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A review by aurigae
Mary Anne Saves the Day by Raina Telgemeier, Ann M. Martin
5.0
Possibly among the most realistic and universally relatable of the BSC novels. The girls' near-friendship-ending blowup and Mary Anne's struggle to convince her father to relax his strict rules both feel authentic. We also meet Dawn for the first time (although she doesn't really have a personality yet), and Mary Anne and Dawn engineer the re-meet-cute of their formerly-in-love parents.
Of course there is plenty of wow-the-80's-were-different material, e.g. a drop-off party for a bunch of 4-year-olds, chaperoned mostly by 12-year-olds. There's also a clear recent-edition-insertion: when a child Mary Anne is caring for develops a high fever, she calls each of the parents' cell phones (as well as a few other adults') before dialing 911 - the idea that all these adults would turn their phones off when a 12-year-old is caring for a 3-year-old being, apparently, slightly less implausible than the original text in which nobody had cell phones yet. These are innocent, entertaining little foibles, spoiling nothing about this great entry in the series.
Of course there is plenty of wow-the-80's-were-different material, e.g. a drop-off party for a bunch of 4-year-olds, chaperoned mostly by 12-year-olds. There's also a clear recent-edition-insertion: when a child Mary Anne is caring for develops a high fever, she calls each of the parents' cell phones (as well as a few other adults') before dialing 911 - the idea that all these adults would turn their phones off when a 12-year-old is caring for a 3-year-old being, apparently, slightly less implausible than the original text in which nobody had cell phones yet. These are innocent, entertaining little foibles, spoiling nothing about this great entry in the series.