The California Diaries series is a spin-off of Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitters Club.
The main conflict of the series arises when the eighth grade is merged with the high school.
This series covers more mature themes than The Baby-Sitters Club, such as alcohol, eating disorders, and cancer.
The interior illustrations in Amalia's diaries are by Stieg Retlin.
The first six books of the series have been translated into German, with Dawn's name changed to Julia, and Amalia to Anna.
[1] Dawn Schafer, a member of The Baby-Sitters Club from Connecticut, returns to California to live with her father, stepmother, and brother.
She spends the majority of the series trying to keep the group together, and to balance her desire to live in two states at once.
She gains a little sister named Elizabeth Grace ("Gracie") later in the series.
Her mother is suffering (and eventually dies) from lung cancer, and her father works all the time in his bookstore to avoid his pain, so he doesn't pay much attention to her.
Sunny's rebellious behavior and negative attitude towards her friends are the main sources of conflict throughout the series, though Sunny's diaries reveal that she's acting out to get the attention she desires from her parents.
In her third diary, her mother dies, leading Sunny to finally reconcile with her friends.
Maggie Blume is a girl whose father is obsessed with his job as a studio executive, but also puts pressure on her to have a detailed plan for high school and succeed academically.
Maggie's true passion, however, is songwriting, which she hides fearing her father's disapproval; once her friends learn of her talent, however, she ends up becoming the lead singer for a band called Vanish.
Maggie's early diaries also focus on her crush on another student, Justin Randall, whom she sees as unattainable.
Her mother's alcoholism eventually helps Maggie realize that she has a problem as well.
The other band members are Maggie, Patti, Bruce, Justin, and Rico.
His old friends, Jason (nicknamed "Jay") and Alex have previously drifted away.
Jason is interested in girls, and Alex has depression and suicidal tendencies.