Review: Karen's Surprise by Ann M Martin (Baby-Sitters Little Sister #13)

I confess. Despite being utterly obsessed with the Baby-Sitters Club series and its spin-offs in my pre-teen years, I do not remember this particular book at all. I also confess. I like to occasionally read books that are meant for children, especially the ones that remind me of my childhood. So when I found this one on the shelf at the library, I couldn't resist borrowing it for a few days.

It turns out this one is a fun read.

Thanksgiving is almost here Karen's class at Stoneybrook Academy is going to put on a play. For Karen, who loves to be the star at all times and for her bestie Nancy Dawes who wants to be an actress one day, this sounds ideal. However, things take a turn for the worse when Nancy is cast as a potato, and Karen as the turkey. For some reason, her teacher thinks it is a good idea to give very minor roles (which involve walking across a stage,) to the kids in the costumes that are going to be the most expensive and time consuming for their parents to create. With a little help from her stepsister Kristy, Karen is able not only to communicate the unfairness of this. And then Karen comes up with another plan to show people that she can be the real star of the show.

The second plot focuses on the difficulty experienced by Karen and her brother Andrew having to go between two different families and two very different households, and how the adults in their lives, whether they are parents or stepparents, can get things wrong, a recurrent theme in the series.

Overall, this one was a lot of fun. I liked Kristy and Karen's solution to the play, just as I enjoyed the number of times Karen and some of her friends managed to take down class bully Pamela Harding. (Who, despite everything, seems jealous of Karen.) Karen's surprise at the end of the play absolutely made me laugh, as did the telling off she received afterward.

A fun read with a couple of sad moments. I can see why the publisher chose to reprint this one thirty years later and it has a great blend of relevance and nostalgia. 

Recommended.

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