Welcome Back, Stacey! is the 28th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series.
Back Cover Summary[]
Stacey's parents have been fighting a lot lately. Even so, she's still not prepared for the terrible news: her parents are getting divorced.
Not only is Stacey sad and angry, but now she has a big decision to make: Stacey must either stay in New York with her father, or move out with her mother...to Stoneybrook.
Could Stacey really leave the city, her father, her best friend Laine, and all that great shopping? But then again, how could Stacey pass up going back to her old school, all the kids in Stoneybrook... and the members of the Baby-sitters Club?
Summary[]
The book starts with Stacey McGill living in New York while she is babysitting the Walkers, her favorite charges, in the city.
Later when she returns to the family apartment she hears her parents fighting about money, lately they have been fighting a lot about her mom's shopping and her dad being a workaholic and rarely ever being home to see the family. Crying she runs to Laine's apartment, and tells her about the fight between her parents; she also says that she thinks they are no longer in love with one another.
Later that night she finds out that her parents are getting a divorce, which makes her sad and furious.
A couple of weeks later, her mom decides to go back to Stoneybrook. Stacey goes back to Stoneybrook with her mom rather than staying in New York with her dad.
Subplot[]
Characters[]
Stacey's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- Grace and Henry Walker
- Jackie Rodowsky (mentioned)
- Charlotte Johanssen
- Claire Pike (mentioned)
Teenagers
- Laine Cummings
- Caitlin, Keith, Shayla - students whose parents have divorced (mentioned)
- Alan Gray (mentioned)
- Bart Taylor (mentioned)
- Allison and Jean - girls in Stacey and Laine's friend group
Adults
- Mr. & Mrs. Walker
- Isaac, James, and Lloyd - the Dakota's attendants
- Mrs. Kaufman - Stacey's homeroom teacher
- Judy - Homeless person who lives nears Stacey's apartment
- Ms. Keller - real estate agent in Stoneybrook
- Miss Antonio and Anita - workers at Gristede's
- Dr. Johanssen
- Mrs. Perkins (mentioned)
- Mr. McGill
- Ms. McGill
Locations[]
- Walker apartment
- McGill apartment
- McGill House
- Kishi House
- Cummings Apartment
- 4221 Rosedale
- House on Burnt Hill Road
- Gristede's - Grocery store the McGill's are getting boxes from
- Johanssen House
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- I Love Lucy, Star Trek (TV shows)
- Rosemary's Baby
- The Dakota
- The Snowy Day, The Owl and the Pussycat, Angus and the Ducks, Millions of Cats, Outside Over There (books)
- Bloomingdale's
- The Hard Rock Cafe
- The New York Times
- Annie
- Campbell's Soup
- Twinkies, Lifesavers
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- Stacey narrates about Claudia losing her grandmother from Claudia and the Sad Good-bye.
- On page 57 Stacey recalls "Trip-man" whom Sharon had dated in The Ghost at Dawn's House.
- Stacey recalls going to camp which happened in Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation.
- The previous owners of the house that lived behind Mallory are brought up, which are the same ones the Pikes spy on in Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye.
- Allison, the girl in Stacey's New York friend group, was first brought up in The Baby-sitters Remember.
- Stacey mentions the doctor who wanted to change her entire life to help manage her diabetes. This was Dr. Barnes from The Truth About Stacey.
Inconsistencies
- Dawn says she wishes Kristy would miss a meeting because she's dying to be president for a day, and Kristy says that'll never happen. But she missed a meeting in Kristy and the Snobs when Louie was very sick. Dawn was the alternate officer, so she would've taken over as president for that meeting.
- Stacey says that she's never lived on the East Side of Manhattan. But in Stacey's Book, she moved from Greenwich Village to the Upper East Side when she was three.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Welcome Back, Stacey, Stacey has been away from Stoneybrook since book #13. During the time that she was away, I realized that she was a crucial member of the Baby-sitters Club, and I wanted to return her to Stoneybrook. Also during that time, I was beginning to receive more and more letters. Many of them were from readers whose parents were going through a divorce, just like Stacey’s. Some of them, like Stacey, were faced with difficult decisions. They said that they felt confused, and wished they could read a story about a favorite character who is in their position. And that was how the idea for Welcome Back, Stacey was born.
Trivia[]
- A reprint was released May 7, 2024.[1]
- Maureen spent about 490 dollars in jewelry at Altmans which would be about $1,123.70 in 2022 using the original publishing date.
- At Tiffany's she spent 1568 which would be $3,595.85 in 2022.
- Ed refuses to commute to the city if he moved back to Stoneybrook.
- Laine's parents hardly ever fight.
- When she was younger, Stacey would bounce up and down in the elevator.
- Stacey got a D on her English quiz.
- Maureen and Ed have been fighting since they first moved to Stoneybrook.
- They also have seen a marriage counselor.
- Mr. McGill calls Stacey by her full name.
- Stacey didn't really have many friends of her own in New York.
- The first musical Stacey ever saw was Annie.
- Claudia goes house hunting with Stacey and Maureen.
- Donna and Stewart are mutual friends of Ed and Maureen.
- Stacey has pictures that Grace and Henry made for her on the wall of her room in Connecticut.
- The families mentioned in chapter 14 are: the Pikes, Karen and Andrew, David Michael, Becca Ramsey, the Perkins girls, Jamie Newton, Arnold Twins, and the Braddocks.
- Stacey's parents set aside money so she could decorate her rooms however she wanted.
- Stacey calls some of the kids at her old school in New York snobs.
- Stacey gets placed into a high school level algebra class.
Gallery[]
