Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of The Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries Books

Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries is a series of novels written by Ann M. Martin. The books are spinoffs of Martin’s original babysitter novels. These ones focus on the mystery theme.

+The Story

The Baby-sitters club mysteries series is one of the more contentious spinoffs of Ann M. Martin’s original series. The books, while commended for their quality storytelling, are accused of not being particularly relevant.

The baby-sitters club was a series of novels about young girls between the ages of 10 and 13 who decided to open a babysitting service in their small town. The idea was to help their parents and neighbors take care of their younger kids even while making a little money in the process.

The books were praised for their realistic take on the lives of little girls. Despite being about babysitting, the baby-sitter books placed a lot of emphasis on the personal turmoil plaguing the lives of the different members of the baby-sitters club.

One notable aspect of the baby-sitter books was the mystery. Many of Ann M. Martin’s original books would introduce a mystery to accompany the main plot of the book in question. The mysteries, while rarely complex, were designed to challenge the main characters, forcing melodramatic reactions from them even while bringing about interesting interactions.

The baby-sitters club mysteries series was created because Scholastic realized how popular the mystery aspect of the baby-sitters club books was. They decided to further milk Martin’s franchise by creating a series wholly dedicated to mysteries.

Unlike the original series, the mysteries are central to the plots of the baby-sitters club mysteries books. The spinoff often receives mixed reviews. Some readers will consume anything related to Martin’s baby-sitter series. Others do not see the point of these books.

However, most of Martin’s fans will admit to reading the baby-sitters club mysteries series, even the ones who do not particularly enjoy them. They have no choice in the matter.

The Baby-sitters club mysteries series introduces plots and characters that are referenced in other baby-sitters club books. So anyone who doesn’t want to get confused about certain characters or references when they are reading the super specials, the little sister series or one of the numerous other spinoffs has little choice but to give the mysteries series a shot

The mysteries told in these books are pretty straightforward. Something goes amiss at the start of the book and the primary protagonist is forced to go investigating. Along the way, the character makes mistakes and learns from them, coming out the other end as a better person.

Despite their focus on mysteries, the baby-sitters club mysteries series does not vary that drastically from the original books. The central characters are still members of the baby-sitters club.

Each book still focuses on the adventures of a single character. And the books are still written with children in mind. There is no inappropriate content to speak of, though some modern audiences might complain about the clichés that Martin nurtures about little girls, their interests and the way they interact.

As with their predecessors, these books stand out because they follow the exploits of young girls and their friendships. Boys are rarely a factor in the stories, and the same goes for romance. Few books on the shelves of bookstores bother to celebrate friendships between female characters.

Far too much emphasis is placed on the importance of a love interest in the life of a female character. Ann M. Martin made it a point to fight that stereotype when she was writing these books.

Even though her name is on the cover, many of the baby-sitters club mysteries books were actually written by a ghostwriter.

+The Author

Ann Mathews Martin is an American author that was born in 1955. Growing up in Princeton, New Jersey, Ann couldn’t get enough of reading as a child. She was drawn to authors like Lewis Carroll and Hugh Lofting, and she began writing her own stories the first chance she got.

Her mother would have told you that she took upon herself the responsibility of writing her daughter’s stories when Ann was still a young child. As the author progressed through elementary school and her writing abilities grew, she began to fill notepads with short stories

It wasn’t that surprising when Ann took to the subject of English in high school. She had no interest in math. She gave everything she had to master her writing craft. It looked like Ann M. Martin’s entry into the writing arena was all but set.

But then Ann became a teacher. Even that decision wasn’t that hard to understand. Ann was as passionate about children as she was about writing. Her goal was to write stories for children.

But first, Ann focused on teaching. She did what she could to help young minds develop. She also helped disabled children master their reading and writing abilities. When Ann M. Martin finally went into writing and publishing, she had plenty of stories about children waiting to explode from her mind.

Babysitting wasn’t Ann’s subject of choice when it came to writing. In fact, that particular idea came from Scholastic. The company had a desire to take advantage of the babysitting trend that was sweeping the literary arena.

So they asked Ann to write them a couple of babysitting stories and she complied. None of them realized how impactful the books would be for young readers.

+Stacey and the Missing Ring

Stacey isn’t perfect. But she doesn’t consider herself to be a thief. So it comes as a surprise when a new family accuses her of stealing a valuable ring. This is a problem for Stacey.

She babysat for the family and they think she took the ring while on duty. If the family tells everyone about their accusations, no one will want to hire Stacey. So she puts herself on the case and goes hunting for the ring, determined to protect the reputation of Stoneybrook’s babysitters.

+Beware, Dawn

Dawn wants to be the Sitter of the Month. The contest is important to every babysitter in Stoneybrook, even Dawn. But Dawn and her friends agreed that they wouldn’t get overly competitive with one another over the contest.

So Dawn is a little perplexed when she begins receiving threats from a mysterious figure.