Ann M. Martin

There are 131 BSC books and 122 LS books in print, plus the mysteries, super specials, and other related titles.

It was with mixed emotions that I realized that the time had come for the BSC members to graduate middle school, and for me to explore new creative writing challenges. I stopped writing the California Diaries and the LS books because I thought it was appropriate that their stories all end at the same time.

As of now, there are no plans to write a book about a BSC reunion.

Now that I've finished the series, I'd say I have two favorite BSC books. One is the first, Kristy's Great Idea, and the other is the last, Graduation Day. My favorite LS book is Karen's Wish.

Kristy was, and still is, my favorite baby-sitter. She is based on my childhood best friend, Beth.

I based the character of Mary Anne on me.

My editor, Jean Feiwel, came up with the idea for a book series about a group of girls who love to baby-sit.

I'm sorry, but the BSC fan club is no longer in existence.

I think the book club you are referring to is the collector's club, which is no longer in existence. But I know that school book clubs often offer the earlier books in special packages. I've also discovered that used-bookstores can be a fabulous source for finding hard-to-locate books.

There are many online sites that sell books. You can try using Google or another search engine to type in the name of the book you want to buy. You'll probably get many options. Used-bookstores are another good source.

The BSC merchandise has been discontinued, although I occasionally hear of fans who have been lucky enough to find a game or a doll at a toy store. Also, I know that eBay (the online auction site) is a good source for many hard-to-find items like these.

No, Stoneybrook, Connecticut is a fictional town.

These order forms are no longer valid. Many of them are quite a few years old.

The handwriting for the girls - all of them! - was done by one person in Scholastic's art department.

If we had allowed the girls to age in real time, they would have been twenty-eight-years old by graduation day!