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‘Baby-Sitters Club’ Turns 30

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 05:35 PST, Aug 16, 2016

Baby-Sitters Club has officially turned 30 years this month, according to Vox. Turning 30 years old on August 6, the series of young adult novels made its fans feel old.

Exactly 30 years ago, in August 1986, Ann M. Martin published the first book of the Baby-Sitters Club series, Kristy’s Great Idea. And ever since then, the characters from Martin’s young adult novels have appeared in over 130 stories in the original book series, several TV and film adaptations and spin-off book series.

And over the past 30 years, the Baby-Sitters Club book series, as well as all of its TV and film adaptations, have gathered a huge fan base. Fans of the book series enjoyed the entire journey of the bossy Kristy, shy Mary Anne, creative Claudia, and fashionista Stacey, as well as all other characters of the Baby-Sitters Club series.

In 2000, Martin published the final part of the Baby-Sitters Club book series, but fans have continued to love the characters long after they graduated middle school in the books. The novels focused on a group of girlfriends aged 11 to 13 who live in the fictional town of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, according to Stuff.

Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey formed the Baby-Sitters Club to babysit local children as well as find solutions to common problems in families such as divorce, cheating, jealousy, sibling rivalry, competition, and remarriage.

The main reason why the characters of the Baby-Sitters Club gained so many fans among teenage girls was that each member of the BSC was funny and witty, yet flawed and tenacious in her own particular way.

And while many readers of the Baby-Sitters Club books could only dream to have such funny and smart friends, reading those novels and watching film and TV series adaptations meant they could have Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey in their lives.

Claudia was the cool and fashionable one among the Baby-Sitters Club members. Readers were introduced to the character, who somehow managed to find inspiration in pretty much anything (even in junk food), through Kristy’s eyes.

Kristy, who narrated the first novel, Kristy’s Great Idea, was the bold and impulsive one. If Kristy thinks something, she’ll say it out loud. And while such behavior can often be damaging to herself or the Baby-Sitters Club, she had more chances of making her ideas come true.

With her bossy personality, Kristy was the one who was often behind genius solutions to the Baby-Sitters Club’s problems. And although Kristy’s ideas often failed, other members of the BSC still listened to her and considered her the leader of the club.

In the very beginning of Baby-Sitters Club’s first novel, Kristy lets readers know that she’ll be the bossy one.

“The Baby-sitters Club. I’m proud to say it was totally my idea.”

Not even a hint that she was somehow inspired by something or someone, Kristy takes all the credit for forming the club. Kristy is only 12-years-old when readers start following the life of the characters in the Baby-Sitters Club, but it doesn’t mean she can’t have the ambition to get things done just because she wants to.

It should also be noted that over the past 30 years, readers of the Baby-Sitters Club book series have loved trying to figure out what type of the personality group they belonged to. In such a way, they could embrace their inner Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, or Stacey-self and learn from their mistakes or successes.

And while many things have changed over the past 30 years, the modern kids’ personalities still remain the same they were 30 years ago. There are still the same Kristys, Mary Annes, Claudias and Staceys among today’s generation as there was 30 years ago.

[Photo by AP Photo/Eric Draper]

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