Karen's Pen Pal

Baby-Sitters Little Sister #25

by Ann M. Martin

Karen brags to her new pen pal, Maxie, about the castle she lives in and her eight best friends, but she finds herself in trouble when Maxie comes to visit.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Friendship

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of my "favorite" Karen books because it is one of the most irritating, self-centered, and amoral--basically, everything we've come to expect and hope for when we pick up a Little Sister book.

Instead of appreciating the chance to hear about someone else's interesting life like the rest of her classmates are able to do, Karen CANNOT HANDLE the fact that there might be something as interesting in the world as a blended family, so she makes up a bunch of lies to continually one-up her pen pal. Is it just me, or is Karen definitely going to turn into one of those reality TV "stars" who deliberately wreck their lives as thoroughly as possible so they can get on a show like Dr. Phil, then springboard to their own series?

One of the saddest aspects of the book is how much better Karen's pen pal is at lying than Karen is. And Karen has has plenty of practice--if Karen is a future reality TV whore, Maxie is a future undercover operative.

Illogically, the class from New York City comes to visit the tiny-according-to-New-Yorker-Stacey town of Stoneybrook, instead of the other way around. I suppose it would have given Ann M. Martin a nervous twitch to even attempt to write about the Stoneybrook class visiting the magical land of NYC and then sitting all day in a classroom and learning, especially since a majority of the plot focused on Karen and her lies, leaving limited space for description of the visiting of every site in the city. Don't worry; there IS another book wherein the entire plot consists of a New York trip, save for a slight side concern about souvenirs for Hannie and Nancy. (At one time, Ann actually did live in her oh-my-lord dibbly fresh Big Apple. I have always kind of wondered and worried that she found it insanely depressing, as nothing in life can possibly live up to the expectations of NEW YORK MOTHERFUCKING CITY presented throughout all BSC-related series. It should perhaps be noted that she no longer lives there. . .)

I read this book in childhood, and I can only assume that my mom didn't read it, too, because if she'd seen the way the plot "resolves" and related it to my own lying problem, I don't think she would have let me read any more Little Sister books. Karen has some anxiety about being caught in her lies, but it is mostly goofy, "Gee, maybe we'll all turn into birds and fly away and I won't get caught" anxiety, not any real remorse for what she has done. When Maxie arrives, Karen does not own up to what she's done and confess to her wrongdoing in an attempt to atone and move on (perhaps she would have known to do this if she'd felt badly enough beforehand to consult an adult, or at least Kristy The Wonder Thirteen-Year-Old), but instead actually tells more lies to cover the previous ones.

That's not the worst part--the worst part is that there is no real resolution wherein the girls confess that they've made things up, and restart their friendship with accurate information. Somehow--and this sound like something that would happen in an 80's body-switching movie--they just bump into each other during a race, and both of them simultaneously KNOW that they have been lying. And they are cool with that. And they just continue their stupid footrace, never having to admit to wrongdoing, have a serious conversation, or endure any consequences. In fact, unlike many characters who are suddenly very important in one book, Maxie actually remains pen pals and friends with Karen throughout the rest of the series. Sooo. . . lying isn't so bad, I suppose! What's the worst that could happen? You'll have a fun pen pal from an exotic-to-you city, who sends you gifts and lets your family come awkwardly visit when you are in the neighborhood? Just go ahead and lie; it'll be cool! (Unlike Maxie, if Karen's supposed seashell collection survives to be seen in any other book in the series, I'm not aware of it. Seashell collection?? Wouldn't she require TWO seashell collections, for her amazing and fascinating double life?? Wouldn't that take care of the issue of any doubles? I am puzzled and dismayed at this supposed seashell collection.)

[Sayo -bibliotequeish-]

In elementary school our class had a pen pal program with a class at a neighboring school.
One day we went to visit our pen pal at their school and then one they they came to visit us at our school.
On those days the 'home team' pen pal was suppose to bring lunch for the 'visiting team'...
I'm allergic to peanut butter, the teacher informed the other teacher, and that teacher informed the parents, my pen pal brought me a peanut butter sandwich... not even peanut butter an jelly... just a 2 inch spread of peanut butter...
THEN I over heard my pen pal talking smack about me because I wouldn't eat the sandwich she brought me...
We were also suppose to get them a small gift, she gave me a pencil, not a cute one, but a plain yellow pencil, so when my pen pal came to visit me I gave it back to her, but I had ripped the eraser off, because for some reason as I kid I though that 1/2" eraser was really important and had a pencil case full of them. I would rip the erase off your pencil when you went to the bathroom like a full out psychopath.
Anyway... Karen gets a penpal.

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When you were too old for childrens books, but too young for The Baby Sitters Club.
Ann M. Martin really is a genius to piggy back on the success of The Baby Sitters Club.

After reading the little sisters series I remember feeling like a real adult opening up that first BSC book.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haha, kind of a pre-cursor to people lying in chatrooms about who they are: here Karen peppers her letters to her penpal with lies, which fall apart when the two meet! Another common theme in kids' books that I did enjoy.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was younger, I really wanted a pen pal from a different part of the world. I thought it would've been lots of fun to learn about a kid's life in another country. Not much happens in this story, but it was a nice bit of nostalgia for those days where we would've had to snail mail a stranger to learn about that kind of thing.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Karen did not learn her lesson about lying in Karen's Dolls because, two books later, she was at it again. Karen and Maxie, her NYC pen pal, both tried to one up each other by telling outrageous lies. The ending of the book redeemed itself with the girls vowing to tell each other the truth in their letters going forward.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was always a fun Little Sister book; I've always been fascinated with pen pals, though I've always been too lazy to actually keep any of mine. Yes, Karen's lies to Maxie were irritating, but it was still a super fun book, and I love that the pen pals all meet. We are right in peak BSLS and I am loving the nostalgia.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

For nostalgia. It's cute.

[Annora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, Karen hasn’t learned her lesson about lying.

[Christina Mages · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just as good as the first time I read it. I enjoy these books

[Christina Matheis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just as good as when I read it when I was younger. I enjoy these stories.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first instance of Karen calling Pamela her best enemy

[JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did I forget how much I loved these Little Sister books? Karen is so much more sympathetic of a character in these than she is in the Baby-Sitters Club series (where she’s portrayed as annoying and bossy). I love seeing the world through her eyes and her complex family situation. The plots are simple and charming. I look forward to adding more Little Sister books to my collection!

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen's class is learning how to write letters, and are connected to pen pals from a NYC classroom. Karen's pen pal is really interesting and likes to collect erasers and sends one to Karen. Karen had a shell collection in this book and sent her a shell, but she couldn't stand her pen pal being an interesting person, and started making up stories about herself, but feels stuck once the teacher announces that the pen pals will be visiting for a day. One of the books where Karen is self centered, but it all works out in the end, as always. Turns out Maxie was telling lies too, the two are made for each other!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which Karen gets caught lying AGAIN.

[Melenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved these books as a child

[Mellanie C]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14565553