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A review by liralen
Boy-Crazy Stacey by Ann M. Martin
3.0
Curiosity compelled me to see what a graphic novelisation of this series would look like. The art is quite nice, but even with updates that better reflect current reality (e.g., Stacey—who I think would have been twelve in the original series? Twelve or thirteen—is thirteen and falls for a fifteen-year-old instead of, eurgh, an eighteen-year-old), some of it...begs some questions. I feel for Mary Anne here—Stacey really does cast off all responsibility the second she sees a cute boy. I'd also like to know: where is Mallory in this book? She's introduced in the beginning as a junior officer (which in the original series wasn't the case until a bit later, but it makes sense that the whole series wouldn't be adapted and some things would be condensed), and she's there the whole time with Stacey and Mary Anne...but as far as I can tell, now that they're on baby-sitting duty, they completely ignore her to wrangle younger kids (Mary Anne) or chase after boys (Stacey). Poor Mallory. Seems safe to say that the older girls don't consider her much of a friend/equal.
I'm not going to be too appalled by how much responsibility Mary Anne and Stacey have over their charges, because if I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I was in the right age group for these books!), part of the appeal was that they're quite independent/responsible—aspirational, I guess, for tweenage readers? But there is a GLARING oversight here:
Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal—it's wading, not, say, swimming out past the breakers. But the fact is that Stacey has no idea whether that part of the water is safe, she's certainly not a lifeguard, and this was the single safety rule that the parents set. And it's completely ignored—it doesn't occur to Stacey that it's a problem, the parents don't find out, it's never acknowledged or mentioned. I don't know if this happens in the original too (cannot be bothered to hunt it down), but it's not a good look.
Anyway, I'm amused that this is still around and has gotten an update. Curiosity satisfied...and now I see that there'll soon be a graphic remix of [b:Sweet Valley Twins|60012959|Sweet Valley Twins Best Friends (The Graphic Novel)|Francine Pascal|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651252703l/60012959._SX50_.jpg|94604964], and I will wait with interest to see how that pans out. Is Jessica still a budding sociopath? Is Elizabeth still the most boring little goody-two who ever did shoe? Perhaps I'll find out someday.
I'm not going to be too appalled by how much responsibility Mary Anne and Stacey have over their charges, because if I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I was in the right age group for these books!), part of the appeal was that they're quite independent/responsible—aspirational, I guess, for tweenage readers? But there is a GLARING oversight here:
Spoiler
The one rule the Pikes set for babysitting is that the kids are not allowed in the water, not even to wade, when the lifeguards aren't there—they can swim all they want, but they have to be in full view of the lifeguard station. Sensible enough. But when Stacey has her little heartbreak and starts to actually pay attention to the kids again, what does she do...? She takes one of them off to a separate, no-lifeguard-around part of the beach and they wade happily away.Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal—it's wading, not, say, swimming out past the breakers. But the fact is that Stacey has no idea whether that part of the water is safe, she's certainly not a lifeguard, and this was the single safety rule that the parents set. And it's completely ignored—it doesn't occur to Stacey that it's a problem, the parents don't find out, it's never acknowledged or mentioned. I don't know if this happens in the original too (cannot be bothered to hunt it down), but it's not a good look.
Anyway, I'm amused that this is still around and has gotten an update. Curiosity satisfied...and now I see that there'll soon be a graphic remix of [b:Sweet Valley Twins|60012959|Sweet Valley Twins Best Friends (The Graphic Novel)|Francine Pascal|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651252703l/60012959._SX50_.jpg|94604964], and I will wait with interest to see how that pans out. Is Jessica still a budding sociopath? Is Elizabeth still the most boring little goody-two who ever did shoe? Perhaps I'll find out someday.