“Nothing like this has ever happened in this building before”……BSC Little Sister #99: Karen’s Big City Mystery

Memory Reaction

I didn’t read this as a kid. I think I only made it to book 20 or so, and didn’t even read all of those. But I do remember being amazed sometimes when I went to the bookstore and realized there were so many Little Sister books. I found them so much less interesting than the regular series and couldn’t believe people were still buying them.

Revisited Reaction

The good news: Karen’s leaving Stoneybrook for a month. The bad news: this is a little sister book so we’re going with her. She’s heading to Chicago for a month to live with her “little house” family.

There’s a break-in in Karen’s apartment building and some “valuable” paintings are stolen from one of the residents. Karen’s all excited about it and wants to solve the crime. She wanders all over the building looking for clues, and even manages to interview a couple neighbors. While doing this she keeps running into Matt, the grandson of the victim, and thinks he’s “suspicious”(despite only being seven). But eventually, she realizes that she’s been running into him because he’s also playing detective. They decide to join forces, and Matt introduces Karen to his grandmother, Mrs. Arthur. She tells Karen the paintings were a gift from an old boyfriend and shows Karen a picture of the guy. Karen thinks he looks familiar, but doesn’t figure out why until she sees Fred, a deliveryman, walking into the basement of the building.

They tell Mrs. Arthur, who tells the doorman, and they all go downstairs to confront Fred. In addition to being the thief, Fred turns out to be the son of Mrs. Arthur’s old boyfriend. He also has the dumbest motive ever. It takes ages to explain because it is so stupid there’s no way to summarize it. Basically, his mother died, his father got “too sad to work” and lost all his money. When the father died, Fred and his brother changed their names to hide from bill collectors. They knew their father had given someone paintings and described them, and then when he was making a delivery, he happened to notice the paintings and came back later to take them. He realized he didn’t know what to do with them after that, and wanted to return them, but didn’t know how to do that either. The grandmother decides she doesn’t want to press charges, and while the cops still bring him in, he gets off pretty easy.

Then Karen has a “calm” stay for the rest of her time in Chicago.

High/Lowlights

• I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but it is fitting that Karen recognizes that Fred is the son of the guy in Mrs. Arthur’s picture, because in the mystery where she and Kristy are stuck in an old house, she recognizes that the woman in a picture was someone who had a store in Stoneybrook.

• While “investigating” Karen hides by the mailboxes and jumps out and takes a picture of everyone who comes to check the mail. How does she get away with that? I would think the doorman would say something to Karen’s mom about how she should keep her daughter from annoying the crap out of everyone.

• When Karen asks the doorman about the theft, he says that he didn’t see anything, but that he’s sure the police will figure it out. Now, maybe he was just saying that cause he was talking to a kid, but normally police wouldn’t solve a small break-in like that.

• Karen can really be very bratty. Matt was using a tape recorder to tape his notes as he “investigated.” And when he drops it she grabs it and runs to her apartment to listen.

• Here’s a sign of the times….Karen took pictures the day of the break-in, but she can’t look at them, or show them to Matt because the film hasn’t been developed.

• Isn’t Karen supposed to be smart? Cause after she steals the tape from Matt, she needs to listen to a lot of it to figure out he’s playing detective too. Even when he talks about having suspects, she’s not sure what it means.

• I’ll give Karen some slack about believing a seven-year-old could be responsible for the break-in because she’s a little kid too.

• If I think it’s unrealistic for 13-year-olds to solve crimes, then clearly I think it’s beyond ridiculous for a seven-year-old to do it. But at least Karen tells an adult before trying to confront the culprit.

• So, Karen’s little-house family moved to Chicago for six-months, and she was originally going with them. But does that really make sense? It seems really disruptive to have a seven-year-old switch to a new school that likely has a different curriculum for such a short time. Especially since her father has joint-custody of her and lives in Stoneybrook.

• Fred says he changed his name to hide from bill collectors. Is that supposed to make him sympathetic? Even if it was debt from his father, I just don’t feel bad for him for it.

• I think we’re also supposed to be sorry for Fred’s father too. But honestly, his wife dies and he’s too sad to work for the rest of his life? I’m sympathetic to his loss, but that excuse can only last so long.

• There is this backstory about how Mrs. Arthur was once an actress, and it seems to be a set up for the end, when she lies to Fred about having called the police (which ends up delaying him from running off before someone else DOES call the cops). I guess one would need acting training to pull off a huge con like that?

• I don’t quite understand how these paintings were “valuable.” Mrs. Arthur’s old boyfriend was an actor who stopped working years ago. So, he’s not famous or anything. How are some random paintings he did so valuable? Granted, Mrs. Arthur says they weren’t the most valuable things in the apartment, but she says they were valuable.

• Karen informs us that when she found out the guy next to her on the plane had been on a business trip to NYC, she started telling him everything she knew about the city. Amazingly enough, the poor guy had to take a nap soon after.

• Matt’s grandmother tells Karen that the paintings that were stolen were not as valuable as other paintings in the apartment. Karen looks at these paintings and thinks she could have made a better painting. Is that supposed to be a dig on modern art?

• Karen says that her father grew up in the “Big-House.” I guess that should have been assumed, since Ben Brewer haunts the attic, but I don’t remember any other direct confirmation of it.

“Doesn’t that sound spooky?”………Baby-Sitters Little Sister # 1: Karen’s Witch

Memory Reaction

I was always a little disappointed that the first Little Sister book didn’t start with Karen’s version of the first BSC book. Or maybe the book where Kristy’s mom got married. I think I even had a dream once, where they came out with a Little Sister prequel, called “Karen’s Fancy Dress.” I guess I have always loved the whole concept of retelling a story from multiple perspectives. Not that that makes dreaming about the BSC any less embarrassing.

Revisited Reaction

This was the first Little Sister book, so it is really only an introduction to Karen. Or at least, an introduction to her perspective (we already met her as a character). Because of that, it has real no plot. It just covers the span of one weekend where Karen and Andrew are visiting the “big house.”

On her first night, Karen thinks she sees her neighbor Mrs. Porter (AKA Morbidda Destiny) fly out her window on a broom. So, Karen spends most of the weekend spying on her. She becomes convinced that Morbidda Destiny is having a witches’ meeting at her house. When people start arriving (for what turns out to be a garden club meeting), she makes her friend Hannie go crash the meeting with her, to “protect the neighborhood.” The two of them make up some lame spell, ring the doorbell, and demand to go to the “meeting.”

For some reason, Morbidda Destiny actually lets them in. I think she’s just confused/surprised to see them, and doesn’t want to be mean to little kids. Karen basically walks in and says she has to give a speech, then announces that she knows they’re all witches. And she threatens to tell her parents. Cause that would scare off someone with magical powers. Imagine how many lives would have been saved if someone told their parents about Lord Voldemort having powers. Meanwhile, Hannie is just standing next to her crying.

Everyone basically laughs at Karen, (although a few are supposedly pissed off). I really wish we got more of people laughing/yelling at her. But instead, Karen’s misery is sparred because her grandmother is a guest at the garden club meeting. Grandma yells at Karen, makes her apologize, then drags her and Hannie out. She sends Hannie home, then goes to “the big house” and tells Watson and Elizabeth what Karen was up to. They only yell at her a little, then say she is only in a little trouble because “she thought she was doing something brave.” All she has to do is write an apology note. It makes a rather lame ending.

High/Lowlights

• I know in later books Karen refers to herself as a “too-too” (or maybe it was “two-two”). But, it isn’t used in this one at all. However, there is a little spiel about how she is lucky to have two families, but it can sometimes be hard. I think it’s pretty much Ann Martin’s own PSA about divorce, and how it impacts kids.

• On Karen and Andrew’s first night visiting their father, Kristy baby-sits for them because Watson and Elizabeth go to the movies. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but what’s the deal with Watson abandoning his kids when they are visiting him? I know Karen is hard to deal with, but she is his daughter.

• Why do I remember Karen, David Michael, and Andrew’s tooth brushing ritual so vividly? They always brush together, and then they spit at the same time to try and get as much foam as possible in the sink. I think they set a “record” in every single book.

• Why does everyone nurture Karen’s witch obsession? Maybe she wouldn’t go and accuse neighbors of being witches if people in her family didn’t read her books on witches every night.

• Karen isn’t really very nice to her friends. She basically bullies Hannie into doing everything she wants.

• Hannie recounts a bunch of times that she and Karen got in trouble for something Karen wanted to do, when Hannie thought it was a bad idea and Karen insisted they did it anyway. But, this doesn’t convince Karen not to crash the meeting. In fact, Karen is even surprised that they do get in trouble later.

• The girls steal leaves from Morbidda Destiny’s garden to use as charms. Now, if this woman were a witch, wouldn’t her garden have evil powers?

• After Karen’s grandmother drags her home, she says she is worried about her friends laughing at her for what Karen did. I guess she isn’t one of those proud grandmother types.

• Considering the grandmother is Karen’s mother’s mother, the scene between her Watson and Elizabeth is pretty low in drama. Wouldn’t it make a better story if Grandma started lecture Watson about not watching Karen enough? And how he was never a good enough father/husband. I mean, I can appreciate showing a functional blended family, but it is just not as fun.

• Sorry for the short (and late) post this week. I just moved and have been super-busy, not to mention having limited Internet access for the past few days. I should be back on schedule next week.
  

“Will Karen’s wish come true?”…..Baby-Sitters Little Sister Super Special # 1: Karen’s Wish

Memory Reaction

I never actually read this book as a kid. In fact, I only read a few of the Little Sister books. I read the BSC books after I was too old to, but the Little Sister books were at an even lower reading level, and I just didn’t bother with them. But, I got this in a package of BSC stuff on e-bay, so I figured I’d blog about it.

Revisited Reaction

The basic plot is that is December and Karen is looking forward to Christmas and all the new toys she thinks she is going to get. Seriously, she is a little spoiled brat about it. Then, Nannie falls and injures her hip, and might be in the hospital for the holidays. Karen decides the only thing she will ask for will be for Nannie to get better. Which, shockingly, she does, and she comes home on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Karen has been talking to her friend Nancy about Hanukah and the girls “trade holidays,” where Karen goes to Nancy’s house and celebrates Hanukah with her one night and Nancy does the same thing on X-mas. And they get each other the same Bobbsey Twin book as a gift because they are just that close. It was really predictable.

Like I said, I never read this book, but I must have read the surrounding ones. Karen talks about how “last month” at Thanksgiving she had two turkey dinners (which I do remember happening). I also remember some book where Karen is a little bitch telling people they aren’t keeping their New Years resolution, and tells Nannie she isn’t working hard enough in physical therapy. I am guessing that was right after this book. Although, I don’t remember any mention of Nannie getting hurt in the regular BSC books. That was really the only thing I liked about the Little Sister books, that their was sometime crossover stuff.

High/Lowlights

• I think I may have lost IQ points reading this one. It is supposedly at a grade three reading level, but the sentences are all so simple, it was painful to read. It is like, “My name is Karen and I am seven. I have blonde hair. I like Christmas.” It continues like that for the whole book.

• Supposedly, Karen, Hannie, and Nancy are the “three musketeers,” but Karen and Nancy totally leave Hannie out of everything they do in this book. Karen invites Nancy to go do all this Christmas stuff, and Nancy invites Karen to do all this Hanukah stuff, and Hannie is barely mentioned. Also, Karen spends hours thinking of a good gift for Nancy and finding it in the store. For Hannie she gets ponytail holders, which Hannie told her to buy. No thought whatsoever.

• Karen keeps feeling sorry for Nancy because she doesn’t celebrate Christmas and won’t get gifts. Then, when Nancy tells her she gets Hanukah gifts, Karen still doesn’t believe she’ll get as many presents as her. It is either a spoiled attitude or a closed-minded attitude. I know she is only seven, but really.

• Karen and Andrew sing “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. Batmobile lost a wheel, and Commissioner broke his leg.” Is that how it is supposed to go? Cause when I was little, we always sang it “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. Batmobile lost a wheel, and the Joker got away.”

• After she starts talking to Nancy about Hanukah, Karen gets all enlightened and starts wondering why the mall only has Christmas decorations and not Hanukah ones. I am thinking this book is supposed to be a lesson on kids about diversity.

• When Nannie starts to get better, Karen decides to write a Christmas list after all, but as soon as she does, she finds out Nannie got some infection. That probably isn’t supposed to be funny, but it is.

• Karen and Andrew don’t mail letters to Santa, they throw them in the fireplace, where they “magically fly up the chimney to the North Pole.” I would have made fun of that, but last December I saw one of these ABC Family Christmas movies where the characters did the same thing. It was the first time I had ever heard of it, but I guess it is more common that I thought.

• Karen wants a doll called “Baby-Grow-a-Tooth.” I TOTALLY had a doll like that when I was about six. But it wasn’t just a tooth, it was a growing doll, and if you turned a crank on her back, the doll got taller and her teeth came in. Then you could change her clothes.

• I can’t believe Karen’s parents allowed her to call her mother’s home “the little house.” It is really quite mean.

• In the token introduction chapter, Karen talks all about how sometimes being a “two-two” can be bad. Because even though she has two of everything, that can sometimes make life hard. I guess this is Martin’s commentary on how divorce effects kids, but she could probably be more subtle about it.

• Karen and Nancy both talk about books by saying the author after. Like, “I want to read Matilda by Ronald Dahl.” I barely do that now, let alone when I was a kid.

• So, this makes no sense. Karen and Andrew go over to “the big house” on X-mas Eve to spend the night. On Christmas morning, they go back to their moms’ place. So, why does their “big-house” family give them the gifts on X-mas Eve and not in the morning before going to their mom’s? It is only Karen and Andrew who open gifts then, so it is not like their tradition is to open them early. I can see Karen and Andrew opening the gifts on Christmas Eve if that was the only day they were going to see their Dad, but it is not. Maybe they were being nice and letting the kids open gifts early, but then wouldn’t Emily and David Michael have been allowed to do the same? It is just dumb because on Christmas morning, Karen and Andrew sit around while everyone else opens the gifts. They only open their stockings, which are from “Santa.” (Which are the only things Santa gives them, although at the “little house” he gives them bigger gifts. Which, you think would confuse a four-year-old). THEN, when they go back to the “little house” they wait until after dinner to open gifts.

• Of course, Karen gets everything she wanted. Even though she never made a list. But she still decides to write a list for next year.

1. My two families to be healthy.
2. Everyone in my two families to be home for Christmas
3. To celebrate Hanukah with Nancy
4. Nancy to celebrate Christmas with us
5. No more plane crashes
6. No more bombs or wars
7. Houses for everyone in the world to live in
8. No guns
9. Ricky Torres to ask me to marry him.
10. Three Madama Alexandra dolls.

Don't you love how cliche it is? All the "I want world peace" stuff along with the fancy dolls?

Lastly, check out this picture. Whoever did this illustration should be fired: