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The Baby-Sitters Club Portrait Collection #1
Stacey's Book
Baby-sitters Club fans can see baby pictures of Stacey and learn about the treasurer's entire life, including her five-year-old participation in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, her diabetes diagnosis, and her parent's divorce.
165 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
21 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,101 books3,053 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 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 13, 2017
this is the first of the portrait collections (by ghostwriter Jeanne Betancourt -- this is her first bsc book), which are sort of autobiographical books about the 8th-grade babysitters, written under the guise of an 8th-grade school project. each of the books gives a bit of context and then delves right into the autobiography. each autobiography is split up by ages. the following are stacey's stories, by age:
age four: gets to go to the plaza for lunch because she's obsessed with Eloise. pretends she's eloise to plaza staff (yeah, I'm sure that doesn't get old for them or anything).
age five: gets to be on the cinderella float in the macy's day parade. right when she would be on tv she has to save cinderella's crown, which has blown off (with cinderella's hair almost getting blown off too -- stacey is scandalized to realize it's a wig). stacey's family and the kids at school are disappointed to not have seen stacey on tv, but stacey feels happy to have had this cool saving cinderella experience.
age eight: stacey and laine's parents sign them up for ballroom dancing classes, but she and laine sneak off each time to have fun instead. they end up getting caught when they attempt to take the bus to FAO schwarz and get back to the dance studio half an hour late.
age ten: stacey goes on trip to tiny island in maine with her parents. she befriends a girl who lives in that island full time when the girl saves stacey's dad when he falls and brakes his ankle. stacey had been a city jerk to her, but the moment she sees the girl be resourceful she gets a newfound respect for her island-dwelling lifestyle.
age twelve (really thirteen -- see lowlights for why): claudia comes to visit in nyc (this takes place after Stacey's Mistake but before Welcome Back, Stacey) and is a grump about everything. turns out she just misses stacey and doesn't want to see how "happy" she is in new york. of course stacey is not actually happy because all of her former friends (except laine) are assholes who don't understand diabetes.
highlights:
-I LOVED the portrait collections when I was a kid. they're kind of like The Baby-Sitters Remember but focused on one character. this one was slightly less good than I remembered, but still very fun.
-cinderella's hair being a wig is SUCH a stacey story. I love it. guys, she's so sophisticated and worldly. you just wouldn't understand.
-stacey's mom says she will worry until she sees the whites of stacey and laine's eyes, so when they come back they turn their eyelids inside out. such eight year olds!
-eight-year-old stacey's handwriting is exactly the same as it is now but bigger and messier.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-twelve? stacey is NOT twelve when she moves back to NYC. Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye happens early in 8th grade AFTER Logan Likes Mary Anne!, in which we find out that mary anne is the last babysitter to turn 13. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
claudia outfit:
-"That day she had on a purple jacket, black tights, and red cowboy boots. Her black hair was half piled on her head and half down her back, so the brightly colored three-hoop earrings she'd made for herself showed off nicely."
stacey outfits:
-"Today, at this moment, I'm wearing black tights, a pink-and-black striped oversized sweat shirt, and pink high-top sneakers."
-at eight: 'The dress my mother decided was "appropriate" for ballroom dancing was a pink silk shift dress with a lace collar, white tights, and black patent leather shoes.'
-at ten: "I dressed in my thickest pair of jeans, my red high-top sneakers, and a long-sleeved blue polo shirt. Over that I'd wear my white denim jacket. I was glad I'd brought my wide-brimmed straw hat with the red checked bow. That would protect my head."
no snacks in claudia's room.
age four: gets to go to the plaza for lunch because she's obsessed with Eloise. pretends she's eloise to plaza staff (yeah, I'm sure that doesn't get old for them or anything).
age five: gets to be on the cinderella float in the macy's day parade. right when she would be on tv she has to save cinderella's crown, which has blown off (with cinderella's hair almost getting blown off too -- stacey is scandalized to realize it's a wig). stacey's family and the kids at school are disappointed to not have seen stacey on tv, but stacey feels happy to have had this cool saving cinderella experience.
age eight: stacey and laine's parents sign them up for ballroom dancing classes, but she and laine sneak off each time to have fun instead. they end up getting caught when they attempt to take the bus to FAO schwarz and get back to the dance studio half an hour late.
age ten: stacey goes on trip to tiny island in maine with her parents. she befriends a girl who lives in that island full time when the girl saves stacey's dad when he falls and brakes his ankle. stacey had been a city jerk to her, but the moment she sees the girl be resourceful she gets a newfound respect for her island-dwelling lifestyle.
age twelve (really thirteen -- see lowlights for why): claudia comes to visit in nyc (this takes place after Stacey's Mistake but before Welcome Back, Stacey) and is a grump about everything. turns out she just misses stacey and doesn't want to see how "happy" she is in new york. of course stacey is not actually happy because all of her former friends (except laine) are assholes who don't understand diabetes.
highlights:
-I LOVED the portrait collections when I was a kid. they're kind of like The Baby-Sitters Remember but focused on one character. this one was slightly less good than I remembered, but still very fun.
-cinderella's hair being a wig is SUCH a stacey story. I love it. guys, she's so sophisticated and worldly. you just wouldn't understand.
-stacey's mom says she will worry until she sees the whites of stacey and laine's eyes, so when they come back they turn their eyelids inside out. such eight year olds!
-eight-year-old stacey's handwriting is exactly the same as it is now but bigger and messier.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-twelve? stacey is NOT twelve when she moves back to NYC. Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye happens early in 8th grade AFTER Logan Likes Mary Anne!, in which we find out that mary anne is the last babysitter to turn 13. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
claudia outfit:
-"That day she had on a purple jacket, black tights, and red cowboy boots. Her black hair was half piled on her head and half down her back, so the brightly colored three-hoop earrings she'd made for herself showed off nicely."
stacey outfits:
-"Today, at this moment, I'm wearing black tights, a pink-and-black striped oversized sweat shirt, and pink high-top sneakers."
-at eight: 'The dress my mother decided was "appropriate" for ballroom dancing was a pink silk shift dress with a lace collar, white tights, and black patent leather shoes.'
-at ten: "I dressed in my thickest pair of jeans, my red high-top sneakers, and a long-sleeved blue polo shirt. Over that I'd wear my white denim jacket. I was glad I'd brought my wide-brimmed straw hat with the red checked bow. That would protect my head."
no snacks in claudia's room.
December 19, 2023
anastasia mcgill you will always be famous
March 10, 2011
all the eighth graders at stoneybrook middle school have to write an autobiography. this is stacey's. as such, it has no plot whatsoever. i read it like two weeks ago & forgot to review it, so let's see what i can remember. warning: probably not much, thanks to the plotlessness.
she writes about how her fourth birthday was her favorite because her parents took her to the plaza for lunch & she ran around in the hallways like a spoiled brat, pretending to be eloise.
when she was five, her mom was working at macy's & would buy tons of cute little kid clothes for stacey every single day. she'd bring them home, dress stacey up, & then return them if stacey didn't look perfect in them. both stacey & her mother enjoyed this activity quite a lot. suddenly the mcgills divorce seems a thousand times more understandable.
due to the macy's connection, stacey was selected to be one of six little girls to sit on the cinderella float during the macy's thanksgiving day parade. stacey is obsessed with cinderella & thinks she's a real person, so she is awestruck by this invitation. i thought it was going to conclude with stacey panicking about meeting her idol & crying too much to be on the float, but that doesn't happen. stacey tells everyone she's going to be on TV & everyone arranges to watch for her & tape the parade so she can see it herself. but during the parade, cinderella's crown blows off. stacey stoops down to pick up--right as the float rolls in front of the TV cameras. so she doesn't get to be on TV after all. but after the parade, cinderella gives stacey the crown. which...because we all know cinderella isn't real, this woman is obviously an actress & she probably doesn't own the cinderella costume. so she really has no right to just give pieces of it away to little girls. that is not addressed. what is addressed is that no one saw stacey on TV. i thought it was then going to turn into a story about stacey getting teased by classmates who thought she was lying about being on the float, but she shows them all the crown & they're like, "cool, you were on TV."
what a lame story.
when stacey is seven, her mother & her best friend's laine's mother enroll her & laine in a ballroom dancing class. but stacey & laine don't want to learn how to ballroom dance. so they skip class & walk around the block instead. then they lie to their parents & tell them it was great. they convince their parents that they can wear regular casual clothes to class, & that there isn't going to be a recital. their parents believe all of this & never check up about any of it or do anything to make sure stacey & laine are actually attending the classes. after weeks of this, stacey & laine decide to use their ballroom class-skipping time to take the bus to FAO schwarz. but the bus is traveling a lot more slowly than they expected & they end up getting back to the ballroom dancing class building way later than they should have. their parents have panicked & called the police, & when laine & stacey appear, the ballroom dancing instructor confirms that they haven't attended a single class. the parents get mad & re-enroll stacey & laine, & this time, they escort them directly to class rather than dropping them off in the lobby. LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE THEY ARE SEVEN YEARS OLD.
the next story is about stacey's family going on vacation. usually they go to the caribbean or hawaii or something. stacey hopes that they'll go to europe again. but her parents have chosen instead to go an island off the coast of maine. there are only four houses on the island, no phones, no grocery stores, no nothing. stacey is PISSED. she wanted to go to the beach or the alps. she thinks she'll be bored out of her mind. she meets a girl her age who lives year-round on the island, but when stacey asks if it's boring, the girl gets mad & they have a weird little tiff. stacey thinks the girl is a hick & the girl thinks stacey is a stuck-up spoiled brat (*ding ding ding*). then stacey's father falls & breaks his ankle & the girl saves the day by driving him to the dock in her family's pick-up truck (she was taught how to drive for emergency purposes like this) so he can take a boat to the mainland & get to a hospital. while all of that is going on, stacey is tapped to watch the girl's baby sister--her first sitting job.
after stacey moves back to new york city from stoneybrook, before her parents get divorced, claudia comes to visit for a weekend. stacey thinks they'll have a great time, but claudia is acting kind of grouchy. stacey tries to cheer her up by recommending restaurants & shops & talking about hoe awesome new york city is, but it doesn't work. claudia just gets grumpier. finally claudia admits that stacey is making her feel like new york is the best & stoneybrook sucks. talk about your manufactured conflicts. stacey apologizes & all is well.
stacey gets an A on her autobiography.
she writes about how her fourth birthday was her favorite because her parents took her to the plaza for lunch & she ran around in the hallways like a spoiled brat, pretending to be eloise.
when she was five, her mom was working at macy's & would buy tons of cute little kid clothes for stacey every single day. she'd bring them home, dress stacey up, & then return them if stacey didn't look perfect in them. both stacey & her mother enjoyed this activity quite a lot. suddenly the mcgills divorce seems a thousand times more understandable.
due to the macy's connection, stacey was selected to be one of six little girls to sit on the cinderella float during the macy's thanksgiving day parade. stacey is obsessed with cinderella & thinks she's a real person, so she is awestruck by this invitation. i thought it was going to conclude with stacey panicking about meeting her idol & crying too much to be on the float, but that doesn't happen. stacey tells everyone she's going to be on TV & everyone arranges to watch for her & tape the parade so she can see it herself. but during the parade, cinderella's crown blows off. stacey stoops down to pick up--right as the float rolls in front of the TV cameras. so she doesn't get to be on TV after all. but after the parade, cinderella gives stacey the crown. which...because we all know cinderella isn't real, this woman is obviously an actress & she probably doesn't own the cinderella costume. so she really has no right to just give pieces of it away to little girls. that is not addressed. what is addressed is that no one saw stacey on TV. i thought it was then going to turn into a story about stacey getting teased by classmates who thought she was lying about being on the float, but she shows them all the crown & they're like, "cool, you were on TV."
what a lame story.
when stacey is seven, her mother & her best friend's laine's mother enroll her & laine in a ballroom dancing class. but stacey & laine don't want to learn how to ballroom dance. so they skip class & walk around the block instead. then they lie to their parents & tell them it was great. they convince their parents that they can wear regular casual clothes to class, & that there isn't going to be a recital. their parents believe all of this & never check up about any of it or do anything to make sure stacey & laine are actually attending the classes. after weeks of this, stacey & laine decide to use their ballroom class-skipping time to take the bus to FAO schwarz. but the bus is traveling a lot more slowly than they expected & they end up getting back to the ballroom dancing class building way later than they should have. their parents have panicked & called the police, & when laine & stacey appear, the ballroom dancing instructor confirms that they haven't attended a single class. the parents get mad & re-enroll stacey & laine, & this time, they escort them directly to class rather than dropping them off in the lobby. LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE THEY ARE SEVEN YEARS OLD.
the next story is about stacey's family going on vacation. usually they go to the caribbean or hawaii or something. stacey hopes that they'll go to europe again. but her parents have chosen instead to go an island off the coast of maine. there are only four houses on the island, no phones, no grocery stores, no nothing. stacey is PISSED. she wanted to go to the beach or the alps. she thinks she'll be bored out of her mind. she meets a girl her age who lives year-round on the island, but when stacey asks if it's boring, the girl gets mad & they have a weird little tiff. stacey thinks the girl is a hick & the girl thinks stacey is a stuck-up spoiled brat (*ding ding ding*). then stacey's father falls & breaks his ankle & the girl saves the day by driving him to the dock in her family's pick-up truck (she was taught how to drive for emergency purposes like this) so he can take a boat to the mainland & get to a hospital. while all of that is going on, stacey is tapped to watch the girl's baby sister--her first sitting job.
after stacey moves back to new york city from stoneybrook, before her parents get divorced, claudia comes to visit for a weekend. stacey thinks they'll have a great time, but claudia is acting kind of grouchy. stacey tries to cheer her up by recommending restaurants & shops & talking about hoe awesome new york city is, but it doesn't work. claudia just gets grumpier. finally claudia admits that stacey is making her feel like new york is the best & stoneybrook sucks. talk about your manufactured conflicts. stacey apologizes & all is well.
stacey gets an A on her autobiography.
February 27, 2024
The first portrait collection and my fourth one we're leaving Stoneybrook behind for the big city. Stacey tells the story of her childhood. Starting at age 5 with appearing on the Cinderella float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade but not appearing on TV as she went to save the princess's crown. As a reward Stacey is given the coveted crown. I hope and think it was just a cheap costume crown. Stacey is also hurt that Cinderella is not real which is cute. Then Stacey and Laine are enrolled in ballroom dancing which is kind of dumb but definitely a thing parents would do. They skip classes and go around the city only to be caught when they're late and their parents call the police. And they have to take the classes and dance with sweaty hands. The next story is a bit like the others girl's and involves a vacation. And exactly like Claudia's family tge McGills go to a remote island in Maine. Sounds like a Stephen King novel. Unlike the Kishi family that had a hilarious outing where everyone was sneaking in their vices computers, TV etc the only one sneaking in anything here is Mr. McGill and the strain in their marriage is beginning. Stacey acts like a spoiled obnoxious city kid and a girl called Mara that she meets basically is annoyed with her as is Stacey with her. Mr. McGill breaks his ankle and Mara saves the day by driving him to the docks and over to the mainland in the boat. Stacey has her first baby sitting job taking care of Mara's baby sister Alice. The two girls become friends after that. The last story gets her age wrong but she's basically back in New York it's between book 18-28 since the incidents in book 18 are mentioned. Claudia comes to visit. Laine has already started acting like the high and mighty bitch she is and refuses to see Claudia. Stacey is still feeling left out in her crowd and longing for Stoneybrook. Claudia is grumpy and it comes out that she feels Stacey loves New York more than Stoneybrook but eventually they make up. I mean come on Claudia she hid candy all around her room for you! Do you know how hard of a temptation that is for a diabetic with a sweet tooth? Geeze. This one was cute, I've enjoyed these portrait books so far it's nicely get a glimpse into the childhoods of these girls.
August 29, 2017
Not the most interesting Portrait Collection book, but not the worst one either. Just really sort of dull. Nothing spectacular seemed to happen in Stacey's life outside of her diabetes and her parents divorce, both topics that were covered primarily in other books and Super Specials. It probably could have been much more interesting but, as usual, the safe and dull approach was taken and we were left with...this.
May 18, 2021
Are you even a legit BSC fan if you don't absolutely love the Portrait Collection books? Who doesn't want to learn more about the best friends you'll ever have?! I also just recently learned that these books were released in order of popularity based on the results of a back of book contest:
[image error]
If I had known, it was forgotten, but it makes sense why these books were released in the order they were. (Poor Kristy.)
I get the books telling of their pasts confused, because I thought we'd get some of her diabetes diagnosis/moving to Stoneybrook in this, but I think I was thinking of Super Special 11. And I think I got all confused because I knew that the second graphic novel pulled from this Portrait Collection, and I was sure that it showed her fainting at school. Too much BSC, too little brain capacity!
Anyway, Stacey's story. We learn about her as an Eloise-obsessed preschooler, obsessed with Cinderella and riding in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade at five, skipping dance school with Laine at eight, going on a vacay to an island in Maine at ten, and getting a visit from Claud in NYC between books 13 and 28. My favourite story was probably her family's vacation at age ten; I liked her clashing with the local girl (as the sophisticated city girl dropped into the middle of nowhere) before they become friends. I also quite enjoyed that, after promising to write each other weekly, Stacey says that she and Mara never kept in touch. The BSC are always making new friends that they swear they'll keep in touch with, only for us to never hear of them again. (Unless Stacey and Nonie still keep in touch lol.) I also liked how much Laine was mentioned, even if they're not friends anymore. I liked reading about them wandering around New York. That said, I wasn't a huge fan of the story about Claudia's visit, because it was kind of a drag. Still, I love reading about the BSC members' pasts, so this was a solid start to this series.
[image error]
If I had known, it was forgotten, but it makes sense why these books were released in the order they were. (Poor Kristy.)
I get the books telling of their pasts confused, because I thought we'd get some of her diabetes diagnosis/moving to Stoneybrook in this, but I think I was thinking of Super Special 11. And I think I got all confused because I knew that the second graphic novel pulled from this Portrait Collection, and I was sure that it showed her fainting at school. Too much BSC, too little brain capacity!
Anyway, Stacey's story. We learn about her as an Eloise-obsessed preschooler, obsessed with Cinderella and riding in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade at five, skipping dance school with Laine at eight, going on a vacay to an island in Maine at ten, and getting a visit from Claud in NYC between books 13 and 28. My favourite story was probably her family's vacation at age ten; I liked her clashing with the local girl (as the sophisticated city girl dropped into the middle of nowhere) before they become friends. I also quite enjoyed that, after promising to write each other weekly, Stacey says that she and Mara never kept in touch. The BSC are always making new friends that they swear they'll keep in touch with, only for us to never hear of them again. (Unless Stacey and Nonie still keep in touch lol.) I also liked how much Laine was mentioned, even if they're not friends anymore. I liked reading about them wandering around New York. That said, I wasn't a huge fan of the story about Claudia's visit, because it was kind of a drag. Still, I love reading about the BSC members' pasts, so this was a solid start to this series.
June 9, 2020
Well, that’s the end of the Portrait Collections! (Technically this is really the first one, but I chose to read them in alphabetical order, so it’s the last one I read.)
I really enjoyed this one! I think it’s because so much of Stacey’s life pre-Stoneybrook is a bit of a mystery, so it was fun to see what she was like as a kid. However, having just re-read “Welcome Back, Stacey”, the last story in this book didn’t match up very well in regards to continuity. (It also says she was 12, but that’s definitely wrong. She was 13 when she moved back to New York.)
Anyway, I know the “BSC Remembers” book establishes that Stacey was the outcast of her friend group and was happy to move to Stoneybrook the first time, and so it makes sense to continue that story about her awful friends once she moves back to New York. But, in “Welcome Back” there is no indication that she’s unhappy there, and isn’t that excited about moving back to Connecticut. But, continuity has never been a strong suit for this series, so whatever. I think it was just glaringly obvious to me because I read those two books very close together.
I really enjoyed this one! I think it’s because so much of Stacey’s life pre-Stoneybrook is a bit of a mystery, so it was fun to see what she was like as a kid. However, having just re-read “Welcome Back, Stacey”, the last story in this book didn’t match up very well in regards to continuity. (It also says she was 12, but that’s definitely wrong. She was 13 when she moved back to New York.)
Anyway, I know the “BSC Remembers” book establishes that Stacey was the outcast of her friend group and was happy to move to Stoneybrook the first time, and so it makes sense to continue that story about her awful friends once she moves back to New York. But, in “Welcome Back” there is no indication that she’s unhappy there, and isn’t that excited about moving back to Connecticut. But, continuity has never been a strong suit for this series, so whatever. I think it was just glaringly obvious to me because I read those two books very close together.
December 23, 2019
Stacey’s Book was okay because while I loved her adventures, there were times when I got a little bored. But she did make laugh a little in the end. Plus, she had style.
Examples
pg. 1: black tights, pink and black oversized sweatshirt, and pink high-tops
pg. 71: pink silk shift dress with lace collar, white tights, and black patent leather shoes
pg. 94: white sundress with little blue flowers
pg. 109: jeans, red high tops, long sleeved blue polo (who knew?), white denim jacket, and wide brimmed straw hat with red checked bow
Examples
pg. 1: black tights, pink and black oversized sweatshirt, and pink high-tops
pg. 71: pink silk shift dress with lace collar, white tights, and black patent leather shoes
pg. 94: white sundress with little blue flowers
pg. 109: jeans, red high tops, long sleeved blue polo (who knew?), white denim jacket, and wide brimmed straw hat with red checked bow
August 18, 2019
This book is great at achieving it's goal of getting the reader to know and understand how Stacey became who she is. The experiences she chose to write about were interesting but show us how when she's younger, her friendships are just for passing time. Until she meets Claudia. Her ability to relate to Claudia really shows growth in her character as she ages and helps us understand why she chose to move to Stoneybrook over NYC.
November 15, 2021
I *almost* skipped the Portrait books because I thought they were movie tie-ins for some reason, but I'm so glad I didn't. This was my favorite BSC book in a while (maybe because it was mostly Stacey, of course, with some Claudia sprinkled in). I love reading stories about the girls pre-BSC. And it's nice not feeling like the characters could be interchangable in some of the books because the ghost writers can't be bothered to learn to write them each individually.
October 1, 2020
This and Claudia's Book were definitely the Portrait Collections that I read the most, and I actually quite enjoyed this one on re-read. Stacey picked a good collection of moments that she actually learned something from, and I loved that it dealt directly with the concept of the friend break-up.
Read
October 31, 2020Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
August 12, 2023
I love these BSC portrait collections!
December 9, 2010
While I loved seeing Stacey as a kid, boy could she be a brat! Skipping her ballroom dancing lessons and wandering all over the city without realising how dangerous it was, and moaning about going on a quiet holiday with "nothing" to do. My family could never afford to take us on expensive, action-packed adventure holidays when I was a kid and we spent many holidays going to the Highlands of Scotland where we went on walks, bird-watched, played ball games, flying kites, reading books, skipping stones and hunting for shells on the beach. To be honest, Stacey's holiday sounded wonderful to me and it bugged me that she was so selfish and bratty about it. As much as I like Stacey as a teenager her child-self annoyed me in places. Still, it was nice to read about her as a kid and see continuity - her mum worked at a department store and her dad was already a workaholic. I like it when the ghostwriters remember to drop in snippets like these to keep the story realistic! 9/10
June 15, 2025
Stacey acts like such a brat for so many of these vignettes, it gets a little tedious. The book does pull it together in the end, though, as Stacey reflects on her actions and their motivations, and does some very mature and self-aware introspection. The poor kid seems to have pretty terrible guidance from her parents for much of the series, and this book is no exception. She winds up isolated from friends during some really crucial middle school years, with standoffish parents who fight all the time and put unreasonable emotional responsibility on her shoulders, and on top of everything else she is bullied for a medical condition. When they moved back to NYC, why didn't they at least put her in a different school?? It's private school anyway, it's not like it's mandated by district. They seem to have genuinely no consideration for her needs at all. Except, of course, when they "allow" her to choose between them when they divorce.
October 25, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, each of the stories were entertaining to read. I liked when Stacey & Laine skipped dance class to have adventures around nyc, like going to a diner, a children’s bookstore, counting flowers and taking the bus to a toy store, though dangerous at age 8. I also liked when Stacey & Claudia went around NYC having fun adventures during the time Stacey moved back to NYC. They went for pizza, to the betsey Johnson store, a diner and I think MOMA. I also liked reading about the island adventure she had in Maine, which included blueberry picking and sleeping outdoors one night, though it took her awhile to adjust to not being in the city. This book doesn't touch on the divorce or diabetes, as past ones already did, but it's a great read anyways.
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November 27, 2008I used to LOVE Babysitter's Club books! Stacey was definately my favorite. I read a lot of her books.
November 26, 2010
It was fun to read about Stacey's childhood. I did miss the other girls though.
June 23, 2016
Stacey's book was my favorite out of all the Portrait Collection. I liked all the places she went and wanted to do everything that she did.
October 24, 2011
this is the best book from those i have read
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