Secret Santa (Baby-sitters Club)

by Ann M. Martin

Instead of exchanging gifts this Christmas, the Baby-sitters are going to hold a special Secret Santa drawing. Each club member puts one wish in a hat, and then draws someone else's wish to grant. What do the members of the BSC want for Christmas? Read on.

Inside is a whole mailbag of greeting cards, letters, and notes sent to and from the Baby-sitters. Open their mail to discover how the BSC Secret Santas turn out--and how Kristy, Claudia, and the rest of the club make a little girl's Christmas the best ever.

Genres: Christmas, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ann 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...

Reviews

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am trying to get all of the Baby Sitters Club books. So far I have over 100. ☺️

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the format of this little book, and I really liked how each of the members of the BSC granted their Secret Santa’s wish. It was also really sweet what they did for the little girl.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

That last couple of cards brought on the water works. So here we go. The second collection of cards and letters this one involves Christmas. The girls decide to grant each other a wish instead of gifts and also get a gift for a girl in a sort of make a wish type program. Kristy wishes not to have such a big mouth, Mary Anne wants a real card from Cam Geary, Stacey wants Christmas in New York with both parents preferably, Claudia wants to do something meaningful, Dawn wants her Stoneybrook friends and California friends to be friends with each other which I thought they kind of were, Jessi wants to dance with the NYC ballet, Mallory wants to ve remembered, Logan wants three more wishes and Shannon wants a better sense of humour. The little girl named Eliza wants a book and a doll and most importantly for her sister who ran away from home to come home for Christmas. Bit by bit these wishes are sort of granted by whoever picked them. Logan gets three lucky items such as a four leaf clover, Claudia paints a mural of NYC at Christmas in Stacey's bedroom, Shannon gets a book on practical jokes, Mallory has a tree planted in her name, Mary Anne gets a real card from Cam Geary, Dawn gets a scrapbook Kristy and Sunny made of both friends groups, Jessi gets a poster of herself showing her starring in The Nutcracker Ballet in NYC, and the last two that made me cry one that ties up Eliza's story. Mallory writes a sweet letter to Claudia telling her what a wonderful person she is because she tracked down Eliza's sister so they could spend Christmas together and also how meaningful her art work is and what a wonderful person she is. Then to add an extra punch Stacey decides that what Kristy really wants is to hear from her dad and he sends her a card saying he does live her. And bring on the water works. Very sweet. I wish they'd done at least one more of these with Abby. I actually quite liked Abby when she joined the club but anyway this was very sweet and touching little book.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a total sucker for this, as well as the BSC Chain Letter book, because there are real letters you can open up and little treasures inside. The last time I read this, I was 11... feeling super nostalgic!

[Moe Freesemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feeling really nostalgic this morning, re-reading one of my childhood favorites by the Christmas tree. This book is so sweet--it includes cards and letters you can pull out of envelopes in the book. Can't wait to read the BSC books to my daughter, Charlie! ❤️

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the few BSC books I never read as a kid, because it was almost impossible to find. I managed to get a copy through Interlibrary Loan, though, and I just loved reading this so much.

[Jessi Mosley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The format is so special and unique. I loved it as a kid, and I hope that whoever this book goes to next will enjoy pulling out each of the letters like I did!

[Veronica Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute. Made me tear up a few times.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute. I got chills at the ending!

[Stasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both Lucy and I enjoyed this. All the nostalgia feels.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is a really great read even after the holidays. Even if you are not a big fan of the babysitters club this book still isn't too difficult to follow along with. I love the little surprise letters even though mine was slightly damaged since I got it used. Overall, this is a quick read and quite enjoyable.

[Christa]

A kinda fun sidetrack from the series in the format of "The Jolly Postman".

[Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a Half-Price Books store and I immediately bought it because it was a rare thing: A BSC book I hadn't read.

Overall, I love the interactiveness of the book and characters sending notes to one another that wouldn't normally and seeing how those relationships are. The only downside to this book are three things: 1) I'm pretty sure Dawn faked Cam Geary's signature because the handwriting looks the same. 2) Shannon Kilbourne's jokes are atrocious. 3) There are characters that are absolute schmucks in this book such as Jennifer Stanley and Kristy's Dad.