Kristy's family has just kept growing! Her mom and Watson adopted a little Vietnamese girl they named Emily Michelle. She's two and a half and totally adorable. Then Kristy's grandmother, Nannie, moved in to help take care of Emily Michelle while Watson and Kristy's mom are at work. And if you add in David Michael's puppy, Watson's cat, and the goldfish Karen and Andrew keep at the house, you've got a pretty huge family.
Talking about Kristy leads me right into telling you about Mary Anne Spier. That's because Kristy and Mary Anne have been best friends ever since they were little. They even look sort of alike. Mary Anne is also on the small side with brown hair and brown eyes. And Mary Anne used to have long hair like Kristy's, but she got it cut short recently.
Even though Mary Anne and Kristy are best friends, their personalities are quite different. Mary Anne isn't a big talker, but she's a great listener. She really cares about people and is very sensitive. (Mary Anne cries easily, especially when sad things happen to other people.) Like Kristy, Mary Anne is now part of a blended family. Originally she was an only child. Her mother died when she was a baby and for most of her life her family consisted of her and her father. This wasn't always easy on Mary Anne since her father was pretty strict. But then something happened that changed Mary Anne's life. Dawn Schafer moved to town. She became Mary Anne's other best friend and her stepsister! Here's how that happened. Dawn came to Stoneybrook from California when her parents got divorced. Mrs. Schafer had grown up in Stoneybrook and I guess she wanted to be nearer to her own parents after the divorce.