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The Baby-Sitters Club #115
Jessi's Big Break
After a thrilling three-week dance program in New York City, Jessi is invited to join the Dance NY education program full-time and faces the possibility of leaving Stoneybrook and all her friends. Original.
137 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,127 books3,100 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 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 4, 2018
By the time this book was published in 1998, I had long stopped reading the BSC books. Hell, I was in college by then. Yet, I almost wished I had because this book...it was so good. As a black girl in a predominantly white town like Stoneybrook and being a member the BSC, Jessi, as far as I remember, didn't talk enough about being black in this lily-white world. It was good to see Jessi take an opportunity to explore her dream of becoming a ballerina in New York City, and finally being around her tribe. I hope this book received the appreciation it deserved back then. Book 5 in my #bscbinge gave me all the feels. #blackgirlmagic
August 22, 2018
this is my first time reading this book.
in yet another glimpse into how annoyingly perfect jessi is by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis, jessi attends an exclusive dance school in nyc for a winter session. while enrolled in the class, she stays with aunt cecelia’s estranged son michael and his wife marian, two highly successful semi-rich youngish adults living in a cool apartment in brooklyn. jessi discovers quint (from New York, New York! and Snowbound and Jessi and the Jewel Thieves and maybe others?) is enrolled in the school as well, and she gets the feeling that he’s interested in dating her again, but she just wants to be friends, a fact she eventually tells him. other than that, jessi feels super comfortable in her new life. all of her new friends in her class are black, and she finds it refreshing to just be in a room full of black kids after being stuck in predominantly white stoneybrook for so long. she loves nyc, and her school (which is all about inspiring the love of dancing as opposed to trying to get famous), and she doesn’t really miss stoneybrook very much, which she realizes when mal comes to visit and doesn’t really fit in with this new, bold, outgoing jessi. eventually, jessi auditions for the year-round school and is offered a place, but decides to stay in stoneybrook because she doesn’t want to get disenchanted with nyc. the subplot chapters all revolve around people back in stoneybrook, namely becca and mal, missing jessi.
highlights:
-any time jessi hangs out with other black kids in these books I like it, because she spends so much time pretending not to think about race and then secretly resenting her white friends for things they say and do (see kristy’s views on kwanzaa in Happy Holidays, Jessi for a prime example).
-aunt cecelia has lost touch with her son because she’s mad that he didn’t follow his dream of becoming an artist and instead is a successful business suit kinda guy. I love that stuffy aunt cecelia doesn’t want her kid to be mainstream successful and wanted him to be a starving artist instead.
-a guy at a deli counter: "ya sangwiches, goils?" hahahaha I love the transliterated new york accent!
-this is the last jessi-narrated book. wild! I'm getting so close to the end of this series!
lowlights/nitpicks:
-the subplot chapters. seriously, jessi is gone for two weeks. why is everyone such a baby about her being away for TWO EFFING WEEKS?
-quint acts like they're dating. when jessi finally confronts him about it, he mentions that the reason they weren't dating before was because they were long distance and now they're not long distance, so he assumed they would date. huh? if you break up with someone you can’t just assume you’re together again the next time you see them.
-the reason jessi says no to the school is that she sees nyc locals and thinks they look bored with nyc, and she doesn’t want to get bored with nyc. really, that's why? that’s a ridiculous reason to not take such a good opportunity.
claudia outfit:
-"That day, for example, she was wearing a leopard-skin jumpsuit with a black silk shirt tied at the waist with leather strips; black, steel-tipped combat boots; and rhinestone-studded cat's-eye glasses perched on her head."
snack in claudia's room:
-snickers (n.s.)
in yet another glimpse into how annoyingly perfect jessi is by ghostwriter Peter Lerangis, jessi attends an exclusive dance school in nyc for a winter session. while enrolled in the class, she stays with aunt cecelia’s estranged son michael and his wife marian, two highly successful semi-rich youngish adults living in a cool apartment in brooklyn. jessi discovers quint (from New York, New York! and Snowbound and Jessi and the Jewel Thieves and maybe others?) is enrolled in the school as well, and she gets the feeling that he’s interested in dating her again, but she just wants to be friends, a fact she eventually tells him. other than that, jessi feels super comfortable in her new life. all of her new friends in her class are black, and she finds it refreshing to just be in a room full of black kids after being stuck in predominantly white stoneybrook for so long. she loves nyc, and her school (which is all about inspiring the love of dancing as opposed to trying to get famous), and she doesn’t really miss stoneybrook very much, which she realizes when mal comes to visit and doesn’t really fit in with this new, bold, outgoing jessi. eventually, jessi auditions for the year-round school and is offered a place, but decides to stay in stoneybrook because she doesn’t want to get disenchanted with nyc. the subplot chapters all revolve around people back in stoneybrook, namely becca and mal, missing jessi.
highlights:
-any time jessi hangs out with other black kids in these books I like it, because she spends so much time pretending not to think about race and then secretly resenting her white friends for things they say and do (see kristy’s views on kwanzaa in Happy Holidays, Jessi for a prime example).
-aunt cecelia has lost touch with her son because she’s mad that he didn’t follow his dream of becoming an artist and instead is a successful business suit kinda guy. I love that stuffy aunt cecelia doesn’t want her kid to be mainstream successful and wanted him to be a starving artist instead.
-a guy at a deli counter: "ya sangwiches, goils?" hahahaha I love the transliterated new york accent!
-this is the last jessi-narrated book. wild! I'm getting so close to the end of this series!
lowlights/nitpicks:
-the subplot chapters. seriously, jessi is gone for two weeks. why is everyone such a baby about her being away for TWO EFFING WEEKS?
-quint acts like they're dating. when jessi finally confronts him about it, he mentions that the reason they weren't dating before was because they were long distance and now they're not long distance, so he assumed they would date. huh? if you break up with someone you can’t just assume you’re together again the next time you see them.
-the reason jessi says no to the school is that she sees nyc locals and thinks they look bored with nyc, and she doesn’t want to get bored with nyc. really, that's why? that’s a ridiculous reason to not take such a good opportunity.
claudia outfit:
-"That day, for example, she was wearing a leopard-skin jumpsuit with a black silk shirt tied at the waist with leather strips; black, steel-tipped combat boots; and rhinestone-studded cat's-eye glasses perched on her head."
snack in claudia's room:
-snickers (n.s.)
June 26, 2011
this is the last of the jessi books. it's a shame that it's kind of a yawn. jessi has auditioned for a spot in an intensive dance program in new york city, taught by a world-famous dancer. to her surprise, she is accepted. jessi has an older cousin named michael, who lives in brooklyn with his wife, marian. michael is aunt cecelia's grown son. the ramseys get in touch with michael & marian, who are delighted to let jessi stay with them for a month while she participates in the program. becca throws a fit because she thinks jessi is abandoning the family. aunt cecelia acts weird & disapproving of michael & marian, which jessi doesn't understand, because they both have well-paying jobs & seem to be living a successful & happy life.
on her first day of class, jessi is surprised to find quint in her class. quint had been her kind of long-distance boyfriend, first introduced in super special #5, new york, new york. at the end of jessi & the jewel thieves, in which jessi visits quint in new york, they have a talk & agree to take their relationship back down to a friend level. since then, they have drifted out of touch.
there's a scene in which jessi tells the other members of the babysitters club that she's been accepted to the program & will be living in new york for a month & claudia says something about how it's awesome, maybe she can starts things up with "clint, or whatever his name is" again. i think it's a little bit disrespectful that claudia, one of jessi's best friends, can't remember the name of jessi's most serious ex-boyfriend, & no one seems to think this is weird or anything. the eighth graders really could not care less about mallory & jessi, could they?
anyway, jessi is happy to see quint again, & he's happy to see her, though jessi has no plans to start dating him again. she also gets close to the other kids in her class, especially a girl named maritza. maritza attends juillard with quint & jessi assumes they are dating. she's cool with it.
of course, it turns out that they aren't, & it's obvious to everyone except jessi that quint is still carrying a torch for jessi. maritza finally points this out to jessi, & jessi decides she needs to have a talk with quint about how she's still not looking for a boyfriend. but she's reluctant to do it because she is having trouble gauging his signals. she doesn't want to embarrass him if he's just being friendly as a friend.
jessi is having a grand old time in new york city. living with her cousin is awesome & she notes that a lot of her new york dance friends are of color. jessi realizes that she has really missed hanging out with other kids of color, like she used to in racially diverse oakley, new jersey. she hadn't even realized it was something she missed until she was back in it again. she also learns that marian is a musician & michael used to paint, but they gave up their creative pursuits for their jobs because they didn't want to live in poverty.
jessi is nervous in class because the instructor spends a lot of time correcting her. she thinks she must be a terrible dancer. but then he pays her a few awesome compliments that leave her floating on air. at the end of the session, some of the students are asked back again, but jessi isn't. she assumes that it's because she sucks. she doesn't admit to her friends that she hasn't been asked to stay though. she just tells them that she is going back to stoneybrook because her family is making her.
but when the ramseys come up to see the recital the kids have put together, the instructor asks to speak with jessi's parents. she assumes he's going to tell them that jessi is a talentless hack & they're wasting their money on jessi's ballet classes. instead, he offers her a permanent spot at the school, which is basically academy for kids that are seeking to become professional ballet dancers. jessi is elated & totally wants to go. she goes back to stoneybrook with her parents & they think it over. jessi discovers that the reason aunt cecelia has been disapproving of michael & marian is because she thought they were talented artists & she's upset that they threw away their dreams. she doesn't want jessi to make the same mistake. she wants jessi to go to the school. can i just say that this seems really, really out of character for aunt cecelia?
jessi gets to thinking about the pros & cons of stoneybrook versus new york, & she concludes that she might be a little young to move to new york & start attending a professional ballet academy. the instructor had said that her admission was open-ended & she could start attending whenever she wanted. she tells her parents that she wants to accept, but she also wants to defer for a few more years & stick close to home. everyone is happy with this--especially becca, who chills out, & mallory, who was worried that jessi was going to move away & abandon her (which is exactly what mallory does to jessi in a few books, but we'll get to that).
& that's pretty much it. the babysitting B-plot is just all about becca missing jessi & it's boring. oh, & at the end of jessi's time in new york, she has a heart-to-heart with quint. he admits that he did assume they would start dating again because they are both in new york, & she says she doesn't think she'll be ready for a boyfriend until she's 14 or so. quint says he is willing to wait & happy to be just be friends.
on her first day of class, jessi is surprised to find quint in her class. quint had been her kind of long-distance boyfriend, first introduced in super special #5, new york, new york. at the end of jessi & the jewel thieves, in which jessi visits quint in new york, they have a talk & agree to take their relationship back down to a friend level. since then, they have drifted out of touch.
there's a scene in which jessi tells the other members of the babysitters club that she's been accepted to the program & will be living in new york for a month & claudia says something about how it's awesome, maybe she can starts things up with "clint, or whatever his name is" again. i think it's a little bit disrespectful that claudia, one of jessi's best friends, can't remember the name of jessi's most serious ex-boyfriend, & no one seems to think this is weird or anything. the eighth graders really could not care less about mallory & jessi, could they?
anyway, jessi is happy to see quint again, & he's happy to see her, though jessi has no plans to start dating him again. she also gets close to the other kids in her class, especially a girl named maritza. maritza attends juillard with quint & jessi assumes they are dating. she's cool with it.
of course, it turns out that they aren't, & it's obvious to everyone except jessi that quint is still carrying a torch for jessi. maritza finally points this out to jessi, & jessi decides she needs to have a talk with quint about how she's still not looking for a boyfriend. but she's reluctant to do it because she is having trouble gauging his signals. she doesn't want to embarrass him if he's just being friendly as a friend.
jessi is having a grand old time in new york city. living with her cousin is awesome & she notes that a lot of her new york dance friends are of color. jessi realizes that she has really missed hanging out with other kids of color, like she used to in racially diverse oakley, new jersey. she hadn't even realized it was something she missed until she was back in it again. she also learns that marian is a musician & michael used to paint, but they gave up their creative pursuits for their jobs because they didn't want to live in poverty.
jessi is nervous in class because the instructor spends a lot of time correcting her. she thinks she must be a terrible dancer. but then he pays her a few awesome compliments that leave her floating on air. at the end of the session, some of the students are asked back again, but jessi isn't. she assumes that it's because she sucks. she doesn't admit to her friends that she hasn't been asked to stay though. she just tells them that she is going back to stoneybrook because her family is making her.
but when the ramseys come up to see the recital the kids have put together, the instructor asks to speak with jessi's parents. she assumes he's going to tell them that jessi is a talentless hack & they're wasting their money on jessi's ballet classes. instead, he offers her a permanent spot at the school, which is basically academy for kids that are seeking to become professional ballet dancers. jessi is elated & totally wants to go. she goes back to stoneybrook with her parents & they think it over. jessi discovers that the reason aunt cecelia has been disapproving of michael & marian is because she thought they were talented artists & she's upset that they threw away their dreams. she doesn't want jessi to make the same mistake. she wants jessi to go to the school. can i just say that this seems really, really out of character for aunt cecelia?
jessi gets to thinking about the pros & cons of stoneybrook versus new york, & she concludes that she might be a little young to move to new york & start attending a professional ballet academy. the instructor had said that her admission was open-ended & she could start attending whenever she wanted. she tells her parents that she wants to accept, but she also wants to defer for a few more years & stick close to home. everyone is happy with this--especially becca, who chills out, & mallory, who was worried that jessi was going to move away & abandon her (which is exactly what mallory does to jessi in a few books, but we'll get to that).
& that's pretty much it. the babysitting B-plot is just all about becca missing jessi & it's boring. oh, & at the end of jessi's time in new york, she has a heart-to-heart with quint. he admits that he did assume they would start dating again because they are both in new york, & she says she doesn't think she'll be ready for a boyfriend until she's 14 or so. quint says he is willing to wait & happy to be just be friends.
February 10, 2024
I really liked this one! I'd aged out of the series by the time it was published, so this is my first time reading it. Usually Jessi got the boring storylines, but this one is exciting and it's nice to meet new characters in a new setting that doesn't involve baby-sitting. Plus, I'm a sucker for any time the girls go to glamorous NYC. My only complaint is that Jessi is ELEVEN but she and Quint have a "relationship" that they need to have serious discussions about. I like the *idea* of Quint but not the way he and Jessi are written as being like older teens instead of the prepubescents that they are. (Also, Julliard is a COLLEGE and does not accept 11-year-olds! Quint can't take classes there at his age!) Still it was a fun read, nice to see Jessi realize her dreams, and it ends realistically but on a positive note.
July 21, 2024
This is the first Jessi book we've had in a long, long while. It's a shame that she's a little annoying throughout. Maybe as a kid I would have been more sympathetic, but I think her lack of understanding of her friends and family's feelings (not that it's her problem, but still) makes her a little less of a sympathetic character in this one. Jessi's personality shifts while she's in New York, and that is very felt throughout, but what seems unrealistic is the fact that she's literally eleven years old.
I don't know. On one hand, go Jessi! On the other...it feels unrealistic, which is saying a lot because we're talking about a BSC book here.
I don't know. On one hand, go Jessi! On the other...it feels unrealistic, which is saying a lot because we're talking about a BSC book here.
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July 29, 2020As a kid my best friends sister had the whole BSC series on a book shelf in her room. I thought she was so grown up. And I envied this bookshelf. And would often poke my head into that room just to look at it.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
May 20, 2023
Ugh, I love Jessi to pieces, but I totally wish she stayed in NYC at the end of this. She was just thriving so much in the city!! (Also, her Stoneybrook friends are a drag - Claudia can't even remember Quint's name! Some bff. But as we've seen in past book, if you're not in eighth grade, you're pretty much scum.)
February 8, 2024
I really loved this book. I don't generally comment or review the BSC books, because I'm an adult reading a kids series for fun. This one, however, was great! I loved that Jessi had a chance to separate from the BSC and become her own person. Ballet is her dream & it's finally coming true. She's in NYC living with her cousins, riding the subway, meeting new people (who don't care about the color of her skin!), and dancing all day!
April 7, 2021
I liked this one, even though it was ghostwritten by Lerengis. I liked seeing Jessi in a different setting with different friends, without the responsibilities of the BSC. I really don't care for Lerengis' style of writing. Everything is over exaggerated and the narration is just so crazy. But the plot for this was very refreshing and interesting.
March 18, 2023
When I was 10 I joined a readers club/group where we got a new book every week. I chose The babysitters club.
The books are fantastic! So enjoyable. I loved getting the book every week. They are super quick reads and I was able to read it in one day.
Highly recommend for young teenagers to read or even younger if they are able too read well.
The books are fantastic! So enjoyable. I loved getting the book every week. They are super quick reads and I was able to read it in one day.
Highly recommend for young teenagers to read or even younger if they are able too read well.
April 13, 2023
Jessi has been accepted to a prestigious dance program in New York. She attends and loves the experience of dancing every day, experiencing New York, and being friends with other dancers. When she is offered a permanent spot with the program, Jessi has to decide if she wants to continue her life in Stoneybrook or start a new journey in New York.
October 19, 2023
It was so nice seeing Jessi integrate in multicultural New York City while taking special ballet classes for a few weeks. Quint is there too and wants to get back with Jessi, but she just wanted to be friends
Anyways, she gets offered a permanent spot at the school, but turns it down. It would have been so nice for her to move on from stoneybrook to follow her dreams
Anyways, she gets offered a permanent spot at the school, but turns it down. It would have been so nice for her to move on from stoneybrook to follow her dreams
January 18, 2021
(LL)
Considering this is Jessi’s last book, they should have made it so she accepted the full-time spot. Ballerina’s don’t get these kind of offers (ones that magically stay open for whenever the person decides to attend), so it really didn’t make any sense to say the timing wasn’t right.
Considering this is Jessi’s last book, they should have made it so she accepted the full-time spot. Ballerina’s don’t get these kind of offers (ones that magically stay open for whenever the person decides to attend), so it really didn’t make any sense to say the timing wasn’t right.
August 25, 2017
I skipped around some with my re-read, and this is the last Jessi book in the series! I haven't read them all yet, but I take joy in knowing that there is an end to her boringness soon!
November 26, 2019
Review on www.audible.com please listen to this book.
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March 28, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/jessis...
July 2, 2022
I enjoyed this, but I wish there had been more resolution at the end between Jessi and Mallory, or any of her friends. It ended too abruptly. It was still fun to read, though.
April 12, 2023
Nice to see Jessi's ballet work and enjoying NYC. I think the resolution was a bit too quick, like she just kinda made her big decision in a couple of pages.
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October 4, 2023Can we get a Jessi spin-off about her future as a ballet dancer in New York? I would read that series so hard.
January 23, 2024
C'è poco del BSC in questo libro, è tutto molto incentrato su Jessi, ma non mi è dispiaciuto per niente, soprattutto perché quando si va a NY con il BSC è sempre emozionante!
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February 1, 2026After a thrilling three-week dance program in New York City, Jessi is invited to join the Dance NY education program full-time. Is she ready to leave Stonybrook and all her friends behind?
February 16, 2010
(I now maintain a blog just for my kid-lit reviews. Find it at http://kidlit4adults.blogspot.com .)
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at writing children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. Today's selections are my first foray into the world of "The Baby-Sitters Club," which during the 1990s and '00s became one of the most successful kid-lit series of all time; between the original tales and the various spinoffs, there are now nearly 500 volumes set in Ann M. Martin's sleepy middle-class suburb of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, with collective sales of at least 250 million copies and a literal empire of supplemental merchandise, feature films and television episodes. (By the way, I've been quietly told by gossipy friends in the industry that dozens of these books were actually ghostwritten by other authors, with Martin simply slapping her name on them at the end for brand consistency, although I have no way of actually verifying that; for those who don't know, this is one of the types of employment I'm seeking within the YA industry, to be the ghost-author of such formula-driven, interchangeable chapter books, which is why I'm reading so many of them these days.)
And as you can expect, the BSC books follow a familiar formula down to a T (or at least the three I read -- #81's Mallory Pike, #1 Fan, #115's Jessi's Big Break, and #131's The Fire at Mary Anne's House), staring with just a massive amount of exposition, not even cleverly handled but literally as if you were reading an encyclopedia entry; in fact, each and every title in the series starts first with an entire chapter of that book's particular hero reading aloud her own Wikipedia entry, then a second chapter of them reciting the entry concerning the club itself (essentially a group of junior-high female friends who gather around a central phone every late afternoon, so that parents can call that "hotline" and have the most appropriate babysitter sent to their house later that night), a total of eight thousand words devoted to nothing but reminding people of all the various things that have happened in the hundreds of books that came before it. Like many chapter-book series, the "crises" that befall club members are usually pretty gentle in nature, and the books mainly exist as a way to teach non-controversial moral lessons to its readers. Each book is roughly 30,000 words total, pretty normal for the 9-to-12 age group they're designed for; but surprisingly, the main characters themselves are mostly aged 12 to 14, just a little older than most of the books' readers, which confused me at first until I thought back to my own childhood, and how I used to love at this age reading books about kids a little older than me, in that I felt like I was sneakily getting away with something.
To her credit, Martin tries to inject as much diversity into this white-bread environment as she can, and also introduces plenty of modern hiccups to the stereotypical nuclear family (the club members' backgrounds are filled with ugly divorces, single parents working full-time jobs, sudden moves into entirely new economic classes, adopted Asian siblings and the like); but to her detriment, these are the exact types of books that edgier YA authors are railing against, sickly-sweet tales where all conflicts are resolved by the last page, and where all the kids ultimately end up dutifully obeying the pronouncements of the all-wise adult authority figures around them. I mean, you can't argue with success, but the BSC books are definitely the ones helping to write the "rules" for chapter books to begin with, which is why they barely ever break the well-known rules we now think of when thinking about this type of literature (you know -- make sentences short and punchy, introduce lots of peril but very little legitimate danger, be sure to repeat important information several times, concentrate on the way that girls this age interact with each other, set many of the scenes in a school environment, try to get the parents out of the way as much as possible, always have a happy ending, etc etc etc). They're neither outstanding nor terrible, which I'm sure is a big reason they've sold 250 million copies by now, and I can see myself easily being able to churn one of these out from beginning to end in just two or three weeks.
A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at writing children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of existing books that have been recommended to me. Today's selections are my first foray into the world of "The Baby-Sitters Club," which during the 1990s and '00s became one of the most successful kid-lit series of all time; between the original tales and the various spinoffs, there are now nearly 500 volumes set in Ann M. Martin's sleepy middle-class suburb of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, with collective sales of at least 250 million copies and a literal empire of supplemental merchandise, feature films and television episodes. (By the way, I've been quietly told by gossipy friends in the industry that dozens of these books were actually ghostwritten by other authors, with Martin simply slapping her name on them at the end for brand consistency, although I have no way of actually verifying that; for those who don't know, this is one of the types of employment I'm seeking within the YA industry, to be the ghost-author of such formula-driven, interchangeable chapter books, which is why I'm reading so many of them these days.)
And as you can expect, the BSC books follow a familiar formula down to a T (or at least the three I read -- #81's Mallory Pike, #1 Fan, #115's Jessi's Big Break, and #131's The Fire at Mary Anne's House), staring with just a massive amount of exposition, not even cleverly handled but literally as if you were reading an encyclopedia entry; in fact, each and every title in the series starts first with an entire chapter of that book's particular hero reading aloud her own Wikipedia entry, then a second chapter of them reciting the entry concerning the club itself (essentially a group of junior-high female friends who gather around a central phone every late afternoon, so that parents can call that "hotline" and have the most appropriate babysitter sent to their house later that night), a total of eight thousand words devoted to nothing but reminding people of all the various things that have happened in the hundreds of books that came before it. Like many chapter-book series, the "crises" that befall club members are usually pretty gentle in nature, and the books mainly exist as a way to teach non-controversial moral lessons to its readers. Each book is roughly 30,000 words total, pretty normal for the 9-to-12 age group they're designed for; but surprisingly, the main characters themselves are mostly aged 12 to 14, just a little older than most of the books' readers, which confused me at first until I thought back to my own childhood, and how I used to love at this age reading books about kids a little older than me, in that I felt like I was sneakily getting away with something.
To her credit, Martin tries to inject as much diversity into this white-bread environment as she can, and also introduces plenty of modern hiccups to the stereotypical nuclear family (the club members' backgrounds are filled with ugly divorces, single parents working full-time jobs, sudden moves into entirely new economic classes, adopted Asian siblings and the like); but to her detriment, these are the exact types of books that edgier YA authors are railing against, sickly-sweet tales where all conflicts are resolved by the last page, and where all the kids ultimately end up dutifully obeying the pronouncements of the all-wise adult authority figures around them. I mean, you can't argue with success, but the BSC books are definitely the ones helping to write the "rules" for chapter books to begin with, which is why they barely ever break the well-known rules we now think of when thinking about this type of literature (you know -- make sentences short and punchy, introduce lots of peril but very little legitimate danger, be sure to repeat important information several times, concentrate on the way that girls this age interact with each other, set many of the scenes in a school environment, try to get the parents out of the way as much as possible, always have a happy ending, etc etc etc). They're neither outstanding nor terrible, which I'm sure is a big reason they've sold 250 million copies by now, and I can see myself easily being able to churn one of these out from beginning to end in just two or three weeks.
November 30, 2024
This one was pretty good but also a missed opportunity I think. Jessi gets an offer to attend a prestigious dance school in New York and to have a famous male dancer teach her. It's weird to have a dance school start mid winter, not in the summer but whatever. They have academics too to justify it. Jessi goes to the school and because she is perfect at everything she excels at lessons makes new friends and her one time boyfriend Quint acts all weird around her because he thinks they are no longer living in different cities so they can date now, even though they are eleven. Jessi also doesn't miss Stoneybrook at all or any of the BSC or her family which could be true but you'd think she'd at least miss her family. But she doesn't. By the end of the month she gets offered a permanent position because Jessi is amazing at everything she does and never fails and she has a choice to make. This being the last Jessi book it could've wrapped up her storyline nicely much like Mallory's will be in a few more books having both junior officers going off to schools that help them achieve their dreams. But she decides to stay home. I did like seeing another side of Aunt Cecelia though who was disappointed her son and his wife got high paying executive jobs instead of becoming starving artists. It's funny to be thrown a curve like that concerning stern old Aunt Cecelia. The b plot involves Becca being a whiny brat and Mallory missing Jessi and feeling left out when she visits Jessi in New York and while Becca was annoying I felt for Mallory losing a friend. Would've gotten five stars but I still think Jessi should've stayed in New York, that would've wrapped things up nicely for her.
May 1, 2013
Fantastic books for young girls getting into reading!! Great stories about friendship and life lessons. The characters deal with all sorts of situations and often find responsible solutions to problems.
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
I loved this series growing up and wanted to start my own babysitting business with friends. Great lessons in entrepreneurship for tweens.
The books may be dated with out references to modern technology but the story stands and lessons are still relevant.
Awesome books that girls will love! And the series grows with them! Terrific Author!
May 6, 2021
Loved these books as a child
November 1, 2013
In which Jessi goes to special ballet school in OMGI<3NY!!! and has the opportunity to stay and be a real ballerina or something.
November 22, 2015
Fun scenario. Interesting story. Good book.
I love that this mostly takes place in New York and is about Jessi doing ballet.
This is one of the overall better books.
I love that this mostly takes place in New York and is about Jessi doing ballet.
This is one of the overall better books.
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