The Summer Before by Ann M. Martin Review

 Hello Friends :)

I hope you're all having a great week, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

Today's review is a super nostalgic one for me, and I'm guessing it probably will be for a lot of you too.

I grew up first loving the Baby Sitters Little Sister series before moving on to The Babysitters Club series, and words cannot express how much I loved loved loved these books and characters. I personally cannot stand the newish Netflix show, but I loved the older TV show and the movie. 

When I heard that Ann M. Martin had written a prequel novella to this much beloved series, I couldn't wait to dive into it, I can't believe it took me this many years to find out about it. After finishing it,  I can't wait to share with you all what I ended up thinking about it.

The Summer Before by Ann M. Martin:

Source: Libby App

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: April 1st, 2010

Genre: Middle Grade

Series: The Babysitters Club

Synopsis:

Before there was the Baby-Sitters Club, there were four girls named Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, and Stacey McGill. As they start the summer before seventh grade (also before they start the BSC), each of them is on the cusp of a big change.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

This beautiful story was such a nostalgic read for me, and I loved getting to return to these characters that were such a big part of my childhood. The reader is given extra insight into what caused the drift between Kristy and Mary Anne's friendship with Claudia, and what caused all the extra drama with Stacey's old friends in New York. We're also given a lot of the backstory into how the idea of the club came about for Kristy in the first place, and an extra glimpse into the familial tensions that have begun to emerge for many of the girls.

I'm not sure my review could ever be completely objective considering how much these books and these characters have meant to me over the years, but I truly loved this entire story, and could barely bring myself to put it down. I love that the author chose to give fans another story, and while I felt this one was a lot deeper than most of the original stories were, it was a well appreciated treat from this lifelong BSC fan, and I can't possibly recommend it enough.

Final Rating: 5/5.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.