Ann M. Martin

When a fight breaks out among the members of the Baby-sitters Club, timid Mary Anne finds herself becoming more assertive as a baby sitter and in her relationships with her father and friends.

"When Kristy Thomas has the great idea to form a baby-sitters club--a chance to earn money and spend time with her friends, all while doing something they each love to do--she has no idea how much the club will change everything. Crank calls, uncontrollable toddlers, wild pets, untruthful clients...running a business is hard work! Kristy and her co-founders, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey, are sure they can handle anything. But only if they stick...

"They're lean, they're mean, they're the pride of Stoneybrook. Who are they? They're Kristy's Krushers! When Kristy sees how much her little brothers and sister want to play on a softball team, she starts a ragtag team of her own. Maybe Kristy's Krushers aren't world champions (how could they be, with Jackie Rodowsky, walking disaster, playing for them?), but nobody beats them when it comes to team spirit. Now Bart's Bashers have challenged the Krushers...

Accompanying the Pike family during a two-week vacation to the Jersey Shore, baby-sitter Stacey falls head over heels for a handsome lifeguard despite Mary Anne's warning that he is too old for her.

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.

Flora and Ruby's Aunt Allie is about to adopt the baby she always wanted and the whole family is excited.

Flora, Ruby, Olivia, and Nikki have a new neighbor, Willow, who seems like a natural fit for their group of friends. But Willow doesn't seem to want to be friends, maybe because she has a secret.

"Annabelle Doll, Tiffany Funcraft, and their families journey far from home"-- Provided by publisher.

"Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has left her Upside-Down House and the animals that live there in the care of her twenty-something niece, Missy. Luckily for the town's families, Missy Piggle-Wiggle is capable of concocting the same sort of inventive cures for bad behavior that made her aunt an indispensable community resource"-- Provided by publisher.

Squirrel, a stray puppy, tells her life story, from her nurturing mother and brother to making her own way in the world, facing busy highways, changing seasons, and humans both gentle and brutal.