The Baby-Sitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier

Helloooooo everybody,

Book cover from Amazon

I am back with a review on The Baby-Sitter's Club by Raina Telgemeier.  Telgemeier took Ann M. Martin's series The Babysitter's Club and adapted 4 titles from this series into graphic novels.  Book Riot did an article on these books, you can read that here!

Now, if you know anything about me then you know that within the last couple of months, I have taken a liking to both juvenile and young adult graphic novels!  Graphic novels have a wonderful ability to tell a story in a different way and they appeal to a reader who might feel intimidated or might not have any interest in reading a chapter book or a juvenile fiction book. 

I have to say...  I don't ever remembering reading a book from The Babysitter's Club series.  As someone who loves to work with kids, has aspirations to be a school librarian and someone who used to babysit, the series never appealed to me before.  Now here I am, at the age of 31, picking up my first Baby-Sitter's book and it's a graphic novel.

Raina Telgemeier is a very talented author and illustrator.  I read Smile for my children's literature class last Spring and I thought that way that she was able to tell the story was fantastic.  It was also something that as the reader, you found to be relatable. That can be another review for another day!

I must say that I enjoyed the graphic novel.  I liked the flow that the graphic novel gave to the story.  I thought that Telgemeier did a great job with showing Kristy's inner thoughts right after her having a dialogue.  You got the vibe of who the characters were and the actions and the thoughts of the characters were relatable - though I must say that Kristy was quite fresh. 

Unfortunately, I never read the books so I can't compare it to what Ann M. Martin originally wrote.  But I was able to get a feel for who the characters were and I felt like maybe the graphic novel gave a little something that the original books did not.  

Would I recommend this graphic novel? Absolutely!  Would I say that you should go run out and buy a copy? No way.  I think this is perfectly acceptable to borrow from your library! (Shameless plug for using your local library!)

- Jillian 

Emmie & Friends by Terri Libenson - Tween Nook

Helloooooo everybody! 

Back at it again with a another Tween review. 

Or 3 rolled into 1.... 

I’m going to start off this review with two words: graphic novels. 

Now, if you’re like me; when you hear the words “graphic novel”, you might think of comic books or comic strips; the “funnies” in the Sunday morning paper.   Up until I started working in the library, I didn’t count graphic novels as being books. I thought, well, that they were ONLY graphic novels. That the lack of words in them and the plethora of pictures made them less like books. That’s so not the case! I also found comic books to be a little too busy with all of the pictures and thus, made me feel nauseous :/ 

Do you know someone who isn’t into reading or maybe they’re reluctant? Have them try a graphic novel! The story is told through pictures, and not as many words. The imagery might be better than a book because of the visual detail that’s shown right then and there. 

Link to cover art on Amazon

In 2017, Terri Libenson released the graphic novel, Invisible Emmie. Emmie is a middle schooler who feels as if no one notices her. She keeps to herself and draws a lot in class. She’s not the best at paying attention in class; you could say that she’s flying under the radar. Emmie has one friend, a girl named Bri.  Since Bri is so smart, she’s placed into honors classes, so Emmie doesn’t get to see her outside of lunch. 

The lunch table. Queue where our scene is about to happen!

Emmie and Bri decide to write letters to their crushes. One little note is the catalyst for embarrassment for Emmie. 

While the story focuses on Emmie and what’s going on during that day, the reader also learns about a girl named Katie. Libenson uses two different ways to tell their stories. Emmie’s story is told differently from Katie’s- Katie’s was in true comic form; while Emmie’s story involved sentences and some pictures. 


Positively Izzy is the 2nd book in the Emmie & Friends series.  Positively Izzy flips the way the characters are presented.  Meaning: the comic featuring Brianna is first and then the more wordy story with the little drawings about Izzy is second. (Yes, this Brianna is the same Bri from the first book).

Link to cover art on Amazon

This one was showing the contrast between Brianna and this Izzy girl.  It's not until the end of the story do you learn who Izzy is.  

NOW.  I haven't been in high school in a little over 10 years, let alone middle school in waaaay over 10 years. 

I thought that Libenson's books were realistic and therefore, relatable.  They were also presented in a way that would keep any young reader interested.  The messages held in both books were important too.

For anyone wondering, Emmie was definitely my favorite character. 

Definitely giving these two graphic novels 5 coffee beans out of 5!

- Jillian