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40 years later, 'The Baby-Sitters Club' is still helping readers see themselves
Ann M. Martin's beloved series has influenced generations of readers. We're still asking: Which babysitter are you?
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NEW YORK: Ann M. Martin, at her home in New York state. She is the author and creator of the Baby-Sitters Club series , which turns 40 this year, as well as numerous award-winning standalone novels. DeSean McClinton-Holland for NPR hide caption.
Since 1986, generations of kids have seen the best parts of themselves on the pages of The Baby-Sitters Club novels.
The most common follow-up when meeting a fan of the series is, "Which babysitter are you?" I'm a Stacey, with a Kristy rising. There's also Claudia and Mary Anne rounding out the club, and later Dawn, Mallory, and Jessi.
It's easy to see why the books have endured for four decades. There was something, and someone, for everyone in the The Baby-Sitters Club , starting with the original four. Cool-girl Claudia, one of the first Asian-American characters in mainstream culture, with her funky outfits and artistic bent. Soft-spoken Mary Anne, an introvert with a quiet resilience. Stacey, with her endless closet and knack for math, is living with diabetes. And Kristy, in her baseball cap, who can outrun anyone, hates dresses, and is the founder and president of the babysitting club.
Of course their creator, Ann M. Martin, has to answer the question, too.
"Mary Anne is based on me. She's the shy one," she said during a visit to her house in upstate New York in July. And indeed a true Mary Anne, Martin has a designated craft room where she's sewn handmade dresses and clothing for the children and grandchildren of her friends for years.
In her office, the bookshelves are replete with every candy-colored edition of the original Baby-Sitters Club books, along with the whole BSC multiverse, including the graphic novels that brought the books to a new generation of readers, and all the series' spin-offs. There are rows of Baby-Sitters Club: Mysteries , Super Specials , Friends Forever , Baby-Sitters Little Sister , and even the mysterious California Diaries (for readers seeking more about Dawn's life on the West Coast).
Ann M. Martin's beloved series has influenced generations of readers. We're still asking: Which babysitter are you?