It’s the start of the eighth grade, and Mary Anne is the last of the sitters to turn 13…but the first to have a boyfriend! (How fast she forgets her Sea City special someone when another boy baby-sitter enters the scene!) To commemorate this major series moment, we welcome our first guest (and a newcomer to the BSC books) to share a guy’s POV on middle school milestones. Retreat to the bleachers during the school dance with us as we consider conversation-starting locker decor, build a party playlist, and chat about Logan Likes Mary Anne!

Reading List:

Tik Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Day the Toys Came to Silver Dollar City by John Barrett

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Beginning books by McGraw Hill

'80s After School Drug Movie Watch List:

Ben Affleck gets hooked on steroids in A Body To Die For

Helen Hunt gets hooked on "crank" and jumps out a window in Desperate Lives

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Was your math folder also red? Any mortifying moments to report? Email us at [email protected]

Step aside, narrator Dawn, because the Schafer home is a-creaking and a-groaning and giving spooky main character energy in The Ghost at Dawn’s House. Grab your flashlight and creep through Connecticut boiler rooms and

Extra credit reading list:

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Don’t Touch My Room by Patricia Lakin

Goosebumps/Fear Street series by R.L. Stine

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alan Schwartz

Viewer discretion probably advised for:

Ghostbusters

Sixteen Candles

National Lampoon’s European Vacation 

Labyrinth

Neverending Story

Revenge of the Nerds

Police Academy

History project topics:

Elizabeth Taylor’s diet (do not try this at home)

Winchester Mystery House 

Sixteen Magazine

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Argue with us about vintage confectionery at [email protected].

Two carsful of Pikes are headed to the Jersey shore, and two babysitters are along for the ride as "mother's helpers." Stacey can't help falling in LUV with a lifeguard and leaves all of the labor to Mary Anne, who is red with anger, or sunburn, or both. Link arms and stroll the boardwalk with us as we question Boy-Crazy Stacey's supposed sophistication and gift selections and describe our own travel memories and mementos. One of us may still be fired up about the straw doll that got away...

Board game to pack in your suitcase: Dream Phone

Summer movie night selections (Keanu double feature!):

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) (no Noskote or Zinka in this scene, but Napoleon sure is enjoying Waterloo!)

Parenthood (1989)

Slightly disturbing bedtime story:

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood

Parents' choice for a rainy day vacation activity: https://plimoth.org/

Background on name change: https://plimoth.org/news-press/commemorating-400-years-reflecting-on-our-mission 

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion. 

School’s out for Claudia, but her sister won’t give her a break–any conversation with Janine the Genius involves a lesson. A family member’s serious health emergency forces the sisters to examine their sibling strife and confront their lifelong communication issues in Claudia and Mean Janine.

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Information on the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans in the U.S. during WWII, from the National Archives

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Additional show notes, listed in order of discussion:

An external source for babysitter birthdays

The Four Tendencies Framework, from author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin

Harry the Dirty Dog, read by Betty White, written by Gene Zion

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

The Claudia Kishi Club documentary (2020)

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion. 

Share feedback and get in touch at [email protected].

Grab your pet manatee, hop in your Flintstones Foot Car, and don't forget to kiss your husband Devon Sawa on your way to the WNBA– we're predicting futures, middle-school-fantasy-style. This Emergency Meeting was called for one reason and one reason only: a good old-fashioned game of MASH.

Who were your celebrity spousal picks? Did you end up driving a limo AND living in a shack? How many of your infinity children have been born? Are any of you ACTUALLY marine biologists? We'd love to know! DM us on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion or shoot us an email at [email protected]

Wedding bells are ringing for Elizabeth and Watson, but Kristy isn't about to let her bridesmaid duties distract her from a prime business opportunity. Pile into the Pink Clinker and crank that dial to hear us reminisce about friendly neighborhood extraterrestrials and cartoon crushes, and assess the BSC's tactics for minding one million children ahead of Kristy's Big Day.

Extra credit reading and viewing list:

LuLaRoe documentary

Lisa Frank documentary

Inside the Rainbow Gulag: The Technicolor Rise and Fall of Lisa Frank

Robin Hood (1973)

Anastasia (1997)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Out of This World (1987-1991)

Craft project: 

Dye a pair of shoes to match your very finest 'fit, or draw your own strange family tree!

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion. 

Share stories about your grandma's car and commentary on our apparent time travel to last year at [email protected].

The newest member of the BSC is doing her best turn as sitter for the Barrett family, but they need way more than a spoonful of sugar…and that’s too much for a 13-year-old to manage. Step away from the chaos, slather on an egg rinse, and tune into our chat about Dawn and the Impossible Three.

Group project assignment: 

Plan and host a “Let’s All Come In” theme party: pretend to be the staff and guests at “a big, fancy, old-fashioned hotel.”

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion. 

Share your Sunny Winslow fanfic, weigh in on which generation(s) were the most latchkey (don’t @ us, Gen Xers), and opine on whether or not Elvis has left the building at [email protected].

While the sitters squabble, Mary Anne redecorates her babyish bedroom, befriends a new girl in town (and recruits the fifth BSC member), and generally handles sh*t like a bad*ss. Let's Get Together to recall our own friend fights and talk about how the club secretary shines in Mary Anne Saves the Day. 

Extra credit reading and viewing list: 

A Wrinkle in Time

Blueberries for Sal

Pippi Longstocking

The Parent Trap (1961 version)

Homework assignment: Research prices in late '80s CT. Were the BSC paid reasonably?

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Get in touch at [email protected].

There's a new babysitting business in town...how will the BSC compete against older girls with later curfews? And that's not all that's troubling one of the sitters. Climb into the backseat of a NY-bound station wagon, crack open a Tab, and learn The Truth About Stacey.

Extra credit reading list:

Where the Wild Things Are

he Cricket in Times Square 

anything by Judy Blume

Vol. 22 of the 1966 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica Americana (Photography to Pumpkin, not Pumps to Russellville--Carol was one off.) 

Homework assignment: Visit a mall and note which of your favorite 90s fragrances remain at Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret (any at all!?).

Craft project: assemble and decorate your very own Kid Kit, or at least think about what you'd include in one. 

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Get in touch at [email protected]

What is scarier: running a baby-sitting business while a burglar is on the loose, or asking someone to the school dance? Sit with us at the seventh-grade lunch table as we revisit Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (and the Slime Kings). 

Extra credit reading list: 

The Phantom Tollbooth 

The Phantom of Pine Hill

The Witch Next Door

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Get in touch at [email protected].