On Bringing the Baby-Sitters’ Club Up to Date

But how would the Stoneybrook gang’s adventures be different if they were getting published for the first time today? A lot has changed in the world of YA since Kristy had her great idea way back in 1986. I mean sure, there’s the little stuff: Stacey probably wouldn’t have her signature perm. And maybe Claudia’s eyeshadow wouldn’t be quite so bright blue. But what about the big stuff?
For starters, the girls might have to be a little bit older. They’re 12 when the series begins, and I don’t know many parents nowadays who would trust a 12-year-old to baby-sit for them. (In fact, I know 12-year-olds who still have baby-sitters.) That’s a relatively easy change to make, but we’re just getting started. To help Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, and Dawn (plus Mallory and Jessi, too!) fit in with today’s YA adventures, we might have to raise the stakes of their stories a little (or a lot).

Remember book #2, Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls? Those calls could turn into mysterious texts from a dastardly villain, a la Pretty Little Liars! Instead of thinking the calls might be coming from a jewel thief, Claudia would slowly come to expect they’re from a long-lost friend…perhaps one with a message to share from the beyond.
In book #4, Mary Anne Saves the Day, Mary Anne’s babysitting charge ends up in the hospital with a fever—of 104 degrees, if I remember correctly. (Who am I kidding, of course I remember!  I read this book at least a dozen times.) Nowadays, it might take more than a fever to get readers invested. Instead of a fever, I’m thinking an insidious and highly contagious virus, sent by a rival government to destroy the peaceful town of Stoneybrook!
And remember Kristy’s turn as a bridesmaid in book #6, Kristy’s Big Day? Now Watson Brewer isn’t just a millionaire, he’s a billionaire! But not just any billionaire—Watson has a terrible secret. Suddenly, Kristy and her pals aren’t just babysitters, they’re detectives, searching for the truth about Watson. And Kristy’s stepsister Karen and stepbrother Andrew aren’t little kids in need of a babysitter—no, they’re something much creepier. Totally adorable, too perfect to be real…it’s obvious Watson is hiding a dark (cyborg genetics) secret.

Now let’s move on to those Super Special adventures. Baby-Sitters on Board, Baby-Sitters’ Summer Vacation, Baby-Sitters’ Winter Vacation, Baby-Sitters’ Island Adventure—I gobbled these jumbo-books up, each and every one. But what would qualify as “super-special” these days? Instead of a cruise to Disney World, are the girls now on a voyage to the world beyond the walls of their sleepy Connecticut town? (Think Tris in Allegiant.) Does their winter vacation take them not to a ski resort, but to a mysterious castle in the snow, cut off from the outside world? And in Super Special #6, New York, New York!, does Stacey’s New York bestie Laine gets the girls impossible-to-purchase tickets to Broadway smash, Hamilton? (Now that would really be super-special.)
With these changes, the BSC is ready to compete with all the massive YA adventures in bookstores today! But to tell you the truth, none of these adventures sounds nearly as exciting as Dawn discovering the secret passage in her old farmhouse, or Claudia squabbling with her genius big sister Mean Janine, or Mary Anne totally liking Logan. And I think I might miss Stacey’s perm and Claudia’s blue eyeshadow.
After all, why mess with perfection?