Farina, Katy. Karen's Witch (Baby-sitters Little Sister #1)December 26th 2019 by Graphix
Based on the 1988 novel by Ann M. Martin
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
When Karen and her brother go to spend the weekend with her father and his new family (that includes The Baby-sitters Kristy), Karen becomes obsessed with the idea that the older neighbor lady (who wears long dresses and shawls and spends a lot of time in her garden) is actually a witch. She refers to the woman as Morbida Destiny, and is determined to save the neighborhood from her evil influence. Along with Hanni, she spies on the neighbor, makes up spells to ward her off, and eventually crashes a "witches' meeting" at her house-- that ends up being a gardening club meeting that her grandmother is also attending. Karen learns a valuable lesson about judging someone based only on appearance.
Strengths: Farina's illustrations are similar enough to Telgemeiers that readers may not realize the change in authors, but distinctive enough that discerning one will. The colors and style are attractive. I particularly liked Karen and Kristy's close relationship. The cats were super cute, even if cats are plotting to kill us all!
Weaknesses: Karen's obsession with the witch makes this better for younger readers, but who knows? Maybe this series can bring back my name as one that is not for grandmothers!
What I really think: I am debating buying this one. On the one hand, these graphic novels do well, but on the other, middle school students are going to KNOW the neighbor is not a witch. Will they care? Probably not. This is in full color, and I recently had a student complain about the older graphic novels that were in black and white, so I might buy this.
Just as a data point for you, my 9 year old considers the BSC graphic novels her favorite series of all, but she was "meh" on this little sister one. And I don't think I do know any kids named Karen, though I know several my age :-) Hope you have a great Christmas!
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