The Baby-Sitters Club

The Baby-Sitters Club is Ann M. Martin's beloved middle-grade series — following Kristy Thomas, Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, Stacey McGill, Dawn Schafer, and their friends as they run a babysitting business in the fictional Stoneybrook, Connecticut. The series began in 1986 and ran to over two hundred titles including the main series, mysteries, super specials, and spin-offs, becoming one of the best-selling children's series in American publishing history with over one hundred and seventy million copies sold.

Martin created the series with the dual purpose of entertainment and genuine representation — the BSC members have different backgrounds, family structures, and challenges (Claudia's dyslexia, Stacey's diabetes, the divorced parents and blended families) that reflected the diversity of real American childhood in ways that earlier middle-grade fiction rarely attempted. Each character has her own narrative voice, distinguishing the books as individual character studies rather than simply adventure-of-the-week plotting.

Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel adaptations have introduced the series to a new generation, and the Netflix adaptation (2020) demonstrated the material's continued appeal.

Begin with Kristy's Great Idea (1986). A defining series of American middle-grade fiction.