3.5 stars. A fun and thought-provoking walk down memory lane, with many of the essays proving that there is a niche for everything anymore (two grown men reading BSC on a podcast, for example, or the women who make up "The Data Sitters Club" and use machine learning and data science to break down the books). I do wish there would've been more images included - the various writers describe some of the covers of the books and it would've been nice to see those images for more context.

Growing up, I devoured the BSC books. I read every one my local library owned, would almost always buy a copy when visiting a thrift store, and tried to collect as many as I could. The day I had to donate my collection was a sad day and I always regret getting rid of them. Needless to say, I was very excited about picking up this book and I'm so glad it's around. I loved being able to read and see art inspired by the impact this series had on others. This is definitely meant for adult fans of the series as it discusses (and brings up good criticisms) surrounding culture, race, queer issues, and identity. A very enjoyable read and I can't wait to re-read the BSC series soon.

Reading We are the Babysitters Club is a book that may be a bit of a memory lane for readers who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. There is a good deal of what-ifs or whatnots that can be inspired from reading this book of essays that are written by fans who ultimately write essays that hold up Ann M. Martin’s fictional series to the lens of this decade. Essays written in this book have topics that write of how the inclusion of characters highlights a variety of issues that are far-fetched for some readers. These topics include adolescent diabetes or the ableism of Kristy, the skin color of Jessi, and the not-so-typical model minority that is Claudia. Socially there is also the mention of how different male and female socialization can be.

This book tries to use a bit of multimedia, specifically with illustrations that get included in this book. This book also makes mention of the existence of fanfiction that continues the fandom of this series, and for the many reboots or revivals of this series that can introduce the idea that starting a babysitters club can ultimately begin friendships and be a moneymaker from a small business viewpoint.

Would I recommend reading this book? Maybe, since reading Babysitters Club is a childhood memory, but also for reading this book, a reader should have read a good deal of the original series before picking up this book. Because otherwise, reading only this book might be confusing.

'There's a feeling of community amongst us, those who grew up with these girls.

I was first introduced to the BSC books by my new best friend who had just started at my school. I was 10, it was the early 90s. I was already a pretty avid reader but these books changed me. I was suddenly a part of this world where I felt no matter what my personality, background, etc. was, I was accepted and belonged. I and my friend would swap books and discuss them in detail when we were both finished. We loved this world so much that we even pretended like these kids were real and we knew them and were part of the club. We even made an attempt to start our own BSC (my newborn sister and her toddler brother being the only kids we actually 'sitted). Kristy was my fave and I was a Kristy/MaryAnn/Claudia combo.

I find all these years later as a 35-year old that I still think about these characters and pick up one of the books to read every now and again. I devoured the Netflix series in 2020. This book made me realise I'm not alone in that clearly.

I found the POV's of so many readers fascinating. We all come from so many different backgrounds and felt differently about each of the characters and storylines for various reasons. But one thing was the same; these books had helped us, made us belong and fill us with a childhood nostalgia like no other.

It is funny, insightful, nostalgic and informative. It covers a wide array of topics from Claudia's fashion, to BSC fanfic. A wonderful collection of thoughts and essays on a book series so widely loved by many.

Now, I'm gonna go and read 'Kristy's Great Idea' for the 100th time!

(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.)

Are you an adult who is, or even once was, a fan of the Baby-Sitter’s Club? If so, this is for you. Comprised of thoughtful essays, enjoyable comics and drawings, this is for anyone who has enjoyed the series. What a timely book with the new Netflix series and the taking off of the graphic novel series for new fans. This threw me right back into my love and nostalgia for Stoneybrook and those who live there while also allowing me to reflect back on the series now as an adult.

Delightfully nostalgic, these essays from a variety of contributors shared felt experiences with BSC books past and present. I personally would never have examined so deeply how these books affected me as a child if I hadn't read this collection of essays. If you never made the connection between BSC books and your middle-school self who designed her own clothing (like Claudia) or tried to modify her handwriting (to look like Stacey's), you may want to take this introspective trip back to the stories and characters that may have shaped you more than you realize.

The original BSC book series exposed me to many people and ideas that I simply wasn't coming into contact with in my everyday life. It handled some topics better than others, and the contributors to "We Are the Baby-Sitters Club" acknowledge that in an honest and diverse way. Through these essays, I was able to see the old characters with more mature eyes and deepen my understanding of myself and others.

Now...who wants to start a club?

* I had the opportunity to preview this book through NetGalley

(quote)For a whole generation of readers, the Baby-Sitters Club is something more than nostalgia. It’s a series that expanded our understanding of life and ourselves.(quote)


The Baby-Sitters Club will always be special to me because it's why I'm such an avid reader now. It was one of the defining things from childhood. And with the world of fandom today, we are getting to experience that love all over again. We now are finding each other in the nostalgia of things that got us, the ones who were different, the ones who sometimes 'just didn't fit in', through all of our different childhoods. And you get to see various accounts of that throughout the essays in this collection. I truly enjoyed reading it and will be adding it to my collection when it's officially published.


(quote)The BSC earned this lasting legacy, in part, by making inclusive values and progressive beliefs part of the series’ core— values like honoring diverse voices and experiences, promoting empathy, and suggesting that girls make great leaders. These values were far from standard in young adult lit in 1986, when Kristy’s Great Idea first popped up on the scene. But today, they form the backbone of modern YA.(quote)


And now I'm off to Ao3 to look up Byron Pike (Mallory’s younger brother) and Jeff Schafer (Dawn's younger brother) fics because I. NEVER. KNEW. IT. WAS. A. THING. while I impatiently wait for BSB season 2 on Netflix.

***Thank you to Netgalley and Chicago Review Press for providing me with a review copy.***

This was a strong academically interesting set of essays that should be adopted for children's and YA literature courses. Each essay presents a strong critical lens for addressing the array of issues that Ann M. Martin and her team of ghostwriters looked at in the original series. It's well-researched and carefully organized. There's a good balance between nostalgic creflection and critical inquiry. Some may gripe that of all the babysitters, Claudia is favored as the star of multiple chapters, but each sitter does get their due.

If you're around my age, you probably grew up reading The Baby Sitters Club books.  If you're from Connecticut, like I am, you may find when you travel to other countries they think that Connecticut isn't a real state and is just the made up Stoneybrook, Connecticut where the stories were set. (I've started saying I'm from "near New York" since everyone seems to know where that is!)  When I saw that there was a book devoted to essays of other women like me who grew up with these characters and that they also helped shaped them, I jumped at the chance to read it.

The foreword is by Mara Wilson - who you may know from Mrs. Doubtfire or Matilda, but also was a fan of the book series.  Each essay or piece of artwork goes into a different aspect of the BSC - analyzing friendship culture, how showing the BSC members handwriting in the books (admittedly, one of my favorite parts and probably a small reason why I am so obsessed with fonts now) gave girls another way to relate to the characters, having Asian Americans like Claudia Kishi as a role model at a time when there was not a lot of representation for Asian Americans, especially not females, facing issues like pre-teen diabetes that Stacey McGill had to deal with throughout the series, teaching girls to "Be Bossy" and that it is not a negative thing (even though they are trying to phase out that word more recently), how there were stories about race and colorism with Jessi Ramsey and all of the families were different so that the readers would hopefully have some family within the book that sort of was like theirs. 

A lot of these things I didn't even think about - which I guess is because of some of the privilege I had growing up.  To me, they were just fun books to read that I was obsessed with, an escape,  - but for so many others it was representation they were not getting elsewhere in the world at that time.  

If these books were helpful for you growing up, you'll want to check out this book because you will find that you are not alone and there is a whole community out there! 

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Chicago Review Press.

This book is chockful of essays and art about the Baby-sitters Club and I am over the moon about it.

Its a funny,and sad, bold and intimate look at how this bestselling series affected so many.

There's also a fair amount of criticism to be found, too.

I'd definitely recommend this one to any Baby-sitters Club fan.

This was a perfect walk down memory lane as well as a solid commentary and criticism about this beloved series. I especially appreciate the essays having to do with race, ableism, class, female friendship etc and it really made me think about how those stories and characters affected my world view as I was growing up. I highly recommend this if you ever read this series and I was so delighted to see that Kristy and the other gals impacted others many years ago just like me.

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is so nostalgic. With the show out, I'm happy there's going to be a whole new generation of The Baby-Sitters Club fans! There's a forward by Mara Wilson which I loved and I don't always read the forwards, BUT I did for this one. This is a must-read for fans of the BSC!!

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved the BSC growing up, and Stacey was my favourite sitter. As I grew up and aged out, I never finished the series. As an adult, over the last few years, I reread the entire series in reading order and fell in love with it all over again, this time loving Claudia and Mary Anne. I enjoyed this book for what it was worth, the nostalgia and feels of years gone by. It is nice to see that BSC is still alive and well in 2021 and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

I had no idea this was about a book series from so long ago and since I never read those this wasn't for me. But it was basically just how those books changed their lives and helped them while they grew up.

I wasn't fully sold on this book when I first heard of it. Yes, The Baby-sitters Club is my life, but I didn't think I cared to read about how it affected other people; I like to discuss BSC with other fans, but I want it to be a conversation, not somebody's essay. And I already have SO MUCH Baby-sitters Club junk, do I really need more? (FYI Future Ashley: the answer is always yes!!!) In short, despite the subject matter, I didn't really think that I cared about this book.

As you can tell from the four-star rating, and that I'm writing about my apprehension in the past tense, I ended up really enjoying this book. Right off the bat, the foreword is by Mara Wilson, so it really revs up the nostalgia factor. But not in a gimmicky way; you can tell that Ms Wilson was (and still is) as passionate about the girls from Stoneybrook as the other contributors to this book and all of us fans, both old and new. I liked the way the book was sectioned off: about friendship, about fashion, about representation, about entrepreneurship. For the most part, I found the essays were very enjoyable; some were informative, some made me think. Truthfully, I skipped the Data-sitters Club entry, as it was a little too technical and jargon-y for my liking, but that was the only one that I didn't read in its entirety. And some of the artwork was hard to read on my phone, but I'll definitely go back and reread them when I buy the book. Yes, this is definitely a to-buy. (But then again, it's BSC. It was always going to be something I'd have to have in my collection.)

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

I was a reader of the Little Sister series and the Super Special books. I don't know why I never really got into the main series. I was surprised to learn that the whole series (over 100 books) took place with the characters staying in the same grade and at the same age (I never realized that!). I think some parts of this book were good and gave a different perspective to the books, but other essays seemed to read a little too into the books. It was nice to read what other fans thought of the series and it made me want to go back and read the whole series. :)

Nostalgia!

There’s this growing millennial realization that nothing we loved from our childhoods is beyond critique. We can--and should!--acknowledge problematic content that was simply accepted (or not given a second thought) way back when, and that’s exactly what the writers of these essays do: talk lovingly about what these characters and storylines meant to their lives, while admitting its shortfalls, especially in regards to representation.

The chapter on analyzing the girls’ handwriting was wonderfully nerdy and one that sticks out as being a bit different than the subject matter of most of the essays. There was also a fresh, different take on the series as described by a white Englishman who runs a BSC podcast. I also adored the fanfic essay.

Like any collection such as this, not every essay hit the mark for me and I found myself skimming, but I won’t pick on them by name here.

Add me to the chorus of those saying they wanted to be a Claudia, but were really a Mary Anne.

SO MUCH NOSTALGIA!!! Honestly growing up with these books (although I loved Little Sister a tiny bit more) and now getting to look back at the way they impacted me and to hear how they impacted others. This is everything I needed to read right now. Thank you NetGalley and Independent Publishers Group for the advanced copy in return for my honest review. Fans of the Babysitters Club must read!

This was such a great collection of essays and art looking back at The Baby-Sitters Club and the impact that series had on different people’s lives. I think this struck the perfect balance between nostalgic celebration and critical analysis of aspects of the series that didn’t age so well. Contributors to the collection cover a wide range of topics from the girls’ handwriting and outfits, race, disability, family structures, fanfiction, and the perceived queerness of Kristy.

As with any collection there were a couple essays that I didn’t find quite as interesting as the others. But overall I think this was a strong book that provides a wide variety of viewpoints and different ways of looking back at the series as an adult.

As a child, The Baby-Sitters Club was everything for me! I read every single book Ann M. Martin wrote, owned just about every Baby-Sitters Club, little sister and California book that was written, I had the board game, the dolls...anything and everything we could find! I would read it anywhere and until I was embarrassingly too old to be reading it...and then I did a reread when I was 30. I’m so thrilled to read this book with essays that linked me to so many others that feel the same way about the BSC as I did/do. The book was full of moments from the books that will transport you back in time to when you read them and at the same time, connect you and show how others felt about the BSC and those pivotal moments. This is a must read for any other obsessed fan!