Review: Claudia and the Bad Joke by Arley Nopra & Ann M Martin

The BSC Graphix series continues to go from strength to strength with a new series adaptor coming on board--Arley Nopra. Nopra's first (and, hopefully, not last,) addition to the series is Claudia and the Bad Joke. This one retells the story of how a slapstick film festival at the Stoneybrook Public Library leads to all of the local kids playing pranks on each other, which in turn leads to an incident in which Claudia breaks her leg whilst on a babysitting job. Which, in turn, leads to the other members of the BSC declaring a practical joke war on Betsy Sobak, while Claudia takes the more mature path of contemplating whether babysitting is such a great idea. 

This was an entertaining read. As is often the case with these books, the characters and situations aren't entirely realistic. The kids go about solving the problems for themselves without adult involvement and come up with a unique solution that works--which makes for fun reading, though I doubt things would work out so neatly in real life, or, when an injury occurs that adults wouldn't get involved. The illustrations are well done, and I just love that there are now plenty of these books for readers, new and old, to enjoy.

Recommended.

PS: There are two more BSC Graphix novels in the works, Kristy and the Walking Disaster and Mallory and the Trouble With Twins. 

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