Each of these books revive the insanely popular series "The Babysitters Club" written by Ann M. Martin between 1986-2000 in the form of a graphic novel by Rainia Telgemeier.
In the first book, Kristy and her friends form the club that allows parents to call all the girls at once and they split up the babysitting jobs between them. Each subsequent book continues the story and is told from the point of view of a single girl, tackling the problem at the moment such as:
*dealing with the prospect of a parent remarrying and integrating families
*a secret and understanding a friend with diabetes
*a fight within the group that lasts for a month
*growing pains and a parent who won't let their little girl grow up
*fights with siblings
*sick grandparents
*meeting new friends
Each of these books have been (slightly) updated to appeal to the current intended audience while keeping the integrity of the original text.
What I Thought:
[Squeal!!!]
I must preface this by saying I was a HUGE BSC fan in elementary/Jr. high school. I would buy the books in sets of four from Sam's Club. I would start at #1 and read all the way through, then begin again. My mom would be frustrated because it seemed all I would read was BSC books. And I was okay with that.
(However, I am sad that I missed out on all kids of good literature from that time period. I hope to catch up on that one day.)
When I was in high school, my mom told me it was time to clean out the room and get rid of things I didn't use anymore. So, I packed up the BSC books and sold them to a local second hand bookstore.
I want them back now.
Anyway, when I saw book 1 (Kristy's Great Idea) at a chain bookstore about 18 months ago, I ran to the checkout to buy it and immediately sat and read it. In about 30 minutes. BUT, it was like a time machine zapped me back to my 10 year old self. The stories of each of these are identical to how I remember and it was refreshing to see the story brought to life by the illustrations.
Raina Telgemeier was a huge BSC fan herself and has done the series well in these graphic novels.
These are a fun "blast from the past" for lovers of this series, and a wonderful way to introduce the series to young readers today.
Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment