Best Babysitters Ever

December 1, 2018
Inspired by The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin, three best friends start a babysitting business. Hijinks ensue.In her middle-grade debut, Cala introduces readers to a new gang of best friends intent on making fast money by wrangling messy children. Malia (or "Alia," according to her rebranding campaign) is a sporty girl with her sights set on throwing THE BEST joint birthday party ever with her two best friends, Bree and Dot. The only thing standing in their way is their lack of cash. Luck, or maybe fate (as Dot's "yogi-slash-tarot-card-reader" mom might claim), leads Malia to a free copy of Kristy's Great Idea--and inspiration strikes. It's not all smooth sailing. At one point Malia rallies her friends by telling them "Dreams are everything in life! Without them, we're just blobs with feet that go to school and do a bunch of stuff we don't really want to do." Thanks to witty banter, ample humor and excellent characterization, readers will enjoy following this group of young dreamers as they attempt to gain some independence in their preteen lives. Though at times the storytelling is a bit all over the place (the third-person narration alternates among the three), the characters are sincere and genuine. Cala delves into insecurities and worries that young readers will no doubt find familiar. Malia presents black and Dot presents white; "technically...half Jewish" Bree has "olive" skin and shiny black hair.A humorous homage that will appeal to lovers of quirky friendship stories. (Fiction. 11-13)

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January 1, 2019
Grades 5-8 Fans of the Baby-Sitters Club books are a natural fit for this debut novel about three enterprising girls, Malia, Dot, and Bree, who decide to start a babysitting business, despite the fact that they don't particularly like children. Their motive? To earn enough money to throw a huge party. The girls' plan hits a snag, however, when Malia's sister decides to start a rival babysitting service (the Seaside Sitters) to put them out of business. Malia has always felt inferior to her sister Chelsea, so Malia is doubly frustrated when she finally finds something she is good at, only to have Chelsea steal her idea. As the story moves forward, Malia hatches a plan to stand up to her sister and reclaim her business idea. Cala incorporates themes of sibling rivalry, jealousy, competition, friendship, manipulation, entrepreneurship, and first crushes into this realistic series starter. As the pressures of running a business and rivalries mount, readers will find themselves rooting for the best babysitters ever. Try with Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel Kristy's Great Idea? (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
A trio of not-particularly-capable sitters appropriates the central business model of Ann M. Martin's Baby-Sitters Club books. Much of the humor in this over-the-top send-up of lesson-laden kids' pop culture comes via the hyperbolic traits of its sometimes misguided characters. Believable friendship dynamics and motivations balance out the silliness. The source material serves as a jumping-off point, so familiarity with Martin's series isn't necessary.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
In this series opener, Malia stumbles across an old copy of Kristy's Great Idea, the first of Ann M. Martin's Baby-Sitters Club books, and appropriates the central business model. But unlike Kristy and friends, whose babysitting adventures came with an earnest wish to do right by their charges, the trio of Malia, Bree, and Dot has less interest in caring for children than in getting paid?mainly so they can impress their peers with a party like the one at a classmate's recent bat mitzvah. Nor are they particularly capable sitters?and things go from not-so-great to worse when Malia's older sister and her friends become competitors. Much of the humor in this over-the-top send-up of lesson-laden kids' pop culture comes via the hyperbolic traits of its sometimes misguided characters. But believable friendship dynamics and motivations balance out the silliness: as Dot eventually points out, Malia's obsession with proving herself has made her unreasonably dependent on the club's success. The source material's premise (babysitting + friends + a corded telephone = club) is clearly explained and serves as a jumping-off point, so familiarity with Martin's series isn't necessary, though it makes these characters' incredulity at its wholesomeness funnier. A breezy, entertaining read, this book and the promised sequels seem likely to fill a role similar to the original?as reading material kids choose for themselves. shoshana flax

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)