diaries, claudia kishi, dawn schafer, friends forever, jeni f. winslow, jessi ramsey, jessica prunell, kid kits, kristy thomas, kristy's krushers, larisa oleynik, little sister, logan bruno, mallory pike, mary anne spier, meghan andrews, meghan lahey, melissa chasse, mysteries, nicole leach, rachael leigh cook, record book, scholastic, schuyler fisk, shannon kilbourne, stacey mcgill, stacy linn ramsower, stoneybrook, super mysteries, super specials, tricia joe, zelda harris