Nostalgic Reads

Hey everyone! I am so excited that I have finally found a way back to Stoneybrook! Turns out my local library has a whole other website/catalog for kids' books and there are so many Baby-sitters Club books in e-book format there. This will make things so much easier! So let's check back in with Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, Dawn and the adventures of the Baby-sitters Club!

About the Book

Goodbye Stacey GoodbyeTitle: Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye

Author: Ann M. Martin

Series: The Baby-sitters Club #13

Pages: 101

First Published: May 1, 1988

Blurb: Oh no! Stacey McGill is moving back to New York! That means no more Stoneybrook Middle School, no more Charlotte Johanssen, and worst of all... no more Baby-sitters Club!

Stacey's friends are crushed when they hear that Stacey's moving, Claudia most of all. Stacey was her first best friend.

How will the BSC cope without Stacey? What kind of going-away present is good enough for someone as special as she is? But most important... who is going to be the next member of the Baby-sitters Club?

Review

I remember the first time I read this one. It made me cry! In my life, I've both had my best friend move away (in kindergarten) and been the friend who moved away (10th grade). Both we really difficult in their own ways, so I can sympathize with both Stacey and the rest of the BSC.

Luckily for Stacey, she isn't going back to something completely unknown. She is going back to New York and will even be able to rejoin her school and class that she left behind when she moved to Stoneybrook. This is not without its challenges - there are some kids who still think she is weird because right before she left, she had just been diagnosed with diabetes and, as such, had a few embarrassing incidents. Her New York best friend, Laine, thinks things will be okay, so at least Stacey has something to go back to.

How can she leave her new friends in Stoneybrook, though, including Charlotte, a young girl who Stacey babysits for who loves Stacey like a sister? It's a lot to deal with, but they do it in typical BSC style. After helping Stacey's parents with a yard sale (to help downsize from their suburban house to a New York apartment), the other Baby-sitters use the money raised to throw a big party - not with their friends from school, but with all of the kids that they sit for. They all make cards for Stacey and a big mural of the town.

This book also sets up Mallory Pike becoming a member of the BSC as a junior sitter, something she has wanted for a really long time. She's younger than the other members, but they also know that she is really responsible and, as the oldest of eight kids, probably knows more about taking care of kids than they do.

This book is just so sweet and tenderhearted. It's a good one for young kids who might have to say good bye to a friend - always a hard thing to do. At least it's easier to keep in touch these days!