Claudia and Mean Janine

March 1, 2009
Gr 4-8-Seventh-grader Claudia Kishi is a talented artist and a dependable baby-sitter, but those things don't seem to matter to her parents, who keep comparing her to her brainiac older sister. When school ends for the summer, Claudia is looking forward to art classes and running a morning day camp for the neighborhood kids with her friends. Everything changes when her beloved grandmother has a stroke. Suddenly, Claudia finds herself taking on more and more responsibilities at home, while Janine gets to focus on her summer classes. Readers will relate to Claudia's struggle to understand her sister and cope with the changes in her family. This installment in the series adapts the seventh title in Martin's original sequence, and the story and characters still feel fresh nearly two decades later. Telgemeier's black-and-white illustrations are crisp and clear, while concise narrative passages keep the focus on the dialogue and action. Here and there, a wordless panel conveys much more than a simple description; if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the portrait of Louie the collie after the day-camp kids "make him look beautiful" must be worth a chapter or two alone. A concluding "Making of" chapter provides a peek into Telgemeier's process when adapting the original novels, which will be especially interesting to readers thinking of developing their own comics. The well-developed characters and familiar struggles with friends, family, and school will keep kids coming back to these books.Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, Panorama City

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2009
Grades 3-5 In this fourth volume of the graphic-novel adaptations of Ann M. Martins Baby-Sitters Club books, Claudia and her older sister, Janine, must deal with the changes in their grandmother, Mimi, after she suffers a severe stroke. Creative Claudia doesnt get good grades in school the way her sister does, and she feels that her family values studious Janine more. However, Claudia doesnt notice that Janine isnt too happy when she keeps volunteering to do everything to help Mimi after their grandmother comes home from the hospital to recuperate and relearn how to speak. Meanwhile, the Baby-Sitters Clubs new summer playgroup takes up lots of Claudias spare time, and she tries to help her regular club charge, who feels jealous about all the attention his baby sister gets. Telgemeiers expressive black-and-white art plays a key role in the story here, as much of the interplay between Claudia and Janine is unspoken but clearly shown in their expressions and body language. A section at the end describes how Telgemeier approaches adapting the novels into a graphic format.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)