The Babysitter Club book series has been around for a few decades. Many girls reading them now are shocked to learn that their mothers also read them as children. I read them myself. However, with more than 200 books, I would imagine most people have not read them all. There is even a new Netflix series. Ann M. Martin was credited with writing them all, but ghostwriters helped her on many of them. With so many books to choose from, there is no right way to choose the top books. The Baby-Sitter’s Club was not afraid to address difficult concepts for others, and many of these books were the first experiences girls had with these topics.
Kristy’s Great Idea
The first book in the series must be listed first. Whether your child tries to read the series in order or not, this book introduces the founding members of the Babysitter’s Club. The club was designed to help parents find a baby-sitter whenever they needed one. The girls would form a club, and at least one would be ready when duty called.
The Ghost at Dawn’s House
Not every girl wants a cutesy story. Some girls like a good mystery. While there is a mystery Babysitter Club book series, before that was created, the girls went on a few mysteries in the main series. This was the first one that sparked many new readers.
Jessi’s Secret Language
Well, before other series considered characters with disabilities, The Babysitter’s Club ventured into watching a deaf child. Jessi had to learn sign language to be able to watch this child regularly, and she was so inspired that she taught the club and other friends and schoolmates the great new skill she had learned.
Claudia and the Sad Goodbye
Readers who are loyal to the Babysitter Club book series up to this point (Book 26) have grown to love Claudia’s Mimi. As you can probably guess, in this book, Mimi dies, and Claudia must say goodbye. The girls do not necessarily know how to deal with the death of a loved one yet, so this story allows young girls to see what the experience is like through another’s eyes. Many girls cried during this sweet book.
Baby-Sitters on Board
This Babysitter Club book kicked off the Super Special series. The girls go on a cruise and vacation in Florida. One difference in this book and the regular series is that none of the characters are the center of the book. Each girl gets her own story in the book. While the Super Special sub-plots are not that different from the regular series, they are often much longer than the typical book.
Poor Mallory
Once again, the series tackles an issue that many children face. Whether the difference is physical, emotional, or financial, The Baby-Sitter’s Club books try to take a realistic look at how children feel and interact. In this book, Mallory feels the financial divide between her struggling family and the more comfortable Delaneys. We see how she feels and how she deals with the challenges of working for a wealthy family.
Keep Out, Claudia
Claudia and Jessi are typically popular baby-sitters, so when a family doesn’t want them, it becomes apparent why. The family is racist. Dealing with racism is probably difficult for many readers if they have never experienced this type of challenge. Even for children who are familiar with racism, talking about it can be intimidating. Leave it to the club to help their readers come to terms with such a difficult problem.
Welcome to the BSC Abby
Abby replaced Dawn after she moved to California to live with her dad. The girls needed to fill the spot, and Abby was a good choice. She and Kristy did not always get along, but they usually found a way to work together. However, when Abby’s asthma became a concern, the girls wondered if Abby could make it as a baby-sitter. However, Abby proved she was the right choice in the end.
Jessi and the Awful Secret
In true BSC fashion, the book explores another challenging subject—eating disorders. Jessi is a dancer, and many of her peers use anorexia to keep to the right weight. This book is the first experience Jessi has with any classmates and anorexia directly. It is a precursor to the current body-positivity movement.
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls
This book follows Claudia on a sitting job where she begins getting mysterious phone calls. These were the days before cellphones were extremely common, and the phones were almost all landlines. However, more than just mystery phone calls, Claudia’s imagination seems to be getting the best of her. She imagines the caller is a jewel thief.
Final Notes on babysitter club books
There are dozens of books to choose from in the Babysitter Club Books series. It has spanned more than thirty years of popularity. With the new Netflix series, it is no surprise that the books have seen a resurgence, though I do not think they ever went out of style. Kristy, Claudia, Jessi, Dawn, and Stacy were the girls to hang out with during the 1990s, and they are still revered to this day. As the girls grew up, they faced difficult life experiences and changes.
These books helped millions of readers learn to cope with these changes as the girls in the club also learned. Ann M. Martin was never afraid to face the hard life choices and experiences. Health, both mental and physical, bullying, and other topics were covered beautifully in many books throughout the series. Though times have changed, the needs of teen girls have not, and these books will continue to be loved for generations to come.
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