JENNIFER LIPMAN
FOR A while, when I was about 11, there was only one thing I wanted to be when I grew up, and that was a babysitter. But not just any babysitter; a member of The Baby-Sitters Club, the fictional tween business brought to life in a series of novels by American writer Ann M. Martin.
As anyone who read the books (36 by Martin, but hundreds of others by ghost writers, published between 1986 and 2000) will remember, the club members were cool, creative and entrepreneurial. They were also ahead of their time in many ways; a diverse cast of characters, from Japanese-American artist and junk food hoarder Claudia Kishi to Black dancer Jessi Ramsey and, latterly, Jewish Abby Stevenson, whose batmitzvah was among the life events marked in the series.
Reading them in Stanmore, thousands of miles away from the white picket fences of Stoneybrook, Connecticut, I fell in love with the distinct redbrick covers and with these girls. Specifically, I fell in love with the fact that there was room for any type in their gang. You could be shy and studious like Mary Anne (and still find a boyfriend in dreamboat Logan) or a tomboy like Kristy, or an environmental campaigner like Californiatransplant Dawn (or even, perhaps, a Jewish bookworm from London) — and you’d still fit in— while learning a few life lessons and solving some mysteries along the way.
The series taught me a lot, not least what lox was (thanks to New Yorker Stacey), but also about friendship, business and, of course, the serious business of childcare. When I started babysitting at 13, I’d like to think I brought some of their skills to the table.
Now a new generation will be introduced to the club, thanks to a Netflix series starring —among others — every Jewish ’90s girl’s icon, Alicia Silverstone. Cher Horowitz from Clueless will now morph into Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer, ringleader Kristy’s single-mum, all ready for a romance with Warren (played by Jewish actor Mark Feuerstein, who I mostly remember as a love interest of Donna’s on The West Wing). Elizabeth, a harried mother of three with a good-for-nothing ex-husband, isn’t exactly who I imagined Cher to become, but she isn’t a million miles away either, and Silverstone still sounds exactly the same.
The series’ showrunner is Rachel Shukert, who has previously written a memoir about growing up Jewish (and afraid of the Nazis) in Nebraska. Her previous TV credits include Glow (about female wrestlers) and Supergirl — both of which have been hits. Judging by the first
The Baby-Sitters Club