Karen's Ice Skates

Baby-Sitters Little Sister #56

by Ann M. Martin

Karen got an early Christmas present from Granny and Grandad - new ice skates! Karen can't wait to try them out. There is only one problem. The ice on the pond is not ready for skating.

But Karen and her friends go look at the ice anyway. And before she knows it, something terrible has happened...

Genres: Childrens, Christmas, Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

99 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

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

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Karen's dilemma in this. She and Nancy are hailed as heroes for saving Bobby from falling through the ice, but Karen's guilty about not warning him in the first place that she overheard her grandfather say the ice wasn't ready yet for skating. Bobby's accident wasn't Karen's fault, IMHO, though I appreciate her uneasiness at accepting the accolades, and I also like the conversation her grandfather has with her where he helps her realize the stuff she did do well, like being brave enough to go on the ice to save Bobby, even when she knew for sure it's too thin.

I also like the practical and systemic solution at the end, where Seth convinces City Hall to take on the burden of actually testing the ice's thickness every day, and setting up a red or green flag to let people know if it's safe to skate on. As Seth says, it should be a city responsibility, not that of each individual kid or parent.

[Kristin Aamodt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally think this is a particularly good title from the Babysitter‘s Little Sister series as it includes an important lesson and we also get to watch Karen wrestle with some guilt over a decision that she makes. All’s well that ends well obviously in a book targeted to this age group, but it is a lot of fun reading these with my own young daughter and titles like this can really lend itself to good conversations with our kids. Love the series!

[JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this one because of the moral quandary Karen found herself in. A tough spot to be in, but Karen worked through it and did the right thing. I also liked meeting Seth’s parents, the step-grandparents from Nebraska.

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting one, mostly because Karen has to wrestle with the concept that she didn't do the right thing.

[Em's Adventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, Karen was so mature and thoughtful, she made a big mistake but she put it right in such a kind way.

[Annora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen actually being accountable for her actions?? And not justifying herself?? Whoa!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, Karen beat herself up way too much in this one. Knowing Bobby's character, he would have ignored her anyway.