Ann M Martin

Kristy's new baby-sitting charge is autistic and she wants to show everyone that Susan is a "regular" kid.

Having a Baby-sitters Club isn't easy, but Kristy and her friends aren't giving up until they get it right.

Flor, Ruby, Olivia, and Niki each find a special book on their doorstop, so they begin a book club in which they discover the title they are discussing relates to their summer experiences.

Claudia and the Baby-sitters Club investigate a case of burglary and forgery at the new museum in Stoneybrook.

The Mancusis have a lot of pets and they are desperate for a sitter. So Jessi decides to try the job.

Flora and Ruby are beginning to adjust to Camden Falls, but they and their friends have problems and hope their friendship will give them the strength to work things out.

Karen's favorite teacher is getting married and Karen is going to be the flower girl, but she was asked before Ms. Coleman's niece arrives. Karen wonders if she will still get to walk down the aisle.

Karen tries to impress Margo by saying that she saw amermaid. But then it seems the mermaid really exists!

In parallel stories, Bone, an orphaned dog, finds and loses a series of homes, Molly, a family pet, helps Charlie through the grief and other after-effects of his brother's death, and lonely Henry pleads for a dog of his own.

In 1963, when her flamboyant mother abandons the family to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, eleven-year-old Ellie Dingman takes charge of her younger siblings, while also trying to deal with her outcast status in school and frightening acts of prejudice toward the "misfits" that live on her street.