The babysitters club is back!!

Kristy’s Great Idea is a graphic novel retelling of the classic Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann. M. Martin. The story remains the same with four friends experiencing the toils and drama of preadolescence, coming together to create a baby-sitters club in their town. They all face challenges, from overprotective dads to divorced parents dating again, as well as perfect siblings and personal medical issues. Nevertheless they stay friends, bonding together through the families and children they help take care of.

Upon first picking up this newer version of the Baby-sitters club, I was concerned the story wouldn’t hold up to my memories of it as a child, but it’s surprisingly still fresh and relatable for a new set of pre-teens and teenagers. I was the same age as the characters when I started reading these books in the 90s, and part of my deep love for it is due to nostalgia. Raina Telgmeier did a fantastic job of using the graphic novel format and art to update the look of the story while keeping the text I grew up on. Some things in the book are still dated (house phones with cords & ads in the newspapers as an example), but none of these visuals held back at all from the overall story or made it feel dated. I think her art actually added to the overall story, giving life to the overly excited Kristy in contrast to shy, intelligent Mary-Anne.

This was the update this incredible series needed in order to introduce it to a new audience for this era. I will gladly be reading the rest in this series with Raina Telgemeier!

Title: Kristy’s Great Idea
Author: Ann. M. Martin & Raina Telgmeier
Format: Paperback
Pages:  192
ISBN: 978-0545813877

Three descriptors: Coming of age, heartwarming, relatable

Read-alikes:
Lumberjanes – Noelle Stevenson
Real Friends – Shannon Hale
Roller Girl – Victoria Jamieson