By Caroline Cala

Overview: This book was the funniest thing I’d read in a while. Malia may have “stolen” someone’s idea, but the rest of it is totally original and hilarious. Kids ages 10-13 will definitely love it. Content is fine for younger kids, but the reading level is more for tweens, and there is a lot of business lingo that younger kids may not be familiar with.

What’s it about? You’ve probably heard of “The Babysitters Club,” the adventures of four girls from the nineties who “answer a corded telephone, eat various things wrapped in plastic, and mind children for money.” Now it’s Malia’s turn to steal Kristy’s Great Idea and start her own babysitters club. Of course, babysitting and modern business are much harder than Malia and her friends originally thought, especially when Malia’s older and more demonic sister finds out how lucrative a business babysitting really is.

My thoughts: At first this book seemed like one of those Babysitters club knockoffs, but I was so. wrong. This book is insanely hilarious, and while it is kind of a spoof on the classic book, it’s totally open about Malia’s idea thievery in a super funny way. The main characters totally underestimate what babysitting is really about, which makes for some hilarious “sittery” scenes. The characters aren’t really realistic at some points, (Bree is a little too childlike in some scenes and too mature in others) but they were really lovable and fun to read about anyway.