Kristy's Great Idea

A solid update to one of those "silly girl series" I mostly avoided as a kid because heaven help me if I liked modern girl stuff. Thankfully time has brought at least a tad bit more wisdom and I can really appreciate what this graphic novel has to offer.

I think what I appreciated most about this particular book was how realistic the story felt. If I recall correctly that was one of the better things about the original series as well. The characters are people you could know, with real problems that a lot of girls reading their series could relate to. Parents, siblings, body image, boys, divorce etc. All drawn in a For Better Or For Worse sort of style that despite its lack of realism still feels extremely relatable. I want to use the word average, but in a good way and not in a bad one.

Because I do think that some girl power style stories do get a little bit out there sometimes. Not to say I don't enjoy a lot of these titles, but grand scheme of things we do need both. It shows average girls living life and (at least in the book, I haven't seen any scholastic promotional material so I can't speak to the marketing) the book doesn't feel the need to scream GIRL POWER about it. It just is (and has been I guess) the change that we need.

That said, I can't really figure out if this is an update or not. Although I haven't dedicated much thought to it thus far, so hopefully it'll make itself obvious soon. None of the characters had cell phones, which would seem weird if it was an update, but it didn't feel like the characters were particularly dated either. Either way, I would have appreciated a bit more diversity on a few fronts, it would have made the book feel even more relatable to modern audiences.

That said, I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the series to see where it goes. I might even pick up some of the originals for comparison.