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The Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever Super Special #2
Graduation Day
It's the day the members of the BSC had thought would never comethe day they graduate from Stoneybrook Middle School. Kristy is worried that this will mean the end of the BSC. Mary Anne realizes she has to set things straight with her ex-boyfriend, Logan. Stacey is stressed about her parents, and Claudia isn't sure she'll be allowed to graduate at all.
As graduation day comes closer, all the past and present BSC members come together to share their stories of Stoneybrook and the BSC. It's time for them to say good-bye. But their memories and their friendships will last forever.
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2000
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,144 books3,116 followersAnn 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 memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 30, 2009
the BSC is FINALLY graduating from stoneybrook middle school. & it's only been eighteen years. the "friends forever" series is a little (a lot) ridiculous because it's all supposed to take place over the course of the eighth grade, but it constantly references things that happened in previous books. like "stacey & the boyfriend trap" happens shortly before valentine's day & features the return of creepy math teacher wes ellenburg, whose original appearance happened...around valentine's day in the eighth grade, because the middle school dance he attends is a valentine's day dance. it's like the ghosties just gave up altogether on trying to make sense of the epic BSC time warp.
anyway. all the eighth graders are gearing up the finish the eighth grade & move on to high school. this is a special, so each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character. mary anne is psyched to be finishing middle school & moving on, although she feels she needs to have one last heart-to-heart with her ex-boyfriend, logan, so they can move on to high school both feeling okay about dating other people. claudia is dying to graduate, but she needs to pass her finals first & things look grim. stacey is also excited to be graduating, but is anxious about her parents & her dad's new fiancee all being together at the graduation. she also has an overdue copy of henry & ribsy or something checked out of the library, & will be denied graduation until she returns it. kristy is not at all excited to be graduating. she is panicked. she knows that moving on to high school will almost certainly finish the babysitters club once & for all, & plus, her oldest brother charlie is going away for college. she is not handling the transition very gracefully. in an effort to get her hooks into the BSC one more time, she decides to get all the babysitting charges together & bury a stoneybrook time capsule, to be opened in seven years, when the oldest charges are getting ready to leave for college. so this obnoxious time capsule idea is the B plot. (i think this book was actually written by ann m. martin herself, so of course there had to be some annoying babysitting nonsense in there.)
in addition to graduating, the eighth graders are all supposed to write letters to themselves, which will be mailed back to them when they graduate high school. can you even begin to imagine how embarrassing that would be? people change A LOT between age 13 & 17, in my personal experience. my 17-year-old self would have been horrified by my 13-year-old self. hell, i'm a little horrified even by my 25-year-old self...to say nothing of the 29-year-old self that read these ludicrous books & is now re-capping them in a public forum. good going, modern-day me. anyway, the girls struggle throughout the entire book to choose something to include in the stoneybrook time capsule, & to also write letters to be opened in four years. (what happens if a student transfers schools during high school? can they send a forwarding address & get the letter anyway?)
it's all very touching & recaps the series & everyone shows their personality, blah blah blah. of course there are child-related hijinks with the time capsule (claire pike doesn't understand the concept & includes her teddy bear, & then freaks out after the time capsule has been buried & decides she needs to have it back). we get to read the letter charlie wrote himself when he was 13, which is all about how hard he's had to work since his dad walked out on the family. kind of heavy. claudia fails science but is allowed to graduate with her classmates anyway as long as she passes the course in summer school. stacey can't find the book she checked out, but buys the library a new copy & all is forgiven. kristy breaks down in tears over the demise of the BSC but eventually gets herself together. mary anne has her chat with logan & it goes okay. this was incredibly anti-climactic for the end to a series that spanned 31,570 pages. i guess ann said all she needed to say in the first 31,370.
anyway. all the eighth graders are gearing up the finish the eighth grade & move on to high school. this is a special, so each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character. mary anne is psyched to be finishing middle school & moving on, although she feels she needs to have one last heart-to-heart with her ex-boyfriend, logan, so they can move on to high school both feeling okay about dating other people. claudia is dying to graduate, but she needs to pass her finals first & things look grim. stacey is also excited to be graduating, but is anxious about her parents & her dad's new fiancee all being together at the graduation. she also has an overdue copy of henry & ribsy or something checked out of the library, & will be denied graduation until she returns it. kristy is not at all excited to be graduating. she is panicked. she knows that moving on to high school will almost certainly finish the babysitters club once & for all, & plus, her oldest brother charlie is going away for college. she is not handling the transition very gracefully. in an effort to get her hooks into the BSC one more time, she decides to get all the babysitting charges together & bury a stoneybrook time capsule, to be opened in seven years, when the oldest charges are getting ready to leave for college. so this obnoxious time capsule idea is the B plot. (i think this book was actually written by ann m. martin herself, so of course there had to be some annoying babysitting nonsense in there.)
in addition to graduating, the eighth graders are all supposed to write letters to themselves, which will be mailed back to them when they graduate high school. can you even begin to imagine how embarrassing that would be? people change A LOT between age 13 & 17, in my personal experience. my 17-year-old self would have been horrified by my 13-year-old self. hell, i'm a little horrified even by my 25-year-old self...to say nothing of the 29-year-old self that read these ludicrous books & is now re-capping them in a public forum. good going, modern-day me. anyway, the girls struggle throughout the entire book to choose something to include in the stoneybrook time capsule, & to also write letters to be opened in four years. (what happens if a student transfers schools during high school? can they send a forwarding address & get the letter anyway?)
it's all very touching & recaps the series & everyone shows their personality, blah blah blah. of course there are child-related hijinks with the time capsule (claire pike doesn't understand the concept & includes her teddy bear, & then freaks out after the time capsule has been buried & decides she needs to have it back). we get to read the letter charlie wrote himself when he was 13, which is all about how hard he's had to work since his dad walked out on the family. kind of heavy. claudia fails science but is allowed to graduate with her classmates anyway as long as she passes the course in summer school. stacey can't find the book she checked out, but buys the library a new copy & all is forgiven. kristy breaks down in tears over the demise of the BSC but eventually gets herself together. mary anne has her chat with logan & it goes okay. this was incredibly anti-climactic for the end to a series that spanned 31,570 pages. i guess ann said all she needed to say in the first 31,370.
January 3, 2021
first, an intro. I started this project in 2015 with the intention of reading every bsc book (including the spinoff series narrated by bsc members, but not including the one-offs, little sister, california diaries, or kids in mrs. coleman’s class) in 2016. I already owned about half of the 209 books, and spent 2015 scouring ebay, etsy, and local libraries’ sales trying to track down the rest, never paying more than $2 per book. then my cat got diagnosed with a brain tumor that was right in the middle of his brain and was the size of an orange. for the first half of 2016 I managed to stay more or less on track to finish on time. then in july my cat died and I stopped having the emotional energy to continue with the project. by the end of 2016, I had read 101 books. without the motivation of finishing in ONE YEAR I let myself slow down and only work on it when I felt like it. and my new year’s resolution for 2020 was to finish this project for good, and then a global pandemic happened that made it hard. but here it is, barely 2021 and I am DONE. tl, dr: life gets in the way, but be nice to yourself and you may actually finish the things you set out to, even if it takes a longass time. thanks for being on this journey with me. onto the review:
this is my first time reading this book.
in this LAST BOOK OF THE ORIGINAL RUN (woooooo!) which has no ghostwriter credit so it’s probably actually written by ann, our 8th grade friends are FINALLY graduating middle school. it only took them 12.5 years (since they started 8th grade in Logan Likes Mary Anne!). they are asked to write a letter to their future selves, which sms will mail to them in four years when they’re graduating high school. they all have trouble writing the letter but end up with the letters I describe below. meanwhile, they decide to make a time capsule including items from bsc members and charges that they will open in 7 years (when the pike triplets, who are the oldest bsc charges, will be going to college). since this is a four-narrator book, I’ll break into the individual narrator plots now.
kristy: charlie applied to colleges late, so he is stuck going to the nearby boiceville state, but intends to live on campus and hopefully transfer to ucla next year. we get to see charlie’s 8th grade letter, which is mostly about growing up with a deadbeat dad and worrying about how he will pay for college (because how could he have known his mom would marry a rich guy?). kristy is freaking out that the bsc might be ending, and she doesn’t feel ready to graduate and move onto high school.
mary anne: thinks about the prospect of getting back together with logan, and ends up just clearing the air with him and possibly being friends in the future. she also talks about the fire a lot, because surviving the fire has become the only aspect of her identity she can ever think/talk about since she and logan broke up.
stacey: is SO ready to go to high school, graduate, and go to college somewhere far away where she can experience new people. she and claud are friends again, but nowhere near as close as they were pre-jeremy. she gets a note that she won’t be able to graduate because she checked out a copy of Ribsy from the sms library and never returned it. she freaks out for a while until she realizes she can just buy a new copy and donate it to pay off her fine. she is also worried about having her dad and samantha at her graduation along with her mom, but it ends up being fine (and they even all pose for a picture together).
claudia: is terrified that she won’t be able to graduate because she suspects she will fail science. and she actually does fail science, which is surprising because usually these books make things work out perfectly just in the nick of time. but she’s allowed to walk in the graduation ceremony and do science summer school, and assuming she passes, she'll move onto high school in the fall.
highlights:
-classic kristy quote: "[watson]'s pretty cool, even if he is going bald."
-once again, I really like that claud and stacey are still friends but they don't totally trust each other and aren't totally back to normal. it’s more realistic to how people actually are, as opposed to the neat little package things tend to wrap up into in fiction.
-ethan's email address is MRDALI
-jessi's time capsule contribution is article about racial intolerance and is basically just a vessel for her to complain about how fucked up people still are and to say "I hope by the time you are opening this capsule and reading my letter that intolerance will be a thing of the past." this is very precious.
-claudia's science project is to play different kinds of music for beans to see if they grow differently but they don't. I don’t know why she ends up getting a D, because that project sounds awesome.
-in her letter for the time capsule mary anne says something about the bsc "which, I have a feeling, no longer exists." hoo boy, nobody tell kristy
-claire pike’s contribution to the time capsule is her bear, ba-ba. then she freaks out after they bury it because she wants ba-ba back. I’m pretty sure this is an actual picture of the retrieval of ba-ba (in an ice bag that is chock full of heady goodness:
-claud is able to walk in graduation but will do science in summer school, and I’m just thinking about the brain, the brain, the center of the chain
-claud filled balloons with glitter and sequins to pop them. that sounds cute but also like a double nightmare for environmental reasons
-classic gay kristy moment: "I'm not sure I want to get married at all. I don't see why everyone has to get married." maybe after gay marriage is legalized you’ll want to?
-they make a pact that on january 1st of 12 years from now (2012, I guess?) they will plan a reunion for june 23 of that year. I hope they make it their beeswax to be on time.
-ann m martin has a letter at the end in which she thanks the ghostwriters
-she also thanks her (still at the time, but they have since split up) partner: "as always, I want to thank laura godwin"
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does this book take place in may and june when Claudia and the Disaster Date was in the late summer?
-kristy says something about how if charlie is going to ucla, he’ll be close to their dad. patrick lives in marin county, kristy. that’s 400 miles away.
-in jackie rodowsky's letter for the time capsule he keeps trying to spell things and crossing them out and then writing an easier to spell synonym. what is he, claudia? not every person who doesn’t know how to spell does this.
-a similar issue: all four of the narrators have trouble writing the letters to their future selves, and they try a couple times and then scrap it. it feels like a waste of space to have so many examples of the first couple sentences of mundane letters they don’t end up using.
-WHY WOULD MARY ANNE EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING BACK TOGETHER WITH LOGAN?
-kristy talks like rorshach from Watchmen again (like she did in Everything Changes) and it's very annoying. it’s almost like ann has forgotten how to write kristy as a narrator and decided it would be fun to have her write in annoying shorthand all the time instead.
-in the ebook version the editors corrected something claudia writes and it no longer makes sense. the print book version: "a HAPPY GRADUATION! sign was strung up over her bed. (well, actually, the sign said HAPPY GARDUATION!)" the ebook version: "a HAPPY GRADUATION! sign was strung up over her bed. (well, actually, the sign said HAPPY GRADUATION!)" since I read the ebook I was VERY confused
-in ann's letter at the end, she says there are 213 books, really? what am I missing? Secret Santa and Chain Letter, I guess but what other two? the Postcard Book doesn’t count, nor does the The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club. does she count the Baby-Sitters Club Notebook and Guide to Baby-Sitting?
what their letters end up being about:
-stacey: something about suspecting that mary anne and kristy won't be her closest friends anymore when she reads the letter in four years, and that she'll make new friends at shs. she's very self-aware, constantly saying things like, "you're probably laughing about this" and such. she wants to go far away to college to experience "different faces, a different part of the country"
-mary anne: mostly about the fire and how it made her stronger, and wondering whether it will still be such a defining moment for her in four years. she talks about logan and wonders whether he will still be important in her life, and thinks about how sometimes people do meet in middle school and end up together (woof)
-claud: she interviews herself. she talks about her family and how important they are, including mimi. she says something about not thinking she and alan will still be together in four years and then asks the interviewer (herself) if they can not talk about alan. then she talks about her art and how it’s the most important thing to her.
-kristy: mostly about the bsc even though she thinks it might seem childish in four years. she talks about how hurt she is that it changed in Everything Changes, and about how much it will hurt to have it change more. she doesn't feel ready for high school and feels like everyone else has wings and is flying but she's falling off a cliff
no outfits
items in the time capsule:
-piece of mary anne's burned house (mary anne)
-pamphlet from the stoneybrook chamber of commerce (mal)
-softball (jackie)
-article about racial intolerance (jessi)
-original bsc flyer (kristy)
-photo album including bsc members, krushers, bsc charges, bradford court/claudia's house, and claudia's bedroom (abby)
-flyer for stars of tomorrow talent show from Mallory and the Dream Horse (stacey)
-ba-ba the bear (claire) - this gets taken back
-ads pages from the stoneybrook news (dawn)
-flyer for stoneybrook's 250th birthday (claudia)
-stoneybrook examiner, the stoneybrook elementary newspaper (charlotte)
snacks in claudia’s room:
-popcorn (n.s.)
-jelly beans in the back of her desk drawer
this is my first time reading this book.
in this LAST BOOK OF THE ORIGINAL RUN (woooooo!) which has no ghostwriter credit so it’s probably actually written by ann, our 8th grade friends are FINALLY graduating middle school. it only took them 12.5 years (since they started 8th grade in Logan Likes Mary Anne!). they are asked to write a letter to their future selves, which sms will mail to them in four years when they’re graduating high school. they all have trouble writing the letter but end up with the letters I describe below. meanwhile, they decide to make a time capsule including items from bsc members and charges that they will open in 7 years (when the pike triplets, who are the oldest bsc charges, will be going to college). since this is a four-narrator book, I’ll break into the individual narrator plots now.
kristy: charlie applied to colleges late, so he is stuck going to the nearby boiceville state, but intends to live on campus and hopefully transfer to ucla next year. we get to see charlie’s 8th grade letter, which is mostly about growing up with a deadbeat dad and worrying about how he will pay for college (because how could he have known his mom would marry a rich guy?). kristy is freaking out that the bsc might be ending, and she doesn’t feel ready to graduate and move onto high school.
mary anne: thinks about the prospect of getting back together with logan, and ends up just clearing the air with him and possibly being friends in the future. she also talks about the fire a lot, because surviving the fire has become the only aspect of her identity she can ever think/talk about since she and logan broke up.
stacey: is SO ready to go to high school, graduate, and go to college somewhere far away where she can experience new people. she and claud are friends again, but nowhere near as close as they were pre-jeremy. she gets a note that she won’t be able to graduate because she checked out a copy of Ribsy from the sms library and never returned it. she freaks out for a while until she realizes she can just buy a new copy and donate it to pay off her fine. she is also worried about having her dad and samantha at her graduation along with her mom, but it ends up being fine (and they even all pose for a picture together).
claudia: is terrified that she won’t be able to graduate because she suspects she will fail science. and she actually does fail science, which is surprising because usually these books make things work out perfectly just in the nick of time. but she’s allowed to walk in the graduation ceremony and do science summer school, and assuming she passes, she'll move onto high school in the fall.
highlights:
-classic kristy quote: "[watson]'s pretty cool, even if he is going bald."
-once again, I really like that claud and stacey are still friends but they don't totally trust each other and aren't totally back to normal. it’s more realistic to how people actually are, as opposed to the neat little package things tend to wrap up into in fiction.
-ethan's email address is MRDALI
-jessi's time capsule contribution is article about racial intolerance and is basically just a vessel for her to complain about how fucked up people still are and to say "I hope by the time you are opening this capsule and reading my letter that intolerance will be a thing of the past." this is very precious.
-claudia's science project is to play different kinds of music for beans to see if they grow differently but they don't. I don’t know why she ends up getting a D, because that project sounds awesome.
-in her letter for the time capsule mary anne says something about the bsc "which, I have a feeling, no longer exists." hoo boy, nobody tell kristy
-claire pike’s contribution to the time capsule is her bear, ba-ba. then she freaks out after they bury it because she wants ba-ba back. I’m pretty sure this is an actual picture of the retrieval of ba-ba (in an ice bag that is chock full of heady goodness:
-claud is able to walk in graduation but will do science in summer school, and I’m just thinking about the brain, the brain, the center of the chain
-claud filled balloons with glitter and sequins to pop them. that sounds cute but also like a double nightmare for environmental reasons
-classic gay kristy moment: "I'm not sure I want to get married at all. I don't see why everyone has to get married." maybe after gay marriage is legalized you’ll want to?
-they make a pact that on january 1st of 12 years from now (2012, I guess?) they will plan a reunion for june 23 of that year. I hope they make it their beeswax to be on time.
-ann m martin has a letter at the end in which she thanks the ghostwriters
-she also thanks her (still at the time, but they have since split up) partner: "as always, I want to thank laura godwin"
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does this book take place in may and june when Claudia and the Disaster Date was in the late summer?
-kristy says something about how if charlie is going to ucla, he’ll be close to their dad. patrick lives in marin county, kristy. that’s 400 miles away.
-in jackie rodowsky's letter for the time capsule he keeps trying to spell things and crossing them out and then writing an easier to spell synonym. what is he, claudia? not every person who doesn’t know how to spell does this.
-a similar issue: all four of the narrators have trouble writing the letters to their future selves, and they try a couple times and then scrap it. it feels like a waste of space to have so many examples of the first couple sentences of mundane letters they don’t end up using.
-WHY WOULD MARY ANNE EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING BACK TOGETHER WITH LOGAN?
-kristy talks like rorshach from Watchmen again (like she did in Everything Changes) and it's very annoying. it’s almost like ann has forgotten how to write kristy as a narrator and decided it would be fun to have her write in annoying shorthand all the time instead.
-in the ebook version the editors corrected something claudia writes and it no longer makes sense. the print book version: "a HAPPY GRADUATION! sign was strung up over her bed. (well, actually, the sign said HAPPY GARDUATION!)" the ebook version: "a HAPPY GRADUATION! sign was strung up over her bed. (well, actually, the sign said HAPPY GRADUATION!)" since I read the ebook I was VERY confused
-in ann's letter at the end, she says there are 213 books, really? what am I missing? Secret Santa and Chain Letter, I guess but what other two? the Postcard Book doesn’t count, nor does the The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club. does she count the Baby-Sitters Club Notebook and Guide to Baby-Sitting?
what their letters end up being about:
-stacey: something about suspecting that mary anne and kristy won't be her closest friends anymore when she reads the letter in four years, and that she'll make new friends at shs. she's very self-aware, constantly saying things like, "you're probably laughing about this" and such. she wants to go far away to college to experience "different faces, a different part of the country"
-mary anne: mostly about the fire and how it made her stronger, and wondering whether it will still be such a defining moment for her in four years. she talks about logan and wonders whether he will still be important in her life, and thinks about how sometimes people do meet in middle school and end up together (woof)
-claud: she interviews herself. she talks about her family and how important they are, including mimi. she says something about not thinking she and alan will still be together in four years and then asks the interviewer (herself) if they can not talk about alan. then she talks about her art and how it’s the most important thing to her.
-kristy: mostly about the bsc even though she thinks it might seem childish in four years. she talks about how hurt she is that it changed in Everything Changes, and about how much it will hurt to have it change more. she doesn't feel ready for high school and feels like everyone else has wings and is flying but she's falling off a cliff
no outfits
items in the time capsule:
-piece of mary anne's burned house (mary anne)
-pamphlet from the stoneybrook chamber of commerce (mal)
-softball (jackie)
-article about racial intolerance (jessi)
-original bsc flyer (kristy)
-photo album including bsc members, krushers, bsc charges, bradford court/claudia's house, and claudia's bedroom (abby)
-flyer for stars of tomorrow talent show from Mallory and the Dream Horse (stacey)
-ba-ba the bear (claire) - this gets taken back
-ads pages from the stoneybrook news (dawn)
-flyer for stoneybrook's 250th birthday (claudia)
-stoneybrook examiner, the stoneybrook elementary newspaper (charlotte)
snacks in claudia’s room:
-popcorn (n.s.)
-jelly beans in the back of her desk drawer
March 16, 2016
I feel a little silly reviewing a Babysitter's Club book, but my 13 year old self would have been dismayed if I didn't! This is the last book in a series that Ann M Martin wrote for 15 years and completed in 2000. I was a true fan. I had the board game, saw the Babysitter's Club Movie in the theater with my sister the summer it came out, and have at least 100 Babysitter's Club books in my parents' attic awaiting the day when Eden will hopefully want to read them. When I discovered that she had written a final book about the Babysitters completing 8th grade and moving on to high school, well, I had to read it to see how a series I loved so much ends. Martin does not disappoint. She dedicates the book to all her BSC readers past and present and at the back of the book details a timeline of the order the books came out and the popularity of them. The girls put together a Stonybrook time capsule to be opened in 7 years. It was such a sweet book for people of all ages who loved this series! If you were like me and awaited your birthday and Christmas eagerly so you could get and then devour these books, you may want to read this last book. It will bring back good memories!
May 7, 2014
I haven't read any of the other BSC Friends Forever series, and I definitely don't think I will be. I just went and looked this book up because I wanted to see how it ends. How does it end? Very anticlimactically. These girls have 200+ books of history, and all of sudden, it's just down to four girls on very uneven footing. And I get that the main theme of this book was about accepting change in relationships, but you would think we would get much more closure and in a more fitting way. I am always going to appreciate this series for what it was, but I have the feeling that a lot of people, myself included, are going to pretend the Friends Forever series just doesn't even exist.
All of that said, I would probably sell my soul for a reunion book with the girls all grown up.
All of that said, I would probably sell my soul for a reunion book with the girls all grown up.
July 24, 2009
For 15 years and 213 books, the "Baby-Sitters Club" has worked their way through the trials of middle school and life in small-town New England. This book stands as the final book in that legacy and manages to leave a beautiful, sentimental, hopeful swan song in the process. For any fan of the BSC, regardless of age and regardless of when you stopped reading new editions, this book serves as a powerful reminder of childhood and change.
I think Kristy expressed it best when she said, "The Baby-Sitters Club is my baby. It's my creation. I am SO proud of it. It may seem small and amateurish to some people, but it doesn't to me. It is the greatest thing I have done, and I must keep it alive. If it ends, a little part of me will die. And the worst thing is that no one understands this."
It's interesting, sad, and nice to see the club change so much but going back to the original four members. You share a lot of memories and remember them along with all the club members. You see how everything has changed with the characters through out the series and matured and grew up. And so, goodbye BSC. Goodbye Baby-Sitters Club.
Book Details:
Title Graduation Day (Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever Super Special)
Author Ann M. Martin
Reviewed By Purplycookie
I think Kristy expressed it best when she said, "The Baby-Sitters Club is my baby. It's my creation. I am SO proud of it. It may seem small and amateurish to some people, but it doesn't to me. It is the greatest thing I have done, and I must keep it alive. If it ends, a little part of me will die. And the worst thing is that no one understands this."
It's interesting, sad, and nice to see the club change so much but going back to the original four members. You share a lot of memories and remember them along with all the club members. You see how everything has changed with the characters through out the series and matured and grew up. And so, goodbye BSC. Goodbye Baby-Sitters Club.
Book Details:
Title Graduation Day (Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever Super Special)
Author Ann M. Martin
Reviewed By Purplycookie
February 20, 2018
The last BSC book ever!
I love that all of the members, past and present, shared a little of their stories in this one through the time capsule. I also love the idea of letters being mailed back to you when you graduate, although I can imagine I would have been cringing at 18 reading something I wrote at 13. (I'm so embarrassed by my old diaries for that same reason.)
The timeline on this still makes no sense, however. Mary Anne is already living in her new house in this book, but in book 11 she doesn't move in until after graduation. (And Dawn did not fly in until afterwards, too.) Books 11 and 12 also reference none of the events that happen in this book. I know this one was technically written later, but when you read them in chronological order it just makes no sense. Plus, the time warp that left them in eighth grade for 15 years is never as strange as it is in this book, as they pretend that the last year was the only year that existed even though that would mean Mallory and Jessi were never even in the club, amongst many other things. I wish this Friends Forever series had taken place in ninth grade instead, because I think it would have made a lot more sense in the long-run. Also, do eighth graders really graduate with caps and gowns? My school didn't.
My favorite part of this book is actually Charlie's letter, because it provides so much depth to a character that is usually seen on the sidelines. I wish we had gotten to know him better.
All in all, a good send-off to an amazing series. I actually got a little sad at the end, until I remembered that it's not really over since I can keep re-reading these books forever.
I love that all of the members, past and present, shared a little of their stories in this one through the time capsule. I also love the idea of letters being mailed back to you when you graduate, although I can imagine I would have been cringing at 18 reading something I wrote at 13. (I'm so embarrassed by my old diaries for that same reason.)
The timeline on this still makes no sense, however. Mary Anne is already living in her new house in this book, but in book 11 she doesn't move in until after graduation. (And Dawn did not fly in until afterwards, too.) Books 11 and 12 also reference none of the events that happen in this book. I know this one was technically written later, but when you read them in chronological order it just makes no sense. Plus, the time warp that left them in eighth grade for 15 years is never as strange as it is in this book, as they pretend that the last year was the only year that existed even though that would mean Mallory and Jessi were never even in the club, amongst many other things. I wish this Friends Forever series had taken place in ninth grade instead, because I think it would have made a lot more sense in the long-run. Also, do eighth graders really graduate with caps and gowns? My school didn't.
My favorite part of this book is actually Charlie's letter, because it provides so much depth to a character that is usually seen on the sidelines. I wish we had gotten to know him better.
All in all, a good send-off to an amazing series. I actually got a little sad at the end, until I remembered that it's not really over since I can keep re-reading these books forever.
December 8, 2017
Well, here we are! We have arrived at the last book in my epic BSC re-read adventure. I did not read the Little Sister books, because I hate Karen Brewer and can't torture myself like that. Everything else though has been read, and this is the last!
I had hoped for more from this book, which I had skipped reading as a kid because by this point I felt too old and had moved on to other pursuits in reading, like Fear Street. I feel a little sad that the club didn't get a better send off, though this book did have it's moments. I liked the letters they wrote to their future selves, and I liked getting to read the letter that Charlie Thomas wrote to HIMself when he was in eighth grade. It was also nice to know that he has big plans to get out of Stoneybrook and live his own life. Good for you, Charlie!
I could have lived without the time capsule plot, and wish they'd used that time to do more with just the girls themselves. Maybe have some chapters from Jessi, Mal, and Abby just to really wrap them up too. They never really got a good send off (besides maybe Mal) so that would have been nice. I get why you'd end with the original four, but still. It felt a little empty somehow.
Will I ever stop reading the BSC? Probably not. I still have all my original childhood books, and I go back to them frequently when I need something mindless to do. It's a comfort thing, and it probably always will be.
Long live the BSC!
I had hoped for more from this book, which I had skipped reading as a kid because by this point I felt too old and had moved on to other pursuits in reading, like Fear Street. I feel a little sad that the club didn't get a better send off, though this book did have it's moments. I liked the letters they wrote to their future selves, and I liked getting to read the letter that Charlie Thomas wrote to HIMself when he was in eighth grade. It was also nice to know that he has big plans to get out of Stoneybrook and live his own life. Good for you, Charlie!
I could have lived without the time capsule plot, and wish they'd used that time to do more with just the girls themselves. Maybe have some chapters from Jessi, Mal, and Abby just to really wrap them up too. They never really got a good send off (besides maybe Mal) so that would have been nice. I get why you'd end with the original four, but still. It felt a little empty somehow.
Will I ever stop reading the BSC? Probably not. I still have all my original childhood books, and I go back to them frequently when I need something mindless to do. It's a comfort thing, and it probably always will be.
Long live the BSC!
July 6, 2017
I'll put it in perspective. When the first "Baby-Sitters Club" book was released, I was two months shy of my 4th birthday. By the time I started reading the series in 1992, there were 50 books published in the original series. I stopped in 1995, just shy of book #89. I had no idea there was a new member, that some of the club members departed, or that there were nearly as many books as their wound up being in the time between the last one I read and this final book being published. By the time "Graduation Day" was released, I was also taking a big step in my life...applying to college.
For both nostalgia purposes (and well, I wanted to see how the whole series ended), I felt I really needed to read this book. I know I'm 34 years old, but this book series connects me back to much of my childhood. If there was anything that piqued my love of reading that has carried across so many years, it was having the chance to read this series. So why not find out how it all ended?
That aside, this is the plot:
The girls of The BSC are (finally) preparing to graduate from eighth grade. It is the beginning of the end for the club, and the group is feeling the changes that will be happening as they prepare for the next big step in their lives - high school. And because things as they know it are changing, they want to be able to capture a piece of themselves in that very moment of their lives, so they create a neighborhood time capsule for their sitting charges. There's also the "letter to yourself in four years" story. It all seems like alot, but the whole story wraps up rather nicely.
Sorry readers, no spoilers. You'll have to read it yourself to find out exactly how the story unfolds!
I enjoyed this one. As I'm finding out with the books I didn't have the opportunity to read once I stopped reading them, this series stayed strong till the very end. Ann M. Martin gave young girls a great group of girls to idolize, and if she inspired others to engage in lifelong reading the way she and her wonderful world of teenage baby-sitters did for me, then she did her job. And she did it right for 14 years. Yes, I'm aware she didn't write ALL the books, but she was the reason this series started, and she helped bring it to its final chapters - the climactic "Chapter 15," so to say.
Reading each girls' thoughts as they prepare to move on to the next big step, while trying to hold on to what they value despite all the impending changes, was refreshing. My scope of The BSC world was always limited to the one person-centric novels (and the occasional Super Special), so to hear several points of view (Especially from "The Core Four"). To hear the story from each perspective, and how all those perspectives tied together made for a great ending.
I will admit, I did get a little misty reading Ann M. Martin's final letter to the reader. Again, I'm in my thirties, but it means nothing when you realize that something you loved in childhood did eventually come to an end, but that person was able to reflect and thank the reader for their unwavering interest. This is a woman who gave a nice sizable part of her writing career to tell the stories of teenage girls and their entrepeneurial club, and that letter was the reminder that all great things come to an end. I was eighteen years old when this series wrapped, and this is symbollic of many of the life changes we begin to experience in our teenage lives.
I know this is asking for too much, but I would love a story that picks up four years later, when they are ready for the next big step...graduating high school.
After all, they were in eighth grade for what, like 10 years?
I'm currently reading "The Summer Before," which backtracks all the way to that summer before all of this started - before Kristy's great idea set off a fourteen-year journey in written form. Like all the other stories I've read (and am reading for the first time), I'm looking forward to seeing how this prequel set up the whole series...25 years after it actually started.
Seriously though, the girls...they're in their forties now, right?
For both nostalgia purposes (and well, I wanted to see how the whole series ended), I felt I really needed to read this book. I know I'm 34 years old, but this book series connects me back to much of my childhood. If there was anything that piqued my love of reading that has carried across so many years, it was having the chance to read this series. So why not find out how it all ended?
That aside, this is the plot:
The girls of The BSC are (finally) preparing to graduate from eighth grade. It is the beginning of the end for the club, and the group is feeling the changes that will be happening as they prepare for the next big step in their lives - high school. And because things as they know it are changing, they want to be able to capture a piece of themselves in that very moment of their lives, so they create a neighborhood time capsule for their sitting charges. There's also the "letter to yourself in four years" story. It all seems like alot, but the whole story wraps up rather nicely.
Sorry readers, no spoilers. You'll have to read it yourself to find out exactly how the story unfolds!
I enjoyed this one. As I'm finding out with the books I didn't have the opportunity to read once I stopped reading them, this series stayed strong till the very end. Ann M. Martin gave young girls a great group of girls to idolize, and if she inspired others to engage in lifelong reading the way she and her wonderful world of teenage baby-sitters did for me, then she did her job. And she did it right for 14 years. Yes, I'm aware she didn't write ALL the books, but she was the reason this series started, and she helped bring it to its final chapters - the climactic "Chapter 15," so to say.
Reading each girls' thoughts as they prepare to move on to the next big step, while trying to hold on to what they value despite all the impending changes, was refreshing. My scope of The BSC world was always limited to the one person-centric novels (and the occasional Super Special), so to hear several points of view (Especially from "The Core Four"). To hear the story from each perspective, and how all those perspectives tied together made for a great ending.
I will admit, I did get a little misty reading Ann M. Martin's final letter to the reader. Again, I'm in my thirties, but it means nothing when you realize that something you loved in childhood did eventually come to an end, but that person was able to reflect and thank the reader for their unwavering interest. This is a woman who gave a nice sizable part of her writing career to tell the stories of teenage girls and their entrepeneurial club, and that letter was the reminder that all great things come to an end. I was eighteen years old when this series wrapped, and this is symbollic of many of the life changes we begin to experience in our teenage lives.
I know this is asking for too much, but I would love a story that picks up four years later, when they are ready for the next big step...graduating high school.
After all, they were in eighth grade for what, like 10 years?
I'm currently reading "The Summer Before," which backtracks all the way to that summer before all of this started - before Kristy's great idea set off a fourteen-year journey in written form. Like all the other stories I've read (and am reading for the first time), I'm looking forward to seeing how this prequel set up the whole series...25 years after it actually started.
Seriously though, the girls...they're in their forties now, right?
May 10, 2023
Sweet ending to the series. Nothing much happens, but it's a nice tribute to the rest of the series.
Graduating 8th graders need to write a letter to themselves that will be delivered in four years' time, so it's a nice way for the big four to reminisce about the most significant experiences in the past year (or 20 or so years of books, LOL). Minor quibble, and this is definitely me feeling my age, is that I wish they'd just typed all the letters, coz it's really hard to read Mary Anne and Claudia's handwriting. Ironically, Stacey, who has the easiest handwriting of all to read, did type her letter, grrr.
The BSC also puts together a Stoneybrook time capsule, which gives the rest of the cast the chance to get their memories in. We hear from Dawn, Abby, Jessi, Mal, and a bunch of the kids. Kinda LOL but also kinda sweet to hear how the kids all love their baby-sitters; like Jackie Rodowsky knowing fun is on the way whenever he sees Kristy, and Charlotte Johanssen writing about how Stacey is her almost-sister in the elementary school newspaper. A bit LOL that so many of the kids' memories will be about the BSC, but this IS a send-off for the series, and I can kinda see being little and idolizing the cool older kids that plan fun activities for me and my friends.
There's also a silly subplot about Claire putting her teddy bear in the capsule and then freaking out that very evening so they need to dig it back up again. Honestly, 9-year-old Vanessa was the smartest of the lot in flagging that burying a 5-year-old's favourite toy for four years is a terrible idea and Claire doesn't really understand the concept of a time capsule. So a bit of a side-eye to 11-year-old Mal and the 13-year-old BSC members for being like, whatever, let Claire do what she wants, when the smart thing to have done would be to convince Claire to just bury a picture of the teddy bear in the capsule. I feel like these experienced baby-sitters should have known better, and they only went along with it so we get the comedic bit about Kristy being a grump about digging up the capsule 24 hours later and the nice bit about Dawn getting to see what's in the capsule even though she was still in California during the original burial.
Graduating 8th graders need to write a letter to themselves that will be delivered in four years' time, so it's a nice way for the big four to reminisce about the most significant experiences in the past year (or 20 or so years of books, LOL). Minor quibble, and this is definitely me feeling my age, is that I wish they'd just typed all the letters, coz it's really hard to read Mary Anne and Claudia's handwriting. Ironically, Stacey, who has the easiest handwriting of all to read, did type her letter, grrr.
The BSC also puts together a Stoneybrook time capsule, which gives the rest of the cast the chance to get their memories in. We hear from Dawn, Abby, Jessi, Mal, and a bunch of the kids. Kinda LOL but also kinda sweet to hear how the kids all love their baby-sitters; like Jackie Rodowsky knowing fun is on the way whenever he sees Kristy, and Charlotte Johanssen writing about how Stacey is her almost-sister in the elementary school newspaper. A bit LOL that so many of the kids' memories will be about the BSC, but this IS a send-off for the series, and I can kinda see being little and idolizing the cool older kids that plan fun activities for me and my friends.
There's also a silly subplot about Claire putting her teddy bear in the capsule and then freaking out that very evening so they need to dig it back up again. Honestly, 9-year-old Vanessa was the smartest of the lot in flagging that burying a 5-year-old's favourite toy for four years is a terrible idea and Claire doesn't really understand the concept of a time capsule. So a bit of a side-eye to 11-year-old Mal and the 13-year-old BSC members for being like, whatever, let Claire do what she wants, when the smart thing to have done would be to convince Claire to just bury a picture of the teddy bear in the capsule. I feel like these experienced baby-sitters should have known better, and they only went along with it so we get the comedic bit about Kristy being a grump about digging up the capsule 24 hours later and the nice bit about Dawn getting to see what's in the capsule even though she was still in California during the original burial.
April 27, 2024
*Strong Bad voice* IT'S OVER!
What a ride. It was great to hear from the OG Ann M. Martin for this final book (but I still take umbrage with Kristy's writing style in her journal. It is very annoying and unnecessary).
I love the girls' predictions about where they'll end up in four years. Mary Anne saying that she wants to study psychology in college is very on brand. Stacey wins the award for being the Most Self Aware Eighth Grader Ever, consistently writing in her letter to herself "you're probably laughing at this." I was truly shocked when Claudia failed science and was genuinely worried she wouldn't be able to graduate with her friends after all, but thank goodness for summer school. And then of course, there's Kristy "Creature of Habit" Thomas who seems personally butthurt that everything is changing. I was very worried she'd be mean to Charlie about his choice to live on campus when he goes to college, but she managed to hold her tongue.
I also love that we got to hear from Dawn, Abby, Jessi, and Mal, as well as some of the babysitting charges. Is it wrong that I also wished we could have heard from Logan and Shannon too? Or maybe some of the other background characters, like Pete Black or Erica Blumberg? Or even Alan Gray?
I did like the time capsule plot. I wish we could have a flash-forward to the BSC charges as teenagers opening the time capsule together.
All in all, a satisfying end to the series. How fun would it be for Ann to come back now, 24 years later, with an epilogue?
What a ride. It was great to hear from the OG Ann M. Martin for this final book (but I still take umbrage with Kristy's writing style in her journal. It is very annoying and unnecessary).
I love the girls' predictions about where they'll end up in four years. Mary Anne saying that she wants to study psychology in college is very on brand. Stacey wins the award for being the Most Self Aware Eighth Grader Ever, consistently writing in her letter to herself "you're probably laughing at this." I was truly shocked when Claudia failed science and was genuinely worried she wouldn't be able to graduate with her friends after all, but thank goodness for summer school. And then of course, there's Kristy "Creature of Habit" Thomas who seems personally butthurt that everything is changing. I was very worried she'd be mean to Charlie about his choice to live on campus when he goes to college, but she managed to hold her tongue.
I also love that we got to hear from Dawn, Abby, Jessi, and Mal, as well as some of the babysitting charges. Is it wrong that I also wished we could have heard from Logan and Shannon too? Or maybe some of the other background characters, like Pete Black or Erica Blumberg? Or even Alan Gray?
I did like the time capsule plot. I wish we could have a flash-forward to the BSC charges as teenagers opening the time capsule together.
All in all, a satisfying end to the series. How fun would it be for Ann to come back now, 24 years later, with an epilogue?
May 4, 2024
Can I be honest? I don't love this book. Like, sure, I guess it's a good ending to the series - the characters are all very introspective, but it feels very clip show-y. But just... nothing really happens. And there is a LOT of handwriting which is painful for these old eyes to read. (I enjoyed reading why Jessi put a newspaper article about racial intolerance in the time capsule, I did not enjoy reading six pages in her handwriting.) The subplot about the time capsule was cute, and I LOVED the whole bit with Claire and her teddy, but I wanted more of the girls hanging out, more conversations, more of the new friendships formed over the Friends Forever series. But maybe I just identify with Kristy a little too much. I don't want things to change. I don't want the series to end.
I started this big reread in January 2018, so it's taken me six years to go through all the BSC, Super Specials, Mysteries, Reader's Requests, Portrait Collections, California Diaries, and Friends Forevers. Which means that I'm probably due to start the series over again...
I started this big reread in January 2018, so it's taken me six years to go through all the BSC, Super Specials, Mysteries, Reader's Requests, Portrait Collections, California Diaries, and Friends Forevers. Which means that I'm probably due to start the series over again...
December 8, 2025
I genuinely hate reading the handwriting portions of these books and usually skip them (especially on Kindle), but I soldiered through to read these letters, and the emotional damage is so real. Obviously, these books have been a part of my life since I was in elementary school, so completing the series (less the prequel, which I'll read next) isn't THAT sad--I can start over or re-read whatever I want and whenever, but...ugh. The nostalgia for the whole series that's encapsulated so well in this book.
I think I took the first emotional damage with Charlotte's letter for the time capsule, and then it just snow balled. I hate how realistic it is that things don't end perfectly, but I also love that. And I wish that now, years and years after this book was written, there was a follow up. What happened when they read their letters four years later? Did they dig up the time capsule? Did they complete their pact and meet up 12 years later?
Overall, a nostalgic, wonderful look back at some of our favorite babysitting charges but, mostly, as it goes with this follow up series, a look at our babysitters themselves. And I'm really going to miss them.
I think I took the first emotional damage with Charlotte's letter for the time capsule, and then it just snow balled. I hate how realistic it is that things don't end perfectly, but I also love that. And I wish that now, years and years after this book was written, there was a follow up. What happened when they read their letters four years later? Did they dig up the time capsule? Did they complete their pact and meet up 12 years later?
Overall, a nostalgic, wonderful look back at some of our favorite babysitting charges but, mostly, as it goes with this follow up series, a look at our babysitters themselves. And I'm really going to miss them.
September 28, 2025
Oh man this was so sad to read. I never wanted it to end. That is why I had put it off for so very long.
I wish that we could get an update on what the characters are up to now. But of we do please make them still friends in some sort of way. Don't do the Sweet Valley high/university/confidential route and screw stuff up. If you all read those then you know how they did Elizabeth.
Anyhow I love reading bsc books no matter my age. They are fun and just really good. I wish everyone would read these.
I wish that we could get an update on what the characters are up to now. But of we do please make them still friends in some sort of way. Don't do the Sweet Valley high/university/confidential route and screw stuff up. If you all read those then you know how they did Elizabeth.
Anyhow I love reading bsc books no matter my age. They are fun and just really good. I wish everyone would read these.
June 7, 2020
Loved it cried reminded me of my graduation from jr. High
February 23, 2022
Really good ending to the BSC…
November 15, 2023
Ann really got me with this one. Despite being very anticlimactic for the final book it was oddly relatable and I really enjoyed it.
January 18, 2024
A great book sad that it was last booooook in the series!
November 20, 2025
End of times
I loved how they finally graduated from Middle School. I have been an off and on reader of this series since 1995 (I think).
I loved how they finally graduated from Middle School. I have been an off and on reader of this series since 1995 (I think).
April 16, 2025
Pretty good and heart-warming, even though I really didn't need to see these girls finish 8th grade for the 10th time.
May 24, 2025
It's over. I want to cry. A series that was such a huge part of my and so many other's childhoods comes to a final conclusion in this book. After close to twenty years in middle school the girls are about to graduate. Kristy is terrified of all the changes, losing her friends and seeing the BSC crumble. Stacey is stressed first about having her parents and dad's fiancee together at the graduation, picturing an all out cat fight. Then she gets notice that she can't graduate because she checked out Ribsy from the school library and never returned it (RIP Beverly Cleary.) First of all can they do that? What if you can't find the book or pay to replace it? A straight A student will be stuck in middle school forever? Sounds kind of stupid to me, but whatever. Stacey has moved twice since then and despite searching only finds a great pair of socks she forgot about. She buys a new copy and all is well. Mary Anne decides to get a clean slate and talks things out with Logan so they are on better terms. Lord I hope they don't get back together. Claudia panics that she won't graduate because she's failing many courses. With Stacey's help she passes math but not science but somehow she manages to graduate with everyone despite the condition being she passes summer school which she claims to be good at. So we never really know she passed or not. There are two other side plots that kind of help wrap the series up nicely. The first is the school has them write a letter to be mailed to them when they graduate high school. I like this idea and wish we had something like that. 13 year old me was very different from 17 year old me I think, anyway. Charlie Kristy's brother gets his letter and it's about worrying how the family will survive without their dad around and if he can even afford to go to college, little knowing Watson Brewer was in their near future. The second plot was a time capsule that Mary Anne thought of while sitting for the Pike kids. It's to be buried on Mary Anne's property and opened in 7 years. All the BSC adds an item even Dawn, Claire is a horrid spoiled brat and adds her stuffed bear and throws a fit to get it back. Claire always makes me glad I don't and never have kids. Each includes a note about why they added what they did. It's sweet. The timeline was off though as Welcome Home Mary Anne has them moving to the barn end of June, the book starts early June and they are in the barn. Also Sunny came with Dawn and Jeff in that book, but here she's nowhere to be seen. Maybe a ghostwriter mistake? It ends with the graduation and all the girls having one last part all eight of them, Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, Dawn, Mallory, Jessi and Abby and they talk about what the want for the future. Jessi is about to go on a world tour with her dancing which is exciting, compared to the other summer plans. Everyone just speculates if they'll marry, have kids, what jobs they'll have one day and plan to reunite in 12 years. What a series, what a finale. It did end things well, I like keeping things this way and imagining what will happen to them as they grow up. I'd be too worried a sequel of adult BSC members would lead to disappointment much like SVH did, so hopefully the girls remain forever 13 and 11.
March 27, 2013
As I said in one of my other BSC reviews, the "it was ok" rating has nothing to do with the book's quality. It's just because I'm no longer in the same mindset as I was when I read these books regularly, so, while they're still fun to read for nostalgia's sake, they don't have the same impact. Thirteen years ago, just a few years older than Kristy and co., I probably would've felt differently (assuming I would've felt brave enough to be caught still reading BSC books).
Well, ok, I did feel a teensy bit weepy at the end, when they were making the pact. And when I read Ann M. Martin's letter to her readers. And the BSC timeline.
And here's the thing -- Ms. Martin (and/or her ghostwriters) were really quite good at getting into the mindset of grade - middle schoolers, which (naturally) especially shows in the "diary entries" and letters-to-the-future. Reading it in my current mindset, sure, Mary Anne's time capsule letter seems kind of cheesy. But I probably would've written the exact same letter when I was thirteen. I probably did write similar notes about how memories can't be destroyed, and how I feel about friends, and how far away the future seems, and so on.
[Side note: who else totally knew Claire would ]
It's weird to remember that structured existence, going from one school-year to the next, experiencing everything along with a group of people all more or less the same age, being excited about things like pep rallies and Orientation Days and sleepover retreats. Knowing what to expect of the next year, and the year after that.
Now...if you'll pardon the random science metaphor...it's like I've gone from a solid ice state to a floating air state. Not knowing exactly what I'll be doing next year, or even necessarily what I'll be doing tomorrow.
Huh. That got kind of heavy for a Baby-sitters Club review.
Well, ok, I did feel a teensy bit weepy at the end, when they were making the pact. And when I read Ann M. Martin's letter to her readers. And the BSC timeline.
And here's the thing -- Ms. Martin (and/or her ghostwriters) were really quite good at getting into the mindset of grade - middle schoolers, which (naturally) especially shows in the "diary entries" and letters-to-the-future. Reading it in my current mindset, sure, Mary Anne's time capsule letter seems kind of cheesy. But I probably would've written the exact same letter when I was thirteen. I probably did write similar notes about how memories can't be destroyed, and how I feel about friends, and how far away the future seems, and so on.
[Side note: who else totally knew Claire would ]
It's weird to remember that structured existence, going from one school-year to the next, experiencing everything along with a group of people all more or less the same age, being excited about things like pep rallies and Orientation Days and sleepover retreats. Knowing what to expect of the next year, and the year after that.
Now...if you'll pardon the random science metaphor...it's like I've gone from a solid ice state to a floating air state. Not knowing exactly what I'll be doing next year, or even necessarily what I'll be doing tomorrow.
Huh. That got kind of heavy for a Baby-sitters Club review.
June 27, 2012
As someone who grew up with the BSC books, this was pretty damn cool to read! Nice to see them finally come to the end of eighth grade ;) And fun also to see how everyone felt about that - from Stacey actually doubting that they'll all be super-close in high school, to Kristy just not wanting to grow up and move on. (Also, Kristy sounded like a mini Bridget Jones in her diary entries. That was weird.)
Also, I thought Abby was a year younger than them all? Why was she graduating as well? Or am I WAY wrong there? I mean, she came after my timeand I don't like her because SHE'S NOT A REAL BABY-SITTER DAMMIT so I only really read one or two of her books and didn't pay that much attention to her ;)
I have to say, I really didn't like the full-chapters entirely in people's handwriting because after ONE page, some people's handwriting becomes a real strain on the eyes. Jessi, I am looking at you. (Wtf kind of eleven year old writes like THAT anyway?!) Her chapter was such a chore to slog though one word at a time... and then it was boring anyway! 100+ books later and Jessi's only point is to be the token black girl, ranting on about racial intolerance. We get it. (Also she's a ballet prodigy, going on a world tour at 11. Sure.) But some of those chapters were typed... why not all, dammit? Also ffs Claudia get a fucking spellchecker on your computer. 100+ books later and I still dislike her poor spelling. It was kind of funny having letters from little kids like Jackie Rodowsky in the book WHO COULD SPELL BETTER THAN CLAUDIA.
Rants aside though, this was fun and quick and a nice send-off. Although I'm really curious now what DOES happen to them all in the future, and I wish there'd been a mini-epilogue, either 4 years in the future when they open their own letters, or 7 when they open the time capsule (again. lol Claire), just to see where they all are and who actually is still friends with whom.
Also, I thought Abby was a year younger than them all? Why was she graduating as well? Or am I WAY wrong there? I mean, she came after my time
I have to say, I really didn't like the full-chapters entirely in people's handwriting because after ONE page, some people's handwriting becomes a real strain on the eyes. Jessi, I am looking at you. (Wtf kind of eleven year old writes like THAT anyway?!) Her chapter was such a chore to slog though one word at a time... and then it was boring anyway! 100+ books later and Jessi's only point is to be the token black girl, ranting on about racial intolerance. We get it. (Also she's a ballet prodigy, going on a world tour at 11. Sure.) But some of those chapters were typed... why not all, dammit? Also ffs Claudia get a fucking spellchecker on your computer. 100+ books later and I still dislike her poor spelling. It was kind of funny having letters from little kids like Jackie Rodowsky in the book WHO COULD SPELL BETTER THAN CLAUDIA.
Rants aside though, this was fun and quick and a nice send-off. Although I'm really curious now what DOES happen to them all in the future, and I wish there'd been a mini-epilogue, either 4 years in the future when they open their own letters, or 7 when they open the time capsule (again. lol Claire), just to see where they all are and who actually is still friends with whom.
July 31, 2011
What series did you read as a kid? I was an avid Baby-Sitters Club reader (as well as all it's spin offs) with a splash of Sweet Valley Twins thrown in. (SVH was too racy for me, even in junior high. Yes, I was/am a prude.) Anyway, I am a member of the BSC community here on LJ and someone was talking about all the books and while most people in the community want to own all the books, I just want to read them. Especially the last one, as I fell out of the series long before the last book was written. They are currently out of print (but coming back later this year!!) but then, I don't want to own it anyway, I just want to read it. What better place to look then the library! YAY for having the final book! It actually took me kind of long to read it. Well, longer then I thought it would. Anyway, I guess a lot happened between when I stopped reading to when this book was written because I didn't know what was going on half the time. Stace and Claud aren't besties anymore? Mary Anne's house burned down? Where did all the new members go? Why did they all drop out? Anyway, this book was about them all graduating from middle school and going on to the big bad world of HS (guess I am lucky I didn't have to deal with that. I didn't know it could cause such drama! Kidding, these books always over exaggerate everything). It was about looking back and looking forward. It was great seeing these characters again. Characters I spent my 7-13 year old life with. And now I get to do it all over again with the BSC snark community I just found! YAY!
December 15, 2016
Can't believe its over. I made the decision to read the whole BSC novels when they started appearing in Kindle Store and its finally over. Would like to see what kind of grownUps this group of girls beca,e (after 15 years in 8th grade XD).
March 31, 2012
I didn't even know The Baby-sitters Club books had an ending! But Mo Pie schooled me (and gifted me with this book). Apparently whatever time warp allowed Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Claudia to have the longest eighth grade year of all time straightened itself out, and they actually graduated and went on to high school.
This book is kind of bizarre, because while the characters are reflecting on their time in middle school and the BSC, the reader is repeatedly forced to confront the fact that "time" in Stoneybrook has no meaning at all. Jessi and Mallory were actually in the BSC for less than a year? I can't wrap my head around that.
This book is kind of bizarre, because while the characters are reflecting on their time in middle school and the BSC, the reader is repeatedly forced to confront the fact that "time" in Stoneybrook has no meaning at all. Jessi and Mallory were actually in the BSC for less than a year? I can't wrap my head around that.
June 1, 2013
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 series grows with them! Terrific Author!
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 series grows with them! Terrific Author!
August 25, 2014
I shouldn't be reviewing this since I haven't read it but how many BSC series has there been:
BSC
Mysteries
Super special
Super mysteries
Little sister
Portrait collection
Special requests
BSC forever
I think that's a little much.the first three would've been okay.they seen to get more boring every time. I'm not saying I don't like the series but it just seems like too much.
BSC
Mysteries
Super special
Super mysteries
Little sister
Portrait collection
Special requests
BSC forever
I think that's a little much.the first three would've been okay.they seen to get more boring every time. I'm not saying I don't like the series but it just seems like too much.
November 14, 2014
The final book of the BSC. What a journey we have been on, fifteen years of BSC books and finally the girls graduate middle school. This book is one of the better Friends Forever because we finally see the girls grow up and move on. A must read for those who read the BSC as a child.
September 18, 2013
It was a low-key ending to the seemingly never-ending BSC series. Glad I read it to get a little closure of the series.
October 19, 2013
Just no.
Since when does Kristy write in fragments?
Since when does Kristy write in fragments?
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