Rereading My Childhood by Amy A. Cowan

Amy A. Cowan is rediscovering the books of her childhood and writing about them on the way: The Baby-Sitters Club, Goosebumps, and Fear Street.See her website for everything she's doing at Mind Full of Marbles or follow her on Twitter at @amyacowan.

Rereading My childhood - The Essay Series

In 2015, my father passed away. My mother couldn’t pay all the bills without assistance, so my partner and I moved in with her. It was a good situation for everyone involved – my mother received help and the new arrangement alleviated our bills. At the same time, Jon’s job situation stabilized due to the new, optimistic Obama economy (we were so happy before the Orange Menace).For the first time in years, we had disposable income. I was also spending time with my mother browsing thrift stores, a hobby I forgot I enjoyed. At a Savers, I found a stack of my missed childhood – The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin. The rush of memories from those years I spent with Kristy, Claudia, Stacy, Jessi, Mallory, Dawn, Abby, and, my favorite, Mary Anne grabbed me. Along with my newfound disposable income, I couldn’t resist. I purchased the whole stack. I had done what any adult does when they have extra money – I bought back my childhood – or more accurately, I bought the childhood I wished I had.I didn’t own every The Baby-Sitters Club book, but I had a significant collection. I was a part of the fan club. I played that CD-ROM game every day. I begged for a new book each month. I kept a The Baby-Sitters Club diary. I even wrote a letter to Ann M. Martin and received a bookmark and a form letter in return. It was my prized possession.Unfortunately, there came a time when I wanted to eschew every remnant of my childhood in an attempt to mature. I gave away my collection of The Baby-Sitters Club memorabilia to a friend. I donated my Goosebumps books and I started reading Fear Street.Now, fifteen odd years later, I scour used bookstores and thrift stores looking for The Baby-Sitters Club, Goosebumps, and Fear Street books.Now, why do I want to review something I once loved? Why do I want to tear apart the series and authors who made up my childhood and shaped who I am today?Simple. Exercise and nostalgia.I want to exercise my writing skills. I want to create a portfolio with work I can be proud of and the only way to do that is to write.And as for nostalgia – it’s something I don’t revere. Nostalgia is looking back with a skewed sense. It ignores the problems and we end up pining for a time that will never return and wasn’t that great in the first place. I’ve read a few of the early The Baby-Sitters Club books and, frankly, some of them are sub-par. It’s important for me to see that. I believe people need to be reminded that the past wasn’t always perfect.But there is also a lot of good to be lauded and re-appreciated. The babysitters are surprisingly mature for their ages. In The Baby-Sitters Club #6: Kristy’s Big Day, the BSC start a summer day camp that is surprisingly efficient and organized. They also solve problems in thoughtful ways.I look forward to rediscovering the crying, laughter, fear, unexpected wisdom as well as the problems in the books that shaped my childhood – The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin, and Fear Street and Goosebumps by R. L. Stine. I’m excited to share my childhood with everyone.

The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin

Coming SoonPodcast & SubstackMediumWattpadWordPress
Super Special #3: Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation2022/12/082022/12/292023/01/122023/01/26
#29: Mallory and the Mystery Diary    
#28: Welcome Back, Stacey!    
#27: Jessi and the SuperbratComing SoonMediumWattpadWordPress
#26: Claudia and the Sad Good-byeComing SoonMediumWattpadWordPress
#25: Mary Anne and the Search for TiggerComing SoonMediumWattpadWordPress
Super Special #2: Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation2022/09/012022/09/222022/10/062022/10/20
#24: Kristy and the Mother's Day SurprisePodcast/SubstackMediumWattpad2022/06/30
#23: Dawn on the CoastPodcast/Substack2022/06/302022/07/142022/07/28
#22: Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter2023/01/19MediumWattpadWordPress
#21: Mallory and the Trouble With Twins2023/01/05MediumWattpadWordPress
#20: Kristy and the Walking Disaster2022/12/22MediumWattpadWordPress
#19: Claudia and the Bad Joke2022/12/08MediumWattpadWordPress
#18: Stacey's Mistake2022/11/24MediumWattpadWordPress
#17: Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery2022/11/10MediumWattpadWordPress
#16: Jessi's Secret Language2022/10/27MediumWattpadWordPress
#15: Little Miss Stoneybrook . . . And Dawn2022/10/13MediumWattpadWordPress
#14: Hello, Mallory2022/09/29MediumWattpadWordPress
#13: Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye2022/09/15MediumWattpadWordPress
Super Special #1: Baby-Sitters on Board!2022/09/01MediumWattpadWordPress
#12: Claudia and the New Girl2022/08/18MediumWattpadWordPress
#11: Kristy and the Snobs2022/08/04MediumWattpadWordPress
#10: Logan Likes Mary Anne!2022/07/21MediumWattpadWordPress
The Baby-Sitters Club Notebook2022/07/07MediumWattpadWordPress

Super Specials

4+4+4+4+4

Mysteries

8+7+7+7+7
1-8; 9-15; 16-22; 23-29; 30-36

Super Mysteries

1+1+1+1

Special Edition Readers' Requests

1+1+1

Portrait Collections

2+2+2

California Diaries

3+3+3+3+3

Friends Forever

4+4+3+3

Other Titles

These are affiliate links and I may get a commission from any purchases you make, but you get to support a local bookshop and me at the same time. Thanks!

Goosebumps by R. L. Stine

Coming SoonPodcast & SubstackMediumWattpadWordPress
Attack of the Jack-o'-Lanterns2022/10/202022/11/102022/11/242022/12/08
A Night in Terror Tower2023/01/12MediumWattpadWordPress
The Blob That Ate Everyone2022/12/15MediumWattpadWordPress
The Haunted Mask2022/11/17MediumWattpadWordPress
A Shocker on Shock Street2022/10/20MediumWattpadWordPress
Egg Monsters From Mars2022/09/22MediumWattpadWordPress
Ghost Beach2022/08/25MediumWattpadWordPress
The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight2022/07/28MediumWattpadWordPress
Legend of the Lost Legend2022/06/30MediumWattpadWordPress

These are affiliate links and I may get a commission from any purchases you make, but you get to support a local bookshop and me at the same time. Thanks!

Fear Street by R. L. Stine

Coming SoonPodcast & SubstackMediumWattpadWordPress
The Boy Next Door2022/11/032022/11/242022/12/082022/12/22
High Tide2022/07/142022/08/042022/08/182022/09/01
The Wrong Number2023/05/18MediumWattpadWordPress
Silent Night2023/03/23MediumWattpadWordPress
Sagas #3: Forbidden Secrets2022/12/29MediumWattpadWordPress
Sagas #2: House of Whispers2022/12/01MediumWattpadWordPress
The Mind Reader2022/10/06MediumWattpadWordPress
Halloween Party2022/09/08MediumWattpadWordPress
Broken Hearts2022/08/11MediumWattpadWordPress

Sagas

#1: A New Fear

Fear Street Sagas #1: A New Fear by R. L. Stine

4+4+4+3+3
1-4; 5-8; 9-12; 13-15; 16-18

These are affiliate links and I may get a commission from any purchases you make, but you get to support a local bookshop and me at the same time. ThankS!