Showing results by author "Ann M. Martin" in All Categories

When Kristy Thomas has the great idea to form a baby-sitters club - a chance to earn money and spend time with her friends, all while doing something they each love to do - she has no idea how much the club will change everything. Crank calls, uncontrollable toddlers, wild pets, untruthful clients...running a business is hard work! Kristy and her co-founders, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey, are sure they can handle anything. But only if they stick together....

Claudia is convinced that no one understands how difficult it is for her to do well in school, that is, until she meets Shea Rodowsky, a young boy with a learning problem.

Mallory loves horses. She loves reading about them. She loves writing about them. And most of all, she loves daydreaming about them.

After Kristy's mom got married, her family moved to Watson's house in a new neighborhood. But the kids there aren't very friendly - in fact, they're total snobs! They criticize Kristy's clothes, make fun of the Baby-Sitters Club...and worst of all, they laugh at Louie, Kristy's pet collie, who's going blind. Nobody does that and gets away with it! Kristy's fighting mad, and she's not going to put up with a Snob Attack any longer - and neither is the BSC!

Stacey doesn't like to tell everyone that she has diabetes. Her friends in the Baby-Sitters Club are supportive, but Stacey has lost other friends who didn't understand her condition. Stacey's parents don't seem to understand, either; they're constantly taking her to new doctors. The truth is, she likes her doctor and just wants to spend her time being a normal girl and hanging out with the Club. Can Stacey find the courage to be honest - with everyone?

Missy Piggle-Wiggle is finally starting to feel settled in at the upside-down house, and the families in town have come to trust her magical cures for all sorts of childhood (mis)behavior, just like her great-aunt. But right when everything is going so well, a terrible storm blasts through Little Spring Valley, damaging the upside-down house. Now the house is in need of repair (and isn't happy about it one bit), and money is becoming pretty tight for Missy. And, on top of that, the children of Little Spring Valley continue to need Missy's inventive cures....

Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey try to be prepared for anything when they baby-sit. So when they hear about the Phantom Caller, a jewel thief who's been breaking into nearby homes, they come up with a plan to keep their kids safe. But when Claudia and the other girls start receiving creepy phone calls while they're out on jobs, they start to get really spooked. Will the mystery caller scare off the BSC?

When Kristy reluctantly takes part in a hazing prank for her softball team, she worries that her little stepsister, Karen, will find out the truth and think badly of her.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has gone away unexpectedly and left her niece, Missy Piggle-Wiggle, in charge of the Upside-Down House and the beloved animals who live there: Lester the pig, Wag the dog, and Penelope the parrot, among others. Families in town soon realize that like her great-aunt, Missy Piggle-Wiggle has inventive cures for all sorts of childhood (mis)behavior: The Whatever Cure and the Just-a-Minute Cure, for instance. What is a stressed out parent to do? Why, call Missy Piggle-Wiggle, of course!

Stacey's so excited! She's invited her friends in the Baby-Sitters Club to New York City for a long weekend. It's going to be perfect - a party and a sleepover on Friday, a big baby-sitting job on Saturday, and lot of sightseeing on Sunday. But what a mistake! The BSC is way out of place in the big city. Mary Anne sounds like a walking guide book, Dawn is afraid of everything, Kristy can't keep her mouth shut, and Claudia is jealous of Stacey's friends. Can Stacey be in the BSC anymore?

Mallory is delighted when the subject of the new Short Takes class turns out to be children's literature, but she is bitterly disappointed by the new young teacher, Mr. Cobb, who unintentionally favors the boys in the class, until Mallory decides to stand up for her rights.

Kristy's mom is getting married, and everyone is coming to town to help, bringing their kids with them. Fourteen kids! Kristy is sure she and Stacey, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn can handle it - they're professional baby-sitters after all, and Kristy's mom has offered them a lot of money to take on such a big job.

But will a week of changing diapers, stopping fights, solving mix-ups, and keeping 14 children entertained prove to be too much for the BSC? Can they keep things under control for Kristy's big day?

Accepting a job as companion to a 12-year-old girl with Down's Syndrome, Dawn finds an unexpected friend in Whitney, and struggles with the fear that Whitney may not understand if she learns that Dawn is being paid to be with her.

Hoping to provide a male role model for a new charge whose parents' divorce has him missing his father, Mary Anne invites Logan to accompany her baby-sitting jobs and has a lot of explaining to do when Mrs. Kuhn does not understand.

Mary Anne has never been a leader of the BSC. So when a fight breaks out among the club's four members, Mary Anne feels a little lost, unable to depend on Kristy, Stacey, or Claudia anymore. Sitting by herself in the cafeteria is bad enough; when Mary Anne has to baby-sit a sick child without any help from the club, she knows someone has to take action. It's time for Mary Anne to step in and save the day!

Lately, it seems like each of the baby-sitters besides Dawn has been singled out...and she's a little jealous. But now it's Dawn's turn to shine: Mrs. Pike has asked her to help prepare Margo and Claire for the Little Miss Stoneybrook contest! Dawn's going to do everything she can to help her charges win, even if Margo's only talent is peeling a banana with her feet. But then Kristy, Mary Anne, and Claudia are helping Karen, Myriah, and Charlotte enter the contest, too. It's hard to tell whether the competition is fiercer at the pageant - or in the BSC!

When Mary Anne tries to get Jenny Prezzioso - a fussy little girl known as "Miss Priss" - to join a kickball team, she faces opposition from the kids and from Jenny, who does not want to play....

Joining the Mathletes and feeling confident after her first math meet triumph, Stacey is troubled when her father gets tickets to a huge rock concert on the same night of the Mathletes championship.

Stacey's parents are getting a divorce. Stacey is sad and angry, and she has a big decision to make - stay in New York with her father, or move back to Stoneybrook with her mother.

After a thrilling three-week dance program in New York City, Jessi is invited to join the Dance NY education program full time. Is she ready to leave Stonybrook and all her friends behind?