Karen's Black Cat

Baby-Sitters Little Sister #102

by Ann M. Martin

Despite her disappointment when her family overlooks her wishes for a pumpkin-colored cat in honor of Halloween, adopting a black kitten instead, Karen learns to love the new addition to the household. Original.

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

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 3 out of 5]

The kitten is cute, but I'm meh on how mean and thoughtless Karen is to Boo Boo earlier in the book. I'm glad she learned though, and that Nannie, Watson, and Kristy all set her right about being kind to Boo Boo and also about not hogging the kitten to herself.

I do feel bad about the older cat up for adoption that the family skipped over coz they were determined to get a kitten. Older cats need forever homes too, and aren't adopted as quickly as parents, so I wish this book had used this as a teachable moment.

And even though it worked out with Boo Boo and the kitten, I do think it was a risk Watson didn't fully think through. Older cats, especially those already struggling like poor Boo Boo clearly was, don't usually do well with changes in their routines, and a new kitten could very well have turned out to be physically demanding and stressful for poor Boo Boo.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen does not deserve cats. She acted callously toward Boo-Boo, her aging cat. While discussing the family's future kitten with her step grandmother, Karen said she hoped the kitten was "a better cat" than Boo-Boo.

"Nannie stopped what she was doing and looked at me. 'Karen, even if Boo-Boo is cranky sometimes and even if he is fat, he is part of our family,' she said. 'And now he is old. So more than ever he needs all the love we can give him.' 'I know,' I said. 'I just want to love a better cat.'"

Karen's family chose to adopt a black kitten, but had to wait a few days to take her home. She was not the cat Karen wanted, so Karen falsely attributed her bad luck to the kitten. The kitten must have some strong super powers to orchestrate Karen's bad luck from afar.

[Em's Adventures · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to laugh, it seems that the families solution to every pet problem is to get another one. It seems kind of cruel to get a kitten when you have an old sick cat who needs the attention. My own black cat Tika is quite old now but I would never want to get another cat that she would have to get used to in her old age.

[Teresa Granado-Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this one we learn how Karen's Dad acquired Boo-Boo his old black cat - back before he ever married.

[Looney · Rating 1 out of 5]

0/5

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Boo Boo. All we ever hear about him is he’s old and fat and crabby, even in the BSC books. But here we get a glimpse of how much Watson loves him, and it is so sweet and sad.

[JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story. I like how Karen had expectations and had to learn to compromise within her family.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book because, Karen was able to get a new kitten. She named the kitten Pumkin. Although she didn't get the kitten she wanted, she was very Happy with the one she chose and liked it very much. They got a new kitten to keep her Dad's old cat Boo-Boo company since he was getting old.

[Hannah S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pu

[Deborah Harris]

3 Copies

AR Quiz No. 107052 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: MG - BL: 3.2 - AR Pts: 1.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter really enjoyed this book.