It was Lila who drove the Fiat in Sweet Valley High. Ahh memories:-) I can't believe you didn't read the Babysitters' Club. I insist you read the entire series immediately, you know, between all that parenting and running of a major website and stuff!

I actually unearthed several of my Original! Babysitters Club! Books! a few weeks ago while digging through the boxes I left in my parents' basement after high school. Since I currently work at Barnes & Noble and am mostly disdainful of the recent BSC incarnations (graphic novels? wtf?), I felt like I had discovered a relic from a happier time.

Mostly I'm commenting because I wanted to brag that somewhere there exists a photo of eleven-year-old me standing next to Ann M. Martin at a book signing. Also, to say hey Sarah: One of the Super Specials was entirely about the babysitters' trip to New York. That's the one you need to find.

I am definitely the leading authority on all things BSC related.

I also need to confess something that happened when I met Ann M. Martin when I was 10 years old. The 100th book had just come out - I immediately purchased the 'special edition' and found out that Martin was coming to a bookstore near me. I don't know if any of you noticed, but there were always continuity errors in every book. One book featured "Cokie Gray" - unless Cokie Mason and Alan Gray (who I suspect was gay) got married randomly, clearly that's a mistake.

Well I wrote Ann M. Martin a letter about how I wanted to be an author when I grew up. I meant to tell her how much writing meant to me and how much I loved the BSC. What did I do?

I shook her hand, handed her the letter, and then asked her to sign my books.

Then I said "You know, you should really get a new editor because your books are riddled with errors and I always notice them." RIDDLED WITH ERRORS.

WHO SAYS THAT? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

To her credit, she was extremely graceful and said that when I grow up, I should be an editor if I've got an eye for details like that at a young age.

She also wrote back a very nice letter to me. I still, to this day, cannot believe that I said that.

Seriously though, I learned about diabetes (brittle!) because of Stacey. My first screen name was SlvrSquigl because of a pin Laine Cummings (who laughed at Stacey when she wet her sleeping bag at a party because of her diabetes - what a jerk!) was wearing in one of the books. I found out about autism because of Kristy and Susan. I've always had a scary good memory and a large chunk of it is probably BSC trivia.

In case you need a demonstration of my "skills" - Dawn's mom name is Sharon. Her brother's name is Jeff. Mary Anne's dad's name is Richard, her cat's name is Tigger, her dead mom's name is Alma. Jessi's boyfriend's name was Quint. She got stuck in a snowstorm in Stamford. Abby's sister Anna had asthma. Her mom got in a train accident and missed her soccer game. Kristy's step-dad was Watson Brewer with step-siblings Karen and Andrew, who lived in the same neighbourhood as Shannon Kilbourne and David Michael named a dog after Shannon after Louie died, oh and they got an adopted sister named Emily Michelle.

WHO REMEMBERS THIS CRAP 15 YEARS LATER? How much more useful stuff could fill up that space? But no, it's filled with BSC trivia.

Oh also, I read the new Ann M. Martin book and I have to say it was just the same stuff over again. I already knew most of what happened in that book just by reading the other books.

I wish she'd done something like - take the perspective of the girls at 30 or 40. THAT would have been really interesting.

Plus Kristy would have come out by then, so that would be even more interesting.

Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield shared a red Spider Fiat and had matching gold lavalier necklaces. Do not get me started on My Sweet Audrina. Unless we have drinks.

Athough I never read the Babysitter Club series (I don't know why. Maybe I was re-reading Betsy Tacy/Nancy Drew/Laura Ingalls/Anne of Green Gables for the millionth time) but I am proud to note that Ann Martin went to Smith College. But maybe Smith should have taught her better editing skills. :-)

Sadly, today's helicopter parents would probably have fired Kristy for disciplining their children instead of "redirecting" them; Claudia would have been turned away at the door once her measly "C" average was found out; Mary Anne would have been caught "sexting" Logan instead of working with her charges on their "Your Baby Can Read" flashcards and thus been turned into the local police; Stacey's diabetes alone would have kept her out of the running - NEEDLES? IN MY HOME? WHERE MY CHILDREN ARE?

Also, can someone explain to me why we needed to be hit over the head with the fact that Claudia clearly had some sort of eating disorder. She hid food around her room - BUT NEVER GAINED A POUND AND HAD PERFECT SKIN. Why didn't she have rats and raccoons in that pigsty? Seriously, she opens up a Kid Kit and out comes a rabid squirrel that survived solely off Mallomars to chew her face off, starting with her almond-shaped eyes. (We get it, she's Japanese, that's really all you needed to say.)

OMG! I loved, loved, loved the BSC! My absolute favorite thing to do on the weekends while I was aged 8 to 13 was reread the entire series starting from 1 to the most recently published # at the time. (Which could explain the lack of social skills I had in high school, now that I think about it.) I was so excited when a new one came out and to see what color the book would be. My favorite character was Mary Anne because she was always really emotional and was the first to have a boyfriend. I, too was always really emotional as a child and was encouraged that this was a quality to have to land a "man." Little did I know all the guys wanted was a little action instead of a little crier.

An old roommate and I used to buy the original BSC books and early-90s Harlequin novels at our local Goodwill for 33 cents each. Thirty-three cents, can you even believe that?! We'd read them and put the funniest quotes on a poster we had on the wall of our living room. Oh, to be 23 and kind of a dork again.

I always wished that I could start a club like BSC, but none of my friends live near me, or even liked to babysit.

Sarah: I used to stalk bookstores for the latest books too!

And when I'm bored and have nothing else to read, I'll check out an old VC Andrews' book from the library. My favorite series was the "Heaven" books.

I just have to add that the "Flowers in the Attic" movie- was a travesty! The books were soooo much better!

And Jessica Wakefield was a meanie:)

When Scarlett Johannson first became popular the immediate thought that came to my mind was:

"Wait, Charlotte Johannson? The one Mary Ann babysat?"

I too, would love a BSC "Where Are They Now" book. I'm sure David Michael turned out ridiculously hot.

I actually set up my own BSC when I was young and I rocked it. Their kid kit was a lifesaver! I wish I remembered the books in so much detail now. I remember the anticipation of each and every new volume but I can't really remember even the key plot points. I had my whole collection in my basement and my house burned so it's gone, signed copy and all. I was bummed because I intended to pass them down to my daughter and now I can't.

I also read a few SVH but I didn't like them as much. VC Andrews rocks, my Goddaughter is actually named after a VC Andrews character because my best friend is weird that way.

BSC was a pivotal part of my 6th grade life. I'm 34 y/o, and Sarah has hit on something that I can also totally relate to. Thanks for bringing back a flood of memories!!! Some girls liked Choose Your Own Adventure or other series, but BSC was my fav!!!

The Ghost at Dawn's House had me knocking on the walls of my house to see if there was a secret passage way. And OF COURSE I was a part of my own Babysitter's club. However, we didn't actually babysit. We just got together to eat potluck candy!