Welcome to the BSC, Abby (The Baby-Sitters Club, #90)

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Welcome to the BSC, Abby (The Baby-Sitters Club #90)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 362 ratings · 11 reviews

Abby Stevenson and her twin sister, Anna, the new girls in town, are trying to adjust to everything new and help their hardworking, fatherless family.

Paperback, 192 pages

Published October 1st 1995 by Scholastic

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May 31, 2011 Lizz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Abby calling Kristy a "bossy beast" earned this book an extra star.

I don't really see the point of Abby. Ann M & the ghostwriters had an opportunity to bring a new dynamic into the group and we all we get is Abby? Why create a new character that has the interest in sports/obnoxiousness of Kristy, the overdramatized medical ailment of Stacey & the dead parent of MA...I'm sure there were more interesting an unique characteristics they could have come up with. The one unique thing to Abby...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Ciara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-books, read-in-2011

this is the first abby-narrated book of the series. since she is new & everything. i stopped reading the babysitters club series as a child long before abby came into the picture, but i really enjoy her as an adult. i feel like she is a tool for the ghostwriters to make fun of the other characters. in the very first chapter, she refers to kristy as a "bossy beast". i love the tension they have with each other, both being sporty loudmouths. & the tension is really ratcheted up in this boo...more this is the first abby-narrated book of the series. since she is new & everything. i stopped reading the babysitters club series as a child long before abby came into the picture, but i really enjoy her as an adult. i feel like she is a tool for the ghostwriters to make fun of the other characters. in the very first chapter, she refers to kristy as a "bossy beast". i love the tension they have with each other, both being sporty loudmouths. & the tension is really ratcheted up in this book.

the big plotline here is that the school board is thinking about making some budget cuts to all the public schools in town (there are like 47 of them). specifically, they're talking about cutting sports & music. so the community decides to band together & hold a fundraising carnival. which is kind of bogus, because it's really the job of the education budget-makers to come up with the funds for these public education programs. that's why homeowners pay taxes & shit. but once again, the babysitters club universe is a unique world where regular laws & regulations do not apply. at first, abby doesn't really care about the arts budget being in trouble...until she remembers that her sister, anna, is passionate about being a violinist & won't be able to participate in the school orchestra if it gets defunded. she wants her family to staff a booth at the carnival, & comes up with the idea of "fingerpainting food," which is just a gross way to describe the idea of kids decorating their own cupcakes.

anna & mrs. stevenson are remarkably blase about the carnival idea. anna seems almost completely indifferent to the problems with the arts budget. & mrs. stevenson...it's weird. the stevensons moved into kristy's posh neighborhood & hired an interior decorator & put her through the wringer, making sure the decor was completely perfect before they moved in. they bought all new furniture & added an addition on to what is almost certainly already a large home. i'm sure the mortgage is expensive & mrs. stevenson pays out the ass for property taxes. plus, she pulled strings to enroll the girls in stoneybrook middle school specifically for the purpose of anna having access to a school orchestra. literally like two weeks after they moved to town (& i'm sure mrs. stevenson researched lots of options before settling on stoneybrook), the arts budget is in trouble & she doesn't even seem upset about it. pretty weird.

anyway, abby throws herself into the carnival idea. all the other members of the babysitters club, as well as their charges, are also planning to have booth at the carnival. abby even suggests that the babysitters club staff their own booth (i'm sure kristy wanted to murder her for coming up with that gem of an obvious idea before kristy got the chance). the babysitters decide to make arts-themed pins to sell, & some of them will be redeemable for free hours of babysitting. the pikes organize a carousel-themed booth where they will sell handicrafts manufactured by various folks in the neighborhood with too much time on their hands & no etsy access. the arnold twins concoct a plan where people can have their photos taken with elvira the baby goat.

the other big plot involves abby's allergies & asthma. it's actually more interesting than it sounds. abby takes a job sitting for the papadakis kids (she says she "likes to the commute"--they live across the street from her--& none of the other babysitters get the joke; i love how abby is always making ridiculous catskills borscht belt-style jokes that the other sitters are too dumb to understand), but their many pets cause her allergies to act up. so she takes the kids outside, but the mold on the falling leaves make her allergies act up out there. she starts to ask linny to run inside & grab her inhaler, but apparently the look on her face scares the crap out of hannie. hannie decides she needs to go for help, so she runs across the street to get kristy. unfortunately, she runs right out in front of a car & abby panics, which triggers a full-blown asthma attack. linny gets the inhaler, but it doesn't arrest the attack very effectively, & kristy has to call the paramedics. abby recovers quickly in the ER, but kristy is really concerned that abby's asthma & allergies are a liability when it comes to babysitting. she asks what abby would have done if she had just been sitting alone for sari (the baby), with no older kids to fetch her inhaler or call for help. abby tries to explain that she had an attack when hannie scared the crap out of her running into the street, but kristy is not convinced. at the next babysitters club meeting, kristy pulls some strings to get other sitters to take jobs for which abby is available. abby doesn't know how to convince kristy that she's okay & can babysit responsibly.

there is also a bit about abby & anna unpacking crates & finding an old box full of their dad's stuff. their dad died in a car accident when abby & anna were nine years old. their mom rarely talks about him. they didn't know that she had kept any of his stuff, but they find a box containing his bathrobe, which smells of cologne the twins gave him for his birthday one year, his glasses in a monogrammed case, his wristwatch (he wasn't wearing it during the accident), a framed wedding photo of himself & mrs. stevenson, & some other sentimental stuff. abby & anna are kind of emotionally walloped by finding this stuff unexpectedly. they assume their mom had packed it away after he died & forgot about it, & they get angry with her & hide the box in the attic.

i have to admit, this scene actually made me tear up a little. my dad is dead as well, & i can relate to how hard it must be for the girls to stay strong & carry on, & how hard it must have been for mrs. stevenson to suddenly become a widow with two little girls to look after. abby & anna reminisce about when their dad was alive. mrs. stevenson's ambition then was to be a professional chef. their dad was an environmental engineer who specialized in coming up with architecture & technologies that were environmentally friendly. he & mrs. stevenson talked about opening an organic restaurant built into a tree. definitely a goofy idea, especially on long island, but also kind of sweet. after he died, mrs. stevenson took a better-paying job in the publishing industry (boy, does that ever date this book) & started working such long hours that she never had time to cook anymore.

anyway, the carnival happens & abby's cupcake booth is a big hit. both anna & mrs. stevenson promise to help out at the booth the next day. mrs. stevenson has to go into the city to get some work done but promises to leave on an early afternoon train & come straight to the carnival. anna & shannon kilbourne relieve abby from the booth so she can check out the carnival, & an announcer comes over the loudspeaker to say that a train from new york city has derailed. abby think it's her mom's train. she collects anna & they both run off to find kristy & ask her parents for a ride to the train station to get more info. kristy assumes abby is having another asthma attack, but they straighten everything out & go to the station. no one there knows anything, nor do the local police. abby & anna basically just have to sit tight & wait. they go back to the carnival & keep selling cupcakes. finally at 6pm, their mom comes running up. she's fine. she was on the train right behind the one that derailed & got stuck in a tunnel when the derailment happened. everyone was stuck in the tunnel for hours & she had no cell reception so couldn't call. her train was finally evacuated & the passengers had to walk back to the station & then take buses to their destinations. all the stevensons are totally relieved to be together again.

they go home & have a heart-to-heart in which abby & anna tell mrs. stevenson about the box. it's another sad scene in which mrs. stevenson picks up the glasses & says she took them to the hospital when she heard about the car accident, thinking mr. stevenson would need them. she didn't know he was already dead. i cannot even imagine. this is why my boyfriend is never allowed to die. the stevensons hug it out, abby convinces kristy that her asthma won't prevent her from babysitting, & the carnival raises enough money to save the arts programs. (less)

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May 01, 2013 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens, reviewed

Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.

I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.

The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.

Awesome books that girls will love! And the...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Delicious Strawberry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ann-m-martin

I definitely like the older books better, but some of the new ones were nice. I guess Abby was introduced to mix things up because she's Jewish and has severe allergies, plus she has a twin and her mother is widowed. As a character she wasn't bad, and since Dawn left, a replacement was needed. Overall an all right book.

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Aug 13, 2011 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1995

I knew at this point that I was going to cut myself off from BSC books right at #100. I was disappointed Abby seemed so blah. Growing up in a not-terribly-Jewish part of Michigan, I didn't understand why so many series seemed to feature at least one Jewish character in a group of friends. It didn't seem authentic to me.

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May 18, 2011 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: babysitters-club, childhood-flashbacks

When I can't find something to spark my interest, I go back and re-read books from my childhood and this was one that I actually had not read yet from this series. I love the Babysitter's club books, no matter how old I am, they still hit my soft spot and this was no different.

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Apr 03, 2011 Trisha Gephart rated it 2 of 5 stars

I remember when this book came out because there had been a contest to name the new characters and I was pissed that I didn't win. Maybe I would have rated this book a bit higher if the twins were named Arielle and Jade Foster. Abby and Annie? Gag

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Jul 03, 2012 Kimberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-and-young-adult

I loved the BSC series when I was younger and even more glad that I held on to them all these years so my children would be able to enjoy them as well. I would recommend for tween girls.

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Jul 24, 2011 Jackie Krasuski rated it 4 of 5 stars

What young girl did not love the Baby-Sitters Club and Karen, the Baby-Sitters Little Sister?

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Apr 29, 2009 Sally rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: series-bsc, childrens

Psht. Who needs this Abby anyway? I will forever be an original BSC snob and shun this unnecessary upstart!

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Jul 03, 2007 Maria M. Elmvang rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: baby-sitters-club, owned, 2006, 2-stars, 2011

I'm sorry - Abby will never be a 'real' BSC member to me.

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May 19, 2013 Jennifer Priester rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 18, 2013 Elaine rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 17, 2013 Heather Maoury marked it as to-read

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May 11, 2013 Alesha Hubbell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-books

May 11, 2013 Tina added it

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Apr 26, 2013 Amber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 26, 2013 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 25, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 24, 2013 Stephanie marked it as to-read

Apr 24, 2013 Shivanee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 23, 2013 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 21, 2013 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 19, 2013 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 18, 2013 Nina Ravi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 14, 2013 Jennifer Garcia marked it as to-read

Shelves: own

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About Ann M. Martin

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood me...more

More about Ann M. Martin...

Books by Ann M. Martin

Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1)

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray

The Truth About Stacey (The Baby-Sitters Club, #3)

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