Baby Jumpers

The Baby-sitters Club is a series of children’s books published by Scholastic between 1986 and 2000. The books are credited to Ann M. Martin (who did write the first 35 books), though many were ghostwritten (43 by Peter Lerangis). more...

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Spin-offs from the series include a number of other books, a TV show, PC games, a movie, board games and dolls.

The books follow the adventures of a group of middle-school students in the fictional town of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, who run the title business on a part-time basis. Clients are invited to call during the club's regular meetings, with sitters assigned based on schedule and other factors. All of the members charge the same fee, paying part back to the group as weekly dues; they also share notes on particular jobs and children for future reference.

The club starts out with four members, eventually expanding to nine. All of the main characters are about the same age, with the exception of junior members Mallory and Jessi, who are two years younger. The older characters are in the seventh grade when the club is founded and advance to the eighth grade; after that, the characters remain static in age until the final book, in which they finish middle school.

Structure of the books

In the regular series and Mystery spinoff series, each book focuses on and is narrated by one member of the club. Some chapters begin with an entry from the club’s notebook, in which members are required to take notes on each of their baby-sitting jobs. The regular books are generally 120 to 150 pages long, with 15 chapters. To aid readers who may be starting mid-series, each book begins with the narrator explaining a bit about the club’s history and introducing the main characters, usually in the second chapter. Approximately 3 or 4 chapters in the book are often dedicated to the various babysitters as they are baby-sitting their clients. These chapters provide a break from the main storyline and are often smaller subplots within the novel itself. Each babysitting chapter also begins with a notebook entry from the babysitter as well. This style of narration started from book #1 and continued until book #131.

Titles

Main characters

Kristin Amanda "Kristy" Thomas

Club position: President, founder;

First appearance: #1, Kristy’s Great Idea;

Birthday: August 20th;

Favorite sitting charge: "I try not to play favorites, but I find Karen, Andrew, David Michael, and Emily are definitely my favorites.";

Kristy is known for her great ideas (namely, The Baby-sitters Club), as well as her bossiness and a big mouth that can occasionally get her in trouble. Somewhat of a tomboy, Kristy is usually in her "uniform" of a jeans and a t-shirt (in the winter, a turtleneck and, if needed, a sweater) and sometimes a baseball cap, and she loves sports, even coaching a kids' softball team, Kristy's Krushers. She is short with brown hair and brown eyes and is described as physically similar to her best friend, Mary Anne. When Kristy was six, her father walked out on her family, including her mother, Elizabeth, and three brothers, Charlie, Sam, and David Michael. Her mother later married a millionaire, Watson Brewer, and the Thomases moved into his mansion, where they live with Watson's two children, Karen and Andrew. The family later adopts a two-year-old girl from Vietnam whom they name Emily Michelle Thomas Brewer, and Elizabeth's mother, Nannie, also comes to live with them and help raise Emily Michelle. Kristy has a boyfriend, Bart, who also coaches a softball team.; On the BSC: "We're a great group. (I'm not bragging, I'm just being honest). We're all different, but our differences work together to bring out the best in each of us . . . which, of course, helps make us good baby-sitters.";

Read more at Wikipedia.org