Claudia and Mean Janine (GN#4)

Original Publication Date: 2008

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier

Synopsis:

Like the others, this graphic novel version of Claudia and Mean Janine is faithful to the original book. The second Claudia-narrated book was chosen instead of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls because it was a story that included more about Claudia's family and would also translate better to a visual medium.

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: M&Ms, cookies, low-carb pretzels for Stacey and Dawn, candy bars, Gummi bears, taffy, lollipops, chips, gum

No name-brand candies were harmed in the drawing of this book:

Their Families:

Claudia shows her family the portrait she painted:

Kristy, Dawn, and Jeff:

The Club (and clients):

Claudia's handwriting (and spelling):

Dawn's handwriting:

Claudia with the Newton kids:

Summer playgroup:

At the end of the book, Claudia says she'll have to cut back on baby-sitting a little. The new school is starting and she wants to be able to focus at least some on her studies. Kristy suggests they invite Mallory Pike to join, who helped then with the summer playgroup.


SMS:

Some SMS teachers:

PSA Time:

Baby powder, especially the kind with talc, isn't recommended for babies anymore.


Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her "Aunt Adele and Uncle Paul," and Telgemeier gives "thanks to everyone who helped make this project a reality! Dave Roman, Marion Vitus, John Green, Ashley Button, Janna Morishima, David Saylor, David Levithan, Cassandra Pelham, Eliie Berger, Sheila Keenan, Kristina Albertson, Phil Falco, Vera Brosgol, Dr. Laurie Kane, the Green family: Bill, Martha, and MarMar, and most especially, Ann M. Martin."

The storm that opens Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls opens this book. Some other elements of that book are in here, too. For example, Kristy's mom and Watson aren't married yet.

Mary Anne Saves the Day (GN#3)

Original Publication Date: 2007

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier

Synopsis:

This graphic novel version of Mary Anne Saves the Day is faithful to the original book. Some fun additions are Mary Anne daydreaming of wowing her classmates with a new look, and a visualization of a nightmare that the other three members of the BSC make up and shut her out. The drawings that flesh out the fights, meeting Dawn, and other events are done very well.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Ring Dings


Their Families:

It just occurred to me that Mary Anne and her father are shown praying before meals, one of the few times we see a character participating in a religious activity. And Mary Anne's father is fairly strict and controlling in the early books. Later religious characters are sometimes portrayed as straw men, like Merry Dow's censorship-crusading mother. I wonder if Martin has had some less-than-pleasant interaction with holier-than-thou types.

Richard Spier is illustrated with a beard. I've always pictured him clean-shaven, probably because my dad is a lawyer and doesn't have facial hair.

Mary Anne's internal dialogue says her mom died of cancer. Previous books had her dying of some sort of lingering illness, and cancer certainly fits the bill.

Mary Anne and her dad:



Dawn arranges a meeting for her mom and Mary Anne's dad (pretty much exactly how I pictured it):




The Club (and clients):

Mary Anne's handwriting:



Mr. Prezzioso tips Mary Anne and Dawn each $50 instead of $20.

Mary Anne with a sick Jenny:



The Pikes:



Dawn officially joins the club:




SMS:

The Shillaber twins are brunettes. There were three sets of twins in my class, a total of four girls and two boys. For some reason I've been associating the set of blonde-haired fraternal sisters with the Shillabers rather than the brown-haired identical sisters (the boys were also identical). I didn't realize that until I saw the drawing and the Shillaber twins weren't blonde.



PSA Time: Nothing stood out


Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her "Beth McKeever Perkins, my old baby-sitting buddy. With Love (and years of memories)," and Telgemeier gives "thanks to David Saylor, Cassandra Pelham, Ellie Berger, Marion Vitus, Alisa Harris, Alison Wilgus, Zack Giallongo, Steve Flak, Phil Falco, Braden Lamb, and John Green. And of course, thanks to my husband, Dave Roman, for always encouraging me to do my best."

The Truth About Stacey (GN#2)

Original Publication Date: 2006

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier

Synopsis:

Like all the graphic novels, this is a re-telling of one of the first books in a different format: The Truth About Stacey. Things are pretty much the same, even down to the fake names Kristy gives the Baby-sitters Agency. There are some more details about Stacey's diabetes (like a conversation with her parents about her blood sugar numbers) and reaction shots to things like Stacey being diagnosed with diabetes (this time in a hospital after fainting and being rushed in an ambulance) and the Baby-sitters Agency.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Lifesavers, package of cookies

The girls with their Kid-Kits (they used the same sort of boxes I did):




Their Families:

Claudia's family has lots of board games.

The McGills:




The Club (and clients):

Stacey's handwriting:



Lucy Newton weighed NINE POUNDS at birth. Terrifying. (My kids weighed 6 lb 11 oz, 7 lb 3 oz, and 7 lb 1 oz; in that order)

Stacey and Charlotte:




SMS:

The drawings of the school look about how I'd pictured SMS.


PSA Time:

Stacey leaves opened scissors on the floor as she wraps Christmas presents. Looking at the picture, it's like I can hear my dad saying not to leave scissors open.


Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her "old pal, Claudia Werner," and Telgemeier gives "very big thanks to Marion Vitus, Adam Girardet, Duane Ballanger, Lisa Jonte, Arthur Levine, KC Whitehall, and Hope Larson. As always, a huge thank you to my family, my friends, and especially, Dave."

Okay, here's a big difference from the 1986 book: they play music on a CD!

Laine's wearing braces on her teeth.

Stacey and Laine in Times Square:



Stacey's dinner broken down into diabetic-relevant nutritional information:

Kristy's Great Idea (GN#1)

Original Publication Date: 2006

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier

Synopsis:

In 2006, artist Raina Telgemeier worked with Ann M. Martin to create four graphic novel retellings of early Baby-sitters Club books. The plots and much of the dialogue are the same as the original books, with a few differences (for example, Claudia has part of her hair dyed purple). They're a fun read. I'm planning to use some of my birthday money to get my own copies--the ones I'm reading now are from the library.

Kristy's Great Idea is the natural starting point.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: bag of unspecified chocolates, Gummi Bears, licorce

Kristy usually wears her hair down rather than in a ponytail.


Their Families:

David Michael is illustrated with a tooth missing. I think it's a nice touch.

The Thomas family (Sam's in the ball cap):

David Michael and Louie:

Watson, Karen, and Andrew (with Boo-Boo and Mary Anne):

The Club (and clients):

Kristy gets her great idea:

Kristy's handwriting:

Buffy and Pinky, the dogs Kristy watches, appear to be St. Bernards or Bernese mountain dogs.

Club flyer:

SMS:

Kristy's essay on decorum:

PSA Time:

One child Claudia watches is recovering from the chicken pox. Fortunately, we now have a vaccine against that--which means no shingles in adulthood, either!


Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her "Beth McKeever Perkids, my old baby-sitting buddy, with love (and years of memories)," and Telgemeier thanks "Dave, Mom, Dad, Amara, Will, Grandma, Diane, Bruce, the Roman family, the Rigores family, the Cuevas family, K. C., Marisa, Jason, my editors, my friends, my co-workers, and my fellow comic artists."

The illustrations of Kristy's sitting job with the dogs are hilarious. And messy--someone else who checked the book out of the library before me must have been eating chocolate or something. But the smears are appropriate on the pictures of the dogs tearing around the yard.

There are also scribbles on the pages of Claudia watching Jamie Newton and his wild cousins. Also fitting.

Sheep are no longer in. But rainbows are: