Growing up in the ’90s – more specifically the early-to-mid ’90s when I read these books – I was an avid fan of Karen Brewer in the Babysitters Little Sister book series!!! I have mentioned this before on this blog; I admired Karen, her outfits, her personality, and the wide array of lesson-learned situations she found her 7-year-old-self in at Stoneybrook Academy in Connecticut.
Which is exactly why I’ve decided to pull out my massive collection (the photo only shows a tiny portion of it!) of Little Sister books and re-read them for awhile. Typically, the books I read are nonfiction and serious topics, which is exactly why I wanted a break from that genre for a bit (this translates to: my last read, Stasiland, was so intense that it called for a literary retreat into the mind of a second grader, to be reminded of the innocence in life).
Things are simple yet exciting in this well-to-do, fictional town in Connecticut, where both fun and drama bloom in Ms. Colman’s second grade classroom.
I always wanted Karen’s taxi sweater. I mean, how cute is that???? I think it made a few appearances on other book covers. Sometimes I wonder: if Ann M. Martin ever created a spinoff series of Karen as an adult, what would she be like? Honestly, I’d secretly hope she’d be a spinster with a pet betta fish as her companion or something. But that’s selfish, because I’d just want her to be like me then, and ‘the world is not a reflection of oneself‘, or something along those lines of a great quote I remember reading somewhere, and like to remember. Realistically, Karen would probably be a mother of two in a nice house in Connecticut with a lawyer husband. Which is just as good of a lifestyle choice as the spinster-with-a-betta-fish one. But the best thing is, Karen is forever frozen in time – eternally at Stoneybrook Academy, never to be shaped by the tides of adulthood. And that’s something my inner child can truly appreciate, and honestly, needs.
So thank you, Ann M. Martin, for shaping my childhood and even my adulthood, into a world of everyday magic and curiosity. ✨
See ya next time! 📚 💕
The Big Hair Diaries 
Love it well said. I too collect books from my childhood. Especially the Adventures of Tintin books. Just reading them again brings me back to the 3rd grade. I also like to reread Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the sequel The Great Glass Elevator. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and here’s to a happy New Year.
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That is awesome you also read and collect books from your childhood!! ❤️ I feel like it’s important to stay in touch with favorite childhood books. I had a merry Christmas and I hope you did, too! Happy new year!!!
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I remember these books! I had a collection of them. This girl who I thought was my friend turned out to be my enemy in elementary school and high school. I should have seen the signs because she stole one of my books and never gave it back to me….I was so mad. I saw it on her shelf and she still denied that it was mine. So she stole the “stolen bike” book. The irony of that.
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Oh WOW!!! Now that is ironic indeed (and so not cool at all that she stole it from you!) Thanks for sharing that!
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Ah, this book series! I often saw these in our elementary school library — alongside Sweet Valley High, Animorphs and Choose Your Own Adventure titles. I haven’t read the titles though as I preferred the latter.
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That’s awesome!!! I totally remember the other books you mentioned! Especially the covers of Animorphs. 😁
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Your collection is definitive and vast enough to open a Museum ff the Interstate
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LOOOOOL!!!!!! 😂
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What a wonderful post!!! You write so beautifully about Karen Brewer! I love that you even map out a fantasy future for her — and then take it back out of concern that it’s just a reflection of who you’d want her to be. I think that our favorite characters become a part of us and as such are out of the author’s hands. You express that best here, capturing what Karen means to readers, but most importantly, to you: “But the best thing is, Karen is forever frozen in time – eternally at Stoneybrook Academy, never to be shaped by the tides of adulthood. And that’s something my inner child can truly appreciate, and honestly, needs.” This is so insightful, lovely, and magical. Ann M. Martin would be proud!!! 🙂
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Awww thank you soooo much!!! 💕 You’re so right that our favorite characters become a part of us!
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