Review: Jessi's Secret Language (BSC Graphix 12) by Ann M Martin and Chan Chau

Jessi's Secret Language has always been one of my favourite Baby-Sitters Club novels. For a long time, I have felt that it would make a perfect graphic novel. Well, that graphic novel is here now and I'm thrilled to report that it is everything I wanted it to be--and more.

The main story is this--Jessi is the newest, and one of the youngest, members of the BSC. She loves ballet, her family and her friends, though she is still trying to find herself in her new hometown. The other girls at her ballet school are a little suspicious and jealous of her, and at the BSC she wants to prove that she is up to the task. Then Jessi finds herself learning what inclusion really means when she starts sitting for Matthew Braddock and his older sister Haley. Matt is Deaf, which means learning sign language, a task that Jessi embraces. Of course, she learns a number of lessons along the way--and finds a wonderful way to share a lesson about inclusivity at her ballet school.

Overall, this one was very well done and I loved the inclusion of American Sign Language in the pictures, and enjoyed the way the duel storylines of Jessi's struggles at ballet school and her experiences of babysitting Matt and Haley came together.

An excellent addition to the series.

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