I borrowed this from my 11 year old daughter---book number 10! I've been reading them in order and reminiscing. I remember this is about where 10 year old me started to lose interest in the BSC. I mean, I still read them from time to time, but they just started getting a little too grown up for me with all the talk of boyfriends and dances. ha! I think most of my BSC reading from here on out won't be as familiar as these first 10 were.

Two funny parts: 1---I totally cracked up at the kids putting M&Ms in his eyes and pretending to be Annie. Bahahaha! I'm pretty sure I didn't get that at 10. 2---the girls had to assess their tape collection...and I immediately thought Scotch tape. Does this fly over the heads of the current generation of kids or do they know what a tape collection is? ( )

A few podcasts I listen to have mentioned the BSC, which made me want to take a nostalgic trip of my own. So I picked a random book from the pile I rescued from my mom's book purge and channeled my 10-year-old self for 90 minutes. So much fun. This book brought back little nuances of my childhood: how much I loved the word "sophisticated" (so grown up!), how I pronounced "snob" as "snobe" for the longest time, how I burned with envy every time it's mentioned that Claudia has her own private phone line, the anxiety and excitement you feel on your first day of school. The Baby-Sitters Club idea is just good business sense and I still wish it could be a real thing. And stumbling on the name Morbidda Destiny again was a delight. PERFECT name for a villain. Growing up I was convinced that the old lady next door to my cousins' house was Morbidda Destiny. Kinda feel bad about that now...

So it was a fun experience from a nostalgia standpoint, obviously. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well written the book was. Written for a younger audience, sure, but not dumbed down. The girls deal with relatable, realistic challenges. A lot of the classics my generation grew up on I wouldn't feel comfortable passing on to the next generation, but I wouldn't hesitate to put these books into a child's hands today. These books are a product of their time, but that's no reason to stop loving them. ( )

Good

Very cute. I really liked Mary Anne and I know what Logan sees in her - she really is genuinely interested in people. Logan was also a good addition to the group. My favourite part is still the baby sitting tips for some reason. It's fun to imagine what the girl would grow into much later, I can see Kristy being a sensational businesswoman for example. ( )

When I was younger, I remember that this book was my favorite of the series. As an adult, I find the junior high romance cute, but nothing more. In this entry in the Baby-Sitter saga, the girls are starting their eighth grade year, and they all feel excited and disappointed - eager for the new year, but sad that the summer is over. Mary Anne's emotions are further complicated when she sees the new boy in school, Logan Bruno. He is her idea of cute. Since the story is, as always, in the first person, we get to experience along with Mary Anne her first exposure to childhood infatuation: the tongue-tied moments, the flushes, the awkward advances. Logan thinks Mary Anne is cute, too, and not only that, he is a boy baby sitter.

The story follows two threads, as this series frequently does, one related to baby sitting and one on a personal level. For the baby sitting angle, the girls are trying to decide whether Logan should join their club. They like him as a friend, and they are overloaded with business and need the extra help, but having a boy at their meetings is too embarrassing. They assign Mary Anne to assist him on his first job, just to be sure that his skills are up to the task. On the personal front, this book is all about the relationship between Mary Anne and Logan. He invites her to a dance, she buys a new outfit with the girls, and they call each other every day. When he conspires with Stacey and the other baby sitters to throw Mary Anne a surprise birthday party, though, her shy nature has reached its limit.

Don't worry, everything works out. That is one of the reasons the series is so comforting; I know I will find a happy ending. The reading is fast and fun, and the baby sitters are all sweet girls that are easy to root for. Mary Anne is still my favorite, because I was so like her when I was younger, but I liked her previous book better. Even though I am happy Mary Anne has a sweet young love, she's in junior high. It is an early experiment with relationships, and the stakes are pretty low, in my opinion. Nonetheless, it was cute, and entertaining, and continues to keep me interested in reading further in the series. ( )