A worthy addition to the series, albeit a bit more somber than its forerunners.
In the fifth installment of the graphic adaptation of the beloved series, one of the members of the Baby-Sitters Club copes with a family that’s struggling through an acrimonious divorce.
Dawn Schafer, white and a recent transplant from California, is the newest member of the club. Her mother is dating fellow member Mary Anne’s father, and Kristy, their club president, is jealous of Mary Anne and Dawn’s new bond. When Dawn begins to sit for a new family—the Barretts—she is immediately struck by their household’s general disorder and rambunctious kids. She learns that the Barretts are in the midst of a tempestuous separation, and their growing rancor soon has serious implications for the entire family and Dawn. After a harrowing event, Dawn must confront Mrs. Barrett and voice her concerns despite her apprehension at broaching such a difficult topic with an adult. Slightly more serious than its predecessors, this offering tackles the weighty issues of divorce and kidnapping but manages to resolve things tidily in the comfortably episodic manner that fans of the series expect. This volume introduces new artist Galligan, who replaces veteran Raina Telgemeier. Although Galligan’s style is subtly different than Telgemeier’s, fans should not be alienated by the smooth transition. In her full-color panels, the principal characters appear to be white, save Asian club member Claudia.
A worthy addition to the series, albeit a bit more somber than its forerunners. (Graphic adaptation. 7-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-06730-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
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