Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

SO.  If you were assuming I’d be reviewing one of the previously-mentioned books I’d already finished two days ago, well–you’d be wrong.  Instead, you get a review of Boy-Crazy Stacey, the 7th and latest of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels and the 3rd by Gale Galligan (Raina Telgemeier did the first four), because graphic novels are short reads and my girls will be pushing me to pass it on.  (The two that can read, that is.)  If I review it tonight, they’ll both finish it this weekend, and then back it goes to the library on Monday.  What’s not to love?

Anyway.  I remembered very little of Ann M. Martin’s original novel other than the premise, which seems to be faithfully recreated here:  Stacey and Mary Anne accompanying the Pike family on their beach vacation as paid babysitters to help with the kids.  The graphic novel is on par with its predecessors, I think, with one or two exceptions–as a parent, I didn’t love Mary Anne’s comment about her dad at the very end, and Stacey’s turnaround time made my head spin.  (It’s not that I found her emotional state unrealistic, mind you; it’s just that what happened with it by the end wasn’t quite the message I’d prefer the target age group to get.  That’s the best I can do without spoilers.)  On the other hand, I think the timing and treatment of the chore hat was a lovely message, so there’s that.

Ultimately, the target audience is going to be pleased, and the nostalgia factor makes for a fun read.  Ah, the trip down Memory Lane!