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daybreak1012's review against another edition
5.0
Before I get to my actual review, a quick disclaimer: Ever since I learned that Netflix was reimagining one of my favorite childhood book series, I had decided that I would be embarking on a re-read of this series, reliving a series of books that helped to shape me into a voracious reader. I am so excited to embark on this travel back in time. I don't expect to be mentally stimulated -- I mean, I'm not exactly a pre-teen middle-schooler these days -- but I make no apology for choosing to enjoy this series from the perspective of adulthood. Don't expect me to have any sort of psychoanalyst or feminist sermonizing on the appropriateness of the situations or the effects on a young girl reading these books; there's plenty of that to go around already. I'm here for the nostalgia and the meander down memory lane.
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Sometimes I forgot just how much I loved certain books from this series growing up, and also why I did. This one was such a joy to re-read.
What I liked about Logan Likes Mary Anne!:
Mary Anne - It's always so clear to me why Mary Anne was my favorite. So much about her personality is like my own. Not just as a child but even now. I could relate to everything from her overthinking to her hatred of surprises. I also feel like her character started to gain a little more depth here...and I cannot believe I'm saying this about a children's series.
Some of the turns of phrase - I love being reminded about where parts of my personal vernacular originated. For instance, from this one came "pull up a patch of floor." It makes me chuckle.
What I didn't care for:
The record book entries - It has its charm, I suppose, but it hurts my head to decipher Claudia's spelling. I don't recall struggling with this as a kid, but it's not my favorite now.
My recollection pointed me toward a 5-star rating, and I am going to stick with it. So much about this book still struck a chord with me and I am sure that it bore some weight on me in my formative years.
**********
Sometimes I forgot just how much I loved certain books from this series growing up, and also why I did. This one was such a joy to re-read.
What I liked about Logan Likes Mary Anne!:
Mary Anne - It's always so clear to me why Mary Anne was my favorite. So much about her personality is like my own. Not just as a child but even now. I could relate to everything from her overthinking to her hatred of surprises. I also feel like her character started to gain a little more depth here...and I cannot believe I'm saying this about a children's series.
Some of the turns of phrase - I love being reminded about where parts of my personal vernacular originated. For instance, from this one came "pull up a patch of floor." It makes me chuckle.
What I didn't care for:
The record book entries - It has its charm, I suppose, but it hurts my head to decipher Claudia's spelling. I don't recall struggling with this as a kid, but it's not my favorite now.
My recollection pointed me toward a 5-star rating, and I am going to stick with it. So much about this book still struck a chord with me and I am sure that it bore some weight on me in my formative years.
kssimpson's review
not rating but a very good “i cant sleep so i will read this book to put me to sleep :)” read
finesilkflower's review
3.0
Like its source text, [b:Logan Likes Mary Anne!|233724|Logan Likes Mary Anne! (The Baby-Sitters Club, #10)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389063745l/233724._SX50_.jpg|995924], the plot here is simple and low-conflict: Mary Anne and Logan like each other and begin to go to dances and parties together, but Mary Anne is very shy and constantly thinks she has ruined the relationship by doing something embarrassing. Logan is sweet and tries to reassure her. They begin a sweet puppy-love type relationship.
This is a hard one to translate to a visual medium because it's so introspective, but Gale Galligan's adaptation hits the right emotional beats and includes some memorable details, like Mary Anne's Famous Cities skirt, Richard's awkward but kind dad-ing, and the club coming together to show they appreciate Mary Anne even if they don't fully understand her.
Jessi is added in this book - to my immense relief since I was afraid they were going to drop her entirely - though she feels shoehorned in. With that said, I like her character design and her scenes with Mallory are sweet. (I will forever renounce anything negative I ever said about how Mallory and Jessi's introductions were handled in the series if they're brave enough to make them a couple.)
Stray Observations
Kristy wears a burgundy hat and looks more than ever like her TV counterpart in this, the first graphic novel released since the TV show!
I'll be the first to declare that the way the experience of race and racism were depicted in the BSC books was problematic (it very much doubled down on the "racists = bad people" simplistic narrative that makes white people feel good about themselves for not being like those cartoonishly bad racists in the book, case closed, no need to look at my own thoughts or actions any further). However, I'm also uneasy with the adaptations simply... dropping any story or dialogue about race. More characters are depicted as being POC (including Logan in this book), but it's never discussed and never seems to have any impact on anything.
This adaptation drops a key component of the Logan storyline, namely his refusal to go to meetings because there is too much "girl talk" and because being in a group of all girls makes him uncomfortable (and he can tell that his presence is making them uncomfortable). Instead, they replace it with a weak excuse about how he has to baby-sit his siblings during the meeting times and was, for some reason, too embarrassed to say (as if Kristy would have a problem with that - an unrelated conflict would have made more sense to me). I'm curious as to why this element was dropped; I wonder if it felt to Gale and the Scholastic editors as if young people today wouldn't relate to these problems because they're more accustomed to mixed-gender friendships? I have a sneaking suspicion that there's an element at play similar to the race thing, where they'd rather pretend that "identity politics" don't exist and that people of different demographics (gender, race, etc.) don't have different experiences of the world than address it in even the mildest of ways.
This is a hard one to translate to a visual medium because it's so introspective, but Gale Galligan's adaptation hits the right emotional beats and includes some memorable details, like Mary Anne's Famous Cities skirt, Richard's awkward but kind dad-ing, and the club coming together to show they appreciate Mary Anne even if they don't fully understand her.
Jessi is added in this book - to my immense relief since I was afraid they were going to drop her entirely - though she feels shoehorned in. With that said, I like her character design and her scenes with Mallory are sweet. (I will forever renounce anything negative I ever said about how Mallory and Jessi's introductions were handled in the series if they're brave enough to make them a couple.)
Stray Observations
Kristy wears a burgundy hat and looks more than ever like her TV counterpart in this, the first graphic novel released since the TV show!
I'll be the first to declare that the way the experience of race and racism were depicted in the BSC books was problematic (it very much doubled down on the "racists = bad people" simplistic narrative that makes white people feel good about themselves for not being like those cartoonishly bad racists in the book, case closed, no need to look at my own thoughts or actions any further). However, I'm also uneasy with the adaptations simply... dropping any story or dialogue about race. More characters are depicted as being POC (including Logan in this book), but it's never discussed and never seems to have any impact on anything.
This adaptation drops a key component of the Logan storyline, namely his refusal to go to meetings because there is too much "girl talk" and because being in a group of all girls makes him uncomfortable (and he can tell that his presence is making them uncomfortable). Instead, they replace it with a weak excuse about how he has to baby-sit his siblings during the meeting times and was, for some reason, too embarrassed to say (as if Kristy would have a problem with that - an unrelated conflict would have made more sense to me). I'm curious as to why this element was dropped; I wonder if it felt to Gale and the Scholastic editors as if young people today wouldn't relate to these problems because they're more accustomed to mixed-gender friendships? I have a sneaking suspicion that there's an element at play similar to the race thing, where they'd rather pretend that "identity politics" don't exist and that people of different demographics (gender, race, etc.) don't have different experiences of the world than address it in even the mildest of ways.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
5.0
Mary Anne has a sweet flirtation with Logan "the Boy Baby-sitter" Bruno.
Mary Anne forms an instant crush on the new boy, Logan Bruno, a Louisville transplant with a cute Kentucky accent and a startling resemblance to Mary Anne’s favorite actor, Cam Geary. Logan overhears the girls stressing about how busy they are and volunteers that he, too, is a babysitter. Mary Anne observes Logan on a test sitting job, and he’s good with new client Jackie Rodowsky, the walking disaster, but when he attends a meeting, everyone feels awkward and inhibited, unable to indulge in "girl talk." When Mary Anne calls Logan to discuss the club’s concerns, Logan tells her he doesn’t want to join the club--but he does want to take her to the Remember September dance. Mary Anne and Logan have awkward but adorable dates to the dance and to a party of Stacey’s which turns out to be a surprise birthday shindig for Mary Anne, who is mortified by the attention. Logan is understanding of Mary Anne’s special introvertedness, and the experience brings them closer together. Mary Anne finally asks why Logan didn’t want to join the club, and he says he found the meetings awkward, but he readily agrees to be club back-up in case they get too busy to handle all the jobs. Thus the associate member position was born.
This book contains one of the world’s most unappealing descriptions of a first crush (Mary Anne’s physiological reactions are just plan frightening; Logan incapacitates her) and one of the world’s most appealing descriptions of starting school (Mary Anne, like me, has an affinity for fresh school supplies). Logan is at once alien and unpredictable and sweet and perfect, and the little kinks on the road to true love are largely charming.
Lingering Questions: ONE awkward meeting, and everyone just gives up? I’m sure they would quickly learn not to indulge in too much bra strap discussion, or Logan would quickly learn to just deal with it when they did. It’s so sexist that they can’t have male members because of their ridiculous feelings about "girl talk" and "boy talk." I bet Kristy would far prefer a moratorium on girl talk during meeting time, anyway. I’ll just pretend that Logan had a time commitment issue. He does sports, so it’s not unreasonable.
Timing: September of eighth grade. (From now on, I’m not going to say "of eighth grade," because it will never not be eighth grade. I will just note the month or time of year.)
Mary Anne forms an instant crush on the new boy, Logan Bruno, a Louisville transplant with a cute Kentucky accent and a startling resemblance to Mary Anne’s favorite actor, Cam Geary. Logan overhears the girls stressing about how busy they are and volunteers that he, too, is a babysitter. Mary Anne observes Logan on a test sitting job, and he’s good with new client Jackie Rodowsky, the walking disaster, but when he attends a meeting, everyone feels awkward and inhibited, unable to indulge in "girl talk." When Mary Anne calls Logan to discuss the club’s concerns, Logan tells her he doesn’t want to join the club--but he does want to take her to the Remember September dance. Mary Anne and Logan have awkward but adorable dates to the dance and to a party of Stacey’s which turns out to be a surprise birthday shindig for Mary Anne, who is mortified by the attention. Logan is understanding of Mary Anne’s special introvertedness, and the experience brings them closer together. Mary Anne finally asks why Logan didn’t want to join the club, and he says he found the meetings awkward, but he readily agrees to be club back-up in case they get too busy to handle all the jobs. Thus the associate member position was born.
This book contains one of the world’s most unappealing descriptions of a first crush (Mary Anne’s physiological reactions are just plan frightening; Logan incapacitates her) and one of the world’s most appealing descriptions of starting school (Mary Anne, like me, has an affinity for fresh school supplies). Logan is at once alien and unpredictable and sweet and perfect, and the little kinks on the road to true love are largely charming.
Lingering Questions: ONE awkward meeting, and everyone just gives up? I’m sure they would quickly learn not to indulge in too much bra strap discussion, or Logan would quickly learn to just deal with it when they did. It’s so sexist that they can’t have male members because of their ridiculous feelings about "girl talk" and "boy talk." I bet Kristy would far prefer a moratorium on girl talk during meeting time, anyway. I’ll just pretend that Logan had a time commitment issue. He does sports, so it’s not unreasonable.
Timing: September of eighth grade. (From now on, I’m not going to say "of eighth grade," because it will never not be eighth grade. I will just note the month or time of year.)
aprilparker97's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sarahaeckardt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A classic BSC book :)
makenasimmons's review against another edition
i used to LOVE these books when i was younger. this one was good but so cringe and predictable.
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
I forever hated Logan Bruno, from the moment he was introduced. Not because he's a jerk, which he turned into in later books and sort of maintained, but because I am from Kentucky and we do not. Talk. Like. That. OMG. It always bugged me when they'd try and phonetically show the way he was supposedly speaking. I cringe when I see how they had him pronounce Louisville. I just can't even.
I have nothing else to say about this because I will seriously rage.
I have nothing else to say about this because I will seriously rage.