Karen's Tuba

Baby-Sitters Little Sister #37

by Ann M. Martin, Susan Tang (Illustrator)

When everyone in her class is given musical instruments, much to Karen's dismay she receives a big, old tuba instead of the elegant flute she wanted.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Juvenile

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

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

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Move over Amy March, the Kids' Choice Award for Hugest Bitch in Literary History goes to Karen Brewer, let's all hear it for Karen!

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Karen is unbearable.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't diss on the tuba. So much cooler than the damn flute.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember my poor music teachers trying to teach the class one or two instruments at a time. Is it really realistic for a class of like 24 (?) Students to learn 24 different instruments from scratch? More to the point, is it realistic that a teen like Sam who's played a bit in band could actually teach these kids a whole song on those 24 instruments?!

Also not sure why the tuba is so much worse than the other instruments? Was it just a generally accepted thing in the 90s that tubas were uncool?

Also also, I have to admit I'm kinda side-eyeing Ms Colman here. Even in other books, like the one where Karen invites her to dinner at their house and she accepts. And now, apparently, Ms Colman and her fiance are close enough friends to Karen's mom and Seth that they come over to dinner regularly. AND that Ms Colman asks Karen to be flower girl at her wedding. That's favouritism, and so uncool to the other kids in her class.

I would understand if Ms colman and Karen's mom + stepdad were friends BEFORE Ms Colman became Karen's teacher. But in this case, they became friends during the school year. I'm pretty sure that's a no-no for teachers.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how Karen made the best out of playing the tuba, even though it was not her preferred instrument. I was surprised Ms. Colman chose Karen to be the flower girl in her wedding. It did not seem fair to the eleven other girls in Ms. Colman's class who would certainly enjoy the opportunity to be her flower girl.

[Annora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is proof that Karen can actually be a sweet kid. Was she annoying at times? Yes, because she’s seven! I’d be disappointed too if I had my heart set on a particular instrument and was stuck with something else. But with time, she grew to like the tuba. It wasn’t her initial reaction that was a problem. It was how she dealt with it - and that wasn’t a problem.

[V. Arrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily Michelle stealing the tuba was so silly. (Positive)

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book cause I took music lessons as well, and was in the school band playing clarinet. Karen wanted to play the flute and instead got a tuba, though she made the best of it after complaining. The highlight is how the kids learned to play Here Comes The Bride to surprise Ms. Colman with at their concert. That was sweet. It would have been nice if Karen went with the option of continuing music lessons and kept playing the tuba

[Sayo -bibliotequeish- · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you were too old for childrens books, but too young for The Baby Sitters Club.
Ann M. Martin really is a genius to piggy back on the success of The Baby Sitters Club.

After reading the little sisters series I remember feeling like a real adult opening up that first BSC book.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites.