I have a confession. I want to do my Baby-Sitters Club reading challenge again. I don't have the time of course. My reading time has shrunk considerably since becoming a mom and I barely have the time to read new books, let alone the 200+ Ann M. Martin books I read when I did the challenge a few years ago. What can I say, I miss the BSC.I have been trying to get my hands on the new Graphic Novel version of Dawn and the Impossible Three for awhile now. It's popular at my library (which makes me so happy) and whenever I'd think to check for it, it was always checked out. However, the library recently acquired the e-book version (*insert me babbling about how amazing the Libby app is here*). While I wasn't amazed by it, I did have a good time reading it.
Dawn is new to the BSC and new to Stoneybrook. She becomes the very regular sitter for Buddy, Suzy, and Marnie Barrett (some of my favorite of the BSC charges). They are awesome kids, but as their parents are going through a messy divorce, things in the Barrett household are crazy. The house and kids are often a mess, they have some behavioral issues stemming from the divorce, and it's usually a little more than thirteen year old Dawn can handle. But if anyone can solve the problem, it's the Baby-Sitters Club!
First, to address the biggest change, the art isn't by Raina Telgemeier. As a Telgemeier fan, this made me sad, but Gale Galligan's style is very close. I suspect that children reading this book wouldn't be bothered that the style isn't identical and as an adult, I appreciate that someone new is continuing the series for new readers to discover. As for the adaptation of the original novel, I'm a little put off by the plot. When the graphic novels first came out, the books adapted were Kristy's Great Idea, The Truth About Stacey, Mary Anne Saves the Day and Claudia and Mean Janine (books 1, 3, 4 and 7). Because it wasn't the first 4 books, I remember there being some adjustments to make up for the plot points that were from other books. Okay, works for me. However, Dawn and the Impossible Three is book 5 in the series. Meaning we have jumped back in time chronologically of the old series, but not for the new. If I was completely new to this universe, it would have been fine. But as an avid (okay, obsessed) fan, my head hurt. On top of that, this adaptation addresses plot points that weren't brought up until Hello, Mallory! (book 14) in the original series so now my head is really spinning. I read this knowing that the adaptation of Kristy's Big Day is in the works, so I'm already wondering how that plot will differ. This was really my only complaint about the book. It works just fine within the graphic novel universe, so new readers shouldn't have any problems. However, the parents who grew up on the original series may be confused- especially if they have only read the old books and not kept up with the new. But I am on board with these adaptation because I love that they are introducing my favorite baby-sitters to a whole new generation of readers.
Happy Reading!
-Melly
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