Scan barcode
situationnormal's review
4.0
One of the better BSC books I've read lately (although Logan's story was something we've read before pretty much in entirety with a changed perspective) and I even somehow enjoyed Mary Anne's section.
The shining highlights, though, were Kristy's personality coming through so clearly in every single story she's mentioned in, and Mimi being the absolute best as per usual.
I love that this book takes the time to really entwine the characters in each other's stories (even the ones where they're absent, like Stacey's and Shannon's) and makes them actually seem like close friends. Plus, I'm a sucker for the BSC books that involve slumber parties and this book featured several.
The shining highlights, though, were Kristy's personality coming through so clearly in every single story she's mentioned in, and Mimi being the absolute best as per usual.
I love that this book takes the time to really entwine the characters in each other's stories (even the ones where they're absent, like Stacey's and Shannon's) and makes them actually seem like close friends. Plus, I'm a sucker for the BSC books that involve slumber parties and this book featured several.
hcgambrell's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is the best of all the BSC super specials. The girls are having a slumber party at the beginning of summer, and they start discussing their summer writing assignment, which leads to a discussion of their most vivid memory. Each member of the club (including Logan and Shannon) has one section to tell his/her memory. We get the story of Stacey being diagnosed with diabetes, and Dawn's parents' divorce, and sweet memories from some of their younger days. Because each person has a different story to tell, the book doesn't jump around as much as the other super specials. I liked this one a lot when it first came out, and it's nice to revisit as an adult.
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
Super Specials were daunting, they were thick books for a kid!
As 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.
As 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.
amb0517's review
3.0
It was just okay. There wasn't much story, it's basically a bunch of short stories. Interesting to get a bit more background on the characters though.
leedigesu's review
5.0
I really loved this one!
The BSC told their most vivid memories, which was a nice change from the usual "vacation" that takes place in a Super Special.
These were back stories that, for the most part, weren't told in the regular series. Or if they were, you were reading it from another POV this time.
The BSC told their most vivid memories, which was a nice change from the usual "vacation" that takes place in a Super Special.
These were back stories that, for the most part, weren't told in the regular series. Or if they were, you were reading it from another POV this time.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
5.0
At a sleepover, the BSC girls discuss the lame SMS-wide "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" assignment, and Jessi asks, "What is your most vivid memory?" Each sitter then gets 1-3 chapters (in a row, unlike other Super Specials) to tell the story of their most vivid memory. While I’m not sure "most vivid memory" is something people have (wouldn’t it just be, like, yesterday?), the conceit gives the narrators an excuse to describe a memory in careful detail; and it allows a nice variety of memories in age, life importance, and degree to which it is related to baby-sitting.
Kristy tells the story of her first baby-sitting job, a very, very Kristy choice. She convinced her mother to allow her to take care of her younger brother David Michael after school when she was ten and he was four. She was careful to make sure everything went right, sure that if she did the slightest wrong thing, her mother would never trust her again. It’s a charming conflictless story, and an interesting slice of life from an important time in the Thomas family history. A-
Stacey remembers hoping that sixth grade would be the best year of her life. Then, on a sleepover with old and new friends, she wets the bed, alienating her friends, and prompting her mother to set up a meeting with a child psychologist who refers her to a doctor who diagnoses her with diabetes. The story gets a little summarize-y here, but actually, it’s kind of neat how it takes a sudden turn from moment-by-moment inter-girl drama to medical procedural. It's certainly plausible that this life-changing time is a vivid memory for Stacey, and that she has clearer memories of her pre-diagnosis anxiety than the medical infodumps that followed. This is a story right out of the Stacey bible--going back, I'm amazed how many small details of this story are hinted at in early Stacey books--and, though we could piece it together for ourselves, it's satisfying to have it all laid out. B+
Jessi remembers when Squirt was born, back in Oakley, NJ. Nine-year-old Jessi doesn’t want a baby in the house to begin with, and when Squirt comes home, he’s a screamer. He has colic. When Jessi discovers she can quiet him better than anyone in the family down by rocking and singing to him, she begins to adore him. This is a sweet story which neatly suggests the transformation from bratty kid to responsible sitter. B
Claudia recalls her first homework in first grade--drawing a self-portrait for art class. She works hard on a drawing of a beautiful butterfly, but everyone else submits a literal drawing of themselves, and Claudia’s by-the-book art teacher yells at her for not following directions. When Mimi hears about this, she gives the art teacher a gentle but firm talking-to, interpreting the metaphor for her. Claudia feels it was all worth it to see that Mimi understood. It's a small story that Claudia probably remembers it so vividly because it captures her whole definition of herself with such neat simplicity: her artsiness, her hatred and mistrust of school, her love of Mimi. And it's great to see another glimpse of Mimi at her most soft-spoken yet badass. A
Logan basically re-tells the first half of [b:Logan Likes Mary Anne!|233724|Logan Likes Mary Anne! (The Baby-Sitters Club, #10)|Ann M. Martin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172965292s/233724.jpg|995924] from his point of view. While this doesn’t really tell us anything new about Logan, it’s really a neat concept, and (amazingly, for this series) jibes perfectly with the other book while still being different enough to interestingly distinguish the details Logan vs. Mary Anne found important. Logan’s voice is fresh and funny. A-
Mallory remembers a time last year when she wrote to, and subsequently went to a signing for, her favorite author. She plans on making a good impression, chatting with the writer, but when she gets to the front of the signing line, she’s so starstruck she bursts into tears. I wonder if this is based on something the writer experienced from the other side. C
Shannon has another fairly recent memory; shortly before Kristy moved to her neighborhood, it seems there was another new girl who went through her group of friends one by one, picking one girl to be her super-best-friend and then dropping her. Shannon is studying for a super-important test when Sally comes calling. "That was the beginning. That was how I almost blew the astronomy test," Shannon recalls. ALMOST. We know right from the beginning that there is going to be no consequence here! I mean, I’m all for stories with no conflict (like Kristy’s), but Shannon’s seems to have the feelings of conflict with no actual real-world reason for them. Shannon is all about what’s below the surface, I guess. D
Dawn completes the hat trick of "things that happened just before I moved to Stoneybrook and met those wonderful baby-sitters" stories (although I guess Logan’s was mostly what happened after). She discusses the tense months of her parents’ marital breakdown. This is the most summarize-y story of all; Dawn doesn’t seem to interpret the word "memory" as narrowly as the others do. It is kind of interesting to see the adults keep slipping up and ALMOST saying they’re sexually incompatible, something I definitely didn’t pick up on as a kid. C
Mary Anne describes a slumber party she had for Kristy and Claudia when they were eight. Mary Anne doesn’t like all the old-lady baby-sitters her father hires, but the sitter in charge that night turns out to have a sense of humor, and a small-scale prank war reigns between the adult and children. This is a fun story which nicely brings up the balance of child/baby-sitting content (interesting to see the girls from the other side, the Baby-sat) and which gives us a glimpse of the classic Bradford Court trio of Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne, with their characteristic kid personalities. A
Overall, the backstories provide a welcome change from the normal BSC fare, and it’s neat to finally have an excuse to move back and forth in the timeline, as if we’re not in a frozen-time world. (Although it does require some careful vagueness not to draw attention to the fact that the currently ending summer vacation separates eighth grade and eighth grade.)
Read as a kid: I adored this one as a kid, I have to say. I had the gold-plated one dotted with embossed signatures (subsequent printings, including the one I have now, were just yellow with the signatures printed in orange), and I read it so much that the spine creased and all the gold flaked off, leaving the silver backing.
Timing: End of summer vacation.
Revised Timeline: End of break between freshman and sophomore years of college (junior and senior year of high school, for Mal and Jessi). I think for the most part, we can assume these memories took place at the times and ages given in the book, and just that they are less recent than claimed.
Kristy tells the story of her first baby-sitting job, a very, very Kristy choice. She convinced her mother to allow her to take care of her younger brother David Michael after school when she was ten and he was four. She was careful to make sure everything went right, sure that if she did the slightest wrong thing, her mother would never trust her again. It’s a charming conflictless story, and an interesting slice of life from an important time in the Thomas family history. A-
Stacey remembers hoping that sixth grade would be the best year of her life. Then, on a sleepover with old and new friends, she wets the bed, alienating her friends, and prompting her mother to set up a meeting with a child psychologist who refers her to a doctor who diagnoses her with diabetes. The story gets a little summarize-y here, but actually, it’s kind of neat how it takes a sudden turn from moment-by-moment inter-girl drama to medical procedural. It's certainly plausible that this life-changing time is a vivid memory for Stacey, and that she has clearer memories of her pre-diagnosis anxiety than the medical infodumps that followed. This is a story right out of the Stacey bible--going back, I'm amazed how many small details of this story are hinted at in early Stacey books--and, though we could piece it together for ourselves, it's satisfying to have it all laid out. B+
Jessi remembers when Squirt was born, back in Oakley, NJ. Nine-year-old Jessi doesn’t want a baby in the house to begin with, and when Squirt comes home, he’s a screamer. He has colic. When Jessi discovers she can quiet him better than anyone in the family down by rocking and singing to him, she begins to adore him. This is a sweet story which neatly suggests the transformation from bratty kid to responsible sitter. B
Claudia recalls her first homework in first grade--drawing a self-portrait for art class. She works hard on a drawing of a beautiful butterfly, but everyone else submits a literal drawing of themselves, and Claudia’s by-the-book art teacher yells at her for not following directions. When Mimi hears about this, she gives the art teacher a gentle but firm talking-to, interpreting the metaphor for her. Claudia feels it was all worth it to see that Mimi understood. It's a small story that Claudia probably remembers it so vividly because it captures her whole definition of herself with such neat simplicity: her artsiness, her hatred and mistrust of school, her love of Mimi. And it's great to see another glimpse of Mimi at her most soft-spoken yet badass. A
Logan basically re-tells the first half of [b:Logan Likes Mary Anne!|233724|Logan Likes Mary Anne! (The Baby-Sitters Club, #10)|Ann M. Martin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172965292s/233724.jpg|995924] from his point of view. While this doesn’t really tell us anything new about Logan, it’s really a neat concept, and (amazingly, for this series) jibes perfectly with the other book while still being different enough to interestingly distinguish the details Logan vs. Mary Anne found important. Logan’s voice is fresh and funny. A-
Mallory remembers a time last year when she wrote to, and subsequently went to a signing for, her favorite author. She plans on making a good impression, chatting with the writer, but when she gets to the front of the signing line, she’s so starstruck she bursts into tears. I wonder if this is based on something the writer experienced from the other side. C
Shannon has another fairly recent memory; shortly before Kristy moved to her neighborhood, it seems there was another new girl who went through her group of friends one by one, picking one girl to be her super-best-friend and then dropping her. Shannon is studying for a super-important test when Sally comes calling. "That was the beginning. That was how I almost blew the astronomy test," Shannon recalls. ALMOST. We know right from the beginning that there is going to be no consequence here! I mean, I’m all for stories with no conflict (like Kristy’s), but Shannon’s seems to have the feelings of conflict with no actual real-world reason for them. Shannon is all about what’s below the surface, I guess. D
Dawn completes the hat trick of "things that happened just before I moved to Stoneybrook and met those wonderful baby-sitters" stories (although I guess Logan’s was mostly what happened after). She discusses the tense months of her parents’ marital breakdown. This is the most summarize-y story of all; Dawn doesn’t seem to interpret the word "memory" as narrowly as the others do. It is kind of interesting to see the adults keep slipping up and ALMOST saying they’re sexually incompatible, something I definitely didn’t pick up on as a kid. C
Mary Anne describes a slumber party she had for Kristy and Claudia when they were eight. Mary Anne doesn’t like all the old-lady baby-sitters her father hires, but the sitter in charge that night turns out to have a sense of humor, and a small-scale prank war reigns between the adult and children. This is a fun story which nicely brings up the balance of child/baby-sitting content (interesting to see the girls from the other side, the Baby-sat) and which gives us a glimpse of the classic Bradford Court trio of Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne, with their characteristic kid personalities. A
Overall, the backstories provide a welcome change from the normal BSC fare, and it’s neat to finally have an excuse to move back and forth in the timeline, as if we’re not in a frozen-time world. (Although it does require some careful vagueness not to draw attention to the fact that the currently ending summer vacation separates eighth grade and eighth grade.)
Read as a kid: I adored this one as a kid, I have to say. I had the gold-plated one dotted with embossed signatures (subsequent printings, including the one I have now, were just yellow with the signatures printed in orange), and I read it so much that the spine creased and all the gold flaked off, leaving the silver backing.
Timing: End of summer vacation.
Revised Timeline: End of break between freshman and sophomore years of college (junior and senior year of high school, for Mal and Jessi). I think for the most part, we can assume these memories took place at the times and ages given in the book, and just that they are less recent than claimed.
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
This was never my favorite super special. I think because I felt like I'd heard some of these stories before. Kristy's most vivid memory is, of course, about her first time baby-sitting. Not about her father walking out, not about a traumatic event or anything like that, but literally watching her kid brother for a couple of hours after school. Boring.
Stacey rehashed, in much more detail, what happened to her when she first was diagnosed with diabetes. More interesting, but still a sort of retelling. She'd talked about this in other books, so we already knew the basic premise.
Claudia told a sort of sweet story about an art project she did as a kid in school. The best part was Mimi. Now that's a character worth missing.
Marry Anne told a boring story about a weird sitter she had as a kid, and we had to hear AGAIN about when Logan met her. Seriously? That's your most vivid memory? Come ON. Dawn was also a snore fest, talking about her move to the east coast.
The most interesting story here belonged to Shannon, since it was a story we'd never heard before. I liked that one a lot, though the rest of this book could put a person to sleep. Like, seriously.
I even totally forgot completely about Mallory and Jessi, who were clearly so dull I couldn't even be bothered to remember.
Stacey rehashed, in much more detail, what happened to her when she first was diagnosed with diabetes. More interesting, but still a sort of retelling. She'd talked about this in other books, so we already knew the basic premise.
Claudia told a sort of sweet story about an art project she did as a kid in school. The best part was Mimi. Now that's a character worth missing.
Marry Anne told a boring story about a weird sitter she had as a kid, and we had to hear AGAIN about when Logan met her. Seriously? That's your most vivid memory? Come ON. Dawn was also a snore fest, talking about her move to the east coast.
The most interesting story here belonged to Shannon, since it was a story we'd never heard before. I liked that one a lot, though the rest of this book could put a person to sleep. Like, seriously.
I even totally forgot completely about Mallory and Jessi, who were clearly so dull I couldn't even be bothered to remember.
aml519's review against another edition
4.0
Great book for reminiscing about the BSC and reading some of their backstories.
xtinamorse's review against another edition
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/the-baby-sitters-remember