Hello, sports (and romance) fans! You’re in for a treat–this week’s book/episode is light on babysitting and heavy on baseball (and crush-induced butterflies). When all of the kids in Stoneybrook seem to be in their backyards with bats and gloves, Kristy notices that the local little league has left out her younger siblings and many of the club’s charges. In a typical Kristy move, she decides to start and coach a softball team of her own–but her Krushers [sic] aren’t the only game in town. Soon neighborhood cutie Bart and his Bashers challenge them to a face-off. Find us under the bleachers as we hunt for bottle caps and chat about how Kristy’s motley crew fares (and who the real heart of the story is) in Kristy and the Walking Disaster.

Watch List for Even Non-Sports Fans:

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)

The Bad News Bears (1976)

The Sandlot (1993)

Little Giants (1994)

Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)

Illustrated book about the Endurance/Shackleton’s journey: https://flyingeyebooks.com/book/shackletons-journey/

A prank gone awry during a gig lands Claudia in the hospital and launches her into an existential crisis. If babysitting is this risky, she’s not sure it’s for her! While Claudia recovers and once again mulls whether she’ll leave the club, the BSC takes on the serious business of sitting for and waging a practical joke war with the new problem child charge, Betsy. Sit beside us on the Sobaks’ sofa (but watch out for that whoopee cushion!) as we discuss Claudia and the Bad Joke, and what Lady Gaga and Kristy Thomas have in common.

Grandma’s/Home from School Programs List

Noozles

Barney & Friends

Wheel of Fortune -or- Jeopardy

The Price is Right

Your soap of choice

Your afternoon talk show of choice

A 3+ hour block of Designing Women

Where did you find the finest prank goods for grade school hijinks? Let us know at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com.

Follow us on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

When an upcoming gig in Stacey’s apartment building is too much for the single-member NY branch of the BSC to handle, she invites the OG sitters to travel down and pitch in–but she’s shocked at the versions of her friends who show up. Usually cool Claudia rolls into Grand Central with a suitcase on wheels–how embarrassing!, self-assured Dawn is afraid of her own shadow, and Mary Anne is not at all shy about sharing her ambitious itinerary or shading one of her BFFs. (Kristy is, well, Kristy.) The long weekend is not at all going according to plan, but Stacey won’t let bumpkin behavior or friend tensions distract them from their duty to care for ten kids.

Two more resident New Yorkers join us for this week’s stroll through Central Park and chat about Stacey’s Mistake: a chihuahua named Bianca and her human, Kiwi Callahan.

If you’re looking for a gift for that Hallmark holiday movie lover or hater in your life, check out Kiwi’s game at badchristmasmoviebingo.com.

Homework assignment:

Write a sonnet inspired by the love affair portrayed in the Opposites Attract music video; a report on the history and present-day status of the Hard Rock Cafe; or a journal entry on your class field trip to see Starlight Express (all rabbit holes worth going down, trust us).

Here for a Friends 4-Ever or Stuart Little Book Club? Sign up at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com.

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A string of mishaps at home, school, and on the job have the babysitters wondering whether Mary Anne should have responded to an ominous chain letter …better wear the follow-on so-called bad-luck charm just in case. This book has everything: surprise mail, an emergency library quest, DIY costumes, a cemetery, and the first appearance of the series villain. Meet us at midnight at Old Man Hickory's headstone, under the light of a full moon, as we hold flashlights under our chins and chat about childhood talismans, enduring just-in-case rituals, and Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery.

Halloween/Comfort Rereads

What’s A Ghost Going to Do? by Jane Thayer

Georgie book series by Robert Bright

Little Women, Chapter 40: The Valley of the Shadow,* by Louisa May Alcott

*from Mary Anne, NOT us

Very superstitious? Tell us which common or not-so-common ones we left out at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com (but no chain letter emails, please!).

Check out what an evil powermaster looks like on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Though Jessi has only recently arrived in Stoneybrook and joined the BSC, she steps up to take the lead role in an upcoming ballet performance and take on a twice-a-week sitting gig for the Braddocks, another new family in the neighborhood. Matt Braddock is deaf and uses sign language to communicate, and Jessi sees that he and his sister Haley are having a tough time settling in. Jessi is just the right sitter for the job, with her empathy, facility with languages and expression through movement, and close (telepathic?) connection with a best friend who happens to have seven siblings keen to learn Jessi’s Secret Language.

In this episode, we’re lucky to have storyteller Kambri Crews, a CODA fluent in American Sign Language, join us to discuss Book 16. You can find out about Kambri’s memoir here.

Collection of mentions:

NYT article from 2021 about name signs in deaf culture

A colloquial sign in ASL for bullsh*t

Merill Ashley, inspiration for Lyssa’s pointe shoes

Cat book reading list from Becca’s bookshelf:

The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot, illustrated by Ruth Brown

Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág

Follow along on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Get in touch at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com.

The pageant circuit has come to Stoneybrook, and the two youngest Pike girls are HERE FOR IT–Margo can’t wait to show off her toothy alligator swimsuit and her unconventional banana-peeling method. Mrs. Pike rings the BSC to recruit the collected and capable Dawn as their coach (don’t even think about asking Mallory to help out her sibs on this one), and the special gig inspires a spirit of competition among the senior sitters. Strap on your tap shoes, grab your lolliprop, and peek from behind the curtain to check out how the pageant heads and newcomers fare in Little Miss Stoneybrook…and Dawn.

Planning to copy Claire’s moves for an upcoming talent show? Start here, maybe, to learn more about the hornpipe.

Submit your votes for Old Bad John as an inductee to the pirate hall of fame at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com. Find us on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

After Stacey moves back to New York, a vacancy in the club creates an opportunity for the eldest Pike child to graduate from charge to sitter–but opinions differ on whether Mallory is ready for the responsibility. Bolstered by a budding best friendship, Mallory and the latest new girl in town, Jessi Ramsey, decide to strike out on their own and threaten the BSC’s monopoly. Join us at the moping tree to hatch plans, talk horse books, and greet/meet the ambitious sixth grade sitters in Hello, Mallory.

Animal-themed reading list

Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater

Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

Impossible Charlie by Barbara Morgenroth

A Morgan for Melinda by Doris Gates

The Chronicles of Narnia books, specifically The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis

Homework assignment: Draw the divestive digestive system from memory.

Did your parents (like the Pikes) order literal name-brand clothing from Lillian Vernon? Share your stories or alternative sources at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com.

See snaps of some of our special trees on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.

Just as Stacey has hit her stride in Stoneybrook, she hears that her family will soon return to the big city…and she'll have to leave her new BFF Claudia, the club, and all of the suburban clutter from the McGill home behind. How will the BSC manage without one of its founding members, and how will they give Stacey a proper send-off? Head on over with your spare wares, pull up a folding chair, and kvetch with us about punctuation, grammar, and cumbersome fabric going-away gifts as we discuss Goodbye Stacey, Goodbye.

Books to Remember Stacey by (sorry, Lyssa…)

Iggy’s House

A Cricket in Times Square

Possible Inspirations for Math Teachers and Plays

Dr. Zizmor (remember Zizmorcore?)

Thoroughly Modern Millie, the 1967 movie

Mad About Millie comics

Are signed t-shirts still a thing? Outfit fan art to share? Get in touch at stoneybrookreunion@gmail.com, or on Instagram @stoneybrookreunion.