Mallory and the Trouble with Twins

 

Book #21, Graphix #17

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Arley Nopra

Basic plot

Mallory gets a babysitting job for troublesome identical twins, Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold. At home she wants to her parents permission to get a new look, including piercing her ears.

Things that are kept the same

• Mallory and her family have a trip to the mall. She watches ear-piercing, wishing she could get hers done as well.
• At the BSC meeting, Logan joins them. Mallory is offered a regular job with the Arnold twins.
• The first time sitting for the twins, starts okay until she mentions they look cute, like bookends. Then the girls take off their identification bracelets and run around the place, so Mallory doesn't know which one is which and they speak in a special twin language.
  
• This continues to be the same on further sitting jobs, with their identical outfits she can't tell them apart.
• Claudia sits for the girls and they switch places again, she gets in trouble when she sends Carolyn off for Marilyn's important piano lesson and only finds out they tricked her after the piano teacher rings.
• At the next meeting they discuss the twin problem but don't come up with any solutions.
• At the next sitting job, when the girls speak their twin language, Mallory starts speaking in Pig Latin to show how it isn't nice to be left out. The girls are interested in learning the language, so she has a breakthrough and they even point out the moles on their face that can help tell them apart.
• Kristy babysits her siblings, when Karen and Hannie dress up the same they soon get bored of being lookalikes.
• Mallory realises the twins want to be individuals and sets out to help them.
• Mallory, Dawn and Mary Anne help out at the twins birthday party, after getting all identical presents, they are delighted to receive Mallory's individually picked presents.
• The next time she babysits, she talks with the girls and together they talk to Mrs Arnold about letting the girls dress differently.
• The talk having gone so well, Mallory decides to also approach her parents about what she would like. They agree to a new haircut and getting ears pierced.
• Mallory then goes shopping with the Arnolds so they can pick out their new looks. They are much happier and easy to deal with now.
  
• Jessi also gets permission to pierce her ears and Claudia to get an extra hole, so the BSC do an outing to mall to get them together.
• At the next BSC meeting they exchange gifts of earrings.
  

Things from other books/ Other things to note

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books

Things that are changed

• This is a book that stuck very close to the source material. Mallory tends to give a lot of descriptions in her chapters but these are mainly captured visually instead.
• Mrs Arnold is described as fussy (lots of frills and extra accessories) in the book, but doesn't appear like that in the graphix.
• On one of Mal's jobs in the book, the girls have already switched bracelets, Mrs Arnold takes one look at them and tells them to switch them back. Mal wonders how she can tell them apart. 
• In the book, at Claudia's job after discovering the switch, she draws a smiley face on the back of Marilyn's hand so she could tell them apart for the rest of the day.
  
• In the chapter about Kristy babysitting her siblings there is a long piece about the Brewers being away at an estate sale, and about what an estate sale is.
  
• There are some subtle changes that put a different spin on things, like when Mal is asking her parents for the things, and says that she feels like a baby and her parents comfort her, in the graphix she has a little smirk, implying that she is manipulating them.
• In the book after three girls get their ears pierced, Dawn suddenly decides she wants to do it too and has to ring her mom for permission. Dawn gets 2 holes in each ear.

Final Thoughts

After not getting an episode in the netflix series and having her first book incorporated into "Dawn and the Impossible Three",  Mallory finally gets a graphix of her own. Mal sometimes get a bad reputation, being whiney or boring, but I actually quite liked her growing up and think she does best in the early books. It's nice to see her viewpoint, and while the graphix sticks closely to the original book, it's fun to see some visuals, the twins are indeed very cute in their matching outfits, but also in their new looks. Mal's new haircut also looks quite stylish.

Kristy and the Walking Disaster

Book #20, Graphix #16

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Ellen T. Crenshaw

Basic plot

Kirsty starts a softball team for the kids in the neighbourhood who can't join other softball teams, need extra training and confidence, including accident prone Jackie Rodowsky.

Things that are kept the same

• Kristy's siblings and other kids in the neighbourhood take an interest in playing softball, but for a variety of reasons they can't join the little league. 
• Amanda Delaney tells Kristy about a boy her age, Bart Taylor, that has a softball team.
• Kristy goes to talk to him, he doesn't have space in his team for all the kids, and Kristy decides to start her own team. She also has a crush on Bart.
  
• She gets more kids interested in joining including Jackie Rodowsky the so named 'Walking Disaster'
• The team also incudes the 2 Brewer kids, David Michael Thomas, the 2 Papadakis,  3 Pikes kids, Matt Braddock (who is deaf), Jamie Newton and Myriah and 2 and half year old Gabby Perkins.
• Watson helps her with some of the organising.
• The kids vote to name the team Kristy's Krushers, and get t-shirts with ironed on letters, but Karen Brewer insists on spelling Crusher correctly with a "C" on her shirt.
  
• The Pike triplets, who are in Little league, have a game against their siblings and Matt, and are impressed at how they do.
• Practices go well, even though Clare Pike will sometimes through tantrum or Jackie will have an accident (like knocking out his tooth or braking school window).
• Kristy takes Shannon (the dog) for a walk hoping to run into Bart. They meet and arrange for their teams to have a game.
• Vanessa Pike, Hayley Braddock and Charlotte Johanssen form a cheer-leading squad.
• Bart's team come to check out their competition, and while Bart is distracted they laugh and call the Krushers names.
• On game day, Nicky Pike is sick and can't play, the BSC help keep the kids occupied while Kristy concentrates on the game.
• Jackie knocks into refreshment stand and after being laughed at pretends to hurt his leg. After Kristy talks to him, he finishes up the game.
• In the end they are beaten by Bart's Bashers, but they put up a good fight and wasn't the walkover that they were expecting, so they are impressed.
• Kristy walks home with Bart, they both admit to being competitive. Bart tells her the team is clearly dedicated. They hold hands and talk about going out sometime.
  
• When Kristy gets home, she tells Watson about Bart, then she calls Jackie to tell him, how proud she was of him at the game.
  

Things from other books/ Other things to note

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.
• At one point, Kristy calls Archie "Red" in the original book this is just a nickname because of his red hair, but in the graphix it doesn't make sense because his hair is coloured brown.
• Jessi babysits the Barretts in the original book at one point, this is changed to Braddocks in the graphix, but in her club notebook entry they forget to change names at the end and reference Buddy and Suzi.
  

Things that are changed

• In the book it says Kristy and Bart talk some more and she thinks about starting team, only after she babysits Rodowskys she definitely decides to do it. In the Graphix, Bart is the one to suggest she starts a team herself.
  
• In the book she also thinks about asking Watson for help, but in the Graphix he just starts to take interest and clearly it's him trying to build more of a relationship with Kristy. There is bonding in both books but it is more focused in the Graphix, like we see him being pleased Kristy asked him to help and when she makes a comment that Watson must really like softball the BSC share knowing looks. He is also first to know about her crush on Bart so when she blurts out at the end that they may go out sometime, seems more of a payoff.
  
• Babysitting chapter is left out of graphix. Mary Anne babysits the Perkins and Jamie Newton comes over and she tells them about Kristy's team.
• In the Graphix they cut back the team to 13 kids rather than 20 in the original book. They leave off  Buddy and Suzi Barrett, Nina Marshall, Max Delaney and the 3 Kuhns (who first appeared in this book).
• Because of this, Max earlier in story still plays game at Brewers but says he he doesn't like playing enough join team and also why Jessi babysitting job was changed from the Barretts to the Braddocks.
• The Bashers have girls on the team as well, not just boys like in the original book.
  
• In the game against the Bashers, because Gabby is so young the pitcher stands closer and pitches wiffle ball, in the graphix they add Karen as pinch runner so she runs the bases for Gabby.
• As well as holding hands in graphix Bart also kisses Kristy on cheek at the end.
  

Final Thoughts

This is a book I didn't own originally, think I got it from library, but I didn't re-read it lot,wasn't one that was super interesting to me. The graphix is basically the same as the original but it's interesting how they make small changes in the graphix or how the visuals can make more emphasis on something. In this case the subplot with Kirsty and Watson is more developed. It makes reading it more enjoyable.In both books having a 2 and half year old playing seemed silly, now that I have had a child that has been age, it is even more ridiculous! They made slight improvement with getting Karen to run for her in the game, and I guess it be hard to leave her out, it would be noticeable in the story unlike some other players. As always I enjoyed the graphix, though it is a pity a couple of mistakes slipped, as they pay a lot of attention to details usually.

Claudia and the Bad Joke

Book #19, Graphix #15

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Arley Nopra

Basic plot

While babysitting a new client, a practical joke goes wrong, leaving Claudia with a broken leg and questioning if she wants to continue with babysitting.

Things that are kept the same

• The BSC go to comedy film festival, afterwards lots of people in Stoneybrook are enjoying practical jokes.
• Claudia gets a job babysitting a new client, Betsy Sobak. She talks to some of her old babysitters who tell her they stopped babysitting because of all her practical jokes, which makes Claudia nervous.
• On the day of the sitting job, Betsy looks innocent enough but soon the jokes begin, Claudia gets given a drink with fly in her ice and hot chewing gum. Playing outside seems like a safer option but during a swinging contest, Claudia's swing breaks and she lands badly on her leg.
• Betsy is sorry, she knew the swing was broken, but then forgot about it when it didn't break straight away and got excited by contest.
• Betsy rings for an ambulance as Claudia's instructed and Dawn and Mallory who are babysitting nearby.
• Claudia is taken to hospital, she has a bad break and will have stay in hospital in traction for a week.
  
• She gets a lot of visitors, but in the quiet moments, she starts to think about what if it had been her arm that broke and she couldn't do art.
• She thinks babysitting might be too dangerous and wonders if she should quit the BSC.
• The BSC have to deal with practical jokes from their clients, they secretly declare a practical joke war on Betsy. It doesn't seem to have affect on her until Kristy tricks her at movie theater, she switches seats and Betsy starts to worry when she can't find her and gets embarrassed in front of classmates.
• After Kristy explains how her jokes can embarrass people and they have consequences.
• They go to Claudia's house so Betsy can apologize in person.
• After their talk Claudia comes to decision to stay in the club,
  

Things from other books

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.

Things that are changed

• While we do see Ashley Wyeth visit Claudia in the hospital in the graphix, in the book they also have a few phone calls.
• Claudia mentions Dawn often stays for dinner after the BSC meeting as she doesn't like being home alone so much now Jeff's in California and her mom works long hours.
• They cut out some extra scenes of Mimi helping Claudia with homework.
• Claudia gets a prank phone call that goes wrong. In the book its is "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" (an old joke) in the graphix it's "when was the last time your toilet was flushed."
• Mary Anne brings Claudia a stuffed teddy in the hospital rather than sneaking in Tigger the cat for a visit.
• While those were all small things, the biggest difference I noticed was that in the original book Betsy is more responsible in the swing incident. She suggests going to swing and tells Claudia to sit on the broken one, she thinks it will break straight away and frowns when it doesn't and then forgets about it when Claudia suggests the contest. In the graphix Claudia suggests they play outside and then they start swinging, Betsy still apologizes after the accident saying she knew it was broken. But it really doesn't have the same set up or affect.
  

Final Thoughts

This book was fine, it's not one of my favourites, but still fun to see it in graphix. I do think Betsy in the book is more to blame for the accident, think they could have shown that more in the graphix. In both book and graphix, Kristy playing tricks at her at the movies in front of her classmates is what leads to the talk and resolution with Claudia, but I do think making a kid think they have been abandoned in a public space is too mean (and potentially traumatising!). Not the BSC's most responsible moment!

Stacey's Mistake

Book #18, Graphix #14

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Ellen T.Crenshaw

Basic plot

Stacy invites the BSC to New York to visit and help with a big babysitting job. Things don't go as great as she hopes.

Things that are kept the same

• Due to a big meeting happening and lots of parents wanting Stacey to babysit their kids, Stacey gets the idea to invite the BSC to stay for a long weekend with her in New York and help out with babysitting.
• Stacey goes to meet the BSC at central station, she is happy to see them, but is frustrated when they manage to miss the meeting point and Claudia bringing a huge bag means they have to bring it back to apartment before doing anything else.
• They go out for food and shopping, but at times Stacey is embarrassed by her friends, Dawn is scared of everything, Mary Anne keeps quoting tourist guide books and Kristy is being a loudmouth.
• The girls meet the clients, and get ready for party with Stacey's New York friends.
• Claudia is jealous of Laine and they start sniping at each other. The BSC find it difficult to mix with Stacey's New York friends but eventually loosen up. Mostly they have fun, but Mary Anne makes fun of Dawn's fears and Claudia cuts in on Kristy and a boy dancing.
• After the party things are tense between the friends, Laine decides not to stay the night. Stacy calls for truce until the babysitting job is done.
• The next day they take the kids to the museum, they lose one kid when he wanders off, which scares them, but luckily they find him again. Then they spend the afternoon in Central Park.
• Laine's producer father gets them all tickets for a broadway show, Claudia and Laine make up and the girls spend  a great evening together.
• After a late night staying up talking, they say their goodbyes at the train station the next day.
  

Things from other books

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.

Things that are changed 

• In the books Jessi and Mallory were Stacey's replacement when she left, so she didn't know them as well, but in the Graphix they joined beforehand, so they get invited to New York as well. They get a little bit extra to do, at the party they feelout of place being younger than everyone else.
  
• In the books the big meeting is about homelessness and there is minor homeless character Judy, who shows up somtimes. Instead in the Graphix it becomes a fundraiser for Rosensterns Players Community Theatre run by Ms Shah. Maybe the homelessness cause was considered too big and too vague to feasably have the parents be able to tackle it after one meeting. 
• Due to this change there is also some other references to homeless people that is left out such as no Judy here and a conversation Dawn has in central park with Stacy about being nervous about muggers and homeless people is changed. During the updated conversation Stacey tries to see things from Dawn's point of view being nervous in the city which is nice, but misses out on Stacey's point that just because there are homeless people living in the park doesn't mean they're going to hurt you.
  
• The girls send postcards like in the original book, there are some minor changes to some, such as Claudia asks to go vintage shopping rather than to Bloomingdales.
  
• The biggest change is the chapter they go to lunch and shopping. In the original book they go to Hard Rock Cafe and Bloomingdales, in the Graphix they get lunch from a food truck in Union Square and go vintage shopping. Perhaps it is an issue of naming and depicting brands in the graphix that is the reason for the change.
• Instead of Stacey is getting embarrassed by the BSC making exclamations over the half cadillac in the Hard Rock Cafe building, she is embarrassed by Jessi dancing to a street band, especially when Kristy joins in too.
• In the graphix, at the shops Mary Anne as to buy a cardigan when security sees her accidentally rip it wile trying it on. In the original book, security guard confronts Mary Anne after she pockets some tester make-up thinking they are free to take.

Final Thoughts

This was one of my favourite books when I was younger, I thought of it as a mini-special as the BSC went on a trip and they each had some kind of subplot. It was fun to see Mal and Jessi here as well, even if it was more in the background. I like when there is some new things in the graphix which freshen things up. I do find the cover funny as it seems Laine and Claudia's fight will be a bigger part of the book than it is, but it really is a minor thing. I also like Laine's look she looks glam but still a young teenager not supposedy looking like a 19 year old as described in the original book. A very fun graphix.

Karen's Witch

As it is some time until the next Baby-sitters Club Graphix is released in the meantime I thought I'd look at the spin-off series for younger readers the Baby-sitters Little Sister Books, which also has been turned into graphic novel form.

 

Book #1, Graphix #1

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin 

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Katy Farina

 

Basic plot

Karen is convinced her neighbour Mrs Porter is actually a witch named Morbidda Destiny.

Things that are kept the same

• Karen introduces the reader to her family and explains that she is a two-two.
• Karen is convinced the Brewer's neighbour Mrs Porter is a witch, Morbidda Destiny and she finds her dad's rule of no spying hard to follow.
• At the Brewers while Kristy is babysitting, Karen is startled when Midnight (Mrs Porter's cat) is on their doorstep. 
• Karen is in bed looking out the window feeling sleepy when she sees Morbidda Destiny fly out of window on broomstick. She screams and Kristy comes, she lets Karen sleep in her bed.
• The next day, Karen’s best friend Hannie comes over, they play witches and spy on Morbidda. They hear her muttering about a 12 o’clock meeting and saying midnight, but not sure if she means her cat.
• She tries to set an alarm clock that night so she can see the witches’ meeting but it doesn’t go off so she thinks Morbidda put a spell on it.
• But during the day she sees people going to Morbidda’s house, she runs to tell Hannie the witch’s meeting is happening now.
• They go over to Morbidda’s house to confront the witches but are surprised when Karen’s grandmother interrupts their speech. It is a gardening meeting and grandmother is angry at Karen calling them witches, she tells them to apologise and then marches them home.
• The Brewers have a talk with Karen and make her write and apology note and promise no more spying.
• Karen then packs up and to head back to her mother’s house but she still thinks Mrs Porter is a witch, a clever one.

Things from other books

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.

 

Things that are changed 

• As these are targeted for a younger age group, there is less plot to divert from. One of the more obvious change is the original book has 20 short chapters, the graphix has 1/2 the numbers of chapters as they have two chapters condensed into one.
• There is a few inconsequential thoughts that are left out of the graphix, but one that did stick out to me in reference to Seth’s cat and dog Karen says Rocky and Midgie are stupid names, she would have called them Jones and Vance. I have no problem with the pet names though I have always thought that the names would work better switched (i.e. dog should be called Rocky rather than Midgie)
• Hannie actually is not physically described in the book, but we do see a picture of her and Karen and she is portrayed as white, whereas in the graphix she is black.
• The ending has Karen looking knowingly at Mrs Porter’s house thinking that she is a clever witch, in the graphix we see Mrs Porter look out with a smile before closing the curtains. This is a small but fun addition, for young readers it may leave some ambiguity, and she may really be a witch, as an older person, I may read too much into it but feel that Mrs Porter is sometimes lonely and actually has fun with Karen’s imagination.

 

Final Thoughts

I did read these original books when I was younger, when I outgrew them, I found it hard to re-read as I felt Karen was annoying, but the Graphix I actually find fine to read. I think the drawings are cute, and I have more empathy for her as she is just a young kid still needing to figure things out, which reminds me of my daughter who is the same age. I am reading the graphix with my daughter who really likes them so that probably gives a new light on them too.

So far there are 6 of these graphic novels released, this is probably my least favourite of them, but it is still a cute book and I really like Katy Farina’s drawings, really brings characters to life.

Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery

Book #17, Graphix #13

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Cynthia Yuan Cheng

Basic plot

As Halloween approaches, Mary Anne receives a chain-letter which she throws away. Then her and the BSC all start having bad luck.Then another letter arrives with a bad-luck necklace that Mary Anne must wear or else...

Things that are kept the same

• Mary Anne and the BSC, sometimes including Logan now usually have lunch together at school. Some others not been happy with this dynamic including Cokie and Grace.
• Mary Anne receives a chain letter that threatens bad luck unless she sends it on. She opens it at BSC meeting, Mal & Jessi think she should listen to the letter, but Mary Anne throws it away.
• The next day Mary Anne has a bad day, starting with a bad dream and falling out of bed. Then she spills juice on herself, her school locker gets stuck, she drops her lunch and has a small fight with Logan.
• Dawn has a particularly difficult babysitting job with Jackie Rodowsky, who is known to be accident prone but seems worse than normal.
• Mary Anne then receives a note with a necklace, telling her to wear the bad luck charm or else...
• The BSC are now nervous and start to believe there is some bad luck curse. They go to library to research ways to reverse curses.
• Jessi babysits Jamie Newton and helps him get over his fear of Halloween.
• Claudia and Mal have a difficult job with the Pikes.
• The older BSC members attend the Halloween Hop, Logan and Mary Anne dress up as Cats, as they had seen the musical Cats. They have a good time at dance, but then Mary Anne gets another letter after, telling her and the BSC to come to graveyard at midnight on Halloween night.
• Kristy calls an emergency meeting of the BSC and they plan a sleepover as cover so they can go to graveyard,with Charlie driving them.
  
• When talking to her dad, Mary Anne discovers her necklace is a symbol of faith not a bad luck charm and because of something Cokie said at the dance she figures out that she sent the necklace.
• The BSC come up with a plan to scare Cokie and her friends at the graveyard before they scare them. They find out Cokie had invited Logan in order to see them humiliate Mary Anne.
• They have a good time at the sleepover with the bad luck mystery solved, although Cokie didn't send the original chain letter, they think their luck is turning around.
  

Things from other books

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.

Things that are changed 

• In the original book, Mary Anne notices, Cokie and Grace whispering and looking over at the BSC at lunchtime She feels self conscious but doesn't do anything else. In the Graphix, Mary Anne overhears the girls calling them stuck up and babies and she confronts them, in front of everyone. The BSC think Mary Anne is very cool, but obviously Grace and Cokie are not happy. In general Mary Anne in the Graphix seems to bit more confident.
• When they go to library for research, they still use the library card catalogue, only minor change is Kristy mentioning she can't believe they still have one of them. I found it odd that they didn't change it to girls looking up books on computer catalogue, as there are other aspects of the books that have changed, seemed an odd thing to keep.
• In the original books Jessi reads Jamie a story about a shy ghost, to help him get over his fear of Halloween. The book was Georgie's Halloween, a real book written by Robert Bright published in 1958. In the Graphix the book Jessi reads is called "Ollie and the Halloween Costume" it has same basic story-line with some changes like Ollie the ghost friends being a bat and mouse rather than a cat and an owl. I wonder if the change was because there would be copyright issues for depicting the Georgie's Halloween in graphic novel.
• In the original book they mention this is 2nd Halloween mystery they have had, the first being the phantom caller (from book 2). This isn't mentioned in the graphix of course, because that book was skipped over and not adapted.
• The Graphix skips over the chapter where Kristy takes her siblings trick or treating but we do see the the kids costumes afterwards, when Mary Anne phones up Kristy and Karen answers.  A fun addition is David Micheal's costume is described in book as "some warrior from a Saturday morning adventure show" and the Graphix shows him dressed as Finn from Adventure Time,  a more recent show but fits in with the book's description.
• The reason for Cokie and friends playing prank in the Graphix, is no longer about Grace wanting to have a shot with dating Logan, but payback for Mary Anne embarrassing them in the cafeteria. Mary Anne does apologize for that, but also calls them out for the hurtful things they have said, and she hopes next time they can resolve things without tricks or pranks.
  

Final Thoughts

Again while on the face of it this is a straightforward adaption with not much changes, but the changes they have made are interesting. Mary Anne is much more willing to talk up for her self in this, the conflict with Cokie and Grace here it is more realistic for why they wanted revenge, whereas in the original book their motives are not as well set up. It is good to see Mary Anne try and talk things out at the end as well, and apologizing for her part while also not letting them off the hook. It's going to be a while to wait for the next book is not out until October, "Stacey's Mistake" I'm looking forward to seeing that adapted as it was one of my favourites growing up.

Jessi's Secret Language

Book #16, Graphix #12

Original Book - Writer: Ann M.Martin

Graphix Book - Illustrator: Chan Chau

Basic plot

Jessi takes a regular babysitting job with new clients. One of the kids, Matt, is Deaf, so she learns ASL to communicate with him. Meanwhile she has gotten the lead role in her ballet School's production of Coppelia.

Things that are kept the same

• Jessi takes regular sitting job for the Braddocks, who have two children Matt (who is Deaf) and Hayley. She meets them and starts to learn ASL, before starting the sitting job.
• Jessi gets the part of Swanhilda in Coppelia in her ballet school, two of the girls in her class, Hilary and Mary Beth, are not being friendly and say that Mme Noelle is favouring her because she is the youngest.
• Jessi and the Braddocks meet Jenny and Mary Anne out for a walk and Jenny is quite rude not understanding about deafness, which upsets Hayley.
  
• Jessi gets on well with the Braddocks, she grows close with Matt and also helps Hayley talk through her feelings of resentment towards Matt.
• She brings the Braddocks to the Pikes house, and they think the "secret language" (ASL) is cool and they become friends.
• Jessi meets Mary Beth's sister, Adele. She is surprised to find out Adele is Deaf but her family have not learned sign language, she spends most of her time in boarding school. Jessi communicating with Adele and talking with Mary Beth, encourages her to start an ASL class so she she can have a better relationship with her sister.
  
• Jessi arranges for Matt's class to come see her ballet show with Hayley and her mom acting as narrator/interpreters to help. It is a great success.
  

Things from other books

• Nothing stood out as an addition from other books.
• In the graphix because Jessi joined earlier it is mentioned (in Graphix 8), that her family are house hunting and staying in temporary accommodation. As in the original books she moves into Stacey's old house I thought this would be followed up on in this book or the last one, but it hasn't, so it's unclear if Jessi lives in Stacey's old house or if they moved into a different house before she left.
  

Things that are changed 

• Plot is largely the same  as the original book, but I do notice things have been pared down, obviously big descriptions about what BSC members look like or how to do certain signs are not needed in a visual medium, but also some conversations are shortened for example Jessi and Hayley's conversation about resenting siblings or the BSC meeting no longer has Kristy mentioning her mom wanting a baby or Mary Anne taking a call from Logan.
• Also there is less of Jessi talking about being one of the few back families in Stoneybrook as obviously in the graphix there is more diversity, you can see this around the school and of course Logan is black in this version. (A nice visual addition is her and Becca wearing silk caps to bed to protect their hair). Jessi still has had trouble fitting in, but it's more about being a new kid than her race.
  
• Three chapters about babysitting jobs have been left out. Dawn and Mal babysitting the Pikes, who  start making up their own signs. Another chapter is Claudia babysitting the Brewers, she tells them about  the secret language, to distract Karen from her ghost stories and they spend the evening ringing Jessi asking her to look up things in the ASL dictionary (if that was included they could just look up signs on internet these days!). Then a chapter of Kristy babysitting Becca and Squirt, where Charlotte comes over to play (establishing Char and Becca have become close friends)
• Not a change but thought it is interesting to note because they've skipped over book 15 (Little Miss Stoneybrook...and Dawn), a big plot point that Jeff has moved back to California, feels a little strange that Dawn just mentions how she is feeling about it in a meeting.
• There are some little changes to how the book handles the Deaf Community and ASL throughout. The intro thanks Lynne Kelly for her expertise in helping to make the book, it also notes because of the lettering format (all uppercase) that any reference to Deaf person is intended to have a capital "D"
  
• In the original book at times the refer to ASL as Ameslan which is not preferred term but was used in some books in 70s/80s. 
• Advantage of being visual is the graphix can draw out the signs rather than try and describe them. 
• When Jessi goes to talk to Matt's class about ballet, in the book she talks and signs, but in the graphix Mrs Braddock and teacher interpret as Mrs B. say it is difficult to do both at same time as each language has its own grammar and structure.
  
• Jessi comes up with her own name sign early in the book. In the graphix Matt gives her name sign after the show, this is important and special to be given a name sign by Deaf person as it shows she has been accepted into the Deaf Community.
  

Final Thoughts

A jump in timeline, I wondered how they were going to handle plot points like Jeff leaving, if we would get some of that in this book but seems like they just moved right on with Dawn just mentioning the move. In a lot of ways the graphix cutting out things can be advantage (we really don't need a run down of how the club works, everyone's personality and looks in every book) but do miss out on some of the build up. I had actually forgotten in these early books how much of a lead up to plots there was, like here is the first mention of Kristy's mom talking about babies, which is lead up to book 24. It's fun seeing the groundwork of these plots so it's a pity these are missed out. I also note that some of the extra babysitting jobs tend to get the cut a lot, which I suppose makes for tighter plot but sometimes could be fun to see.

While there ave been updates on how they treat ASL and Deaf community in the graphix, I think Ann did pretty good job in the original book, it would have been nice to see some representation back in the 80s and it's good that the Graphix were able to build on that and improve where needed.