Sit Me Baby One More Time Ep 08 - Welcome to the BSC, Abby! (The Baby-Sitters Club #90)

Summary

Overdue Podcast: Sit Me Baby One More Time Ep 08 – "Welcome to the BSC, Abby!" (The Baby-Sitters Club #90)

Main Theme

This episode of Overdue’s Babysitters Club long-read miniseries covers book #90, Welcome to the BSC, Abby! Andrew and Craig dive deep into Abby Stevenson’s debut as the newest Babysitters Club (BSC) member, discussing her character’s introduction, the series’ structure at this late stage, and the book’s themes of grief, family, and community.

They examine the meta-context of the BSC as it enters its eighth year of "perpetual eighth grade," the shift to ghostwriters in the series, and how Abby fits into both the club and the narrative tradition.

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Episode Structure & Key Discussion Points

Setting the Scene: BSC Context & Series Evolution

[05:18–10:56]

• Hosts introduce the context: This is the final "traditional" Babysitters Club book for the miniseries, and Abby’s first as narrator.
• The series is in "Year 8" of eighth grade, a concept where the club never ages, and time resets (07:02).
• Introduction of ghostwriting: Book #90 is written by Nola Thacker, one of many BSC ghostwriters (08:06).
• Nola Thacker’s background as a prolific YA ghostwriter, her other work, and impact on the series’ style (10:21).
• Amused reflection that podcast research now includes LinkedIn (10:28).

"Welcome to the BSC, Abby, published in 1995, is the first book of eighth grade year eight, which spans between book 90 and book 97 of the main series..."
– Andrew, [07:02]

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Abby's Introduction & Characterization

[11:13–13:33, 21:23–23:07, 29:52–37:02]

• Abby is both a twin (with Anna) and Jewish, addressing reader asks for representation, though these aspects are not plot-central.
• Abby’s more prominent trait is her asthma, which drives the book’s tension.
• Recurring jokes and wordplay mark the book’s distinctive "voicey" writing style—a shift from earlier, more generic first-person narrators.
• Abby's family recently moved to Stony Brook after her father's death in a car accident, and her mom, a culinary instructor turned publisher, is working too much for family bonding.
• Abby’s approach to grief and resilience is noted as refreshingly matter-of-fact.

"My shtick is different. Shtick is a great Yiddish word, isn’t it?... Shtick means the things I do that make me me."
– Abby (read by Andrew), [32:02]

"I suspect this, honestly, actually is true to the experience of some, like, Jewish women who are... just, like, being funny and having nobody around them get it."
– Andrew, [33:50]

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Series Structure & Ghostwriting

[19:05–21:23, 60:22–62:04]

• Discussion of the BSC’s formula: introductions, meetings, babysitting journals, major group event.
• By book 90, the structure is familiar but some "rules" are loosening: the A-plot/B-plot is less rigid, and supporting cast rotates more.
• Noting the stylistic change: Abby’s narration is jokier and more filled with asides, presumably from ghostwriter Nola Thacker.
• Contrast between Abby’s unique "voice" and previous BSC protagonists who felt more interchangeable.

"Abby does have a distinctive voice. I found myself mostly enjoying it. It is definitely different from the other stuff we've read."
– Andrew, [61:54]

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Plot Overview: Carnival, Community, Grief, and Asthma

[24:32–55:29]

• The BSC rallies to save the school's arts program with a town carnival fundraiser when arts funding is cut (24:32).
• Each club member is involved in organizing booths; Abby’s family chooses a cupcake booth to re-engage their mom’s love of cooking.
• Humorous disbelief at the logistics of the carnival—a parade of homemade crafts, food safety, and permitting ignored for narrative fun.
• Abby’s babysitting crises:
  • Severe asthma attack with the Papadakis kids; Christy witnesses and is concerned about club liability and Abby’s capability (41:31).
  • Later, Abby’s panic that her mom is missing after a derailed train; this provides a cathartic reckoning for their family to discuss grief.
• The real emotional core is Abby, Anna, and their mom reconnecting as a family; ending with them unpacking old memories and making space for connection.
• Emphasis on the series’ general kindness and support, with the BSC girls checking in on Abby after her hospitalization.
• Light critique: The plotting skips a strong "prove yourself" scene for Abby; most of the book is carnival prep, not babysitting drama.

"All the kids are going to put on a carnival. The whole town's going to put on a carnival of sorts that raises money for the school, for the arts."
– Craig, [25:33]

"It's a crappy look to get, yeah."
– Andrew (about Christy's doubt during Abby's asthma attack), [42:49]

"It had hurt so much opening that box without warning..."
– Craig (quoting Abby, reflecting on grief), [54:04]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Abby’s Humor & Parentheticals

• "Honey, I’m home. I called. Just like the old sitcom, fathers called to their wives before the wives got smart and got out of the unpaid labor of housework. (So sue me. Housewives get no respect, no pay, and no tax deductions.)"
  — Abby (read by Craig), [32:27]
• "Marianne looked a little confused, but she signed me up anyway. I suspect this, honestly, actually is true to the experience of some, like, Jewish women who are. Who just, like, spent their childhoods, like, being funny and having nobody around them get it."
  — Andrew, [33:50]

Series Metacommentary

• "Year eight of perpetual eighth grade. We spend very little time actually in school... They all feel like they’ve done it already even though they haven’t."
  — Andrew, [07:33]

• "This was during my, like, cultural blackout era where I was not allowed to, like, consume mainstream popular culture..."
  — Andrew, [35:57]

BSC Kindness

• "Every member of the BSC called her to see how she was doing, even though they don’t really even know her that well, including Christy..."
  — Craig, [44:14]

On Logistics and the Absurdity of the Carnival

• "They're serving food without having to clear it with anybody… whose insurance is covering the bumper cars?"
  — Craig, [46:33]
• "How do they get this money to the school?... How did taxes on any of it work?"
  — Andrew, [55:01]

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Pacing, Period References, and Book Culture Trends

[34:37–36:48]

• Asthma and the idea of medical supplies (inhalers, insulin) as plot points.
• References to mask-wearing for smog in cities, and mentions of cell phones as rare, prestigious items in 1995.
• Affair with Woodstock: Mom wonders what Abby’s deceased dad would think of Woodstock ’94.

"At one point her mom is talking about [dad's] shirt and says, 'I wonder what he would have thought of the second one.' Which means Woodstock 94 has happened..."
– Andrew, [35:36]

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Structural Quirks & The Eighth Year of Eighth Grade

[39:32–40:13]

• Observation about time loop: The girls never age but pets and side characters do; joked about a horror/mystery movie where only animals age.
• The BSC’s internal logic is compared to Groundhog Day and The Simpsons.

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Critical Reflection – What Works, What Could Be Stronger

• Abby’s narrative energy and jokes are fun, but the book has less of the social weight and specificity found in earlier entries.
• The potential for deeper tension—Abby’s struggle for belonging or trust with Christy, or a major babysitting/club-crisis moment—is undercut by the focus on carnival logistics.
• The club’s internal relationships and the seasonal progression of time remain appealingly familiar.

"I think the earlier books... I was more surprised by how thoughtful they were in spots and how they approached some topics... That's not what's happening here."
– Andrew, [60:22]

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Important Timestamps

• Series chronology & ghostwriting: [07:02–11:22]
• Abby’s characterization & shtick: [21:23–23:07], [32:02–33:57]
• Carnival plot & critique of realism: [24:32–26:44], [45:38–51:28]
• Asthma episode & club doubt: [41:31–43:17]
• Family grief subplot: [53:01–55:01]
• Book’s distinctive style & ghostwriter’s mark: [60:22–62:04]

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Closing Thoughts and Next Episode

[62:20–64:59]

• With this book, the Overdue BSC series has covered all principal member introductions.
• The next episode will cover the 1995 Babysitters Club movie as a retrospective and compare adaptations.
• Both hosts express continued affection for the club and appreciation for Abby’s unique, lively presence.

"It was fun… she's charming…"
– Andrew & Craig, [61:54–62:03]

"It was nice to meet you, Abby. Welcome to the club."
– Craig & Andrew, [64:51–64:59]

---

For Further Exploration

• Listeners are encouraged to reach out with thoughts on other BSC books.
• Promotions for the show’s Patreon, newsletter, and Discord are shared at the end ([65:18–66:22]).

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In summary:
This episode is both a loving roast and deep dive into a late-period Babysitters Club novel—highlighting its blend of comforting familiarity, genre evolution, and the quirks of introducing a new kid to a literary time loop. The hosts’ mix of warmth, wit, and critical curiosity makes for an engaging listen for fans new and old.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[A]

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[A]

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[B]

Well, let me first remind you that our relationship to food changes constantly. We are all evolving, Andrew and Marley Spoon is evolving with you like a little pocket monster. A pocket monster hungry to help you enjoy food and be efficient with your time. I started taking cooking more seriously a few years ago and Marley Spoon was a huge part of that. They've got a wide range of recipes and prepared meals that help you evolve into a more adventurous foodie and chef. I recently made a delicious caprese chicken and faro bowl for me and my wife a couple of years ago. I'm not sure I knew what Pharaoh was and here I am making a tasty bowl full of it. Thanks Marley Spoon.

[A]

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[B]

Sit me baby. One more time. Welcome to our podcast brought to you by the boys at Overdue, A podcast about the books you've been meaning to read. My name is Craig.

[A]

My name is Andrew.

[B]

This is our long read series on the Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin. We are here in episode eight of our series, the last traditional episode that we are doing here.

[A]

Gonna do some non traditional episodes after the. After this one.

[B]

Specifically one. We'll talk about it. Yeah, but we're gonna dive. Right, Andrew, Just like vibe check on the BSC as we, as we kind of pull the train into the station here. How you doing?

[A]

I like it.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I like them. I like these. I like these plucky kids and yes, children that they babysit.

[B]

The children that they babysit are like uniformly distinctive, interesting to charming. I think like we have not had too many, at least in what we've read. Just outright. What if the kid had bad vibes?

[A]

Maybe one, not too many stinkers.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So in this episode we are going to be talking about book 90. Welcome to the BSC Abbey, centered on a new character, Abby Stevenson. And we last left off back in book 16 with Jesse's secret language. So I feel like we've gone around the sun a few times and not

[A]

progressed according to the canonical thread on babysitters club.pro boards.com that we had cited in an earlier episode about the perpetual eighth grade that the series takes place in for most of its run. Welcome to the BSC Abbey, published in 1995, is the first book of eighth grade year eight, which spans between book 90 and book 97 of the main series and then from mystery 22 to mystery 25 of the mystery series.

[B]

Year eight.

[A]

Year eight of perpetual eighth grade. We spend very little time actually in school.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

I think like no time, no time in this book. And I think it's probably because the girls all like, they all feel like they've done it already even though they haven't. They don't like reference it.

[B]

Yeah, well, they all, I think they

[A]

all know they're caught in a loop.

[B]

Well, they've learned the material already. They don't need to go to biology again. Yes, it's exactly, you know.

[A]

So as far as other behind the scenes publishing.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

Welcome to the BSC Abbey. We are well into the ghostwritten era of the Babysitters Club series. Anna Martin did not have ghostwriters do all the books in the series, but they were mostly ghostwritten. I think I for we talked about it in an earlier episode. I want to say it's like sometime after the 20s they started using them more frequently. This one was written by Nola Thacker, who is credited on a total of 15 main series books. This is her ninth of 15 that she wrote, as well as a few spin off titles. And yeah, the book doesn't really we can talk, Craig, if you noticed any stylistic differences. I think I picked up on a few things. But yeah, this book doesn't really try to mask it or get super cute about it. Nolith Acker is not credited on the COVID of course. Why would we do that? But she is thanked for her help preparing this manuscript at the end. And then Anne M. Martin's note to readers at the end of the story does refer to a we who helped create the character of Abby, which does imply that there's some sort of collaboration or perhaps a staff involved at that point in the book's run. Or Anna Martin is so high on her own supply as a book 90 that she is the royal we. Yeah, sure, there's not a ton on Nola Thacker out there. I did find a Goodreads page that seems to be her official bio that says she's written nearly 100 books in the young adult genre. She has also ghostwritten the Laguna beach and Skating Dreams series.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And she wrote herself the Graveyard School series under the pen name Tom B. Stone, which is really funny and I liked it a lot. She was a consulting editor for Scholastic. She currently works at the West Hampton Free Library in New York as a program coordinator. A mostly blank LinkedIn page also seems to confirm that this is current. I couldn't find her listed among the staff on the West Hampton Free Library page, but they did just have like, like heads of departments listed. They didn't have like a directory I could find publicly listed.

[B]

Feel like I was not prepared for the era of our podcast where we'd be citing LinkedIn.

[A]

I just, I didn't feel great about getting on LinkedIn, but like sometimes you just got to find out stuff about somebody.

[B]

No, you're right. It's one of those things. I didn't think we. I didn't think that that would be one of the more there's plenty of nonsense there, but it it is proven one of the more durable social media ecosystems.

[A]

It is a good way to find what someone's job title is, how to spell their name, and for how long they have worked at different companies as a tech reporter. I use it.

[B]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

Frequently than I. Than. I would like to admit that I do. The last book she's credited on was published in 2007. And according to the Goodreads bio, she is way into manga.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

And goes to manga and anime conventions.

[B]

Yes. Good for you.

[A]

Nola Thacker. Welcome to Zit Me Baby. One more time. The only one of the Babysitters Club ghostwriters who we will actually be talking about. But there are many others.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And yeah, they made the series go.

[B]

This book was published in October of 1995. Cover art by our good friend Hodges. Soli Hodges.

[A]

Did you just spell his. Spell his name for me real quick.

[B]

S O, I, L, E, A, U.

[A]

Excellent. Okay. I just want to make sure that if somebody wanted to Google it, they could listen to what you said and divine what they were supposed to type

[B]

in the back cover. Blur before you. As the newest member of the Babysitters Club, Abby Stevenson is going a million miles an hour. She has so many things to get used to. Sms, her friends in the BSC and all those. I don't think they mean texting. What is that? They do? Stony Brook Middle School.

[A]

Okay. And they do keep talking about bf's in this book. But they mean best friends.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not boyfriends.

[B]

And all those wild babysitting charges. Plus, Abby's worried her twin sister and mom aren't excited about living in Stony Brooklyn. Abby thinks she has everything under control, but then she has an asthma attack while babysitting and must be rushed to the hospital. And now Christie is starting to have her doubts about Abby. Abby knows she's good enough for the Babysitter's Club. Now all she has to do is prove it. Once again, I'd like to point out that these back cover summaries tend to introduce a level of drama that is not present in the novel, though it is hinted at.

[A]

This book got drama, though.

[B]

It's got plenty of drama. And it does not lack. It does not actually contain Christy. Like grilling Abby about her ability to babysit, which we have seen versions of before.

[A]

No, it's like there's one. Like one look that Christie gives, really devastating look. And then one job where Christy is like, maybe Marianne should do it instead of Abby.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So.

[A]

But then the. But then, luckily, the president passes an executive order declaring that the Babysitters Club should be investigated for anti Semitism. And then Abby starts getting all the jobs back.

[B]

Here's the dear reader letter from Anna Martin hit Me. After dawn returned to California, I was very happy to be able to create a new member of the Babysitters Club. The last new member I created was Jessie, and that was back in book 14. There are so many things to the character's personality. Where she came from, what her family was like. And I wanted a character who was different from the other girls in the Babysitter's Club. Many readers had asked for a character who is a twin. Many others had asked for a character who is Jewish. So we took these. So we. Thank you. Andrew took these and other things into consideration, created Abby and Anna Stevenson, whom you have just read about Navy's very first book. And all of you dawn fans, take heart. Abby may be the new BSC member, but Don will always be a part of the Babysitters Club. Okay, so I did a little looking.

[A]

Or did you look at the. For the dawn thing? Or what did you look for?

[B]

Well, so I didn't look about when, if, when and if dawn comes back, but I did. So, like, this is book 90 in book 87, and this is alluded to in this book, Stacy, who is back in town, did leave the Babysitters club for a period of time to hang out with a bunch of cool girls.

[A]

Yeah, they were. She was too cool for the Babysitters Club for a while.

[B]

And I do kind of want to read that book. Dawn.

[A]

This makes me think of how the Narnia series ended where all the, you know, the original four kids, most of they have not been allowed back into Narnia because they grew up.

[B]

Oh, yes. But.

[A]

But then, because Narnia is heaven, when they all die in a train, like a train crash, the. The older brother and the two younger ones get into Narnia, but then Susan, the older sister, doesn't, and it is strongly implied that it's because she just likes makeup and boys too much. And, yeah, she's. So she doesn't get to go to heaven.

[B]

Not allowed. Not allowed.

[A]

So I'm glad that Stacey avoided Susan's fate is what I'm saying.

[B]

Dawn moved away, back to California in book 88. So that's where she has gone. We do get one of those, like, oh, the person who moved away is on the phone scenes in this book.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And then I just want to tell you that Abby first appeared in book 89, Christy and the Dirty Diapers. Here's your. Here's your summary. When a local business, Davis Diapers, offers to sponsor the Crushers, which is Christie's baseball team softball team. Oh, okay. I Thought it was baseball team that she coaches.

[A]

Is it baseball? Hold on, I'm looking. I'm looking up. The Crushers.

[B]

The Christie's Crushers.

[A]

Christie's Crushers.

[B]

She accepts the sponsorship.

[A]

It is a little kids softball team.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[A]

Christie's Crushers with a two k's.

[B]

Yes. She figures the new uniforms will give her team a big boost. But instead of being psyched, the crushers fall apart. Mr. Davis bosses them around and their new uniforms say diapers in huge red letters. And that's not her only problem. With dawn in California for good, the BSC is way overbooked. But the new girl on Christy's block likes baseball and kids. Maybe she can help.

[A]

I really like that the team's full name is Christie's Crushers. It is not the Crushers in Christie coaches them. Christie has found a way, you know, true to form, to make this about her and her great ideas that she just is firing off all the time.

[B]

I don't know that I'm aware of a like a major pro sports team that has a possessive in the title.

[A]

They there should be more of them. I should know who owns.

[B]

Should be more of them.

[A]

Yes, they want me to know who owns them with all their ostentatious behavior. So they should have their names in the title.

[C]

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one most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings July 2024 to June 2025.

[B]

So we have Abby here and this book. So like structurally, Andrew, it does sort of have our typical A plot, B plot, but not in the same way.

[A]

Yeah, so the core, like the bones of a babysitter's club book are as we left them. We spend chapter one getting introduced to like the character who the book is going to be about.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Chapter two is everybody's at a babysitter's club meeting. We're going around the room, we're talking about each girl and their like one character trait that you need to know about.

[B]

Yep. Chapter three is usually the next babysitting job chapter.

[A]

Okay, sure.

[B]

Or somewhere thereabouts.

[A]

Yeah, I think, you know, to my memory it's a little less regimented. Like it's just chapter three is just like, here's where the plot of the book starts happening.

[B]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

So you've got that. You do have the entries from the babysitting journal at this point in the series, I believe all the girls have like canonical handwriting.

[B]

Oh, yes.

[A]

And so when you read a diary entry, you're reading it in their handwriting and not just reading the typed out prose the way that you were in the earlier books.

[B]

Yep, yep.

[A]

But you still basically do that. And then the book tends to revolve around one major event that is seen through the lens of many babysitters and children.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so that all is here. That all is as it was. What are you responding to that's different?

[B]

I was struck by. So like, you've also. You've got the non babysitting specific, like family subplot of some kind or like personal subplot for. For the main character in this case. And we'll talk a little bit more about what Abby's whole deal is. But it is like getting her mom's groove back as a mom, effectively. Like they're a family dealing with grief and they've got to, as a trio, two twins and their mom. They've got to kind of hash out some stuff and they wind up bonding over near tragedy again, which is horrifying to think of. And that's gonna set them up, you know, to live happily in Stony Brook, which is. And that feels of a piece with some of the other stuff, you know, like Christie's mom remarrying or Marianne having a better relationship with her dad or things like that.

[A]

Yeah, I think, like the one thing. So Anna Martin wrote that the team at Babysitters Club International came up with Abby and they wanted to make her a twin and they wanted to make her Jewish. In this book, it is relevant that she is a tw. It is not relevant that she's Jewish.

[B]

Well, she does indeed barely mention plenty of shticks she has a shtick.

[A]

She does tell us what the word shtick means at one point. But Mo. Like, I do feel like most people could figure it could do that.

[B]

Yeah, well.

[A]

And even it doesn't. It doesn't really come up except when she, like, mentions once that she's Jewish and then she talks about shticks.

[B]

And even her twin relationship is like, yes, they're close, but it isn't. You know, they're not super identical. They're not, you know, like, they are

[A]

totally defined by their need to be different from each other either. Like, they are very different from each other, but they aren't doing it in, like, a pointed, like, we need to. We need to create our own identities kind of way.

[B]

It's interesting that she's like, yes, I wanted to make a character that these are. That here are, like, two interesting traits to, like, make sure that, you know, we get some representation for. And yet neither of them are, like, plot critical in any way. It's an interesting way to just, like, have them be a part of the character and not make the book about them, you know?

[A]

Right. And I. And I'm not saying you do need to make the book about them when deciding to, like, make a book that includes people who have those traits or characteristics, but it did feel like it was definitely more relevant to, like, Stacy's book that Stacy had diabetes. It was more relevant to Jesse's book that Jesse was black.

[B]

Yep. Yep. Well, it's more relevant to this book that. That Abby has asthma than anything else.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The biggest part of her.

[A]

Her deal didn't talk about wanting to have a character with asthma, but that.

[B]

I mean, that. That is a thing that, like, similar to the diabetes thing, not. Not being somebody who has dealt with asthma, but, like, there were, you know, the handful of kids in your school who, like, had to carry an inhaler, and you're like, oh, that. That's the. That's somebody who has asthma. Like, maybe there are. Maybe they do participate in sports, maybe they don't, you know, like, in the same way that I remember growing up and, like, knowing the couple of kids who had, you know, a way to administer insulin very quickly, you know, things like that. And it's just that this felt very like that to me. There's a lot of 90s kid of just like, yeah, that's how I remember getting to know people for whom this was part of their experience, you know, something like that. But, no, the main thing I think I'm responding to is that the. I don't even know if I'd call it the A plot, even though I guess it's. The A plot is like in the babysitter's club meeting, Mallory pike is just like, hey, do you hear they're cutting all the arts at the school. They're cutting the arts. This. This town that has, like, a rich district and has people moving to it all the time. People.

[A]

People will move to Stony Brook, and they will gladly commute 2 hours and 15 minutes to New York City every day. And yes, Stony Brook is such a. Such a destination.

[B]

They're cutting. They're cutting the arts in the school with no mention of, like, whatever politician wants this to happen or whatever.

[A]

I do dimly recall from, like, high school especially that that was always kind of humming in the background. Yeah, sure, they could. They could never get. They could. They could get, like, a 1% tax on the ballot over and over and over and over again, and people would vote it down and down and down and down. And, yeah, there was always discussion about what was going to get cut. Oh, it's going to be music, which programs, like, which staff. I do remember that being in the early 2000s, and that's, you know, after the time of this book, but not, like, not so far that it would be, like, unrecognizable culturally and just like, yeah, yeah. Funding for these things is perpetually, like, on shaky ground in this era, I think.

[B]

So all the kids are going to put on a carnival. The whole town's going to put on a carnival of sorts that raises money for the school, for the arts.

[A]

For the arts.

[B]

And, like, okay, it does somebody on

[A]

Red, I think either Reddit or Goodreads, while I was trying to find some stuff about Nola, Thacker was like, man, couldn't. Watson, Christie's rich stepdad who, like, hires, like, bumper cars and stuff, couldn't he just, like, give some money to this?

[B]

I had the exact same note. Like, what is this man doing that he can hire bumper cars and he can't buy a bunch of violins? Like, what are we doing? Watson?

[A]

That is. I mean, you know, he didn't choose violins. He chose to hire Abby Stevenson on the call here. Yeah, it's. But, I mean, Listen, listen, it's 2025. We're gonna replace all public services with, like, begging a billionaire to. To fun stuff. Like, we're doing that. Like, that is happening now already.

[B]

So. You're right, I guess.

[A]

Welcome to the future, baby.

[B]

I just, like, it struck me that I guess even less so than the carnival that When Abby gets the first babysitting job. And again, we should like go through Abby and just like I said, run down her stuff. But like she gets that first babysitting job with the Papa. Papa Dachis, Papadakuses, I think. And she. This is not a family. She winds up sitting again throughout the rest of the book. And I'm so from. I'm so used to that structure from the other books where there is like kind of repeat characters that. Or like a family that has to get worked through as like a new babysitting client or something.

[A]

Yeah. And especially because we've, we have focused on each sitter's like, first story. It is usually like they do pick a kid or a family of kids to focus on who really like brings out something in that babysitter. So yeah, there is less of that here. Like, the kids are mostly interchangeable, I think the sat kids, it's just like the babysitter's club needs somewhere to be.

[B]

And so it's like two families, I don't know that we've ever heard of. At least that in the, the initial books that we read and a, a Sitting at the Pikes, which I just made a note that like, I would never sit for the Pikes. There's too many kids. I would never do it.

[A]

It's too many. Well, that's why they always have two sitters there.

[B]

There's a reference to like them having child safe furniture because it's just a mad house in there.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

I don't know. It's all made of rubber.

[A]

Everything's bubble wrapped. I don't know.

[B]

But yeah, it was just contrasting that with the back of the book. That's like Christy's really judging this new girl. It's like, no. Christie is at, at one point is concerned for her health and maybe a little in bad taste. Also concerned about her health relative to the business model of the bsc.

[A]

Well, it is couched in concern for the kids. But Chrissy is, you know, hyper capitalist,

[B]

Queen of the big. Queen of the great ideas or queen of the big ideas.

[A]

Queen of the great ideas. You know that she is only worried. She's worried about the kids, but she's worried about the kids because if parents hear bad things about the product, then then it's gonna get harder to push the product.

[B]

It's true. It's true. So yeah, it's just an interesting flavor of BSC that is probably, you know, we're in year eight. This is probably a trend that has already like taken place in terms of, like, the structure.

[A]

Year eight of eighth grade, you mean.

[B]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[A]

I'm not sure if we're also in year eight of the series. I could be wrong.

[B]

Oh, interesting. The first books were 86.

[A]

86. Okay, so we're in year nine in our human continuity. But no, I guess it would be because there is one year of seventh grade before the. Yeah, before all the years of eighth grade. Okay, so we are tracking.

[B]

All right. All right, let's go over kind of Abby's whole deal. They've recently moved to Stony Brook. And it's classic. Like, we haven't unpacked everything.

[A]

We haven't unpacked everything. Our dad died in a car crash.

[B]

Yes. Very tragic.

[A]

That's our thing. We're both latchkey kids.

[B]

Our mom used to be a culinary instructor and chef, and our dad was an environmental engineer.

[A]

And now she has some email job that I'm sure is. I think is described at some point, but I do not remember what it is. She is just a big, high powered somebody who needs.

[B]

Oh, she's in publishing. She's in publishing.

[A]

Okay, sure.

[B]

But it. But it is described as like, she never cooks anymore. We. She makes enough money that we always order out. She's bare. She's barely around at least six days a week. She's working. And we never get to do anything fun in the house, like, with her anymore.

[A]

And also, nobody talks about dad.

[B]

Literally no one talks about him.

[A]

We never talk about dad.

[B]

You know, once they had the funeral, we don't even say his name. Like it's what, maybe like two years since it happened or something?

[A]

Yeah, like recently, but not so recently that dealing with that grief is part of what the characters are doing day

[B]

to day at this point. What, like Abby described. Describes it as. There was just a day at school where she, like, couldn't stop laughing at something. And then.

[A]

Yeah. And then stuff started kind of moving again from that. Yeah.

[B]

So, yeah, she has her twin Anna, who loves playing music. And there's like a mini, mini, mini subplot of Abby.

[A]

She has like an F plot or

[B]

something being happy that, like, Anna could make some friends. Friends. Like that happens at one of the babysitting gatherings. Because they're different. Because Abby likes sports and likes Abby.

[A]

Like, Abby likes sports and Anna like music.

[B]

Yeah. Those are the two things that you can like.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, in. In middle school.

[B]

Yes. She loves telling jokes. She loves jokes. And she's.

[A]

She's a real cut up.

[B]

She is kind of is that.

[A]

And that Was. That was the one stylistic thing I noticed. And I know. I'm not sure how much of this is Ghostwriter, how much of this is an attempt to make Abby's voice feel unique, but it did feel like, yeah, we're just, like, slinging, like, references and parentheticals. Like references. It's way more explicitly jokey.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Than any of the other books ever were.

[B]

The parentheticals in particular are, like, very. A different way of thinking. Yeah. Here's just, like, from the beginning. So, like, she's going home, and I think she knows her sister might be home. Honey, I'm home. I called. Just like the old sitcom, fathers called to their wives before the wives got smart and got out of the unpaid labor of housework. Parentheses, so sue me. Housewives get no respect, no pay, and no tax deductions. Close parentheses. Speaking of resp. Which is the name of a song by Aretha Franklin, in case you didn't know. Close parenthesis. She goes on from there, and then she says later, my shtick is different. Shtick is a great Yiddish word, isn't it? Yiddish is an old Germanic language originally spoken chiefly by Jews from Eastern Europe, which is where my family is from originally. Shtick, by the way, sort of means the things I do that make me me.

[A]

All right, sure. There's a. Here's a bit later that I, like. Marianne studied the book and announced, the only person free at this late date is you, Abby. Sign me up, I said. I like the commute. The Papadakis live across the street from Christy and me. Marianne looked a little confused, but she signed me up anyway. I suspect. I suspect this, honestly, actually is true to the experience of some, like, Jewish women who are. Who just, like, spent their childhoods, like, being funny and having nobody around them.

[B]

Get it? Yeah.

[A]

I feel like I have. I have heard some comedians and people ever espouse that.

[B]

Yes, there is a lot of that. There's also later when she has to go to the emergency room and her mom finally shows up, and she's like, how are you? No jokes. Shut up. Don't make.

[A]

Stop working on your type 5 Abby.

[B]

She always is, as we said, she has asthma. Very critical plot. Things happening related to asthma. I. I did notice the, like, beginning of chapter seven when she's like, hey, all the people in cities dealing with smog wear masks over their face to. To, like, go outside.

[A]

Mm.

[B]

I was like, huh? Yes, Smog.

[A]

I didn't check to see if this one had gotten any updates when it was released, like, as an ebook.

[B]

I Presume the two mentions of cell phones were added.

[A]

Yeah, Well, I mean, It's. So it's 1995. We're in the eighth year of eighth grade. It would be possible for a high powered urban professional to have a cell phone and for it to be strange enough that it would be mentioned in, like, an ostentatious way like it is here. Does that make sense?

[B]

No.

[A]

Like, I could. I could buy that. I could buy that. In this one, there is one reference to Woodstock where their. Their deceased father had a T shirt from woodstock in the 60s. And at one point her mom is talking about it and says, I wonder what he would have thought of the second one. Which means Woodstock 94 has happened, but Woodstock 99 has not happened.

[B]

No, it's not the Limp Bizkit break stuff one. It's.

[A]

No, it's the. Yeah, it's the second one.

[B]

It's the Everybody Got Muddy one, which I did watch, I think was.

[A]

That was 94, right? Yeah.

[B]

So, yes, I watched a lot of that on mtv. I don't remember if I listened to it on the radio or if I listened to 99 on the radio.

[A]

I was not. This was. This was as. As we've talked about many times on the show. This was during my, like, cultural blackout era where I was not allowed to, like, consume mainstream popular culture.

[B]

Yeah, that's fair. I have two older sisters who watched a lot of MTV, so I was, like, primed to what it was. 94. I was eight. I didn't know what a nine inch nail was, but, like, you didn't. That man was muddy and he was on tv. I was watching this. I needed to know. But, yeah, there is some interesting, like, oh, wow, I guess we are in the mid-90s here. Stuff going on.

[A]

Yeah, I did, but I didn't notice anything that was like, yes, they definitely updated this.

[B]

No, you're right.

[A]

Yeah. From the original run.

[B]

And. Yeah, so we'll talk about the asthma stuff in the plot. I was. I was struck by how she described the bsc. When we get the kind of standard, hey, I'm the new one. Let me talk about all the. All the kids who are here already. And she described the BSC as three sets of two best friends. She has Christy, the queen of great

[A]

ideas and a bossy beast. I think she calls her once too.

[B]

One of my favorite jokes in the book is towards the end when Christie is sitting in her director's chair for a meeting, and Abby says, getting a little behind in the job. And like, Christie's like, okay, That's. That's a good joke. I suppose. So you got Christy and Marianne. Right. Marianne's got her boyfriend Logan, now has kind of come into her own Logan, who is a.

[A]

A, like a overflow member of the babysitters club along with Shannon. We don't spend a lot of time with either.

[B]

No.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We do learn that Christie's family did adopt someone. Like, they've. They're in their full blended family mode with Watson's kids.

[A]

It's very strange. Like, there's girl. Yeah. There's been a lot of plot that's, like, accrued in the.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like a morbid of destiny has, like, children and a granddaughter. And the granddaughter is, like, living with

[B]

her because her parents are separate.

[A]

Parents are getting divorced.

[B]

Yeah, Drusilla.

[A]

Drusilla. And she's in, like, one scene, and she's kind of spooky, but she's fun.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But, like, that stuff has happened, but then it's like, yeah, Christie's mom married. This is her stepdad, like, recently.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we still have to, like. Let's still talk about what the kid. Kid is.

[B]

Yes. There's, like, these things that have been around for eight years. Like, David Michael has been this little boy for eight years.

[A]

Somebody calls him David Michelangelo at one point, though, because he's doing some art, and I didn't think that was funny.

[B]

I also like that they. Their dog died. This is like Simpsons rules. Like, their dog died and they got a new dog. And time still stays, you know, stands still, people.

[A]

It feels. Yeah, it does. Well, I mean, so I like the.

[B]

David Michael named the dog Shannon because

[A]

they got the dog from the dog named Shannon. Yeah, I do. Is there an M. Night Shyamalan movie or an Are you afraid of the dark episode or Groundhog Day esque film?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

The humans are stuck in a time loop, but the animals are. The animals are not. So the animals can age and die, but the people don't.

[B]

What would it be called?

[A]

You could call it old. Animals.

[B]

Old.

[A]

But animals.

[B]

You could call it dog years.

[A]

You could call it dog years. This is good. This is a good idea.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

I don't even know what it would be about or why. But I do think. Yes, I do think it would have

[B]

to be a dog. That makes humans old. What is it?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How does it work that the. Why do all the animals. Well, and then.

[A]

So if they're in a time loop, but the end, then the animals are aging, but you can get a new animal. Like, do the people realize that the animals like, it couldn't be a thing. Where they woke up, like, in Groundhog Day.

[B]

No.

[A]

Every day. And knew that they were living the same.

[B]

No, it's more like what's happening here where they are.

[A]

They would have to have some. Yeah.

[B]

Eight years of knowledge, and they are still the same age. And so unless we're meant to believe that they are just, like, kind of living all of these years in parallel. But I don't think that that's what's happening. And of course, you've also got Claudia and Stacy. They're good, like, hip friends.

[A]

I feel like Stacy really gets boiled down barely in this book to some, like, very essential and stereotypical.

[B]

I don't even.

[A]

She talks about how much she wants to shop.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

At the carnival. She's like, I want to go shopping at the carnival.

[B]

I'm not even sure she gets, like, a babysitting gig. And, like, because they do a couple

[A]

different gigs and, like, she and Claudia both are not. Like, Claudia's in one babysitting gig.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. Marianne is mentioned.

[B]

No, Marianne gets one because she's with the goat.

[A]

Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah. No. Okay. I don't think. I don't think Stacy does get a

[B]

gig in this one. Funny joke.

[A]

Maybe. Maybe Christy doesn't trust her because she was hanging out with those cool girls.

[B]

Maybe a funny joke that Abby told is that Claudia's interest in Nancy Drew is a mystery to her parents. I thought that was funny.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But. Yes. Okay, so the plot kicks off where Abby gets assigned this gig at the Papa. The Papadakis's. And they're playing outside, and the. One of the little girls just books. It. Just starts running.

[A]

Yep. And, well, they're playing outside. Abby is having trouble breathing because of

[B]

the allergens in the air.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And when she's running to go chase this kid, she has left her inhaler inside, and she has a very severe reaction asthmatic episode, which, like, what, Christy is nearby and, like, the Christy.

[A]

They're neighbors. Yes.

[B]

Yes. And so, like, Christy comes and then they call the ambulance. They have to take her to the hospital for it. And that's when, like, she's, like, being. Is it when she's being, like, loaded into the ambulance that Christy's looking at her like, you're fired.

[A]

Yes. She's being loaded into an ambulance, and Christy's giving her a weird look, and she's like, oh, I know what that look is. That look is the one that of somebody who thinks I am, like, an invalid and I can't get the job done.

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[A]

And it's gonna be. This is gonna be trouble for me.

[B]

It's a. It's a crappy look to get, you know?

[A]

It's a crappy look to get. Yeah.

[B]

Especially when Abby has this, like, this attitude about it, which is like, yeah, this might happen. Like, that's why the hospital exists. Like this could. It's unfortunate, and I. You know, it isn't fun, but she has a very. I don't even know if it's a positive, but, like, a resilient outlook.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

On her asthma. That, of course, other folks who are, like, a little more scared of what's happening to her.

[A]

Well, and I don't want to. I don't make Christy seem like she's a jerk. I think I sympathize with Christy sometimes in that. In some situations, I will quickly go to the, like, ungenerous reaction to something, and then I will, with a little bit of distance and time, fixed myself. And I think Christy does that, too.

[B]

She does. You know, as we learned in the first book, like, her whole deal is, like, putting her foot in her mouth. You know, she expresses thoughts before she has considered them. But one of those thoughts was the bsc, and otherwise, we wouldn't. We wouldn't be here. Right. Yeah, I did. Like, there's a little beat where Abby mentions that all of the. Because I think when she was talking about her dad's funeral, like, her friends from where they were living before were there, but nobody really, like, broke through in terms of making her feel better or, like, helping connect with her.

[A]

Sure. Yeah.

[B]

And she does mention that every member of the BSC called her to see how she was doing, even though they don't. You know, they don't really even know her that well, including Christy and I. Just, like, I. When my in. In middle school and my grandmother, who lived with me my whole life up until that point passed away. And I can still remember the phone call that my friend Steve and I had, like, when I was finally home from the funeral, and he was, like, catching me up on stuff that happened in class.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And, like, I didn't get. I didn't get other ones. And mostly because we're all in eighth grade and nobody had the emotional maturity to do that or whatever. But, like, he was the guy who actually, like, called his friend to check up on him. And I haven't talked to my guy in, like, over a decade. Good job, Steve.

[A]

Wow, you really did Steve dirty after he.

[B]

No, it's fine. We were friends.

[A]

Such good care of You.

[B]

We were friends through the rest of high school, and then we went our separate ways. These things happen.

[A]

Then you found. Then you found a new cool friend.

[B]

I did.

[A]

He's here now.

[B]

Yeah, but I just, like, you know, just be cool to people. I just, like, you know, I liked. I like these. One of the things I like about this series is that generally people are being cool to each other.

[A]

People are just cool to each other. Yeah. And, like. Okay, so we talked about. We've talked a little bit about Abby's, like, personal plot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Talked a little about what the other babysitters are doing to the extent that they're doing anything in this book. Most of this book is detailed descriptions of people preparing booths for a carnival. There's, like, a lot. Like, a lot of it. Just a lot.

[B]

Well, because every babysitting. Every babysitting gig is about the pending carnival.

[A]

Every family. I don't even know, they're spending so much money on, like, carnival supplies. I don't know how there's going to be schools. Every. Well in this carnival, like, runs for one weekend. Is the event in town.

[B]

It is.

[A]

It raises so much money that they fund all the arts at the school year for a year.

[B]

For the whole year. What does that mean? Don't worry about it.

[A]

And I don't know if they have any, like, permits or licenses or anything. Like, they're serving food without having to clear it with anybody.

[B]

Yeah, I know. Who's. Whose insurance is covering the bumper cars?

[A]

I don't. Probably Watson's.

[B]

I assume.

[A]

Watson because he's so rich. But, yeah, everybody in town who we know is prepping something big for the carnival. One lady has a goat, and, like, the baby goat is a. Is the biggest hit of the carnival.

[B]

Elvira.

[A]

Yes, Elvira, the baby goat.

[B]

Everybody loves it. Their booth is Polaroid goat selfies. It's a great idea, actually. Apparently, this goat is, like, the way they talk about it. It must have been in a previous book that all these kids learned about this cool goat, I think.

[A]

Yeah, it's probably. Yeah, it's probably been written before. This goat probably has existed for, like, six times and has been a baby this whole time.

[B]

No, but the goat ages.

[A]

No way. Oh, right. Yes. Okay.

[B]

The goat can die.

[A]

The goat can die.

[B]

So, yeah, so that's Marianne, and those kids are gonna take goat selfies. Christie's job is with the Cormans. Those are the kids who are making the fortune teller booth, which is, like, a bunch of soda bottles with fortunes in them.

[A]

Like, fortunes in them. Yeah.

[B]

And they're the ones who hang out with Drusilla. That. That little line about, like, her parents are getting separated and it's going so poorly that they were like, we just got to drop this kid off at her grandmother's house. We can't deal with this. That was really rough to read.

[A]

Yeah, that was rough.

[B]

It's like, I didn't like it for her. It. You know, these things happen.

[A]

No, it's.

[B]

The book can have whatever it wants.

[A]

It's real, though.

[B]

It is real, unfortunately. And they invite Drusilla in and then, like, one of them gives them. Gives her a fortune that she's gonna, like, continue helping them, which is very sweet. Claudia and Mal sit for the pikes they're making. I. What were the pikes doing?

[A]

I can't figure out what the pikes were doing. They were doing some kind of merry go round. I don't know what kind of merry go round a bunch of, like, 8 year olds can build in their living room that people can actually ride at a carnival, but that's what they're doing.

[B]

It was so bizarre.

[A]

And then there's a whole thing. It was like somebody else is making, like, pins that they, like, laminate. It's described in some detail.

[B]

The babysitters club has a booth.

[A]

The babysitters club has a booth. Kristi, as usual, struck by inspiration. They're going to have. They have. They're going to have a booth to advertise their services. And some of the pins that we give away will have free babysits.

[B]

Yeah, they will have prizes, which is free babysitting. And the pins are like laminated cutouts from magazines about art or something.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I love it. Yada, yada.

[A]

Crafts.

[B]

It's like, what is. I don't. What type of pin is it? Is it a.

[A]

It's like that.

[B]

You put it on your back. Right.

[A]

I gotta find. I gotta find.

[B]

Put it. Okay.

[A]

It's like the. It's like the. The. Like the. The pins that are like a safety pin attached to, like, a little metal circle. And then there's a picture of something.

[B]

Then there's a picture of something on it. Okay.

[A]

Like enamel pen pins.

[B]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, so they're like. They're gonna do that. And then this is all building towards, like a Friday night where there's no BSC meeting because they're all getting, you know, doing this carnival.

[A]

Okay, wait. Okay, I got.

[B]

I got it.

[A]

We were cutting pictures of musical instruments and famous art pieces out of Magazines. Claudia had also supplied old art books. And I talked Anna out of some of her old musical scores and music magazines. We found pictures of famous works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and all kinds of musical instruments and drawings of famous artists and sculptors and composers, such as Beethoven. We cut out musical notes and bits of scores from the sheet music Anna had given me. We were careful to cut everything into squares. We glued the pictures onto square pieces of cardboard. Then we laminated the cutouts and glued pins from a craft store onto the cardboard. Instant pins. We would ask people to donate $1 for each of the pins. To make it more interesting. Some of the buyers would also win prizes. We put an X on the back of each pin. That was worth a prize. The prizes. Hours of free babysitting, of course, I

[B]

think maybe charge more than a dollar.

[A]

Well, this is 1995, so a dollar is worth a lot more back then. Because she hadn't been president yet.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

It was a great afternoon, and we were having fun. Claudia was the pinhead. That's a joke. Get it? The boss of all the pin makers. Meanwhile, Sam and Charlie were constructing a square booth using scraps of lumber. And I do. I read that whole thing just to convey to you, the listener, that is roughly the level of detail that we are using to describe every action that every person in town is getting ready for this carnival with.

[B]

And then we don't actually get a lot of the carnival.

[A]

We mostly are in the cupcake booth with Abby just slinging cakes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we're too busy to. To get around to do most of the other stuff. Like, she. She does go around and do all the other stuff, but just like. And then I did the other thing that I just. That we described in great detail earlier in the book.

[B]

The Stevensons have their own booth, which is cupcakes. Their plan was to have their mom kind of help them with it, which would draw their mom and back into, like, making some food. Clever, you know, Sweet. And her mom is gonna come, like, early home from work to help participate with the booth. And this builds toward the climactic suspense at the end of the story. Andrew.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Another. Another plot of a missing parent whose cell phone doesn't work, which is fine there. She's supposed to come home on a train from New York City, the 1245. And Abby overhears the radio. I think it's either.

[A]

I. Yeah.

[B]

It's not just the radio or somebody's papers allowed.

[A]

It's like somebody's. Somebody might be talking about something on the Radio. Because they're being like, oh, man, those trains are so safe. How could one derail. How could the 12:45 train derail?

[B]

And she's like, what calls her mom's office? Her mom did leave on time. Nothing about them trying to call her mom's cell phone, but her mom hasn't called on the cell phone, which is confusing and. And concerning to them. And ultimately, she's okay. It's very stressful. You know, there's, like, a bit where maybe Abby's going to have another asthma attack, and she has her inhaler, and it's fine.

[A]

Well, and it's very. It's very stressful because Abby had a scene like, a couple of chapters ago where they are unpacking all the stuff for their new house.

[B]

Oh, yes. We didn't talk about that scene.

[A]

Yeah. And they find a box that has, like, some of their dad's old stuff in it. And it's the first time they've, like, thought or talked about their dad in a long time. Yep. And so they're like, well, is another one of our parents gonna die in a freak accident? That would suck. That wouldn't be fun for us.

[B]

And there's stuff in there that obviously, like, they don't know the full story of or, like, you know, would love to hear from their mom about why the Woodstock thing is in the box. And they, you know, they didn't even get a chance to talk to their mom about it yet. There is a line in there that. Because they're also, like, sort of upset with their mom for getting rid of more stuff, but then keeping this stuff and then not telling them about it. Well, they think.

[A]

They think that she forgot about it.

[B]

Oh, that's true. Yeah. Like, why?

[A]

Oh, Mom. Mom doesn't care about dad so much that she forgot all about him.

[B]

The line that really stood out to me was it had hurt so much opening that box without warning because they don't know. They don't know what's in it when they open. It's, like, really, you know, wrapped up. And then all of a sudden, they are processing grief. They are processing anger and disappointment. And you know that this is gonna, like, lead to something where the three of them can connect. But of course, maybe she was on a train that derailed. No, she was not on that train. She does show up. She is safe. And she explains that there were so many delays due to people leaf peeping in leaf season.

[A]

This is the most Connecticut problem that I think you could possibly have too

[B]

many people from New York City getting on trains to go leaf peeping that she was on a second train behind the derailed one, which then led to a scary situation where she was stuck in a tunnel. That's no fun.

[A]

That is the big reference to, like, what time of year it is.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's the fall leaf season, is the beginning of year eight of the Loop.

[B]

And then it does end with them, like, their. Their narrative closes with them, like, going over the stuff in the box and her mom kind of being like, yeah, we are family, the three of us. Like, yeah.

[A]

And we talk about some of it

[B]

into art and put it on.

[A]

Gonna help you. I'm gonna help you with your. Your cake booth.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At the carnival that's gonna raise all this. So much money.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Not any talk about, like, how tear down that. The carnival goes either. Nope. At the. No.

[B]

Did everybody move all their merchandise? Who bought all of it? You know, who did buy. Who bought all these cardboard pins?

[A]

How.

[B]

Make sense.

[A]

How did they get the. I guess they would just give. Just wondering. The. The whole. The lack of, like, permitting and licensing and, like, how would you. I don't know. Like, how do they get this money to the school? Like, is it. How did taxes on any of it work?

[B]

Well, it's the 90s. It's all cash. So you just wind up with. With a couple of hampers full of cash at the end of the day, and then you just bring that to the school and say, save the arts. And then.

[A]

Yeah. And then they have to. They have to do it.

[B]

They have to do it. That's true. All the people who have created a school budget that would slash the arts will just. They can't argue with the cash in front of them.

[A]

No, they can't. They have to fund the arts.

[B]

They have to fund the arts. So. And then there's a BSC chapter at the end where Abby cracks some more jokes.

[A]

Everybody talks to Don on the phone.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And Chief, including Abby, who has never met Don.

[B]

And Christy, you know, gives Abby a job. You know, it's like, she's good to go. Yeah. And that is, to me, the biggest kind of missed opportunity of the book is that there isn't a. I don't necessarily want a rehash of the. Like, you girls failed the babysitting exam that we just made up. I don't need that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I feel like there's a lot of building a carousel that I didn't understand. That could have been one more scene.

[A]

Some more, like, emotional payoff even.

[B]

Just one more scene. Of Abby, like, you know, proving herself as a babysitter or. Because so many of the earlier books are, like, really good about, you know, having the girls come into their own as a responsible young adult.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm trying to remember which. Which book it was where, but I think it might have. Was it when, like, Christie's getting to know dawn or something and they have, like, a. They're, like, beefing because it feels like dawn is stealing Marianne from Christie and then they finally kind of get around to working their stuff out. Maybe some more of that happened in the last book, if that is the book that Abby was introduced in.

[B]

Yeah, maybe. Yeah.

[A]

But, yeah, it would have been good to have a little bit more of a discussion about, like, not just Abby's journey, like, getting to know the babysitters club and get you fitting in with this, like, group that's a bunch of best friends and then her. But also, like, Christie's journey through.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Especially because they're neighbors. I think you're probably right that some of that was covered in 89 and would be interested to know maybe what we missed. But this was her first proper POV book. Right. So that was the rule that we set up for ourselves.

[A]

We created her. And then Martin says, but I just find that so. Because again, in my, like, Reddit researching, I did find people who are like, yeah, I just found out, like, a year ago that Anna Martin didn't do all these books. Wow. I think a lot of. Yeah, because. Because you buy them and it says buy Anna Martin on the COVID I think a lot of people. There is a point where everybody who ever has interacted with these books needs to discover, I guess, that some of them were ghostwritten. And I guess your brain just skims over something like, we created Abby without really thinking about, wait, why is it. Why is it we? Who is we? What is this?

[B]

Yeah, it's like, you know, my brain's

[A]

been stuck on that we since I read it.

[B]

Scholastic and her editors. You know, it's like, if you don't know about the ghost writing, you can. You know that these are. Books are coming from the book fair. There's a whole.

[A]

Only. It's only Ann Martin's name on everything, though.

[B]

It's true.

[A]

Who is we? Anne?

[B]

I mean, maybe she was collaborating with Hodges Willie. You know, maybe he had a fun idea for a cover and that's where they got the character from. Possible, you don't know. I do know that I had a good time with this book. I do. I Do.

[A]

Yeah, it was fun.

[B]

You know, even as I might complain a little bit, I still like the club and generally enjoy the little scenes where the. The. Both the club members and their charges are like, you know, finding ways to coexist and be nice to people while still dealing with, like, them being frustrating little kids and messing up and stuff. Stuff.

[A]

I think the earlier books, including the Mallory and Jesse ones that were still like an M. Martin written still, like, early in the series, I feel like I was more surprised by how thoughtful they were in spots and, like, how they approached some topics. And that's not.

[B]

That's not what's happening here. You're right.

[A]

No, that's not something I got as much here. Like, I. I think Abby is. Is really. I mean, she's very voicey, I think there.

[B]

It's really fun. Yep.

[A]

It is a. That. That's a change. And I would have to read other Nola Thacker books to see if that is. If that is Thacker or if that is Abby. But it was. I'm not. I'm not saying that all the other girls sound the same, but I think that there's a similarity to all the other perspectives. That's just like. Yeah, I may. I'm a typical, like, preteen middle school girl. And then also I have this, like, one or two other things about me that define me.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

It's not totally like that, but there's. There's an element of that, I think.

[B]

Well, and. And those. The differences didn't come through in the writing, as in like, the. The style and voice as much it came through and, like, who they were interacting with, what were they concerned about? But, yeah, voicy is a great way to describe this book because, like, it is all right away. You're like, wow, I'm, like, talking to a very different person right now.

[A]

Well, sometimes I think people use voicey as a criticism.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

But that's not how I intend it here. I just mean Abby does have a distinctive voice. I found myself mostly enjoying it. It is definitely different from the other stuff we've read.

[B]

She's charming. Yep.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that is book eight in our book series here that we have gone through. The first appearance of all the major club members, Logan and Shannon. Sorry, but we don't have a club at this time.

[A]

Sorry, Logan. Only W2 employees of the babysitters club are getting covered in this series. None of you. 1099 people.

[B]

But we are not quite. Quite done with Sit Me Baby One more time. We do have another month on the schedule for you. Andrew, what are we going to be talking about on the next episode of Sit Me Baby one more time?

[A]

We are going to go back and again to 1995 and watch the 90s babysitters club movie.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

Which has Larisa, Elenich and other people in it.

[B]

Yeah, other people, I'm sure.

[A]

Which has friend of the show Larissa and a bunch of other people.

[B]

Fun to watch as a kind of like, let's revisit these characters a little bit because I am certainly interested to know how the film juggles their, like, time. Right. Like, how do they share screen. Like, how do they share the screen? Because the structure of the novels is always, like, one girl is at the center of the story, so.

[A]

Yeah. Right.

[B]

I've seen a little bit of the. That Netflix show from several years back.

[A]

I saw the first season of it. I have. I have watched this movie.

[B]

Oh, you have? Okay.

[A]

Well, because my. This hit during, like, the Sister's Babysitter's Club, so it was just on all the time.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So. But. But I have not watched it in a long time, and I don't think I would ever have, like, lowered myself to watching it, like, with any kind of, like, active attention.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

At the time. That's.

[B]

That.

[A]

That is. I'm speaking from my.

[B]

Because you were. You were a boy.

[A]

I was a boy.

[B]

I was older.

[A]

And this Babysitter's Club stuff was just not. I was not doing this.

[B]

YouTube is reading goosebumps. I get it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So, yeah, we're excited to talk about that. And that will probably also be a good occasion for us to just revisit and think about this series that we've done and what we've liked about it and what. You know, what else we wish we knew about these characters and the timeline that they're all in. I doubt. Yeah.

[A]

You'd express some. Some thoughts that I'm interested to pick apart.

[B]

I don't have our.

[A]

When we have our debrief at the end.

[B]

I don't know if the. If the film will. Will handle the crisis on Infinite Babysitter Clubs that we've been doing.

[A]

I don't. I don't think so because, I mean, I think that the. The movie exists in its own continuity, just like the show does. So I don't think it has to deal with 13 years of 8th grade or whatever it is.

[B]

Well, we'll find out what it is next time. And it was. It was nice to meet you, Abby. Yep. Welcome, folks.

[A]

Welcome to the club.

[B]

If Folks want to share with us any of their thoughts on maybe other BSC books we haven't read, send us an email. Overduepod Gmail.com hit us up on social media at overdue pod Nick La Ranges composed our theme music. Andrew Folks want to know more about the show, where they go.

[A]

They can go to overdue podcast.com which is our Internet website. That's where we have stuff about the schedule for the. The regular show. This is sort of a. This is the Babysitter's club mysteries to Overdue's main series. This is just a spin off series, but if you want to read the. If you want to listen to the main show where the Main canon is overdue podcast.com if you're listening to this shortly after we've recorded it, you know about this already. But patreon.com overduepod is where you go to support the show financially and in exchange get access to things like this early Our Discord feed, the monthly newsletter that we've been doing experimental episodes that we've dubbed Overdue special collections, including a recent episode where we talk about the premiere to Star Deep Space Nine.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. I don't know why I'm doing the hard sell for Patreon people, but if you're listening to this in like, I

[B]

don't know, several months from now in

[A]

like winter of 2025, and you don't know about it. Patreon.com overdue pod yeah, great.

[B]

That's the episode. Andrew, you know what we say at the end of every episode of Sit Me Baby One more time.

[A]

Bossy beast. We're a couple. You're a. You're a real bossy beast. Always telling me to do this outro.

[B]

That's me.

[A]

Such a bossy beast. The end.

[B]

I'm the queen of great ideas.

[A]

That was a headband podcast.