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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I totally get that this is closer to the original series but I wish it had the diversity and the depth of the characters on the Netflix adaptation!!
Dawn was always my least favourite of the Babysitters Club. There was always something about her self righteous healthy eating hippy vibe that I hated as a kid. I can confirm that rereading as an adult, she's still my least favourite.
In this installment we are introduced to newly divorced Mrs Barrett and her three kids Buddy, Susie and Marnie. Not going to lie, aside from the comments about Mrs Barrett being unbelievably chic and gorgeous, I could relate. Give the woman a break. Her ex-husband is clearly a jerk who won't pay his child support and she's having to juggle twenty things at a time. Adulting is hard. She doesn't need any judgy comments about her dirty house Dawn.
I did chuckle at the conversation between Dawn and her mother about buying premade potato salad at the grocery store. Sharon is amazed that you could even get that kind of thing in a shop and she doesn't have to make stuff for the BBQ. Revolutionary.
In this installment we are introduced to newly divorced Mrs Barrett and her three kids Buddy, Susie and Marnie. Not going to lie, aside from the comments about Mrs Barrett being unbelievably chic and gorgeous, I could relate. Give the woman a break. Her ex-husband is clearly a jerk who won't pay his child support and she's having to juggle twenty things at a time. Adulting is hard. She doesn't need any judgy comments about her dirty house Dawn.
I did chuckle at the conversation between Dawn and her mother about buying premade potato salad at the grocery store. Sharon is amazed that you could even get that kind of thing in a shop and she doesn't have to make stuff for the BBQ. Revolutionary.
I never read the original BSC books, but I’ve been following along with the graphic novel adaptations as I purchase the for my library. I enjoyed the other 4 immensely, but this one sat a little off for me. I didn’t even realize the change of artist till the end , so that didn’t bother me, but the straight 80s read of the situation with Dawn and the Barrett’s just didn’t hold up for me. If I were reading a original BSC book with that gloriously awful 80s cover illustration, I wouldn’t blink over the “accidental kidnapping” plot, and how MRS BARRETT IS NEVER CALLED?!? Because the 80s. We all know how that decade went down in the parenting realm. But because the art feels more modern, my brain kept going “WHAT IS HAPPENING?!” and “WHY IS DAWNS MOM LETTING HER STAY IN THAT SITUATION?” - it ends hopefully, because it’s a BSC Book, but it sets a bad precedent. That middle school girls can and should be equipped to deal with angry ex-husbands. NO. That’s not true. Girls. Get an adult involved. No grown up has ever needed a kids help. stay sweet baby angels, and DONT GET MURDERED.
From the moment I picked up this book something felt off. Turns out book five was not illustrated by Telgemeier. Gale Galligan does a similar style to Raina, but it feels older. That is appropriate as the BSC grows older. But the storyline also grows older. This one I feel covers a much weightier topic, but without the finesse as previous volumes. Dawn has been baby sitting over and over and over again for one family. And it’s not just babysitting, but cleaning, and acting like mom. But without all the knowledge of mom. This storyline is heavy and it brooches an important topic in today's culture, but I feel that the parental child snatching was too glossed over. And this volume also fells its age. These books were written when cell phones were not common, and now… its hard to explain. It will make more sense when you read it yourself.
4 stars. So much fun. I love Dawn and think she's a great addition to the club. It is impossible to dislike these books, no matter how old I am.
This is actually the first of the Babysitters Club comics I've read and it was great! Gale Galligan's art is close enough to Telgemeier's that the switch feels very smooth (like with Max Sarin took over Giant Days for Lissa Treiman) and she has a great sense of fashion. I also love how she draws faces; there's a really cute scene where Dawn is on the phone and her brother is trying steal a slice of her pizza, and she kinda squishes up his face, and it's just a great sequence that conveys the nature of their relationship in about three panels. The theme of divorce is treated carefully and realistically without getting preachy, and Kristy's feelings come across well despite us not being in her head, as we are with Dawn's. Such an enjoyable, well-constructed book!