More mysterious things are happening in Stoneybrook and something is out to sabotage Jessi’s starring role in Sleeping Beauty! But it’s not the spooky, Casper the Friendly Ghost kind of mystery—this is just... straight-up malicious? Yikes. Then add in a lot of envy and you’ve got yourself a dangerous mix of ballerinas behaving badly. Thankfully, Esme teaches us how to be less envious (when we want to), more crappy moms show up, and there are a LOT of pets, like way too many for one YA book. And oh yeah! Another BSC Big 5!

THE TIME HAS COME FOR LOGAN’S COMEUPPANCE. Okay. So it wasn’t THAT dramatic, but Mary Anne dumps Logan! A mix of emotions washes over Emily—is she happy, is she sad?—and she doesn’t even know what to make of it, y’all. We have some fun, though. We talk a lot about the oppression of manufactured “Romance” from Logan and MA all the way down to elementary school valentines. Also, does anyone like chocolate covered cherries? And if so, why?!

Annnnnd we’re back with another Ellen Miles mystery and a new popular girl nemesis, Shawna Riverson (Cokie Mason, who?). Poor Claudia gets caught “cheating” and Janine has to slip into Mary Anne’s shoes to Save The Day. Emily ponders: “What is cheating, really?” We also read some fantastic reader letters and discuss Claud’s fight, flight or freeze response and the wisdom behind Mrs. Pike’s punishment strategy with those naughty triplets. Also, Anne has a lot to say about why math is confusing and jelly shoes. Join us for a… “mystery?”

We are happy to be joined by guests Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks, the editors of the fantastic new anthology We are the Baby-sitters Club! We dish on 1990s girl culture, Logan makes a comeback thanks to Megan’s thoughtful insights, and we try to decide what the heck IS a California girl (other than all three of your hosts)? Mikhail Gorbachev also makes an appearance. Obviously. Because anything goes in a Super Special.

Mallory is newly “poor” and the mean girls of Stoneybrook aren’t having it. Emily teaches us some important stuff about the welfare state (or the one we SHOULD have) and Esme is tired of Mr. Pike’s bullshit almost before it starts. Anne dishes EVEN MORE on “I Love Lucy” and we discuss beef between Hall and Oates vis-a-vis “We are the World.”

It’s been ONE YEAR since our debut Stuck in Stoneybrook episode! You guys have stuck—see what we did there?—with us through arguably one of the toughest years in recent history. But now we have many vaccines, a new president, AND a second season of The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix is on the way. So this episode is dedicated to you, dear listener. We’re answering all the burning questions you’ve been wondering about, so get ready for a fun show! But we will leave you with one last question: “Are you crying?”

Breaking news: Bart is still hot! (Should we make this shirt?) We really enjoyed discussing this one—we delve into Cokie Mason’s mean girl motivation, whether Bart’s “moves” are realistic, what H.W. Bush press conference did Kristy tune into, and the first computer shows up in Stoneybrook, CT! If only the BSC hung around long enough to discover AIM. Plus, another BSC Big 5!

We are joined by the author and activist Kate Schatz to try to make heads or tails of this completely bizarre and molto problematic book. Topics include the writing process (or lack thereof?) of ghostwriter Mary Lou Kennedy, what specific kind of predator is Travis, and a dramatic reading of Zach the toxic misogynist defending ‘Merica. Most importantly—what hard rock was Travis listening to?

Hey y'all! Anne & Esme joined Jody & Alison on the Blume Saloon this past week! We both voraciously consumed Judy Blume back in the day (at basically the same rate as we read the BSC!). We were thrilled to join them for their wrap-up episode about "Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself." We discuss animal sex, Jane Russell, and competitive twirling, among other things. It's a Judy Blume book club!

Jessi’s gets her legwarmers in a twist over the new Ramsey Family caregiver, Aunt Cecilia Dictator. Emily just has two “tiny” topics to cover: domestic labor and respectability politics. NBD. Meanwhile, Anne’s obsession with culturally weird, but significant foods continues as she teaches us about Tang. Poor Aunt Cecilia. Maybe she should join Nannie’s bowling league.