I have probably mentioned before on this blog that I was a huge fan of the Babysitters Club series when I was younger. I started off with the Little Sister series (with Karen Brewster, GEEZ she was annoying) and then graduated on to the oh-so-grown-up BSC series. Although I was most like Mary Anne - without the overbearing father, but with all the shyness, awkwardness and with zero fashion sense - but my favourite by far was the sophisticated ex-NYCer, Stacey. I think I even went through a phase of dotting my i's with hearts, like she did, such was my dedication.
So, I was very excited to see that Ann M. Martin was not only writing a prequel to the Babysitters Club series, but also re-releasing all the old books! While the books do have some unintentionally hilarious scenes and dialogue (remember when they decided that they would say "chilly" instead of cool?), they had a message that I probably didn't realise at the time, instead flicking to Claudia and Stacey's outfit descriptions. A lot of young adult books today are written by ex-reality stars, about being heiresses or rich private school kids. The Babysitters Club was started by Kristy to make some money after she couldn't find another job - as I'm sure you remember, as it was mentioned about five times in every book. However much it might have seemed unattainable, a twelve year old starting her own business is pretty inspiring and I think that now, a lot of twelve year olds could handle it. Very chilly indeed.
And although when I look back, the books were almost overwhelmingly wholesome (even more so than a High School Musical movie), when you read stuff in the news about twelve year olds sexting and people making child-sized condoms, there is something quite comforting about reading books where the biggest problem is asking a boy to the dance, or having a friend turn into a snob. And it's nice that everything can be resolved in 129 pages.
Were you a fan when you were younger? What do you think of the re-relase?
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WHAT?! A RERELEASE?!
ReplyDeleteOMG. THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I HAVE RECEIVED IN MY LIFE.
I am very excited.
Oh I did the whole dotting my i's with hearts thing too! And I 'graduated' from Little Sister to BSC too. Haha. It's amazing to think of how many other girls grew up with this series. I used to be obsessed with it, and I still have all my books on my bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteI still want to finish off the collection, but I don't have the time, or probably the money either. One day I'll get around to it.
I LOOOOVED BSC. My fav's were Stacey (well, we do share a name), and Claudia. I think the rerelease is awesome! Although I heard some rumours that things in the books were being changed to "modernise" them, and I don't know how much I like that. Depends on what they're going to change.
ReplyDeleteThe librarian at my primary school banned my friends and I from borrowing Baby Sitters Club books (we exhausted the collection anyway) because she said ten year olds should be reading better literature. Awful woman she was.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me want to ring my parents (at 1am) and ask if they still have my BBC collection.
Oh yeah! I read these all the time when I was a kid. These and Sweet Valley High were the shit.
ReplyDeleteBut you just really disturbed me with the condoms thing. :o horrors
I hadn't heard about that before.
i was a massive fan. i still find the formula soothing. the same applies to nancy drew, trixie belden and sweet valley
ReplyDeleteOh god, I was OBSESSED with these books, I pretty much grew up on them. Stacey was my favourite too, and I may or may not have also copied her dotting-i-with-hearts thing ;)
ReplyDeleteyay, I'm so glad I'm not alone. i still pick them up for $1 while i thrift. gotta say claudia or dawn were my favourite i loved their individualism.
ReplyDeleteThe re-release sounds interesting, I used to love the books! Dawn was one of the reasons I started thinking about becoming a vegetarian. Now I've been a veggie for almost a decade. Thanks Dawn!
ReplyDeleteOh wowee, I use to love TBSC!! I had the whole collection as a youngin' but of course when I got older my mother gave it all always to the thrift stores! haha! This amazing news, I also loved the movie too! My favourite character was Dawn :)
ReplyDeletexx
Alex. - I know! EXCITEMENT! No more finding random copies in op shops!
ReplyDeletelibby - I wish I had kept mine! I could only find one book last time I was at my parent's house and it was about DAWN, blergh.
Miss Peregrin - I hope not! I did read in an interview that Ann M. Martin said she wasn't going to rewrite them so they had mobiles or Facebook (or even computers!) so that's something, I guess...
Bianca J - Aww, thank you!
Annie Spandex - I KNOW! It's so gross! I didn't read SVH as much, a bit intimidated by those Wakefields!
wishiwasaudrey - Ahh I loved Trixie Belden! Someone gave the whole collection to my mum and I devoured it.
Lisa Grace - HAHA! I kind of judge anyone who does it now because I still associate so much with Stacey McGill.
OSIER - Haha I have so many copies that I've bought in the last couple of years! Some guy at the op-shop gave me about ten for a dollar!
Monster Girl - Well I'm glad that someone liked Dawn! I HATED Dawn!
Thy Lady - HAHA oh the movie! It had Rachel Leigh Cook! And boys with floppy fringes! AHH!