Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery (GN#13)

Publication Date: 2023

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

Illustrator: Cynthia Yuan Cheng

Synopsis:

The plot is, as expected, pretty much like the non-graphic version. 

My camera is behaving somewhat better; the colors aren't as weird as last month.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Tootsie Rolls

One thing that seemed odd to me at first is how Dawn, the second-newest club resident of Stoneybrook (after Jessi), is the one who knows the legend of Old Man Hickory. It's the same in the original book, but there it's more established that Dawn loves ghost stories, so the readers can assume she'd been researching her new home.

Their Families: 

Tigger and Mary Anne's dad being startled when she falls out of her bed after tossing the chain letter:

The Pikes' "Daddy Stew" which looks awful as the description in the original book sounds:

The Club (and clients): 

Jacke Rodowsky spilling his mom's sewing supplies:

SMS:

Cokie and Grace in the cafeteria:

The SMS Halloween Hop:

PSA Time:

Fabric scissors are SO SHARP. Don't leave them out in the open or where little kids can easily get to them, and keep them closed and sheathed when you're not using them. It almost looks like Jackie uses the same scissors to cut the cardboard as he's making his robot costume--don't use fabric scissors for non-fabric things as it will dull the blades. Finally, related to sewing, Dawn was absolutely right to vacuum after the sewing notions spill. Little sharp things like pins are easy to miss.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to Aunt Martha and to the memory of her Uncle Lyman.

Yuan Cheng dedicates it to "Mom, who provided my foundation in both teaching kids and creating art. For Patrick, who would play the spooky Halloween soundtrack CD to scare me when we were little. To all the friends I've shared my Halloween adventures with over the years, I've been thinking of you fondly."

Book number THIRTEEN is the bad luck mystery!

The chain letter that starts it all:

The mustard seed necklace and accompanying threatening note:

Mary Anne and Logan in their Cats costumes:

Scaring Cokie, Grace, and their posse in the graveyard:

Jessi's Secret Language (GN#12)

 Publication Date: 2021

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

Illustrator: Chan Chau

Synopsis:

The plot is, as expected, pretty much like the non-graphic version. 

Also, my camera kept screwing up the colors. The actual book has much better colors.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: chips, yet again; also Gummi worms:

Jessi always wakes up just before her alarm. She and Becca are also shown wearing silk sleeping caps, which is common among people with textured hair like Black people, to keep their hair healthy:

Their Families: 

Jessi's family at breakfast:

The Club (and clients): 

New BSC picture, without Stacey:

SMS: nothing new

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to Cary.

Epstein dedicates it to "Danya, Alice, Maddi, Harry, Ben, Brando, and Thomas. And to the lovely Erik, who helped carry me through the making of this book."

There's also a note thanking Lynne Kelly for "lending her expertise during the making of this book." Right by that is a note that while the book's font is all upper-case, it's appropriate to capitalize the word Deaf when referring to a person or to Deaf culture--essentially, if you're using it the way you'd describe an Irish or Japanese person or culture.

The book does a good job with ASL, including necessary pieces such as the importance of facial expression, and even addresses the syntax difference between ASL and spoken English (the former is object-subject-verb while the latter is subject-verb-object and ASL doesn't use articles or auxiliary verbs and tense is inferred; e.g.; "Ball boy kick" vs "The boy kicked the ball"). It also shows Jessi's name sign, which now makes more sense than the description in the original book.

Jessi's ballet school with Madame Noelle:

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV series: Kristy and the Baby Parade

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plot is a combination of the original book,  Kristy's Big News, and the movie. Here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

In this book, the baby parade is a tradition from World War II, and as prior winners, Kristy and her stepdad "get" to be on a float.

Kristy's biological father emails Kristy's mom to tell her that he and his new girlfriend will be passing through Stoneybrook with their new baby (Liz and Watson have stopped trying for a baby), and wants to meet up with Kristy and her brothers, including David Michael. But he bails on them at the last minute.

What I was happy stayed the same:

The hot mess that is the clashing float goes as well as in the book.

While the situation itself sucks, the variety of reactions of Kristy, her brothers, and her mom are all understandable and relatable.

Again, not happy it's the same--Stacey's parents' divorce is pretty much inevitable at this point.

Other interesting touches: 

When Kristy's dad stands up the family, the Brewers and the BSC really step up. They say some truths that are hard to hear, but needed for healing.

Watson's offer to officially adopt the Thomas children is very touching. I do wish the Emily Michelle plot could have also stayed.

A cover of the song from the original TV show plays over this last episode's credits ("Say hello to your friends...").

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV show: Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plots are largely the same as the original books, so I won't rehash that except for the episodes that veer way off. But here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

Mimi dies quietly in her sleep, without a drawn-out hospital stay. The suddenness of it helps the audience feel as shocked as Claudia.

Ashley Wyeth is still around--because she's Janine's girlfriend.

What I was happy stayed the same:

Another not happy about it same thing--Stacey's parents are fighting, badly.

Other interesting touches: 

Claudia has a few shirts with portraits of artists on them, like Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo. 

A personal thing--Claudia narrates that she has the next 80 years to feel sad about her grandparent's passing, so why start now? She's 13, so she expects to die at 93. My grandfather just passed away, at 93.

The Baby-Sitters Club Netflix TV show: Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

Again, Richard and Sharon are not married like in the original book: the Spiers are staying with the Schafers for a week while the formers' house is fumigated for termites. But a week is still plenty of time for tension to develop between the would-be step-sister. And here are some other things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

The secret passage was built for alcohol smuggling during the Prohibition, not as part of the Underground Railroad.

It's to drive home the point about the underlying tension, but it's very strange to see Mary Anne being sloppy and scatter-brained.

What I was happy stayed the same:

Like in her very first appearances, Dawn is organized and neat.

The secret passage! Yay!

Mary Anne's aluminum can burglar alarm! Double yay!

There's shades of Poor Mallory! in the subplot.

Okay, maybe not happy that it's the same, but some of the worse Dawn tendencies from the books show up, especially in her steam-rolling and her becoming insensitive to the point of hypocrisy to other people's needs when under stress.

Other interesting touches: 

One of the sources of tension between the Schafers and Spiers is food, due to difference in their cultural upbringings (e.g.; what level of "spicy" is enough).

The club is still doing charity donations as established a few episode back.

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV show: Mary Anne and the Great Romance

  Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The titular great romance in this book is actually Mary Anne and Logan, and while Richard confirms that he and Sharon are committed to each other, there's no wedding like in the original book. And here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

Mary Anne and Logan don't officially become boyfriend and girlfriend until this episode. When they do, they're awkward and unsure of how to act around each other.

What I was happy stayed the same:

There's an allusion to the ghost of Ben Brewer.

Other interesting touches: 

I probably only notice this because I drive school buses, but the school bus here is specifically labeled "Stoneybrook Middle School" rather than being for the whole district, because a bus driver will usually drive students for a high school, a middle school/junior high, and an elementary school in the same day. Usually school buses are labeled by district (if the district has its own buses) or company (if the district contracts with an outside company).

Richard Spier has a speech prepared--with notes--for handling the inevitability of Mary Anne dating.

Logan is accidentally served a glass of wine (it makes sense in context) and Sharon quickly volunteers to take care of it for him.

Richard to Mary Anne: "Your friends love you in an almost an almost concerningly aggressive fashion."

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV Series: Jessi and the Superbrat

 Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plots are largely the same as the original books, so I won't rehash that except for the episodes that veer way off. But here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

Derek Masters is a TikTok star in this version. The nickname Superbrat is from an early viral video of his. Jessi's baby-sitting job mostly consists of helping Derek film.

Jessi's passion for ballet is more nuanced: she's unsure if she's good at ballet because she loves it, or if she just loves the feeling of being good at ballet, especially now that she's in a more competitive dance studio.

In fact, Jessi herself is more nuanced. In many BSC books, she has very few flaws and borders on a model minority. She's still at her core a very nice person, but she feels more relatable, especially after being a background character the previous few episodes.

What I was happy stayed the same:

Jessi's family is very close and supportive.

Kristy also comes across as wonderfully supportive and protective of her friends, mirroring her best moments in books like Keep Out, Claudia! when she unapologetically stands by her friends.

Other interesting touches: 

In the first episode of this season, Kristy is annoyed that Amanda Delaney's mom wants to be called Mrs. Delaney rather than by her first name like many other parents. Jessi points out that Mrs. Delaney's desire isn't intrinsically bad (really, it's only when paired with her attitude that it's grating). In this episode, Mallory and Mary Anne refer to Jessi's parents as Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, a good continuity nod.

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV Series: Stacey's Emergency

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plots are largely the same as the original books, so I won't rehash that except for the episodes that veer way off. But here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

It's nice to see the friendship between the girls' parents, like Dawn's mom and Kristy's mom.

Stacey's parents are still together at this point--they might not divorce at all in the Netflix series, come to think of it.

What I was happy stayed the same:

I love seeing Jessi's barre.

Mary Anne struggles with sewing. It's subtle, but she pokes herself in the finger with a needle while hand-stitching.

Other interesting touches: 

Dawn's mom's absent-mindedness shows up in her casually telling Dawn that Kristy's mom and stepdad are considering having a baby together, without regard to whether there should be any discretion involved.