REVIEW: The Baby-Sitter’s Club: Kristy’s Great Idea
The Baby-Sitter’s Club: Kristy’s Great Idea
By Raina Telgemeier
180 page, Scholastic Graphix, $10.99
With the well-deserved success of Raina Telgemeier’s original graphic novels, it makes perfect sense for Scholastic to re-release her earlier efforts, adaptations of Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters Club novels. Wisely, they freshened the 2006 material with added color from Braden Lamb and, like a fresh coat of paint, it feels brand new.
Martin launched her bestselling line of Young Adult novels in 1986, totaling 131 standard novels, an additional 15 Super Specials, plus assorted Mysteries, Super Mysteries, Special Edition Readers’ Requests and so on. The last original fiction was actually a prequel to this story, released in 2010.
In 2006, Scholastic hired Telgemeier to adapt the novels in the hopes of a new secondary line of works for readers. After four, sales didn’t meet expectations and they ended. But now they are back with volume one out now and the second due in July.
Telgemeier does a nice job visualizing the four main characters – Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey. Her story moves breezily along, never dwelling too long on a scene or a baby-sitting experience. Some things get telegraphed such as newcomer Stacey’s secret but in keeping with Martin’s deft handling of teen issues, it plays out well.
It’s interesting to see how Telgemeier has grown as an artist in the last decade. Her style is easily recognizable but feels simpler here. Lamb’s color is a lovely layer to the storytelling and complements the artwork nicely.
The novels and this quartet of titles is clearly for a specific female audience but put it in their hands, and they will love it, coming back for more.