1st entry - book from childhood

A book from my childhood that left an impression on me – hmm… where to start? I have been thinking about the answer to this for awhile and am having difficulty narrowing down to just one singular book that left a great impression on me because there were so many! When I think back to my childhood and associate reading with it-I think of the authors and series I enjoyed such as Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitter’s Club, Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High series, Beverly Cleary’s endless classics (to me at least) such as the Ramona series, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess that I loved and read multiple times... The list goes on and on. I’d have to say that to narrow it down, Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitter’s Club, and even Baby-sitters Little Sister, series were the most stand-out to me. I can remember to this day just how much I loved those books. I was obsessed and read them all non-stop. I’m not even sure how I was introduced to them; I wish I could say I remember my school librarian suggesting them to me, but I’m not sure that was the case. All I know is that it was a consistent obsession of sorts for many years. I was hooked and needed to read every single book, even the “Super Specials”. I couldn’t wait for a new one to come out, and I can remember doing book reports and book discussions on the series and my favorite characters I came to love. I know I wrote to Ann (probably more than once too), and she was who inspired me to want to become an author. I would read the books front to cover including her biography in the back, which was mostly the same each time and maybe changed after a couple of years, but I would read it anyways and think ‘one day that’s going to be me!’ (So cheesy, I know! J) But I can honestly remember being so in love with that series and think it had a lot to do with developing my love of reading. I can remember going to my public library and stocking up on these books like crazy! -As if they were going out of stock or something.

            I can’t remember exactly when I started to read the series, but I know that I was reading them by at least third grade, and I think I began reading Baby-sitter’s Club before reading Baby-sitters Little Sister actually. I can remember each book always started the story and then went into the explanations of who everyone was in the club and what the club was etc., and I remember reading about and knowing about one of the main-characters Kristy who started the club and Mrs. Martin would mention Kristy has two step-siblings; a step-sister Karen who would turn out to be the main character in the Baby-sitters Little Sister series. I’m not sure if the little sister series came out after the older girls’ books, or I just read them in the wrong order, but I do know I knew the older club first-and maybe read the other series because I loved them so much and thought they’d be good even if they were easier reads.

Okay so with all that being said- I was supposed to pick one book. It would be difficult to narrow down to my all-time favorite, so since the series itself was most influential to me I will pick the first of the series Kristy’s Great Idea for purposes of this assignment. Kristy’s Great Idea explains the concept of the series; a group of 4 girls (eventually adding on 6 more) form a club where parents in their hometown of Stoneybrook, Connecticut can call and set-up babysitters. Kristy is the main character in the first book, and the one who comes up with the idea (hence the title). Each book in the series is told through the point-of-view of one of the main characters (Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacy originally, with Dawn, Mallory & Jessi added in).

What did I enjoy about the book? At the time reading them, I thought they were just the coolest girls and wanted to be just like them. I also thought it was a cool idea to be working and in a club with your best friends. I can even remember stereotyping which of my girlfriends fit each character’s personalities. I took a liking to Kristy because she played softball like me and was sort of a tomboy, but also could relate to boy-crazy, flirty Stacy. I even saw traces of myself in Mary Ann’s shy, non-confrontational personality. Because Mrs. Martin’s characters were so realistic, I felt connected to them and wanted to see what happened to them in upcoming books. The characters and their ‘handwriting’ intrigued me (Ann wrote the first page of each chapter in that particular character’s handwriting).