The Baby-sitters Club

The Baby-sitters Club
By Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier
Reviewed by Trinity



The book I decided to read for my November reading was, The Baby-Sitters Club by Raina Telgemeier based on the novel by Anna M. Martin. This is a story about 4 girls. Kristy Thomas, the president of the babysitting club. Claudia Kishi and she is the Vice President of the club. Mary Anne Spier and she is the secretary. Stacy McGill, who is the treasurer of the group. The story takes place in a town called Stoney Brooke and the setting is present day. The club was formed when Kristy and Mary Anne had to babysit. Kristy’s mom asked her to watch her boyfriend’s kids because none of her siblings would agree to babysit. This is when a light bulb went off for Kristy. So, Kristy called a meeting with Mary Anne and Claudie’s about forming a club. During their meeting, they decided they need another member and that is when they decided to ask Stacy to join the group.

Stacy moved from New York but readers learn that Stacy is not telling the truth about why she moved to Stoney Brooke from New York. In fact, the readers learn that none of the girls are telling the truth!

I rate the Baby-Sitter Club 10 stars out of 10. The reason I give the book such a high rating because the story has a lot of twist and turns. The storyline leaves the readers on the edge of their seats.

The book also showed me that you do not have to be a certain age, to form a club or start your own business. You can achieve this goal at any age

One of the lessons I learned from reading the book, do not automatically make a judgment about the person and their personality. You should never just automatically dislike someone, you should at least give them a chance.

 After reading this graphic novel, I would place this book on the recommendation list for 7th graders. The book shows that age should not limit your ability to start your own business or club, you can do this at any age. The Baby-Sitter Club is the first novel out of a series.

Dawn and the Impossible Three

Dawn and the Impossible Three
By Ann M. Martin and Gale Galligan
Reviewed by Madeline



Dawn and the Impossible Three is a new book in a series of graphic novels called The Baby-Sitters Club. Gale Galligan has created an amazing new style of art for the Baby-Sitters Club (the BSC) and brand new book.

The three kids Dawn Shafer (the newest member of the BSC) regularly sits for are always messy. Their mom never has time to talk to Dawn and the kids are quite a handful. Dawn is also having issues accepting that there is a slightly irresponsible soon-to-be member of the Club.

 When Dawn meets the kids for the first time she has to find a way to clean the house and get control over the kids and somehow take care of other needs for the household, all at the same time. She is a kind person and is tough enough to make it through the challenges she’s going to face while working with them. The kids she sits for (Suzi, Marnie, and Buddy) share a bond with Dawn.

Like Raina Telgemeier (the creator of the other Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels) says, “Gale is a brilliant cartoonist and fans are in for a treat.” I bet everyone else who reads this book will really enjoy that too.

 The BSC itself is at the center of the story, and each member has a role to play: Dawn is the alternate officer and the newest and kindest of the Club, Kristy is the president, Claudia is the vice president, Mary Anne is the secretary, and Stacey is the treasurer. Also, the kids that Dawn sits for are Suzi, a kind little girl, Buddy her older brother, and little baby Marnie (she is very sweet and is allergic to chocolate). And last but definitely not at all least is the upcoming newest member of the BSC, Mallory Pike, a sitter who is still a little bit of a diamond in the rough.

Gale has created a brilliant story, with a good plot and amazing characters. In the end, in addition to the the excellent characters, the amazing cartoon work and interesting plot make it one of the best graphic novels I have ever read, and it will be for a while. You really should read this book, but if you can, you should definitely check out the other four BSC books first: Kristy’s Great Idea, The Truth About Stacey, Mary Anne Saves the Day, and Claudia and Mean Janine. There is a lot of plot that occurs before this book’s story begins.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down
By Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by Jamie



The book I read was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney. The main character/narrator is Greg Heffley. He has a mom, a dad, and two brothers named Manny and Rodrick. He also has a friend named Rowley who he does a lot of crazy things with.

This book is about how Halloween is in a couple of weeks and the Heffleys decorated the house for Halloween. A lot of geese were in the town being very aggressive towards people and the geese destroyed the Heffleys’ jack o’lanterns. At Greg’s school, there’s a Balloon Brigade where people lift balloons in the air and when they land somewhere, whoever finds the balloon has to send it back and say how far it traveled. The person whose balloon goes the farthest gets a prize, which is a whole jar of candy corn. The person who found the balloon came to Greg’s house to return it and they sort of hung out but it was pretty awkward. On Halloween Mariana Mendoza had a party, and her parties are legendary, and all the students in the band were invited so Greg joined the band. If you want to know more about the book, read it to find out what happens.

The strengths of this book are that a lot of people have heard of the Diary of a Wimpy
Kid series and like to read it, this book appeals to many people, and it is pretty funny. A
weakness of this book is that it’s kind of short but not too short.

In conclusion, it’s a pretty great book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a book that is comedic. I would rate this book a five out of five stars because it’s very humorous and it is a well-known series of books.

When Things Come Back

When Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley
Reviewed by Ani



The novel Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley is about a boy named Cullen Witter. This wonderful story’s setting was about twenty years ago (around 2000) in Lily, Arkansas. While Cullen is living his “normal” life, a professor comes to Lily and makes a big fuss about “rediscovering” an extinct bird, the Lazarus Woodpecker, which hadn’t been seen since around 1940. A couple of weeks after the Lazarus bird is found, Cullen’s brother named Gabriel suddenly disappears. Meanwhile, a very religious man who is going to college enters the story. He is roommates with another student named Cabot Searcy. This mysterious man is told by his father that he is doing things wrong religiously, and has trouble dealing with his conflict with his father. He decided to kill himself on Christmas Day by jumping off of a bell tower. Meanwhile, Cullen and his family are doing everything they can do to find Gabriel.

 As the story progresses, scenes alternate between Cullen’s family’s search for Gabriel and Cabot Searcy’s life. The reader discovers more about Cullen’s character, including the fact that he doubts the existence of the Lazarus woodpecker. As Cullen thinks more about his brother, his loses the ability to recall Gabriel’s face. But still, when Cullen is alone, Gabriel is all he can think about. Meanwhile, Cabot marries Cullen’s ex-girlfriend, who then leaves Cabot to return home, which happens to be Lilly, Arkansas. Cabot follows her, leaving campus to resolve the problems in their relationship. The story unfolds with a few twists and turns that keep the reader turning pages.

Whaley creates a well-developed (and a little confusing) book. The story alternates between present day and points in the past at times, and that takes a little getting used to. It is a well-written book, although it was probably written for a slightly older audience. It did, however, keep me on the edge of my seat. I would definitely recommend this book (probably for teens 14 and older). I was able to work through the confusing moments, though, and interested slightly younger readers can probably follow the story. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars for its quality storyline. However, I wish the author had made the alternating time periods more obvious.