Karen's Haircut

Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphic Novels #7

by Katy Farina (Illustrator), Ann M. Martin

Another graphic novel in this fun series spin-off of The Baby-sitters Club, featuring Kristy's little stepsister!

Karen feels like an ugly duckling. She already has to wear glasses, and now her baby teeth are starting to come out, too. Fortunately, she knows exactly what will make her look glamorous -- a new haircut.

But the beauty parlor lady cuts Karen's hair all wrong! Karen is devastated and worried about what the kids at school will say. Can Karen get back to feeling like her usual confident self?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics, Juvenile

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2023

Reviews

[AllyP Reads Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book was okay but serious issues. Karen wants a haircut and gives the stylist a picture of what she wants. The stylist does something completely different that looks ridiculous, but nothing is shown to happen. Her mom looks pissed but doesn't say anything. WTH? If someone did that to my six-year-old, they would feel my wrath. I would absolutely go ape shit on that bitch about how could someone ignore what a child asked for and reduce them to tears. I got the e-book of the original book to see if the situation was handled differently and it wasn't. Very disappointing. Karen probably wouldn't have felt so bad about the haircut if she had a story to tell about how her mom stood up to the stylist and reduced HER to tears right in the middle of her own salon.
The wedding is also extremely bizarre. I don't find it offensive as others do, but I don't get what the point is. If this were something impromptu, that would make sense, but I don't understand a pretend wedding that goes through weeks of preparation and planning.

[Dramapuppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughing so hard, I’m absolutely obsessed with this hairdresser. She’s like a lesbian Sweeney Todd but instead of running a highly unethical bakery, she lures children into her salon and then gives them butch haircuts. Her little smirk on the cover while everyone else displays abject horror! This is peak comedy.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always have mixed emotions about the little sister books. Karen always leans an important lesson, but sometimes the journey is really cringy. The worst part of this book is the wedding. Why are adults going to second grader weddings? I remember playing wedding at that age, but not a whole production.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

How old are these kids? 6 or 7 maybe? Aren’t they a little young to be worried about how they look? No one, especially a little kid should feel like an ugly duckling. And it didn’t seem like her parents did much to make her feel better.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen called Emily Michelle her stepsister. That really bothered me as she isn't a stepsibling and the entire adopting plot centered around Elizabeth and Watson having a kid that was equal to both kids.

Also, I had hoped they would have changed then 2nd graders getting married plotlines.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I thought the ending was a little strange, but I really liked how the book dealt with insecurities that can be so common in that age range. I also love Karen’s imagination. I wish Kristy had been in this one more; she’s a really good big sister to Karen.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

KAREN'S HAIRCUT: A GRAPHIC NOVEL
Ann M. Martin

Bright and colorful. I remember wishing the same things when I was a child. I just wanted someone to notice me and say "hello beautiful".

4 Stars

Happy Reading!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Karen isn’t developmentally normal for a second grader here. Maybe a Babysitter’s Club author was recycling a plot about body consciousness onto a lesser character in a spin-off series, but it didn’t flow. Second graders are not self-conscious. Karen Brewer is not self-conscious! Seven and eight years olds are just not self-critical like teen girls, thank God, and their fights only ever last half an hour. Karen’s extremely premature flirtation with feeling bad about her changing body is even more annoying when she’s saying that “you didn’t like me because I looked different” between her Black Greek best friend and her fat best friend. We get the point, but white girl needs to put down the torch.

The point of playing wedding is to do a wedding. Second graders don’t plan weddings for weeks unless they have an adult in their lives who is planning a wedding, and then the game would be wedding planning. And second grade boys don’t talk like dreamy YA novel boy insta-loves. They do not. This was kinda fun in the sense that it’s a punchy graphic novel with good art but the plot is wrong for the characters’ age and the target audience.

Can relate to the surprise short haircut from a hairdresser named Gloriana. I was also sad.

[B.D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read. I didn’t connect to the characters or anything but it was fast paced and fun. For ages 8 and up.

[Alix · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I enjoy reading the Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels, I thought this series isn't too fit for young readers, especially if their target is for elementary school children. I'm not exactly sure how old Karen is supposed to be here in this book, but since Karen's losing her baby teeth, she might be around 6 years old or slightly older and honestly speaking, 6 years old shouldn't be worried about how they look... at least, I did not think about how I looked in front of my peers around that age. That being said, I don't think we should put this idea in their heads to be concerned about their appearance at such a young age. Even though this may be relatable in middle school and I do think author Ann M. Martin means well with writing literature that children can relate, I don't believe that this book should be included in this series.
Karen putting on visible makeup and lipstick at school and no teacher has pointed this out to their parents? I am concerned about what kind of message this is indirectly projecting... are you saying that you can get away with these things...?

Also, I feel quite uncomfortable with the wedding scene. As much as children will be children and them playing house and pretend play (both are good for growth development), I do not approve that they actually had a whole wedding ceremony with ADULTS and older children attending this. It does not give off a good message to children, in my opinion, that you find worth in yourself if you are married. I think it is best to keep pretend play as PRETEND and not mixed them with reality because it can cause them confusion in the future and maybe cause mental health, i.e. overactive imagination (obviously in the extreme cases, not saying this will 100% happen).

[Liz P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not usually a fan of graphic novels, however I read
This aloud with a child in 2nd grade who is a
Struggling reader and I have found a new fondness for graphic novels! This book in particular addresses a number of topics relevant to elements school age children. Sadly it also includes a pretend wedding of 2 second graders. Well, I understand that this is a very common thing of children. This age I wish they could address these topics in a way besides in a “pretend wedding”

[Strawberry Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one pissed me off a couple times. Karen wants a fancy haircut so her mom takes her to this fancy place where this fancy lady called Gloriana cuts her hair. Only this bitch totally ignored the picture Karen brought in and totally butchers her hair. This little six year old is literally *sobbing* in the chair and the stylist is just like *shrug.* Karen’s mom is just like “aw, is it not what you wanted?” Are you shitting me? I would’ve fucking torn her a new one. Your child is crying hysterically bc she just got her hair all cut off and you just…pay the person who did it? Then she doesn’t even tell Karen “you’re still pretty,” or anything.

So for some bizarre reason, Karen’s frenemy Hannie is planning a wedding to this kid Scott. Like, these 6-7 year olds are putting more thought into this pretend wedding than adults do for real ones. Hannie tells Karen her hair looks stupid and so she can’t be a bridesmaid in her fake wedding and Karen loses her shit. She doesn’t like the way she looks (she’s also got glasses and she’s missing some teeth) so she tries putting on more jewelry and barrettes and shit and decides to change her name to something more glamorous. (She even keeps up the same name for more than two days in a row which I found impressive.) She steals a lipstick her mom had thrown away (who throws away an entire lipstick?) and wears it to school and none of the adults says anything about this 6 or 7 year old wearing makeup to school. Maybe if any adult had said to her “Sweetie, you’re still my cute little jellybean” or whatever but they just let her walk around feeling like shit about herself I guess.

So Karen’s outside at her dad’s house in the rich part of town and Hannie rides by on her bike (with a helmet on) and falls on her face and loses two teeth. Yeah, it’s called karma, brat. Karen’s all nice about it and brings her home and the next day Karen’s dad makes her go over to see her. Hannie’s in bed like an invalid bc she lost a baby tooth. Also her room is drawn as huge with a princess bed and canopy so it’s pretty clear Hannie’s spoiled af. Anyway they make up and have the wedding, which is this big event that even the adults attend, which is just weird as hell to me. None of the adults were around when Karen was having an identity crisis and stealing makeup and feeling like crap, but they all show up for a pretend wedding??

Earlier, two older girls had looked at Karen in the school hallways and then one of them smiled at her. Then, Karen comes to school and sees the two big girls had cut their hair like hers. I mean…seriously? But Karen thinks “I finally felt pretty!” Like, wtf. It pisses me off that not one adult told her that the whole book.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhh what?? Ok the premise is ok. A 2nd grader worried about how she looks because her teeth are falling out and she has glasses. She splits time between her parents' houses which is also realistic. What is less realistic is that she goes to 2nd grade in full makeup without comment from any adults and her friend is planning to get married to another 2nd grader complete with parents and bridesmaids and rings?? Karen of course accepts her looks and confronts a mean friend by the end but still what?!?

[Sarah T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh. So, it was just a pretend wedding. Duh. That was some SERIOUS pretend play, eesh!

[Abigail McClead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was good i kinda felt bad for here at times but it's fine.
Also why are they getting married???? I'm pretty sure they are all like
Seven but yeah there's a PLoT TwISt BY the waaayyyyy.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book around a hundred times.👍

[Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen thinks that she looks like a bunny. So, she gets a haircut but the hair dresser cuts the hair way too short, so her friend says that she can’t be in the wedding because of her hair and teeth.

[Ala · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it for the nostalgia it took me half an hour

[vanilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, hmm…I’m older than the age for these books, and I only really read them because my sister likes to make reviews on children’s books. This book’s concept wasn’t bad, Karen (the main character) is upset because she thinks her new adult teeth look bad, and she hates that she keeps losing teeth, making her feel even worse about herself. But then, she gets a haircut. The hair stylist decides to cut Karen’s hair COMPLETELY different from what picture Karen told her to cut her hair like, and is super unapologetic just saying ‘it’s the popular style’. What adult would do that? It gains her nothing, except maybe a bad review from Karen’s parents. I know these are based off of novels though, sooo…I guess the graphic novel couldn’t change the whole plot. Anyways, one of Karen’s best friends (who is also 8), Hannie, is planning a fake wedding with one of her classmates, and it’s really weird, because both Karen’s BFF and the boy she plans to ‘marry’ have been planning this for WEEKS, and they invite adults and have this whole party, get dresses, etc…it’s kinda like they made it a real wedding xD Hannie does later state, though, that they aren’t REALLY married and they can just pretend. But Hannie is super mean to Karen, stating that she won’t let Karen come to her wedding because Karen doesn’t look good enough. She eventually changes her mind, but still.

Overall, there is some sensitive material;
Karen is constantly losing teeth, and blood is shown in her hands around the teeth multiple times. It’s a logical amount, but still would definitely scare kids if they hate seeing any blood. Her best friend also loses teeth.
Everyone in her class basically starts bullying her, and she’s constantly stating how ugly she thinks she looks.

But the book overall has a positive message, and talks about how you should love others, and yourself, no matter how they LOOK.

[🌻 Sunita 🦋✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karen is in the 2nd grade and this is the age where children try to understand their bodies and most times feel uncomfortable within their skin. Karen struggled with how she looked and tried to change that, but it went completely wrong. In the process she lost a dear friend. The lesson taught from this is to love yourself, before anyone else can. Many adults struggle with this as well.

[Clara Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing I recommend it

[Lucy Graf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I didn’t like. The hairdresser, though.

[Gwendolynn Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book ever 💖I love it so so much ❤️❤️

[Maizy Lintereur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read all the other books in the series. These story’s are always so sweet. 😊

[Christy Broderick⁷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen learned another valuable lesson in this story - just because she doesn’t like how she looks now, doesn’t mean that she needs to change every little thing about herself to like herself more. Another cute story that continues showing Karen’s growth throughout the series 😊

[Sakura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve quite enjoyed reading all the Karen graphic novels- it’s a strange thing. Despite them being childish and very cringy, I find myself wanting to see just how crazy they can get- and then end up picking up the next one, and later I also it. That said, this one might be one of my least favorites. There was a lot wrong with this book. And, although I’m used to Karen being a complete brat..
This time around, the insufferable brat was a different character.

The book opens with Karen and Nancy playing ‘Lovely Ladies’ , which is just a game that consists of the two girls dressing up, and pretending to be very fancy and rich. The girls are enjoying it a lot, until they head for a mirror to see how they look- and Karen sees herself. She realizes that she wishes she looked different- a girl with no glasses, with no ‘rabbit teeth’ (her adult teeth that just came in) and no loose teeth. She feels like an ‘ugly duckling-‘ and just wishes that something could be done to change that.
Heading to the big house for the weekend, Karen hopes the time there will cheer her up. But right off the bat, David Michael greets her as ‘professor’. He means it as a good thing, as he sees it as calling her smart, and normally, Karen takes it as a compliment. But today…
Karen wants to feel gorgeous, not smart.

She starts getting more and more self conscious, and her loose teeth are bothering her, too. She has her Dad pull one…(after Sam’s idea of tying her tooth to a string and getting it to come out while slamming a door And during a game of tag, the worst thing happens- Karen falls down and loses her other tooth! Playing ‘Lovely Ladies’ with Hannie just isn’t fun anymore… Karen just feels ugly! Her parents won’t let her get contacts until she’s fourteen, and there’s nothing she can do about her teeth.. so what can she do? Just then, Hannie suggests a haircut, and it’s like a lightbulb goes off in Karen’s head! Maybe while she’s there, she can get a manicure, too!!! She can’t wait for the day of her haircut to arrive…

And when she gets to the salon, everything goes just perfectly… at least, until the owner, Gloriana, comes to cut her hair. Although Karen shows her a photo of what she wants ( a nice cut, just a little above her shoulders,) Gloriana just keeps cutting and cutting… until Karen hardly has any hair at all!! She’s left with a awful pixie cut, (interestingly, it was a mullet in the original) but when her mom comes in, shocked to see her daughter crying, Gloriana argues that although it might take some getting used to, it is the latest cut! Her mom only glares at the horrible hairdresser, but honestly, I would do a lot more than that. That is not what her daughter asked for.. she should get a refund for the haircut!!

Anyways, when Karen shows up at school, she’s the center of attention- but not in the way she had hoped. Everyone is laughing at her!!! Nancy tries to be nice, telling her that her new cut is ‘interesting’, but Hannie is just awful. She is having a play wedding with a boy, and un-invited Karen to it, saying that she looks too bad to be in the photos. I thought Hannie was the better, sweeter, kinder friend but NO. Nancy and Hannie just take turns being the worst friends, and this time, Hannie was almost too much to handle. She was so mean and insensitive.

To try and solve this, Karen decided to rebrand herself, with a new name and new, fancy style. She even used nail polish Stacey gave her… but none of it makes a difference. Hannie just won’t talk to her!! Nobody tries to remember Karen’s names, either- besides Ricky. Although he was teasing her about her hair before, he seems to feel sorry about it, and wants to bring her comfort. But Karen doesn’t see this as making much of a difference and goes even further- deciding to sneak some of her mother’s thrown away makeup!! I just want to mention, Karen removes the makeup at home, so her mom HAS to catch her wearing it while driving her home, right? But the book never mentions this. Anywaysss, this new style does cause some older girls in their school to look at her and point out her cute style, which makes Karen really happy. I understood this feeling really well, so that was cute. (But later, they copy her haircut, getting short (but, much cuter) versions of Karen’s hair. This seemed a bit over the top and unrealistic.)


The day before Hannie’s wedding comes, and she STILL hasn’t changed her mind about Karen. But while biking on the sidewalk, Karen happens to see her fall down- and lose her two front teeth!! Despite being angry with her still, Karen tries to be as kind as she can, and helps her out. Hannie is heartbroken, though- how will she have a wedding, looking like THIS!?! Karen’s father makes Karen visit Hannie after lunch to see if she’s doing alright, and this time, Scott, Hannie’s ‘husband to be’ is going to visit her also. Hannie is forlorn, telling him that she can’t have a wedding, because she looks too ugly. I thought the art in this section was so pretty, but anyway. He encourages her, telling her he’s not marrying how she looks, or her teeth. He’s marrying HER. He loves her for who she is. Was this cute? Yes. Was this very strange for a conversation among young children? Also yes. Regardless, he does leave, and Hannie does tell Karen she’s sorry, admitting that she’d be very upset if Karen was the one treating her like this- and Karen’s allowed back in the wedding!!

When the day arrives, Karen gets all dressed up, and feels very pretty. The wedding is a full-on event, and parents even come along to take photos of their children, finding it adorable. They get rings, and even say their vows. This… this was weird. Why are their parents so in on such an over the top thing like this!?! This was planned for WEEKS! It was so unrealistic, and in a way, felt inappropriate to have kids in a situation like this.

Then, at the end, back in school, Ricky takes Karen off to the side, and, blushing and shy, he asks her to marry him someday. Remembering how he put so much effort into remembering her names… Karen agrees, also letting him know that she’s back to being Karen Brewer.

As I said, some parts were very cute, like the Karen and Ricky moments!! The message of loving someone regardless of how they look is good, but SO many things were off about the story, like why the hairdresser even cut her hair like this at all, and the somewhat creepy wedding. Also, although it was realistic, there was a LOT about loose teeth that I didn’t really like, hahah. It should be called ‘Karen’s Loose Teeth.’ All in all, I did not love this one. I’ve now reviewed every one of the Karen graphic novels (it was out of order, but regardless,) and now, I’ll have to wait all the way until the release of the next one to review another.

(This book contains a girl with a negative self-image, who often calls herself ‘ugly’, children having fake weddings and asking others to marry them, as well ad some blood when teeth are lost, and talk of pulling them, and losing them in many ways, such as a fall, and talk of removing a tooth by slamming a door, which almost happens, until Karen backs out. I would give this book an age rating of 8+)

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen is feeling like she isn't very pretty. She keeps losing front teeth, and she wears glasses. She wants to feel pretty so she asks her parents if she can get a haircut. The stylist decides to not follow the picture Karen brings but give her the "latest style" and Karen hates it. Worst of all, her best friend Hannie says she's not pretty enough to be in her pretend wedding any more. Will things ever get better?

A horrendous haircut is a tragically universal experience (whether by a stylist or of a child's own doing), so inevitably this will be a very relatable read. I felt it was kind of weird that so many adults played along with Hannie's pretend wedding, but it's probably better the adults were involved than if the kids were hiding it. The book has a positive ending with a good message about the inside being what matters most.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: A pretend wedding, but when they get to the kissing part the kids both gross out at the idea.
Violence: None
Ethnic diversity: Karen and her family are White. Hannie and some others at school are Black.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Karen deals with not being satisfied with her looks, and friends who aren't nice about it. There is positive progress in both by the end.

[Jo El · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 8 year old INSISTED I read this because she loves it. I admit, it was really funny in parts with all the "name changes." The wedding part was weird but....kids are weird. My daughter wants all the books in this series now. If only I could get her into reading the REAL chapter books she'd have more than 7 to read!

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate how Karen looks but its overall a good book.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read more of the original Baby-Sitters Little Sister books than the Baby-Sitters Club books, mostly because they were more available when I was more actively visiting libraries (I don't now because I can afford to just BUY books I want and save the free ones for people who can't). So even without having read the original any year recently, I can definitely remember enough to know this is a top-notch, contemporary update to the story!

The main difference from the original—other than obvious things like the characters have mobile phones—is that Karen was given an ugly mullet, and here it's updated as just a "boy" haircut... which I don't mind so much, since the older girls at the end who copy Karen's "bad" haircut look good with it (not that even Karen's an "ugly duckling" with it like she thinks).

As I was writing this review, my spouse came over and flipped through the book and complained, "She even gave the stylist a photo of what she wanted!" Yep, that's EXACTLY what happened in the original, too! I can't imagine how this stylist became so popular, doing what the customer did NOT ask for! (My spouse had a similar bad time and also never went back to the bad stylist.)

What I don't get, and what would have cancelled out most of the rest of the story, is why didn't Karen's mom take the money they clearly would not have given the stylist for doing a bad job and... buy a wig? Granted, I live in an area where Party City is open year-round and always has at least SOME stock of wigs, which might not have been as much of a thing in Stoneybrook circa 1990 (original publication date). Feels like a child's self-esteem is worth the effort, though, so I—spoiled in contemporary times—would attempt this very small gesture.

(Easily said as someone who doesn't have kids, mind you.)

Hannie was positively awful about Karen's haircut, though, but thanks to the magic of being a young adult book, she learns her lesson by the end. (Scott is surprisingly graceful about it, for what I expect of kids their age—no wonder Hannie wants to marry him!) I definitely remember that from the original, as well as the "officiant" saying they can kiss, and Hannie and Scott saying, "EEW NO", haha!

Definitely a perfect graphic novel adaptation! Recommended for fans of the series, plus any young reader (or older reader!) who has ever gotten a bad haircut!