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Sleepover Friends #3

Kate's Surprise

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Kate’s Birthday is coming up, and the Sleepover Friends want to make it really special. They decide to throw Kate a surprise party. What a mistake!

Lauren, Stephanie, and Patti have to keep all kinds of secrets from the Birthday Girl. Pretty soon they’re almost ignoring her. Kate’s not suspicious—she’s just mad!

Maybe a surprise party is more trouble than it’s worth!

73 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1987

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56 people want to read

About the author

Susan Saunders

157 books38 followers

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5 stars
36 (23%)
4 stars
35 (23%)
3 stars
69 (45%)
2 stars
7 (4%)
1 star
5 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Pastel Paperback.
246 reviews63 followers
April 8, 2022
A sweet Sleepover Friends.

It's Kate's birthday and the girls want to save up to buy her something really special: a cat! So they do all these extra chores but keep them a secret from Kate, which of course makes Kate think they don't want to be friends with her anymore, but it all works out in the end.

The girls decide on a cat as a present after seeing the perfect one at a mall pet store—what a flashback. Kind of glad those are gone, but I did love going into them as a kid in the 80s.

Lots of classic sleepover moments in this one: making homemade beauty masks, sneaking out to spy on the neighbors, getting caught by the cute boy-next-door, and doing lots of truth or dares (including calling boys!)

Sleepover snacks: marshmallow fudge, onion-soup-olives-bacon-bits-and-sour-cream dip, bbq chips, a giant bottle of Dr. Pepper, caramel popcorn, plates of nachos with corn chips and melted cheese, and chocolate chip refrigerator cookies.
Profile Image for Leigh.
1,179 reviews
June 2, 2025
I actually remembered this one mostly because of the opening scene of the girls with avocado masks being chased by the dog. In this book the girls plan a surprise party for Kate. They want to get her a calico kitten like the one she used to have. They do ask permission first which is good cause I was horrified that they'd bring this poor kitten home and no one wanted it. They need to raise money to buy the kitten and end up alienating Kate who finds new friends and refuses to attend their usual sleepover. But of course all ends up okay in the end. Bullwinkle the dog nearly ruins the surprise, the girls keep wanting to tell Kate what's happening. Stephanie gets her hair cut, and they have to do yard work for a cranky old lady. These a good fun reads although as an adult I am wondering how the parents allowed this and how they could afford all the food they eat. Of course as this book shows things were a lot cheaper back then.
Profile Image for JH.
1,605 reviews
September 18, 2022
This is one of my favorite sleepover, friends books! I loved all of the stuff with the kittens. I also loved the green avocado facemasks at the very beginning that were licked off by Bullwinkle, Lauren’s huge dog.

The way the surprised Kate at the end was wonderful and heartwarming, plus included more great descriptions of sleepover food. Can’t go wrong!
Profile Image for Leane.
536 reviews35 followers
May 4, 2021
Really cute. The girl's plan a surprise party for Kate. I love how they pooled their money to get her a present.
Profile Image for Kate.
Author 15 books899 followers
September 6, 2008
Another thing I remember about these books, and something I used to do with a lot of series I read when I was younger, was searching the book covers for the artist's signiture--this artist liked to hide his/her name on the covers in random places.
Profile Image for Ashley.
1,748 reviews33 followers
September 10, 2022
Gosh, these books are very quick reads. This one was my favourite so far, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read this one before. It was cute to see the start of the Sleepover Kittens.
Profile Image for Tiffany Spencer.
1,977 reviews19 followers
March 7, 2019
Kate’s Surprise
Plot: The Sleepover Friend’s (Laura, Patti, and Stephanie) have decided to throw Kate a surprise birthday party. They’ve all decided that instead of buying her three, separate, presents to combine their money and buy her one special present. And that present is an adorable, calico, kitty. Only it costs a little more than what they have. So they decide to do some extra jobs to earn the money (at home and in the neighborhood). Kate continuously catches them different places when they tell her their busy doing other stuff. So naturally she jumps to the conclusion that they’re avoiding her, and she starts hanging out with their rivals. When they see that things are getting out of hand, they decide to 86 the surprise party and go with surprise deliveries.

My Thoughts: I remembered some things about reading this one. I remembered the kitten. I remembered Kate’s over-sized, pink, shirt, and leggings and dangly earrings. I remember all the delivery’s made at the end (the cat shaped ice cream cake, the heart shaped pizza, the balloons). I thought that was kinda cute. And then to finish with the balloon and the kitten. Although I’m pretty sure the kitten wasn’t to happy with having a balloon tied around it’s neck. And not sure why he didn’t reach up and pop the thing before they even got there. I also thought this was a MUCH better idea than a surprise party. When people tell you they don’t like something done, DO NOT make assumptions that oh they’re just talking. Once they see it, they’re gonna love it. My cousin’s wife TRIED this and my cousin POINT BLANK told her if she did throw him a surprise party, he wasn’t gonna show up for it. So people DO MEAN WHAT THEY SAY! So I’m glad the SF had the good sense to tailor the surprise to what KATE would like and not what THEY wanted for her!
Rating: 6 The cake, pizza, balloons, and kitten were a nice touch. It’s something I would have wanted (minus the kitten). But it DID make me want a kitten (if I wanted a pet). It just give it that AWW factor!
Profile Image for Alex.
6,650 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2025
These books are adorable!
Profile Image for Erin Hicks.
12 reviews4 followers
April 27, 2014
It was an okay book for an easy read. Want something quick and easy and this book will be great.
Profile Image for K.L..
Author 2 books16 followers
May 15, 2017
a sweet enjoyable romp tbrough what we all wished our childhoods were like! Surprise parties? new friends? predictable but cute
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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