Claudia and the New Girl (Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #9)
Published February 2nd 2021 by Graphix, Hardcover 176 pages
Claudia has always been the most creative kid in her class... until Ashley Wyeth comes along. Ashley's really different: She wears hippie clothes and has multiple earrings, and she's the most fantastic artist Claudia has ever met.
Ashley says Claudia is a great artist, too, but thinks she's wasting her artistic talent with The Baby-sitters Club. When Claudia starts spending more time with Ashley and missing BSC meetings, it becomes clear that Claudia has to make a decision -- one of them has to go!
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Claudia is an artist and she loves drawing, sketching, and foraying into sculpting. She also loves the Baby-sitters club and babysitting. When a new girl, Ashley joins the school and Claudia finds out that Ashley is also an artist, she gets excited. Ashley tells Claudia that Claudia is an amazing artist and she should not waste her time on anything else and just focus on her art only. Claudia starts to miss The Baby-sitters club meetings along with a couple of other things. Would Claudia be able to juggle everything?
I usually enjoy The Baby-sitters club series graphic novels but this was bad. I have not read the original Baby-sitters club books but I understand that this is supposed to be about toxic friendships. Well, it certainly achieved that as everyone was acting toxic and petty in this and this had plot holes.
I don't know which timeline are these graphic novels supposed to be set up in but up until now, I thought they seemed to be in the late eighties or the early nineties. But in this graphic novel, Ashley had a mobile phone and that too with a smart touch screen so I am confused. No other reviewers even mentioned this. Am I the only one who noticed this or did I have a completely wrong idea about the timeline of this?
The art was good and I liked how Claudia ended up prioritizing things in the end. It was a good lesson for everyone that we may like a few different things in our lives and it is okay to not devote most of our time to just one thing.
2 stars
Rating: really liked it
Claudia meets a new girl in her English class, Ashley from Chicago, who loves art and sculpting just as much as she does. Ashley ends up being in her pottery class too and they hit it off, talking about art and spending lots of time together. Claudia ends up missing some BSC meetings because she is so busy hanging out with Ashley. Her BSC friends are mad because Claudia is missing meetings, and Ashley is mad because Claudia is spending too much time babysitting. Claudia has to figure out her priorities and who her real friends are. I was so proud of Claudia for standing up to Ashley and letting her know that she wants to spend time with the BSC and on her art. Claudia was able to make things right with the BSC and all become friends again. She realized that the BSC girls were her true friends.
Rating: really liked it
our first bsc graphic novel with new artist gabriela epstein! like with the transition from raina telgemeier to gale galligan, this transition isn't quite seamless, but is close enough to fool most kids. the book was just as subtexty (claudia x ashley = clashley) as the source material, but I can't pretend I wasn't hoping for the gayness to be explicit rather than implied.
three notes about the adaptation that are worth mentioning: first, though everyone still makes fun of ashley's style, she's much more alternative/punk than the described boho style in the original book. secondly, there is one two-page spread where ashley's face is smack dab in the middle of the panel, so we lose her facial expression (a mistake that, I suspect, epstein will probably not make again). thirdly, in the scene where claud makes rice krispies treats with the rodowskys, the actual recipe is included, which is a really lovely touch!
Rating: really liked it
Claudia is an artist and she loves drawing, sketching, and foraying into sculpting. She also loves the Baby-sitters club and babysitting. When a new girl, Ashley joins the school and Claudia finds out that Ashley is also an artist, she gets excited. Ashley tells Claudia that Claudia is an amazing artist and she should not waste her time on anything else and just focus on her art only. Claudia starts to miss The Baby-sitters club meetings along with a couple of other things. Would Claudia be able to juggle everything?
I usually enjoy The Baby-sitters club series graphic novels but this was bad. I have not read the original Baby-sitters club books but I understand that this is supposed to be about toxic friendships. Well, it certainly achieved that as everyone was acting toxic and petty in this and this had plot holes.
I don't know which timeline are these graphic novels supposed to be set up in but up until now, I thought they seemed to be in the late eighties or the early nineties. But in this graphic novel, Ashley had a mobile phone, and that too with a smart touch screen so I am confused. No other reviewers even mentioned this. Am I the only one who noticed this or did I have a completely wrong idea about the timeline of this?
The art was good and I liked how Claudia ended up prioritizing things in the end. It was a good lesson for everyone that we may like a few different things in our lives and it is okay to not devote most of our time to just one thing.
2 stars
Rating: really liked it
[ peer pressure, toxic friendships, friendship difficulties (hide spoiler)]
Rating: really liked it
A transfer student upsets the status quo for the friendship group in the BSC. It's not one of my favorite episodes since so many of the characters are acting mean and petty for a lot of the book, but I do like the arc Claudia follows and her conscientious interaction with the members of the Rodowsky family for whom she babysits even in the midst of all the tempest-in-a-teapot tween drama. And there are good lessons about prioritization and time management. It's a pretty decent start for the new adapter, Gabriela Epstein.
Rating: really liked it
They were all so cute except this one👀 this was literally The third book. And the art? No. Why did I read this? Bc I loved these in middle school and had to continue them.
Rating: really liked it
If “nice” friends are girls who eat all your candy and leave notes saying,
“Roses are red, violets are blue,
Traitors are jerks and so are you”
then I hate to think what mean girls are like. I’ve read all the previous bsc books, and the characters in them were nothing like the girls in this book. All throughout
Claudia and the New Girl I kept waiting for Kristy and the rest of the bsc to make a big apology to Claudia for being nasty, unkind friends, but they never did! In the end it was as if the readers were to assume Claudia was the one who was being a bad friend!
This book didn’t have any similarities to the rest of the series. It was full of gaps in the storyline, sent a horrible message about staying in unhealthy relationships, and the writing was significantly dumbed down compared to the previous books.
Rating: really liked it
There are toxic friendships and sometimes that is very hard to see. I love that Claudia really gets to work on her art and show her talent even though it was a rather heavy episode it really shows the toll of someone who pushes you in directions you don’t enjoy. A well put together one that shows the challenges that can pull you apart.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
this book makes me realize that Claudia is my favorite character lol
Rating: really liked it
Gabriela Epstein had some big shoes to fill, joining the BSC Graphic Novel series nine books in, and I'll be honest, it took me a couple chapters to really warm up to her art. Not that it's a huge departure from what we've already seen, but it's still a little different and change is scary haha. But her cherubic angel Jackie Rodowsky won me over, and made me notice how great everyone looks. For some reason, I was especially drawn to Kristy and Dawn. I'm excited to see the next book she adapts!
Story-wise, I enjoyed this. It's been a couple of years since I last read the original (which is embarrassing, since I thought I would get through the whole series in, like, a couple months lmao) but as far as I can tell, it was a pretty faithful adaption. I especially liked the salty BSC eating all her snacks, that was a fun little montage (especially Mary Anne catching the marshmallow thrown by Kristy in her mouth ahhahahaha!!) Oh, and the one panel of all their identical angry faces (except Mary Anne's sympathetic one) cracked me up!
I can see this book being just as popular as the rest of the series, and hope that we get many, many more books. (Hey, Raina and Gale each got four, so it's only fair for Gaby and Chan Chau (who is adapting the next book) to also each get four. BSC FOREVER!!!)
Rating: really liked it
"Friends are friends because they like each other, not because they're in debt."
Review:I am kind of confused. It has been a bit since I have read a Babysitters Club book and maybe that is why Claudia and the New Girl didn't really work for me.
Some things seemed off. One of which, was the writing. I don't know if it is just me, but the writing, especially in the beginning, seemed different and not as good.
Also, the BSC's reaction to Claudia hanging out with Ashley was completely over the top. Maybe the book skipped all the ways Claudia was forgetting her responsibilities as VP of the BSC, but their reaction was still unnecessary. It just doesn't remind me of how the Club usually is, but maybe it's just a "me" problem.
Rating: 3 stars
Rating: really liked it
I love the Baby Sitters Club series and I'm glad they were made into graphic novels! I enjoyed the illustrations and Claudia's personality. I like how I get to experience and see all the characters' reactions and thoughts. This novel is a good reflection on friendship. I would definitely recommend.
Rating: really liked it
I thought the message if you can call it that, was great. It's not good to monopolize one person's time, especially if you have to manipulate them to do so.
Rating: really liked it
Meh
