Review by Booklist Review
In this engaging, entertaining prequel to the popular Baby-Sitters Club series, Martin steps back to offer in-depth character introductions, highlighting the girls' experiences just prior to the club's formation. For each character, the summer before seventh grade brings unexpected changes. Kristy, still adjusting to her parents' divorce, resents her mom's new boyfriend and seeks connection with her remarried and unreachable father; quiet Mary Anne yearns for independence from her strict, overprotective dad; artistic Claudia worries that she is maturing faster than her friends; and Stacey, still in New York, struggles with managing her diabetes and her loneliness after she is dumped by her best friend. Series fans and newcomers alike will enjoy each girl's lively alternating first-person stories, all supportively portrayed. Although the characters face difficulties and disappointments, they also find fun, surprising opportunities, and unique insights, with hints of further connections and possibilities to come.--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Written by turn in the voice of each girl, Martin's thoughtfully crafted prequel to the Baby-sitters Club brings the series' four protagonists through an emotional, often bumpy summer. On the eve of seventh grade, each feels stranded. Feisty Kristy resents the presence of her divorced mother's boyfriend, and thinks she's the only one in her "oh-so-happy" family who still misses her father. Shy Mary Anne begins to feel smothered by her overprotective single father, who still selects her clothes and refuses to let her babysit by herself. Both girls feel abandoned by free-spirited Claudia, whose preoccupation with her first boyfriend also alienates her older sister (who liked him first). Chiming in from a distance, Stacey is friendless in New York City and looks forward to starting a new life when she moves to Stoneybrook, Conn. Despite some passages that readers may find dated ("So we spent an enjoyable two hours swinging on the swings..."; "My gifts were lovely"), Martin credibly and affectingly blends the friends' stories and resolves their issues, while deftly foreshadowing what lies ahead. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
A prequel to the long-running series, this book follows Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey before they create their well-known club. Pre-teens unfamiliar with the series will be drawn in to the entertaining, if predictable, tale of friends trying to grow up but not apart. Long-time fans will enjoy this glimpse at favorite characters' origins. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Baby-Sitters Club returns! Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey take turns describing the summer after sixth grade, before their club began. Kristy's mother's dates with Watson become more frequent, Mary Anne chafes at father's rules, Claudia gets a boyfriend and Stacey moves from New York to Stoneybrook. This prequel is smoothly integrated with the familiar series; the first three have been lightly brought up-to-date and will be reissued for a new generation of readers. During the summer Kristy deludes herself that her absentee father will take note of her 12th birthday; Mary Anne struggles to get permission to babysit on her own; Stacey describes how her best friend turned on her, after she developed diabetes; Claudia's focus on Frankie, a rising ninth grader whose usual friends are out of town, sets her at odds with old friends and even her sister. These family and friendship issues will be familiar to today's middle-grade girls, who will identify with at least one of the characters as closely as their mothers did. Book candy at its best. (Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
