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Kristy and the Dirty Diapers is the 89th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.

Back Cover Summary[]

When a local business, Davis Diapers, offers to sponsor the Krushers, Kristy accepts. She figures the new uniforms will give her team a big boost. But instead of being psyched, the Krushers fall apart: Mr. Davis bosses them around, and their new uniforms say DIAPERS — in huge, red letters. And that's not Kristy's only problem. With Dawn in California for good, the BSC is way overbooked.

But the new girl on Kristy's block likes baseball and kids. Maybe she can help...

Main Plot[]

A man offers to sponsor Kristy’s Krushers, and Kristy accepts his offer without asking her team for their opinion. But the sponsor is bossy, and the team loses spirit.

Meanwhile, a new family moves in two doors down from Kristy. The family is a woman with two daughters in middle school. Since Dawn moved to California permanently and Shannon can’t take Dawn’s place, the BSC is overworked. Can the new girls help?

Subplot[]

Characters[]

Kristy's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Teenagers

  • Bart Taylor
  • Al Hall - Kelsey Middle School student
  • Amanda Kerner - Kelsey Middle School student
  • Jacqueline Vecchio - Kelsey Middle School student
  • Karl Schmauder - Kelsey Middle School student
  • Trevor Sandbourne
  • Austin Bentley

Adults

  • Seth Engle (mentioned)
  • Mrs. Gianelli (mentioned)
  • Mr. Rodowsky (mentioned)
  • Sylvia Steinert - Stevenson's decorator
  • Mrs. Hobart (mentioned)
  • Mrs. Prezzioso (mentioned)
  • Tabitha Porter (Morbidda Destiny)
  • Neil Davis
  • Mr. Papadakis (mentioned)
  • Mrs. Korman (mentioned)
  • Mr. Hill (mentioned)

Locations[]

Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]

  • Gilligan's Island
  • The Lorax, Esio Trot, Tiffky Doofky, I Am the Cheese, Charlotte's Web (books)
  • Seventeen Magazine
  • Barney
  • Monopoly Junior, Boggle (game)
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • Daffy Duck
  • Grieg (composer)
  • Robin Williams
  • Boy Scouts
  • The Music Man, The Wizard of Oz (movies)

Continuity and Inconsistencies[]

Continuity

  • This is first book without Dawn since she moved in the previous book.
  • Kristy recalls that Stacey is on probation in the BSC since she came back in Stacey and the Bad Girls.
  • All of the hotels that Ms. Steinhert mentions have been mentioned or shown in a previous book.
  • Moon and Sheila were both previously seen in Sea City, Here We Come!.

Inconsistencies

  • On page 10 Shannon brings Buddy and Suzi to Krushers practice but on page 13 she leaves with the Kuhn kids.
  • The Engle family is misspelled as Engel family on page 61.
  • In this book Anna says that "Abby would never dream of actually playing on a team." Yet in Abby the Bad Sport, Abby says that in Long Island, she was the star forward, co-captain, and leading scorer on her school's soccer team.
  • Some of the Krushers get irritated with Kristy because she arranged the sponsorship behind their backs. Kristy admits she should’ve called a team meeting first; she says that’s how she’d introduce new ideas in the BSC. But in book 72, Kristy tries to get the BSC on the news after the We Love Kids Club becomes famous in California; the BSC is irritated because Kristy didn’t discuss the idea with them first. Furthermore, it’s in this book that Claudia says Kristy is always lecturing them about group decisions.
  • Abby and Anna go to Stoneybrook Middle School, when they should go to Kelsey Middle School, since Kristy’s mom had to pay to keep her in SMS.

Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]

Dear reader:

Kristy and the Dirty Diapers is the first book in which Abby Stevenson, the new member of the Baby-sitters Club, and her twin, Anna, appear. When we decided to fill Dawn’s spot in the club with a new character, we also decided to let our readers name the character. Over the years we’ve received many letters from kids suggesting new characters, or names for new characters. So my editors agreed to run a contest to name the new character. Because it takes a year or more to make a book, and because we were already writing about the new character, we had to call her something until the contest was over. So guess what — we called her Lucy Ricardo (after my favorite TV character) and we named her twin Ethel (after Lucy Ricardo’s best friend). I wrote ten manuscripts using the names Lucy and Ethel Ricardo before the contest was over. We had to go back through all those manuscripts before they could be published and change every Lucy and Ethel to Abby and Anna! It was a lot of work, but running the contest was a lot of fun, too. Welcome to the series, Abby and Anna!

Trivia[]

  • This is the first appearance of Abby Stevenson and her family in the main series.
  • The working title of this book was Kristy and the Krushers [1].
  • The bleachers at Stoneybrook Elementary School were destroyed by a summer storm.
  • Kristy is seriously thinking about being a sports reporter.
  • Logan is in football, baseball, volleyball, and track.
  • The houses in Mercer are getting expensive.
  • Shannon worries about her parents' marriage.
  • Stacey carries raisins and packets of honey with her.
  • Abby becomes the assistant coach of the Krushers.
  • Before the Stevenson's moved in the house has been empty "for ages."
  • Shannon is part of the astronomy club and Logan has football practice every day.
  • Kristy says that she gets her forceful personality from her mother.
  • Sam and Charlie have "company behavior" according to Kristy.
  • Abby wears a skirt on page 75.
  • Watson's house is within the Kelsey Middle School district. Mrs. Stevenson decides to send Abby and Anna to SMS and pay the fee so they can go there because there's a good orchestra program at SMS.
  • This is one of the few books Kelsey Middle School students are mentioned in.
  • Anna is in Kristy's math class and Abby is in her English class.
  • The BSC listens to R&B and pop music.
  • They Addisons are mentioned briefly in chapter 11.
  • Stacey carries raisins and packets of honey if she has a insulin reaction.
  • Jessi talks to Anna about classical music.

Gallery[]

Baby-Sitters Club Books
The Summer Before | #1 Kristy's Great Idea | #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls | #3 The Truth About Stacey | #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day | #5 Dawn and the Impossible Three | #6 Kristy's Big Day | #7 Claudia and Mean Janine | #8 Boy-Crazy Stacey | #9 The Ghost at Dawn's House | #10 Logan Likes Mary Anne! | #11 Kristy and the Snobs | #12 Claudia and the New Girl | #13 Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye | #14 Hello, Mallory | #15 Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn | #16 Jessi's Secret Language | #17 Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery | #18 Stacey's Mistake | #19 Claudia and the Bad Joke | #20 Kristy and the Walking Disaster | #21 Mallory and the Trouble with Twins | #22 Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter | #23 Dawn on the Coast | #24 Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise | #25 Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger | #26 Claudia and the Sad Good-bye | #27 Jessi and the Superbrat | #28 Welcome Back, Stacey! | #29 Mallory and the Mystery Diary | #30 Mary Anne and the Great Romance | #31 Dawn's Wicked Stepsister | #32 Kristy and the Secret of Susan | #33 Claudia and the Great Search | #34 Mary Anne and Too Many Boys | #35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook | #36 Jessi's Baby-Sitter | #37 Dawn and the Older Boy | #38 Kristy's Mystery Admirer | #39 Poor Mallory! | #40 Claudia and the Middle School Mystery | #41 Mary Anne vs. Logan | #42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom | #43 Stacey's Emergency | #44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover | #45 Kristy and the Baby Parade | #46 Mary Anne Misses Logan | #47 Mallory on Strike | #48 Jessi's Wish | #49 Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street | #50 Dawn's Big Date | #51 Stacey's Ex-Best Friend | #52 Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies | #53 Kristy for President | #54 Mallory and the Dream Horse | #55 Jessi's Gold Medal | #56 Keep Out, Claudia! | #57 Dawn Saves the Planet | #58 Stacey's Choice | #59 Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) | #60 Mary Anne's Makeover | #61 Jessi and the Awful Secret | #62 Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever | #63 Claudia's Freind Friend | #64 Dawn's Family Feud | #65 Stacey's Big Crush | #66 Maid Mary Anne | #67 Dawn's Big Move | #68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter | #69 Get Well Soon, Mallory! | #70 Stacey and the Cheerleaders | #71 Claudia and the Perfect Boy | #72 Dawn and the We Love Kids Club | #73 Mary Anne and Miss Priss | #74 Kristy and the Copycat | #75 Jessi's Horrible Prank | #76 Stacey's Lie | #77 Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever | #78 Claudia and Crazy Peaches | #79 Mary Anne Breaks the Rules | #80 Mallory Pike, No. 1 Fan | #81 Kristy and Mr. Mom | #82 Jessi and the Troublemaker | #83 Stacey vs. the BSC | #84 Dawn and the School Spirit War | #85 Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO! | #86 Mary Anne and Camp BSC | #87 Stacey and the Bad Girls | #88 Farewell, Dawn | #89 Kristy and the Dirty Diapers | #90 Welcome to the BSC, Abby! | #91 Claudia and the First Thanksgiving | #92 Mallory's Christmas Wish | #93 Mary Anne and the Memory Garden | #94 Stacey McGill, Super Sitter | #95 Kristy + Bart = ? | #96 Abby's Lucky Thirteen | #97 Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby | #98 Dawn and Too Many Sitters | #99 Stacey's Broken Heart | #100 Kristy's Worst Idea | #101 Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout | #102 Mary Anne and the Little Princess | #103 Happy Holidays, Jessi | #104 Abby's Twin | #105 Stacey the Math Whiz | #106 Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade | #107 Mind Your Own Business, Kristy! | #108 Don't Give Up, Mallory! | #109 Mary Anne to the Rescue | #110 Abby the Bad Sport | #111 Stacey's Secret Friend | #112 Kristy and the Sister War | #113 Claudia Makes Up Her Mind | #114 The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier | #115 Jessi's Big Break | #116 Abby and the Best Kid Ever | #117 Claudia and the Terrible Truth | #118 Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer | #119 Stacey's Ex-Boyfriend | #120 Mary Anne and the Playground Fight | #121 Abby in Wonderland | #122 Kristy in Charge | #123 Claudia's Big Party | #124 Stacey McGill... Matchmaker? | #125 Mary Anne in the Middle | #126 The All-New Mallory Pike | #127 Abby's Un-Valentine | #128 Claudia and the Little Liar | #129 Kristy at Bat | #130 Stacey's Movie | #131 The Fire at Mary Anne's House
Super Specials
#1 Baby-sitters on Board! | #2 Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation | #3 Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation | #4 Baby-sitters' Island Adventure | #5 California Girls! | #6 New York, New York! | #7 Snowbound | #8 Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake | #9 Starring the Baby-sitters Club #10 Sea City, Here We Come! | #11 The Baby-sitters Remember | #12 Here Come the Bridesmaids! | #13 Aloha, Baby-sitters! | #14 BSC in the USA | #15 Baby-sitters' European Vacation
Portrait Collection
Stacey's Book | Claudia's Book | Dawn's Book | Mary Anne's Book | Kristy's Book | Abby's Book
Other
The Baby-Sitters Club Notebook (1987) | The Baby-Sitters Club Postcard Book (1991) | Trivia & Puzzle Fun Book (1992) | Ann M. Martin: The Story of the author of the Baby-sitters Club (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Guide to Babysitting (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Chain Letter (1993) | The Baby-Sitters Club Secret Santa (1994) | Audio Books on Cassette Tape (1994-5) | BSC Movie Novelization (1995) | The Complete Guide to the Baby-Sitters Club (1996) | Autograph Book (1998) | BSC Graphic Novels (2006-present) | We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers (2021) | Welcome to Stoneybrook: A Guided Journal (2021) | The Official Coloring Book (2023)
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