History TearJerker / TheBabySittersClub

*** As another note, the family later finds Mimi's obituary written in her bedroom, and she's listed her death as the same year, proving that she knew she wasn't going to live much longer. She'd even marked several of her belongings with the initials of the person she wanted them to go to.

* Jessi's baby brother, Squirt, getting hurt in a car wreck in ''Happy Holidays, Jessi''. Jessi blames herself for unbuckling his seat belt, while her normally stern Aunt Cecelia insists ''she'' should be in the hospital right now for braking too early while driving, despite the fact that the other car was coming too fast. Meanwhile, Mr. Ramsey feels that the whole thing was HIS fault - if he hadn't insisted that Cecelia be more lenient with the kids, she never would have allowed Jessi to unbuckle Squirt.

** ''Kristy and the Secret of Susan'' gave us Susan Felder, a musically gifted girl with autism. Throughout the book, both Susan and other kids with disabilities are made fun of routinely; probably more of an angry-maker than a TearJerker, especially when you consider [[AdultsAreUseless how clueless the adults in these kids' lives, especially Susan's parents, are about what the kids need and are trying to communicate.]] And then there’s the ''heavy'' implication that Susan will become TheUnfavorite in her family if her unborn sister is born neurotypical.

** ''Kristy and the Secret of Susan'' gave us Susan Felder, a musically gifted girl with autism. Throughout the book, both Susan and other kids with disabilities are made fun of routinely; probably more of an angry-maker than a TearJerker, especially when you consider [[AdultsAreUseless how clueless the adults in these kids' lives, especially Susan's parents, are about what the kids need and are trying to communicate.]] And then there’s the ''heavy'' implication that Susan will be TheUnfavorite to her unborn sister.

** Near the end of the book, the sitters have a conversation about the Lowell children, after seeing them watch the performance forlornly but not join in. The sitters decide that they're not really bad children, just unlucky enough to have been born into a racist family. All they can do is hope that when the Lowells go to school with kids of other races, they'll learn to let go of their prejudices. (That is, of course, assuming their mother doesn't decide to homeschool them, as many parents with extreme views of all kinds do in real life to prevent their children from learning anything but their preferred beliefs.) It's a HardTruthAesop -- sometimes you can't fix everything even if you really want to, especially when you're a kid yourself.

* Speaking of Mary Anne, her mother died when she was so young that she has no memory of the woman at all. Over the years she's had to contend with several Mother's Day projects, her father's over-protectiveness, and her relationship with Logan, all without the guidance of a mother (at least until Sharon comes into the picture). She attempts to be a very good girl, she loses a (non-BSC) friend to a freak accident, she can be the butt of some jokes due to her meek nature, and [[UpToEleven her house burns down]]. She also loses Mimi, Claudia's grandmother, who functioned as something of a maternal figure for her during her childhood.

* Jessi's baby brother, Squirt, getting hurt in a car wreck in ''Happy Holidays, Jessi''. Jessi blames herself for unbuckling his seat belt, while her normally stern Aunt Cecelia insists she should be in the hospital right now for braking too early while driving, despite the fact that the other car was coming too fast. Meanwhile, Mr. Ramsey feels that the whole thing was HIS fault - if he hadn't insisted that Cecelia be more lenient with the kids, she never would have allowed Jessi to unbuckle Squirt.

** While hospitalized during her downward spiral, Mimi unexpectedly calls Claudia one night. At the end of the conversation, Claudia cheerfully tells her grandmother (who's scheduled to return home the very next day) that she'll see her "tomorrow". But Mimi ''never'' comes home- she passes away that night (likely just hours after the phone call). In other words, Mimi clearly ''knew'' her time was up and was calling Claudia to say goodbye- and "her" Claudia was probably the ''last person she ever spoke to''.

** The events of ''Logan Likes Mary Anne!'' imply that Mary Anne with her worries that everyone is laughing at her and disliking her for running out of her surprise birthday party out of nerves, may have anxiety issues. The original book had her apologize to Stacey for not being outgoing (while Stacey said she will be more patient in the future), while the graphic novel changed it to where ''Stacey'' apologizes for putting her in that situation (knowing how Mary Anne is) and consoles her, telling her "you do know that even if you don't do it right, we still like you".
* Jessi's baby brother, Squirt, getting hurt in a car wreck in ''Happy Holidays, Jessi''. Jessi blames herself for unbuckling his seat belt, while her normally stern Aunt Cecelia insists she should be in the hospital right now for braking too early while driving, despite the fact that the other car was coming too fast (meanwhile, Mr. Ramsey feels that the whole thing was HIS fault- if he hadn't insisted that Cecelia be more lenient with the kids, she never would have allowed Jessi to unbuckle Squirt).

* A subplot taking place over several books was Claudia's aunt Peaches trying for a baby. After several failed attempts, she finally gets pregnant -- only to lose the much longed-for baby. [[spoiler:This was eventually happily resolved with Peaches having a healthy baby.]]

* The California Diaries spin-off series has a TON of these, perhaps the most notable being Sunny's mother's cancer battle and eventual death, in which both Sunny and the readers are treated to every painful moment of her death.

** Ducky witnessed his friend Alex try to commit suicide TWICE. The second time, he almost dies and Ducky has to call the police. Alex then goes to Chicago. Plus, Ducky’s parents are away most of the time traveling, and he misses them when they are gone but when they are home Ducky wishes they were gone. And he is bullied by his friend Ted and the other guys. At the end of the series, it is heavily implied that Ducky is also gay.

** Jessi's reaction is especially hard. She had spent a lot of time preparing for the job and revamping her Kid Kit especially for this family, [[KickTheDog only to have the door slammed in her face for being black.]]

** Danielle, the little girl [[spoiler: with cancer]] in ''Jessi's Wish.'' [[spoiler:The fact that the book ends with her going back into the hospital doesn't help.]]

** Near the end of the book, the sitters have a conversation about the Lowell children, after seeing them watch the performance forlornly but not join in. The sitters decide that they're not really bad children, just unlucky enough to have been born into a racist family. All they can do is hope that when the Lowells go to school with kids of other races, they'll learn to let go of their prejudices. (That is, of course, assuming their mother doesn't decide to homeschool them, as many parents with extreme views of all kinds do in real life to prevent their children from learning anything but their preferred beliefs.) It's a HardTruthAesop -- sometimes, even when you know something wrong is happening, you can't always prevent it, especially when you're a kid yourself.

** Near the end of the book, the sitters have a conversation about the Lowell children, after seeing them watch the performance forlornly but not join in. The sitters decide that they're not really bad children, just unlucky enough to have been born into a racist family. All they can do is hope that when the Lowells go to school with kids of other races, they'll learn to let go of their prejudices. (That is, of course, assuming their mother doesn't decide to homeschool them, as many parents with extreme views of all kinds do in real life to prevent their children from learning anything but their preferred beliefs.)

** [[spoiler: The death of Boo-Boo in book #103. The previous book had addressed his aging and the family getting a new kitten, but his health declines and he loses weight until one day he takes a nap in the linen closet and dies peacefully in his sleep. Even though he's old, it's still a big loss for the family since he'd been around for a long time. Watson had had him since he was a tiny kitten (and of course it ''had'' to be him who discovered Boo-Boo's lifeless body).]]