Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club, #13) (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix)

MARY ANNE'S BAD LUCK MYSTERY is a fun and slightly spooky graphic novel about luck. After Mary Anne receives and discards a chain letter, she begins to feel like she is experiencing bad luck. Things get even worse after she is sent a bad luck charm necklace that she must wear. As things go from bad to worse, Mary Anne and the baby-sitters club will need to figure out how to get rid of her bad luck!

What I loved: This is a strong adaptation of the original series. The illustrations are fantastic with expressive characters and lots of detail. The amount of text is limited, allowing the images to speak for themselves where they can with targeted dialogue and explanatory text as needed. It is easy to follow along and attribute the speech bubbles to the correct characters. The use of color is great, and this will help to keep readers engaged.

In terms of the plot, it was a strong mystery and addresses superstitions and bad luck in a relatable way. As the girls work on figuring out how to turn the luck around - they also need to figure out who was behind the bad luck charm necklace. Some small detective work pays off as they solve the case by the end of the back - and settle the issues that caused it.

Another great element to the story is the inclusion of babysitting stories that is a hallmark to the series. In particular, there is a great one dealing with a boy who is afraid of ghosts, and the way his babysitter handles this with some handy books. It was great to see these maintained in the adaptation and how much the club cares for the kids they watch.

What left me wanting more: I am not sure how much kids will get chain letters nowadays, as this might be a thing of the past. They also call each other on corded landlines, which will feel a bit out of place. That being said, I guess this may qualify as historical fiction now, so in that context, it can be fun to share what life was like back then.

Final verdict: MARY ANNE'S BAD LUCK MYSTERY is an engaging graphic novel adaptation that has great themes of kindness, understanding, and superstitions. This is a very fun middle grade read - perfect for the fall and around Halloween!