The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin airs on Netflix today, July 3, according to Vanity Fair. Rachel Shukert (Love Me) created the ten-episode adaptation with Lucia Aniello (Rough Night) serving as both the executive producer and director.
Martin’s successful children’s book series follows middle school girls named Kristy Thomas, Mary-Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill and Dawn Schafer, the heroines who make up the Baby-Sitters Club. Starring roles include Sophie Grace (Terror In The Woods) as Kristy, Malia Baker (The Flash) as Mary Anne, Momona Tamada (The Main Event) as Claudia, Shay Rudolph (Lethal Weapon) as Stacey, and Xochitl Gomez (Gentefied) as Dawn. The series is about their friendships as they start their babysitting business in context of navigating middle school and growing up.
The show likely has an intended audience of younger kids, but also appeals to nostalgic adults as the original book series’ publications stretched from 1986 to 2000. The show addresses contemporary social issues in a delicate manner while having storylines full of productive lessons.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Shukert said, “I loved that [each of the girls]…were so different from each other but they were still friends, and you could see a little bit of yourself in each one of them. They felt very inspiring in that way, aspirational—relatable…And I think I also loved that they were so independent…They have a lot of freedom. Middle school can be such a harrowing time, especially for girls. And the babysitters were so free of all of that. They would fight, and they had conflict, but they always supported each other. There was no bullying. They have different levels of friendship with each other, but it came from this place of kindness, which I think girls can really crave at that age.”
The Baby-Sitters Club is streaming now on Netflix. You can watch the trailer below.