Q: Did you read this series? Which character did you relate to? Kristy, Stacey, Mary Anne, Claudia, Dawn, Mallory, Jessi or Abby?

I related to Claudia’s artistic style, Stacey’s family and Mary Anne’s personality.
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We Are The Babysitters Club
by Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks
#arcreview
Pub Date: July 6, 2021
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This was such a fascinating read!

I loved the BSC growing up. Like the individual stories in this book I felt that books were inclusive and I learned a lot about different types of family units, about chronic illnesses, about friendships. I borrowed from my sister’s collection when she would let me or from the library. I didn’t really see my own family in any of these families though. My Dad was the guy that woke up at 3am to work (self-employed) drove us to school, went out on inspections during school time, picked us up from school and then took us to the movies etc. He was self employed so he set his schedule around being present in our lives that was important to him. We were very lucky.

I loved seeing these books through these adults eyes and how these books helped them in their childhood to understand how to be a good friend, a business person, and problem solver.

It’s sad that it was noted that these were girl books so boys felt they couldn’t read them or would get teased. I asked my husband if he read them. And he said yes of course though he couldn’t tell me anything about them. His mother was a reading teacher and I’m sure she put all sorts of inclusionary reading materials in his hands.

This was definitely a very nostalgic turned insightful read for our next generation reading these books. I need to find that fan fiction that was mentioned. I loved the datasitters section that was fascinating and I’ll have to check out the podcast mentioned!

Thank you ipgbook and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Synopsis:

“We Are the Baby-Sitters Club is the ultimate companion guide for a generation of devout superfans. This book revisits the beloved series through grown-up eyes—but never loses the magic we all felt the moment we cracked open a fresh new book. BSC forever!” —Lucia Aniello, director and executive producer of The Baby-Sitters Club Netflix series

A nostalgia-packed, star-studded anthology featuring contributors such as Kristen Arnett, Yumi Sakugawa, Myriam Gurba, and others exploring the lasting impact of Ann M. Martin’s beloved Baby-Sitters Club series

In 1986, the first-ever meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club was called to order in a messy bedroom strewn with RingDings, scrunchies, and a landline phone. Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne launched the club that birthed an entire generation of loyal readers.

Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters Club series featured a complex cast of characters and touched on an impressive range of issues that were underrepresented at the time: divorce, adoption, childhood illness, class division, and racism, to name a few.

In We Are the Baby-Sitters Club, writers and a few visual artists from the original BSC generation will reflect on the enduring legacy of Ann M. Martin’s beloved series, thirty-five years later—celebrating the BSC’s profound cultural influence.

Contributors include Paperback Crush author Gabrielle Moss, illustrator Siobhán Gallagher, and filmmaker Sue Ding, as well as New York Times bestselling author Kristen Arnett, Lambda Award–finalist Myriam Gurba, Black Girl Nerds founder Jamie Broadnax, and Paris Review contributor Frankie Thomas.

One of LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2021, We Are the Baby-Sitters Club looks closely at how Ann M. Martin’s series shaped our ideas about gender politics, friendship, fashion and beyond.