--- title: Baby-sitters Club Author Ann M. Martin Reveals Her Favorite Character description: Shockingly, it's not Stacey canonical: https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/ author: Megan Gibson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-09T14:55:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:08.295Z og:title: Baby-sitters Club Author Ann M. Martin Reveals Her Favorite Character og:description: Shockingly, it's not Stacey og:url: https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5469b20c29937a5/69875f5ae20a875988a82506/baby-sitter-club-ann-m-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2381 og:image:height: 1339 og:image:alt: summer book club-Washington DC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Baby-sitters Club Author Ann M. Martin Reveals Her Favorite Character twitter:description: Shockingly, it's not Stacey twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5469b20c29937a5/69875f5ae20a875988a82506/baby-sitter-club-ann-m-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Baby-Sitters Club_ Author Reveals the Name of Her Favorite Baby-Sitter > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=55327c98-8c0e-4e4a-93b3-4aba96a42d5a&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 40,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 31.7% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Eliza Berman, Culture Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Culturally curious consumers. An audience tuned into the ideas, entertainment and cultural conversations worth knowing, with added influence among professionals across media, entertainment, creative, brand, communications and consulting. ### TIME Worth Your Time: key statements * Worth Your Time is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Worth Your Time is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=55327c98-8c0e-4e4a-93b3-4aba96a42d5a&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/subscribe?i=55327c98-8c0e-4e4a-93b3-4aba96a42d5a&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What should I watch or read, according to TIME? Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Megan Gibson](https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Oct 9, 2014 2:55 PM UTC  The Baby-Sitters Club-The Summer Before " by Ann M. Martin on June 09, 2010 in Washington DC. The Baby-Sitters Club-The Summer Before " by Ann M. Martin on June 09, 2010 in Washington DC. Mark Gail—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Megan Gibson](https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Oct 9, 2014 2:55 PM UTC Long before women were deciding whether they were a Carrie, Miranda, Samantha or Charlotte, they were young girls deciding whether they were a Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne or Stacey. (Or, later on, a Dawn, Mallory or Jessi.) For many women of a certain age, the best-selling YA series _The Baby-Sitters Club_ was their first introduction to an iconic group of tight-knit girlfriends in pop-culture. The series, about a diverse group of 13 year-old girls who start their own babysitting business, was created and partially written by, Ann M. Martin, a major YA force throughout the 1980s and ’90s, inspiring several spin-off series, a TV series and a movie. In an interview with [Jenn Doll for _ELLE_](http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/reviews/ann-m-martin-baby-sitters-club-interview) about her new book, [_Rain Reign_](http://www.mackidsbooks.com/rainreign/), Martin reminisced about the famous series, saying, “\[M\]y favorite thing to hear about are people who grew up reading them, and have gone on to go into writing, become librarians, teachers, authors, editors. I just love hearing about that..” And, in the true spirit of BSC fandom, Martin even revealed which character she felt was closest to her own personality — and who was her favorite: “My favorite is Kristy, mostly because I created her first. I feel she set the series in motion. Also, she is my alter ego. I’m much more like Mary Anne. Kristy is so unlike me that it was a lot of fun to write her.” The best part of the interview for nostalgic fans is Martin’s answer to the question of whether she’d ever write a _Baby-Sitters Club_ reunion book: “Who knows? Never say never.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/"},"headline":"The Baby-Sitters Club Author Reveals the Name of Her Favorite Baby-Sitter","datePublished":"2014-10-09T14:55:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:08.295Z","description":"Shockingly, it's not Stacey","url":"https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/","keywords":["Living","Books","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5469b20c29937a5/69875f5ae20a875988a82506/baby-sitter-club-ann-m-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Gibson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5469b20c29937a5/69875f5ae20a875988a82506/baby-sitter-club-ann-m-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"summer book club-Washington DC","caption":"summer book club-Washington DC","creditText":"Mark Gail—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3484529/baby-sitters-club-ann-martin-kristy-mary-anne/","name":"The Baby-Sitters Club Author Reveals the Name of Her Favorite Baby-Sitter"}}]}] ```