The Baby Sitters' Club Series

[Deleted]

linared said:

God who didn't hate Karen. I think the first time I realized what an obnoxious brat she was was in the first super special, when she takes off on the ship and gets a manicure and charge it to her room. And she never gets caught! That is what is so hateful for Karen, she is always doing this horrible things and no punishment.

That and why the HELL would the ship employees just accept a kid saying, "charge it to our room" or whatever? Shouldn't they have been a wee bit more skeptical?


Or with regards to Stacey always being at death's door-why was she so ashamed of having diabetes in the first place? When she went to the BSC for the first time, "Um, I'm on a diet." Da'hell? Why not just-"I can't eat sweets-I'm diabetic." Wouldn't that suffice?


(Oh, and I liked Sleepover Friends, even though the idea of fifth graders riding their bikes to the friggin' mall, having boyfriends, make-up, and shopping as they did is pretty stupid. God, at least put them in seventh grade.)

[lyrasilver]

guinastasia said:

linared said:

God who didn't hate Karen. I think the first time I realized what an obnoxious brat she was was in the first super special, when she takes off on the ship and gets a manicure and charge it to her room. And she never gets caught! That is what is so hateful for Karen, she is always doing this horrible things and no punishment.

That and why the HELL would the ship employees just accept a kid saying, "charge it to our room" or whatever? Shouldn't they have been a wee bit more skeptical?

That was one of the things that always bugged me about Karen - no one ever calls her on her shit. In that same book, she lies and says it's her birthday at a restaurant just so everyone will sing to her and she'll be the center of attention. I don't think her parents did anything beyond telling her not to do it again. Haaate.

[Deleted]

I think one of the ship employees MIGHT have said, "Are you sure you're allowed to charge things to the room?" and then just went along with it.

Any responsible employee would have refused and insisted on calling her parents. Hell, I'd have fired any employee of mine who would just have accepted her say-so.

[ivy]

I was watching this old Scooby-Doo movie the other day and was pissed to find out that annoying little motherchucker Scrappy-Doo was in it. I never knew a single person who didn't hate him. And it got me thinking: Karen is totally the Scrappy-Doo of the BSC World.

[Deleted]

I was in a used bookstore the other day and was of course compelled to check out the stack of BSC books. One was a thin paperback bio of Ann M. Martin. In it, she is quoted as saying that Karen is really her, or at least her ideal self (or something like that). That could explain a lot, I suppose....

[fayevalentine]

After reading through this thread and the Claudia's Room blog, I came to realize just how many BSC books I read when I was a kid. The weird thing is that I really wasn't even a fan. I think there might have been a surplus of BSC books in one of my grade school's classrooms and I pulled from that pile. It's just bizarre to read through everything and have it all slowly come back to me.

Also, it wasn't until now I finally realized that Claudia was dyslexic. I think as a kid, I just thought she had particularly bad spelling.

Anyways. Does anyone else remember the BSC Guide to Babysitting book? It gave the details on activities to do with the kids your watching, emergency tips, some lame explanation of CPR, and how to make a "kid kit" (as if they didn't tell us in every book what a "kid kit" was, along with what EVERYONE was wearing and that Dawn was from California). I remember reading it and at the time, thinking it was a fabulous book and getting excited to start my own baby-sitting business (never mind the fact I had zero experience and hated kids).

While I was thinking back on this, it occured to me: I read this book in the sixth grade. That would put me at about 11 or 12 years old. Who in their right mind would have allowed a 12 year-old to watch their kid? Seriously! The very thought made my blood run cold.

Does anyone else remember this book? What else was in it? Now I'm all curious as to what tips and tricks could have turned some random sixth-grader into a super sitter!

[linared]

I did take a babysitting class at my hospital when I was 12 so I guess it is not too unusual to have a kid that age babysit. And at first I only did jobs in my neighborhood and my mom was usually around if I needed help and I didn't do late night jobs until I got older. However, did I react to everything with the cool maturity of Kristy or Mary Anne? No. One time when I was 13 or so, I let a baby roll off of the couch. She was ok but I was freaked out. I was probably too young that have that much responsibility.

[fayevalentine]

I do not want Claudia's diary entries to be all, "Todae my boyfrend wunted to tousch my boobys".

Bumping this thread back up to restate this hilarious quote and point out something I noticed about Claudia's dyslexic writing. It's kind of like she speaks in Lolcat!

"Oh hai. Iz Clawdya. I can haz babee to sit? I needz a money. Gotz to makes da pritty artz. Kthxbai."

[gimmeshelter]

I read the Little Sister books as a kid. However, I couldn't really get into them. I preferred Sweet Valley Twins more. For me, the BSC series hasn't aged as well as SVH. I don't have any urge to re-read them but I won't get rid of them, either. Although the New York special edition is singlehandly responsible for my current obsesesion with the state.

I always liked Stacey and Dawn when I was kid. My favorite books were Truth About Stacey, the second Sea City book, the Wicked Stepsister book (when Dawn and MaryAnne become stepsisters). The camp super edition was another favorite, too.

[susyhomewrecker]

SVH was so much more tawdry and shocking back in the day. The shenanigans that the babysitters got up to might have sounded sensational back when I was 9, but now? Not so much.