Club-Read: The Karen Tax: Baby-Sitters Little Sister #03: Karen's Worst Day

Well we've covered several books, so it means we once again have to catch up on the agent of chaos. We'll be reaching the point where these will soon become bundle blogs instead of one at a time. But since these are going to be covered aside the mainline books, I've officially referred to them as the Karen Tax. Because, you know, death, taxes and Karen books. So last time we dealt with Karen, she broke her arm trying to pull a sweet roller skate leap. Now bad luck seems to be following her. Does a good book follow? Let's find out with Karen's Worst Day. 

All three covers do something different, which I always appreciate. But each stick to the important factor of the book which is Karen still has her broken wrist, still can't really do much on account of said broken wrist, and it's making for a particularly bad day. Of the three, I think I prefer the original this time. A great frustrated reaction form Karen really sells it. The reprint's is decent too, with Karen's breakfast woes also doing a good job in selling the conflict. The graphic novel however does feel like the weakest of the three. More just Karen bored and annoyed than anything the would make for her having her worst day. All in all three solid works.

We open with Karen updating the reader that she's still in a cast, while also telling the reader about the differences between her little house (where her mom and father-in-law Seth live) and the big house (where her dad and mother-in-law Elizabeth live). She talks about her family, noting that Charlie and Sam are "terribly old" which, ouch. She also has two stuffed cats, Moosie and Goosie which live in both of the houses, and a favorite blanket named Tickly which she tore in half to make sure there's one per house. Linus Van Pelt would have panic attacks. But since her wrist injury things have been going bad for Karen. She loses Goosie, dropped her lunch tray, and then gave her brother Andrew a haircut, which got her in trouble. And that's why she's called the agent of chaos. Oh and she has a bad dream about Mrs. Porter, AKA the witch Morbidda Destiny, because she just can't stop harassing an old woman. 

Karen has a dream where she's roller skating, then follows a rabbit before falling off a cliff, which is enough to cause her to fall out of bed. Which I guess is bad enough, but you ever have one of those dreams where you fall and hit the ground and your whole body just convulses like you actually hit the ground? Pretty messed up, huh? Anyway, Karen's not having a good time. She can't find her favorite jeans, then when she doesn't get a prize in her cereal. As in literally the cereal box just has a plastic package that has nothing in it. Which even I'll agree is a pretty rotten move all things considered. Then Karen wants to watch Mr. Ed, because this is still a book from the 80s. But Andrew is watching his cartoons, and because this is still an era of one TV set and no other way to watch said talking horse television program. But Karen gets her way, only to find out that Mr. Ed has been preempted for the day. No horse, no horse. Of course, of course. 

So with that option out, Karen tries to play with Shannon. Their dog, not the baby-sitter, which I get the sentiment, but that always comes off as goofy to me. But Shannon isn't all that interested, and their cat Boo Boo is up a tree, so no luck there. She tries giving him cat food to coax him out of the tree. But she begins to suspect that Morbidda Destiny is behind all this. Please for the love of god don't tell me this is most of these books. Only three deep of a hundred plus book series and I dunno if I really want to bother with this if a large percentage is just "the witch is the reason for my problems." She then goes to visit her friends Linny and Hannie who are going bike riding, which given Karen's wrist means she can't go, so she calls Hannie mean and a toad. So Karen goes an plays Checkers with Kristy, gets mad when Kristy lets her win, then gets mad when she actually loses which admittedly is a very kid thing to do. She talks about her bad day with her stuffed cat Moosie, only to accidentally tear the plush open. She talks with Elizabeth about her bad day, but she calms Karen down by saying that she too has had a bad day when she was younger, which helps put things into perspective and tells her to go to bed, wake up, and act as if this is a new day, maybe it'll reset things. 

It does not reset things. Her favorite mailman doesn't show up, but rather a woman with a package for Andrew, not her. The package is from their godparents containing VHS copies of the Secret of NIMH and Lady and the Tramp. Interesting timing given I've collected tapes. I have what would be the Lady and the Tramp tape of that era. No copy of NIMH yet. Look, I have to pad these somehow. Karen, angry that Andrew got a gift and not her, takes it out on him by calling him an Egghead and Mr. Baldy which, given the context of the haircut, whose fault is that one, really? Watson has enough of this and sends Karen to her room. After singing the "guess I'll go eat worms" song for like fifteen minutes, that's enough for Watson who relents. Wow, who knew it was that easy? The ice cream man shows up, and has no cherry Italian ice for Karen, so yeah, either a witch really cursed her or the fates are just really out for this six year old. 

At dinner, Karen's still down in the dumps. The rest of the family try to make her feel better by bringing up that they too have had really bad days. Though Karen counts and thinks she has about fourteen bad things, which she begins to think is a good thing because she set a record in her family. The next is when Charlie takes her and Sam out for ice cream, to which she has a chocolate soda and that goes without incident. Charlie's friends also show up, joke that she's his girlfriend and that she's 26, which Karen takes as a massive compliment. When she gets home, she apologizes to Andrew, Hannie and Kristy, realizing the error of her ways. Kristy reads her Charlotte's web as the two ask if witches have bad days, which Kristy thinks they might. And that's good enough to end Karen's bad day on a good note.

Again, not much to really say about this one given it's pretty straightforward. But I do think this book was good. Not great, but of the three Karen books, I liked this one the most. Even if most of it can be boiled down to "this happens to Karen, then this happens to Karen". So much bad stuff happens that very little of it really feels like it sticks, save really for the stuff that Karen snaps at others over. Most of which being situations that really aren't anyone's fault, but she can't see that. And when she comes to that realization and apologizes to everyone, it at least ends the book on a happy ending. I will say, being a continuity nut, I do like that the book follows off from where we left off with Karen's broken wrist. It at least means that Ann M. Martin didn't want these to be entirely just fluff, but to make certain incidents matter in the grand scheme. Though by that same token it's funny we're dealing with the broken wrist in these books but, at least to my recollection, her injury isn't really a factor in the main series. Guessing that has to do with the timing of the books being written and released, not to mention the space of time between both #2 and #3. So even if these book aren't going to deliver on the most interesting stories ever, at least I have continuity to point out and be interested in. That's a bonus I guess. So yeah, good book. Best so far. But when I can start to lump these into multi-reviews might be when my interest for doing this side-series grows, maybe? Karen's Worst Day gets an A-. 

Mr. Ed

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Lady and the Tramp

The Secret of NIMH

Nicodemus

Jenner

Mrs. Frisby

The Witch Next Door

Charlotte's Web