Review: Karen's New Friend by Ann M Martin

Purely by chance this week, I spotted a Baby-Sitters Little Sister book in a Street Library. I could not resist taking it home with me. I do not remember this one at all, which is unsurprising. Karen's New Friend was published shortly after I aged out of the series. And if my memory serves me right, the Australian release date of all of the BSC and Little Sister Books was usually six months to a year behind the United States. 

This time around, Karen is gigundo excited for two reasons. First, she and her little brother Andrew are going to be spending two whole weeks at the Big House, which their mum and stepdad are away in Hawaii. And second, there is going to be another new kid in her class. Addie has differences which make her interesting to Karen. She has cerebral palsy, which means that she needs to use a wheelchair at school. She will be sitting in the front row of class, with Ricky and Karen. This leads Karen vowing that she is going to be the best helper that Addie could ever need.

While I remember many of these books fondly and I enjoy the odd nostalgic look back, I found this one to be a fairly weak instalment in the series. The idea is great and Karen is delightfully over the top before learning her lesson as always. However the B storyline where her step-cousins came to stay at the Big House after a fire and their reactions was somewhat unrealistic. Surely the kids would have been more concerned over what had happened in their own lives, and marvelling at the fact that they were staying in a mansion, than focusing so heavily on the fact that Karen's parents are divorced? Reader in the target age group would question this, surely? Then again, it is worth noting that at the point when the book was published, BSC mania was at its peak. There were three titles coming out per month, one from the OG BSC series, a Little Sister book and a BSC Mystery. It is not that surprising that standards may have dropped slightly. 

An interesting look back at a beloved series.

PS: I couldn't help but notice that Addie's full name is Adelaide Sidney. I wonder if this was a nod to the many Australian BSC fans at the time? 

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