11/1/24

Kristy and the Walking Disaster (GN#16)

Publication Date: 2024

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

Illustrator: Ellen T. Crenshaw with color by Braden Lamb and Jason Caffoe

Synopsis:

Pretty close to the original book--although something about this version was way easier to read. It's not as boring in this format.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: She's seen looking for some under her bed, and finding a long-lost paintbrush

Kristy's squeamish reaction to loose teeth is still intact:


Their Families: 

Angry Boo-Boo!

It's not good to let Karen do things like this. It's going to make life difficult for her in the long run.


The Club (and clients): 

Club meeting, with Tigger--who escapes to Janine's room:




The Rodowsky family, without red hair. And Kristy even references it by still calling Archie "red." No, you're not The Shawshank Redemption, you're one of the most boring BSC books; you don't get to do that.
(For those not in the know, the character of Red in the book is so named because he has red hair, but Morgan Freeman was--perfectly--cast to play him in the movie, and being Black, does not have red hair. In the movie he's asked why he's called red and jokes, "Maybe it's 'cause I'm Irish." A blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment also reveals his last name to be Redding.)



SMS: nothing new

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to the "members of the Lunch Club" and Crenshaw to "Mom and Dad. Thank you for evening readings of the comics pages; for grammar lessons, swing dancing, sing-alongs, and endless hands of rummy. Most of all, thank you for enthusiastically supporting my career as an artist."

I love the way American Sign Language is portrayed throughout the book. The bolded words are the ones being signed, and they're drawn well.