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.

Karen's Sleepover (LSGN#8)

 Publication date: 2024

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

Illustrators: Katy Farina

Synopsis:

Karen is set to host her first sleepover party, and of course is beyond excited. She brainstorms with Kristy about what to do, and even hand-writes invitations and mails them. But Nancy doesn't get hers, and gets furious about feeling left out--all the other girls in the class got invitations! She does it get a few days later, but Karen's already so mad at Nancy's behavior over something completely out of Karen's control (she mailed them all the same day from the same place) that she un-invites Nancy. They're not best friends anymore; they're best enemies. 

It's a stupid fight, but a completely believable one for seven-year-olds.

Distraction comes in the form of Pamela Harding, a new girl to the class. She's super cool and sophisticated. Naturally, Karen is eager to befriend her, and invites her to the sleepover. The big day arrives, but Karen and her other friends quickly notice that Pamela is too busy acting too mature for everything to have fun, and makes them feel like babies for liking what they do. After talking with Kristy for a bit, Karen calls Nancy and they make up, and she comes over to rescue the party. She's able to let the snide comments roll off her back (e.g.; Pamela says she only sleeps in beds, not sleeping bags; Nancy calmly says, "How boring.") and get the party back on track. The next day after the other classmates have gone home, Karen, Nancy, and Hannie reflect that they've had a few fights, usually over silly things. They vow to become the Three Musketeers, and be friends for life.

Continuity related to BSC books:

"Kristy and her friends in the Baby-sitters Club have lots of sleepovers." True.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book in honor of "the birth of Emma Feiwel" and Farina to "all the readers who have joined me on my adventures with Karen."

Drawings of Angry Boo-Boo are always gold.

Pamela Harding:

Subtle but sweet touch: Charlie is holding Andrew and Emily Michelle on his lap to read them a book.

Julie and the Blue Guitar

Published in 2024; author Casey Gilly; illustrator Felia Hanakata; with layout by Sarah Stern, coloring by Sunbiscuit, and lettering by Joamette Gil

Plot

Fifth-grader Emma Dhillon has just moved to San Francisco, to an apartment in the building where Julie used to live with her mom. The building now has a thrift shop, where Emma finds Julie's old diary. She and Julie have a lot in common, most notably their parents' recent divorces. Through the diary, Emma gets a glimpse into Julie's life during the events of the Julie mystery book The Silver Guitar (the story's not identical, but it's very close and the book jacket mentions it with credit to that author; I'm betting that the color switch was due to wanting a color that stood out more for the graphic novel). Here, the titular guitar is said to have belonged to folk singer Lacey Blick rather than a Jimi Hendrix expy, the Vernons' cat is very sweet instead of spoiled, the Vernons both enthusiastically enjoy collecting a few sentimental and historical items some of which also go missing, and Mrs. Vernon is very nice. The stolen items end up having been hocked to various stores, and Julie and TJ track them down (except for a baseball signed by Willie Mays), eventually linking the thefts to the pair of photographers hired to document the items for the auction.

First page of Julie's journal

As Emma reads the tale in the journal, she's inspired to make a movie about trying to track down Julie. She and her dad travel to some of the places mentioned in the journal--they figure it's a good way to learn about their new home. In the process, Emma, who's naturally very shy, ends up befriending Hana, who helps Emma with research at the library. Not only is Emma able to find Julie, she also finds the autographed baseball--the thieves used to live in the apartment that Emma and her dad moved to, and Emma finds small hidden door, with the baseball behind it. She's able to present it to Julie in person, who in turn contacts the Vernons' nephew (the Vernons have passed away). The nephew lets Emma keep it, and she auctions it off for charity.

Emma meets Julie, who's on the San Francisco city council

Emma finishes her movie, shows it in her new school, and soon has joined the AV club. She's happy to have found a way to both be herself and make friends.

A Peek into the Past

This section talks about some of the famous 70s music stars like Jimi Hendrix, and how they "played hard and died young" leaving valuable memorabilia that has been auctioned for various causes. The 70s also saw a large wave of benefit activities like concerts and other fundraisers to help with everything from school funding to environmental concerns.

Misc

This is the first book a new series, Mysteries Across Time. There is a book featuring Isabel and Nicki...and Bigfoot announced for next year. I hope The X-Files gets a mention; it was not only very popular in their time period but a good chunk of the series was filmed in the Pacific Northwest.

Special thanks are given to Janelle Asselin, Katherine Cartwright, Jodie Goldberg, Jennifer Hirsch, Vaeries Paulin, Molly Schlichting, and Wendy Walsh for their "invaluable assistance."

The last two pages of the book are a spread informing the reader how graphic novels are made.

One of the items that's featured in the 70s is an antique friendship quilt, which may well be the one from Happy Birthday, Kirsten! 

I like that the librarian is in a wheelchair but it's not a big deal. You'd never know aside from the illustrations--same case for Emma being POC. Visual media is great for this sort of thing.

This is genuinely great representation and I love it

Girl of the Year 2024: Lila Goes for the Gold

Author: Erin Falligant
Illustrator: Vivienne To
Published: 2024

Summary

Lila Monetti is a gymnast growing up in St. Paul, MN. She loves gymnastics, and is aspiring to make the top-level Gold team at her gym. Even better, her best friend Katie is joining the gym! Lila is thrilled when Coach McKenna (yes, it's that McKenna; she's in Minnesota for college) announces a mock meet to try out for the Gold team. But when she and Katie are visiting their favorite horse at a nearby stable, a sound spooks the animal and it steps on Lila's toe, bruising it badly. She still tries to push forward with gymnastics, and injures it more. Now she'll have to sit out a week of practice, and the mock meet is less than a month away. But she practices as she's able, and when the mock meet rolls around, she performs better than she ever has, and makes the Gold team!

Lila's thrilled, and excited for the new challenges that lie ahead. But Katie, who had been on the verge of terrified the whole time, turns out to like neither competition nor the spotlight. And while the two best friends work together to try to keep Coach McKenna from being homesick, they're starting to have less and less in common. Is their friendship in trouble as well as their coach? 

Maybe, especially after Coach McKenna has to rush back to Seattle for a family emergency, leaving the assistant coach in charge. Some of Lila's teammates don't have much faith in her, and Katie's stress leads to her fighting with another teammate. By the time Halloween rolls around, Lila and Katie are barely speaking. They had planned to go trick-or-treating together as a horse, but Lila ends up dressing as a cat to take her younger brother out, and sees Katie with another friend, the two dressed in matching witch costumes.

After a heart-to-heart with her mom about friendships growing and evolving and drifting and coming back together, Lila invites Katie to go with her to the farm to watch some baby goats (which are established earlier as very important to Katie). As they patch things up, they're inspired to help the gymnastics team start working together as a team again. When the big meet happens later in the month, the team is back to its old self, and several of them, including Lila and Katie, earn medals for their efforts.

Misc 

The author dedicates her book to "Heidi Belz, the goat whisperer, and Sarah and her coaching crew at Madtown Twisters."

Halloween takes place on a Thursday, as it will in 2024.

Lila's mother is a nurse at a children's hospital, and works long hours.

McKenna attends the University of Minnesota. A mock interview at the end of the book confirms that she is indeed the 2012 Girl of the Year. I was a little annoyed when I saw the book that there was yet another gymnast during an Olympics year (why not track and field or another sport?) but when the book states that college-age Coach McKenna is from Seattle, it made sense.

The last few pages of the book have tips on creating strong teams and being effect leaders.

Karen's Haircut (LSGN#7)

 Publication date: 2023

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

Illustrators: Katy Farina, with color by Braden Lamb

Synopsis:

Karen's going through an awkward phase: not really used to her glasses yet, teeth falling out and growing in unevenly--she feels ugly. Though her family and friends reassure her, she wants to change something. Her parents agree that she can get a manicure and haircut at a salon. The pampering initially makes Karen feel good, but the haircut ends up vastly different from what she wanted (this despite her bringing in a reference picture--I'd be so upset!). Karen is so embarrassed by her hair. She tries to stay strong, but her class definitely notices. She gets teased, and her friend Hannie says that with the haircut, Karen can't be in her "wedding" she has planned with another classmate. Karen dresses in her best outfit and tries going by a different, elegant name (Tiffanie, then Krystal, then Gazelle, then Chantal), but everyone has trouble remembering--except Ricky, who initially teased Karen's new appearance. But Hannie still says Karen isn't pretty enough for the wedding.

Karen keeps persisting though, and her perseverance pays off. She starts getting used to some things (like her glasses), and other things start to get better (her hair grows out a little, her teeth start growing in). After two weeks, she feels like Karen again, and Hannie has an epiphany about how unfair she's been to Karen--Hannie herself falls riding her bike and knocks out two teeth. She assumes her "fiancé" Scott won't want to "marry" her anymore, but he says he's "marrying" her, not her teeth. The "wedding" continues as planned, although when David Michael, as the minister, calls for the groom to kiss the bride, both Hannie and Scott protest in disgust.

Perhaps most surprising, Ricky approaches Karen...and asks if they can get "married" some day.

Continuity related to BSC books:

Emily Michelle isn't talking much.

Karen's relationship with Nannie is briefly featured, and it's sweet. I was very close with my grandmother, who was technically my step-grandmother. She passed away a few months ago, and it's nice to see a loving grandparent-grandchild relationship without regard to blood relation.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book in honor of "the birth of Maxwell Joseph Lieb." Farina dedicates it to "everyone who is finding themselves."

I never played Lovely Ladies like Karen likes to, but a good friend and I did have "tea parties" in first grade at lunchtime. We'd pour whatever drinks into our cups and declare the "tea" a "special family recipe."

Karen's haircut in the graphic novel does look odd on her, and it's uneven. It's also so short that she can't style it much, and will take a while to grow out. But it's not the ugly mullet of the original chapter book!

I never got the thing with the fake weddings that Karen's whole class seems to do. In second grade and younger, there were boys I thought were cute and there were also boys I was friends with, but we never even pretended to date, let along have fake weddings. Although one couple got married a few months before we all graduated high school...

Claudia and the Bad Joke (GN#15)

Publication Date: 2024

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

Illustrator: Arley Nopra

Synopsis:

One of my very favorite BSC books! 

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: The "pant brushes" make an appearance

Their Families: 

The Kishi family

The Club (and clients): 

I was hoping this version would fix Claudia owing dues from her time in the hospital, but nope. That's just rotten. Also, who has the audacity to call the BSC back to baby-sit again with no attempt to make things right after your kid causes a sitter to break her leg so badly that she needs to be in a cast for months? 

I remember this scene well from the original

SMS:

Ashley Wyeth visits Claudia in the hospital.

Claudia's homeroom calls her when she's recovering at home

PSA Time:

A good rule for practical jokes: Confuse, don't abuse. 

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to the memory of "Lyman Chamberlain Martin--Grandpappy--who always liked a good joke."

Nopra dedicates it to "my family, who never stopped believing in me. For my grandmas, who I thought of fondly during the making of this book. For Thoa, who I could always count on to have my back. To everyone who reminded me to drink water, thank you! And for Bengee, who cheered me up when I needed it the most. You made me laugh and you are infinitely awesome for that!"

The way Claudia reacts to having her leg broken is impressive when you remember she's 13. I nearly cut off part of my finger with hedge trimmers when I was 32, and like Claudia I had to take care of the kids (my toddler and preschooler) while treating the injury and figuring out a ride (we only had one car at the time, and my husband was at work 40 minutes away). My injury wasn't nearly as bad as Claudia's, but there were logistics to consider.  And I purposely didn't call my mom until after I'd been seen at the hospital, because like Mimi, she wouldn't have been able to get to in a timely fashion and she would have just worried. Maybe Claudia's level-headedness was in the back of my mind.

Mary Anne brings a cute stuffed animal for Claudia instead of Tigger--expressly saying she wanted to bring the cat, but that this was more practical.

World By Us: Maritza: Lead With Your Heart

Author: Angela Cervantes
Illustrator: Caroline Garcia and Flavia Conley
Published in 2021

Makena, Maritza, and Evette are three middle school girls in the Anacostia area of Washington, DC. They want to make the world a better place.

Summary

Maritza "Itza" Ochoa describes herself as "Bolivian on [her] mother's side, Colombian on [her] father's side, and 100% American soccer player." She loves her heritage and culture, and she's a fantastic athlete and a good friend, if spread a bit thin at times. She has a big heart, too, demonstrated early in the book when she successfully convinces an adult in charge of a soccer tournament to let girls play too (he'd been concerned about being blamed if they got hurt playing with the boys, but most of the middle schoolers already play together anyway, and he's known for being on top of watching for danger) and when she donates to a legal fund for a man in danger of deportation. Shortly after donating, she realizes the man is her friend Violeta's uncle.

It comes out that the uncle has been working and living in the US for a decade and trying to gain citizenship, but it's been difficult. Furthermore, he brought over other family members, including Violeta--Violeta isn't a US citizen. If her uncle is deported, she likely would be too, and Violeta doesn't even remember living in another country. With Itza's help (who in turn is encouraged and cheered on by Makena and Evette), Violeta tells her story to their school, bringing more attention to the fundraisers that are going to pay for an immigration lawyer. The upcoming soccer showcase that Itza and Violeta are playing in offers further publicity, and enough funds are raised. Violeta's uncle isn't a citizen just yet, but he's working on it and he can spend that time at home with his family.

Misc

Dedicated to "my abuelos: Esperanza and Andres."

I like having a Hispanic Heritage Month, which is a relatively new thing, at least in the Pacific Northwest. I am also confused by it running from the middle one month to the middle of the next.

I wish we could know what Itza's time in the 5k was. She won the race; I bet it was pretty fast!

One of Itza's friends wears an outfit described to have traditional Mexican embroidery, which calls to mind the embroidery in Josefina's stories. Several women at my church wear beautifully embroidered skirts, although it's a Guatemalan style.

This is the second time in a couple days that the distinction between violet and purple has come up in my life. Isn't violet a shade of purple? I guess I have a different definition of the colors than others.

Megan Rapinoe is mentioned; until her recent retirement she played for my local pro women's soccer team.

World by Us: Makena: See Me, Hear Me, Know Me

Author: Denise Lewis Patrick
Illustrator: Courtney Lovett
Published in 2021

Makena, Maritza, and Evette are three middle school girls in the Anacostia area of Washington, DC. They want to make the world a better place.

Summary

After months of remote learning and online classes, Makena ("ma-KAY-nuh" Swahili for "happy one") is excited to get back to what she's used to. Everything seems ready for adventure: her whole extended family is in great moods, her uncle's food truck business (his restaurant didn't survive the pandemic) is doing well, her friends are ready. It's going to be a great school year, at her new school. After a successful first day, Makena goes with her uncle to the new community center. There, she meets two girls, Maritza and Evette, and the trio quickly form a friendship.

Makena is grateful for all the extra support when she and her friend Najee (who is also Black) have to experience racism. They're at a park and see a young White girl who's lost. They go to help her, and Najee ends up carrying her while they search for her parents. But another White woman sees them and assumes that the Black boy is kidnapping the White girl. It's all resolved quickly, and the little girl's mother even witnesses Najee making her daughter laugh, but Makena hates the assumptions that the other woman had.

Makena takes to social media to voice her frustrations. Her clear points and unique style are eye-catching, and people seem sympathetic to her concerns.

But

One afternoon, Makena and her sister (two years younger) find themselves locked out of the house. They look for the spare key, see if the back door is unlocked--and suddenly they hear sirens. Two police officers, one Black and one White, approach with guns drawn. A couple neighbors soon appear, shouting that the sisters live there, and the danger is past. It seems that a new neighbor saw Makena and her sister and jumped to the conclusion that they were burglars. 

Makena is understandably shaken, but also full of resolve. She makes a short video about the incident, challenges people to learn the facts before making assumptions, and gets her parents' approval and permission to post it online. It takes off. The new neighbor comes over, deeply ashamed of his actions, and watches Makena's video too. He humbly tells her he's going to work to be a better person.

Makena and her new friends put on a fashion show at the community center, focused on how what we chose to present to the world (rather than what we're born with) is the real statement we can make.

Misc

Dedicated to "Olympia and Avery and every girl who changes the world with style."

Ooh, the part with Makena's teacher confusing her for the only other Black girl in the class...I am so terrible with remembering faces and with remembering names (all races and colors). Because I know that, I tell people upfront and if I'm not sure of a name I don't try to guess. I hope I haven't given a poor impression to anyone.

There's a part at the end featuring Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem's Fashion Row which showcases collections from designers who are women of color, ones who have often been left out of fashion.