Based on Ann M. Martin's bestselling series, America's favorite baby-sitters are back -- this time, in a heart-warming and hilarious graphic novel. In this new graphic novel edition of the very first BABY-SITTERS CLUB book, Raina Telgemeier captures all the drama of the original in warm, spunky illustrations. Witness Kristy's eureka moment, when she gets the idea for a "baby-sitters club" and enlists her best friends, shy Mary Anne and artistic Claudia, in an exciting new venture. But the baby-sitting business isn't the only thing absorbing their attention: Kristy is having a hard time accepting her stepdad-to-be, and the newest member of the gang, Stacey, seems to be hiding a secret. Grade 4-7–This graphic-novel version of a popular series describes how the Baby-Sitters Club was formed, focusing on the girls' friendships and some of their amusing jobs. Subplots include Kristy's gradual acceptance of her mother's boyfriend and their eventual engagement and Stacy's medical problem (readers may think it's anorexia, but it is really diabetes). The black-and-white cartoons are clear and uncluttered, and the language is simple enough for slow or reluctant readers. –Ronnie Gordon, Brooklyn Public Library, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Gr. 4-6. Kristy's Great Idea (1986), the first in Martin's hugely popular Baby-Sitters Club series (which grew to more than 100 titles and generated both a TV series and a movie), returns in a successful graphic novel makeover. Comics artist Telgemeier's clean-lined, black-and-white art with stark black details nicely differentiates the four personable seventh-graders who parlay their babysitting experience into a business: artsy Claudia; overprotected Mary; Stacy, the girl with a secret; and clever, outspoken Kristy, who willingly supports her friends but refuses to give her mother an inch when it comes to a new stepfather. The story has been effectively trimmed to accommodate the format (Kristy's actions and feelings are the focus), but there's still plenty of content, comedy, action, and emotion--in both the text and the art--as the kids cope with feisty toddlers and personal problems and fight with and help one another, while modeling right behavior and the ups and downs of friendship. It's easy to see how this could evolve into a series of its own. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved