Dawn loses her mind over meeting and impressing Lewis (Logan’s cuz) and decides to give herself a makeover supplemented by Mary Anne’s bad advice and cringey teen mag articles that lead her astray to a disastrous date but everyone learns an important lesson because this is the BSC after all and if reading this really bad run-on sentence is making you feel crazy its pretty much how we felt while reading this book.

A blizzard hits Stoneybrook and there is actual peril again. We love it. Emily explores the climate change claims and message, Esme talks about how little we like probabilities and statistics as a society, and Anne calls out the Main Ann for all of her Boomer references. Doo-dee, doo-doo, doo-dee, doo-doo, it’s time to get snowed in!

Beware, Dawn!!! We said: BEWARE!!! There’s a ” best sitter“ contest and, obviously, everyone gets weirdly competitively and wants to win that damn title. However, would Kristy sabotage the other girls on her path to glory—with baked beans?! (Maybe.) We discuss justice for Alan Gray, some discussion of childhood depression, and what is California Casual, actually? It’s a MYSTERY…

Claudia gets a job for Mary Rose Wilder, the multitalented and super smart cash cow of Stoneybrook! Emily discusses conservatorship and talented young women, Esme expounds on the societal worry over “overprogrammed” children, and Anne regales us with ANOTHER tale of a white “inventrapreneur” who stole his idea from —shocker— a brown guy. There’s lots of baby-sitting!!!

Being a boy is really, really hard.

Volunteerism and cancer take center stage in this very earnest treatise on the Make A Wish foundation. Emily ruins it a bit, of course, and we also learn some fun pop culture stuff about it while Jessi continues to be unbelievably mature. Most importantly, where was Mr. Simon going?!?

Is this a strike? Find out Emily’s take along with a brief history of the labor movement in Connecticut. There are lots of puppets in this book, and Esme wants Mallory to communicate her needs more directly (while acknowledging that she is only 11). We also hear about Anne’s harrowing middle school experience with a hamster. And is the plot the same as Mary Anne Misses Logan? A little!

Logan is back, so is Cokie Mason, but there are OTHER monsters to be discussed! Esme breaks down worry, exposure, and kids’ monster fears, whereas Em dives in to queer and feminist theory and the role of the monster in each and makes Anne and Esme play a game about it! Anne regails us with tales of the “Monster Book” her brother used to torture her with and also tells us a bit about Parcheesi (such a Boomer signal). Long live the books of Megan Rinehart!

Babies in costumes. Infant care classes. And, duh, lots of baby-sitting. We’ve got babies up the wazoo, folks! (At least some dads are taking care of some kids?) We discuss updates in colic research, what the heck a baby parade is, and travel down memory lane with Crystal Light. I know, this whole thing is weird. We are along for the (very slow, parade-route-paced) ride.

We were honored to have activist and actress Malia Baker join Emily and Esme in the “studio” (ok fine, Esme’s closet, Emily’s office, and a random business center in an LA hotel). We discuss social media and activism, reducing mental health stigma, representation, and her negotiations with her mom for her acting career. Also junk food and boys and her friendships with all those amazing girls! She’s completely adorable! Enjoy it!