HMH Books is partnering with me for a giveaway to share Best Babysitters Ever, a hilarious new book for tweens! Read on to check out my review, then find out how to enter for a chance to win a copy + a $50 Visa gift card.
Raise your hand if you loved The Baby-Sitters Club as a tween. I know my hand is sky high! I was a huge fan of Kristy Thomas and all baby-sitting pals back in the 80s, so I couldn’t be more excited to see it reimagined for a whole new generation.
Best Babysitters Ever
Check out the synopsis and a few of my thoughts about the book, then we’ll talk about that giveaway!
About Best Babysitters Ever
Once upon a time, a girl named Kristy Thomas had a great idea: to form The Baby-Sitters Club with her best friends. And now twelve-year-old Malia Twiggs has had a great idea too. Technically, she had Kristy’s idea. (And technically, little kids seem gross and annoying, but a paycheck is a paycheck). After a little convincing, Malia and her friends Dot and Bree start a babysitting club to earn funds for an epic birthday bash. But babysitting definitely isn’t what they thought it would be. Three friends. No parents. Unlimited snacks. And, okay, occasionally watching other people’s children. What could possibly go wrong?
As I mentioned above, this isn’t a spin-off or an attempt to reboot a beloved series. It’s more of a nod to Ann M. Martin’s 80s classic. In the first chapter, Malia (who is having a hard time living up to her namesake, Malia Obama, and would really prefer it if you called her Alia) comes across a copy of The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea
Although she didn’t get much further than the first chapter, Malia felt like she was destined to find the book. Besides, she didn’t need to read more. She already had everything she needed from the story: a brilliant idea to form her own baby-sitters club!
It doesn’t take much convincing to get her friends Bree and Dot on board, and within a few chapters they’re in business. Of course, that doesn’t go exactly according to plan! Between gross little kids and an idea-stealing older sister, Malia and her friends definitely have their work cut out for them!
With Cala’s smooth dialogue and flawless cadence, Best Babysitters Ever is an absolute joy to read. The main characters are all of different ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds, making it a wonderfully diverse book for all tween girls.
The girls in the story feel very realistic, both in their actions and their friendship. I also love that the tale encourages young girls to become entrepreneurs and go after their dreams. All in all, it’s a fun story and I can see tween girls excitedly pre-ordering the sequel for release-day delivery to their Kindle (which is today’s equivalent of waiting in line at a book store).
Best Babysitters Ever is releases on February 4th. Pre-order it now on Amazon!
About the Author
Caroline Cala is a writer and editor residing in Brooklyn. She has worked as a book editor and as a ghostwriter on a number of books by notable people. Her work has appeared in Vogue, ELLE, Refinery29 and others. Best Babysitters Ever is her middle grade debut. Follow @CarolineCala on Instagram
Best Babysitters Ever Giveaway
A hard day’s work deserves a reward! One (1) winner receives:
- a copy of Best Babysitters Ever,
- and a $50 Visa gift card to let your young reader splurge on themselves – no babysitting job required!
Giveaway open to US addresses only and ends on March 1. Prizing and samples provided by HMH Books. Good luck!
What was your first job as a tween or teen? Did you ever babysit? Tell me all about it!
I made extra money by cutting lawns.
I lived on a dairy farm and got paid for it.
As a teen, I worked at an ice cream shop. My arm didn’t like it very much after a few days of scooping!
I babysat
When I was younger I would babysit for family friends for extra cash.
I used to babysit a lot for the kids up the street when I was younger!
Hope to win
I did babysitting when i was 13 to 18 yrs old. Loved it
I worked at Kmart as a teen.
I helped out at the local youth centre
I did babysit some when I was younger. My first job was weeding sunflowers until the bees came then I was gone! LOL
I would crochet things for people when I was in high school.
I babysat my two cousins during one summer break when I was 14
As a tween, I babysat and also did yard work. When old enough, I got a job at Baskin Robbins.
babysitting
I didn’t get my first job until I was 18 and it was a part time cook in a retirement village
I just to babysit, I started when I was 12
My first job was filing in in a small office
I started babysitting for a friend of my parents when I was 13.
I cleaned my Grandma’s house as a teen for extra money.
i did babysit!! i loved it!
I babysit for the neighborhood kids. I loved it. The kids were a lot of fun.
I babysat for the lady across the street. I loved her kids- they cracked me up!
I did chores for the elderly lady next door.
I mowed the lawn for a neighbor next door.
I babysat and petsat to earn money
I delivered newspapers.
I did babysitting and I mowed lawns!
I worked as a camp counselor for 5 and 6 year olds at the YMCA.
I loved baby sitting and do odd ends jobs for my grandparents to make money
I babysat my cousins and mowed neighbors lawn
I babysat.
I walked dogs and mowed lawns to make money as a teenager.
I mowed lawns and tutored!
I made money as a tween by babysitting.
I babysat a little in high school and also taught dance classes.
Yes, I started babysitting when I was 15.
I worked in our family business helping customers and being the bookkeeper.
My very first job I worked at a pizza place answering phones:)
It’s great to find a book that my grand-daughter can relate to. Her mom grew up on the Babysitters Club books, so the differences between a generation is a nice thing they can discuss.
I petsat and babysat for earn extra money.
I babysat a lot for neighborhood families for quite a few years.
I used to babysit. I also worked at my uncles hot dog shop.
My first job was cleaning an elderly lady’s apartment for a little spending money.
When I was a teen, I babysat and walked dogs to earn spending money.
I babysat for a couple of neighbors in my early teens. Then I faked my birth certificate to get a job at Subway when I was 14 (had to be 15 to work at the time in FL).
When I was younger, I did a lot of baby-sitting.
My aunt used to have a daycare and I would help her watch kids when I was a teen.
I babysat from junior high all the way thru high school, in addition to working at Burger King…then senior year I worked as a telephone solicitor.
I worked in a clothing store.
I babysat for our neighbors when I turned 13. My first real job was in a tool shop shipping.
I had a paper route.
I babysat and helped a family friend at a flower shop when I was a teen.
I babysat, did sewing for people and sold paintings. When I was 14, all my friends and I worked the tobacco fields, we would get up 3:30 in the morning to the bus stop. We worked in the fields stringing the leaves, or “sewing” the leaves in the barn. The boys would pass out in the fields it could be so hot. I’d walk all the way home from the bus stop up two mountains at the end of the day, your hands would have sticky black tar. We loved it, my mom didn’t want to allow me to do it, but knowing all the kids were doing it she said OK. We got paid $1 an hour (they don’t have to pay minimum wage for farm work). They also had summer migrant workers there, who would have room and board on the farm for the summer, not very fancy.
I babysat for a lot of people and made a whopping 50 cents an hour.
I grew up in the 1950s, and was a poodle-skirt wearing carhop.
I did chores at home and then worked a sandwich shop.
My fist job was working at the elementary school that I use to go to. It was a summer job when I was in 10th grade.
I babysat and picked strawberries.
I babysat from 11 to 16 i was lucky because my mom did daycare so i had lots of weekend gigs lol.
I babysat a lot when I was younger.
I would babysit for my brother sometime and earn a little extra cash
I babysat while I was a tween and early teens.
I babysat a lot.
I babysat for my neighbors when I was 14. I was earning $1 and hour when seemed like lot of money back then for me.
When I was 12 I babysat for a neighbor’s daughter. This was my first time ever and I thought wow I can watch whatever I want after she goes to bed. I turned on Twilight Zone, but back then it was so scary and I had nightmares. Never watched it again. The babysitting turned out pretty good. Got a lot of my own spending money.
I worked at McDonalds.
I was a babysitter, dog sitter and worked at an amusement park.
Awesome
As a teenager I cleaned peoples homes.
I used to do surveys for Amazon gift cards. 🙂 They were very helpful for buying a couple gifts for myself
i did lots of babysitting, but as a teenager got a job working in my dad’s dentist office doing odds and ends.
I babysat at age 12 and did chores for money before that.
I took care of my neighbors pets.
I supervised a playground in our community for the Park and Recreation Department of our town.
BABYSAT IT’S A WONDER I EVER HAD KIDS
Took care of my older sisters 3 kids and have to say it wasn’t what I wanted to do and I didn’t get paid for it either…but she needed me and there you are… lol:)
I earned money by doing chores around the house and helping my mom with the cooking.
From the time I was eleven I worked for my disabled aunt after school, cooking, cleaning, running errands attending to her personal care until I was 15 and got a job at a locally owned fast food place.
I worked in our local hardware store.
I babysat for friends and family. Also during the summer I worked on my uncle’s farm.
I had 2 younger brothers so I was stuck with them a lot. But as I got older I was a babysitter for several families on saturday nights.
I babysat for neighbors; started with pre-schoolers and graduated to babies.
I used to mow neighbors yards as a teen to make extra money.
I babysat 3 kids for a long time , then did R.O.P. for a hospital and they hired me on for the summer.
Baby sitting was the first way I got money. My first real job was a switchboard operator at the college.
Thanks for the contest.
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Babysitting, candy and ice cream store, odd jobs here and there and selling crafts.
Didn’t ever really babysit. First job was as an aid to the librarian at my high school.
She was a super cool lady, so the job was really fun.
I worked at a summer camp for my first job
I made extra money by mowing lawns.
I started babysitting prett young around 12 then got my first job waitressing when I was 15 and at Kmart cleaning the parking lot
An older lady in our neighborhood uses to get me to clean her bathtub for a $1. I pick beans on a farm. I also babysit. When I was 15 years old, I went to work in a Chicken factory.
I did extra chores to earn money
Growing up my daddy made us work from a very young age. We picked up chunks of woods and out in piles to burn after land had been cleared from trees, we mowed lawns, we cleaned the telephone office where my parents managed for 50 years, we babysat, we(my sister and me) worked for my uncle that had a dairy bar in our rural town and that is the majority of what we did as young children. I’m grateful to him today for making me work.
I babysat for all my parents co-workers.
I babysat until I got my first “official” part time job in the mall food court at age 15.
I started babysitting at 9 and did that for money until I was 14. First job was working in the kitchen for a summer camp!
I was a great babysitter as a teen.
I babysat when I was a teen. My first real job was at a pizzeria when I was 14. I have no idea how I managed all those orders!
As a teenager, I earned extra money as a babysitter. I loved all the kids I kept. It was kinda like growing up with them!
I babysat the neighbor’s kids and braided their hair.
I didn’t have a job as a tween or teen.
I always loved to babysit but wanted to do it for free. I also enjoyed helping clean my Aunts house who had 8 kids
When I was really young, I sold lemonade. We lived by the town’s post office so it was busy. As a teen, I worked at the amusement park down the street from where I lived. Loved it.
My first job was babysitting. I remember being so excited to be old enough to be allowed to do it.
I was 14 when I got my first job. It was at an Air Force base and I typed up leave paperwork.
I babysat and helped my brother with his newspaper route
I got my first job working at hardees
I worked in the fast food industry.
I used to babysit and do chores for my family or neighbors. Maybe it would be walking their dog, feeding pet while they were on vacation, etc.