Girl of the Year 2026: Raquel Reyes Saves the Wedding

Author: Angela Cervantes

Illustrators: Fatima Anaya and Maike Plenzke

Published: 2026

Summary

Raquel is ready to help her family kick off summer at the family paleta (frozen dessert) shop. She's got the deejay set she was given for her recent tenth birthday, and the Kansas City sun is bringing the heat. It's a great way to start an exciting summer. And in a few days, Raquel and her family are heading to New England for a wedding on her mother's side (her abuela will manage the store while the others are gone). Raquel's especially hopeful she'll be able to reconnect with her cousin Sloan: they always had a good time as younger kids, but it's been half a decade since they've seen each other. 

The wedding will be held at the family mansion in Mount Bedford--yes, Samantha Parkington's home. Raquel, her brother, and her cousins are Samantha's great-great-grandchildren. Raquel and Harper (the cousin who's getting married) go to the mansion to look for a "something old" for the wedding, and in searching, Raquel finds Samantha's diary from 1906. She quickly gets to reading it, feeling a deeper connection with her ancestor.

And it turns out to be very handy as well. Sloan seems to run hot and cold, excited to see Raquel at one moment and then cold the next. It's through Samantha's advice of patience that Raquel is finally able to get Sloan to open up: Sloan's birth mother (she was adopted as a baby) has reached out to see if she and Sloan can meet, and now Sloan is worried that she's not really part of her adoptive family. Raquel helps Sloan feel wanted and loved--just in time for them to help a pair of dolphins stranded on the beach. They call Harper (she and her fiancé are marine biologists) and are able to keep the gathering crowd from worsening the situation until professional help arrives.

Raquel and her family are in New England for a long time for the wedding, enough for Raquel to cheer on Sloan and another cousin in a pickleball tournament. Raquel deejays during the event, offering song requests for donations to help dolphin rescue. Her cousins come in second, and donate their $200 prize to funds--and the first-place team does the same with the $500 prize! Raquel and her cousins and brother are able to give the bride and groom over $800 for the dolphin rescue as a wedding present.

And that's not all: just like Samantha Saves the Wedding, there's a problem with the bride's veil: the dry cleaner lost it. Raquel and Sloan remember that they saw a lacy item in the attic, and it turns to be the very same veil worn in the other book's wedding. AND the wedding band comes down with food poisoning, so Raquel does the music for the wedding as well!

Misc 

The author dedicates her book to "my primas, who make life more fun!"

Harper (the cousin getting married) gives a brief biography of Samantha Parkington. Most of what she tells we know from the earlier books, but we also learn that Samantha was a teacher who founded a school for girls.

Raquel takes her Pomeranian on the trip... but also on the whale-watching boat tour. That seems like a terrible idea!

Sloan teaches Raquel pickleball. Pickleball is the official state sport of Washington, and was invented on Bainbridge Island (across Puget Sound from Seattle). It's named for the inventor's dog.

Dawn on the Coast

Publication Date: 2026

Ghostwriter? The original novel was ghostwritten by Jan Car, but the text copyright is still given to Ann M. Martin

Illustrator: Arley Nopra

Synopsis:

No real changes from the original book.

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan): 

Claudia candy: none mentioned, but at a meeting of the We ♥ Kids Club, Dawn enjoys apple slices with natural peanut butter (the girl offering them specifies that it's natural peanut butter--awkward, as it would be normal for her, but making a point to the reader about healthy snacks being more common with Dawn's California friends), as well as carrot sticks. 

Dawn in her room:

I like the illustration of the BSC hanging out, showcasing their different interests and personalities:

Their Families:

Trip-man mention!

The Pike family:

The Club (and clients): 

The Perkinses, Newtons, and Feldmans:

SMS: school break

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin uses the dedication page to state "I would like to thank Jan Carr for her help in writing this book."

Nopra dedicates the book to "my family outside Ontario--the Sangalangs, Rullodas, Magnos, Asodisens, Reyeses, Duldulaos, Laurentes, Hernandezes, Fajardos, and Nopras: I fondely remembered our vacations together while working on this book. I treasure all the joyful moments we've shared and look forward to our next reunion!"

In the Karen's Surprise (the Baby-sitters Little Sister graphic novel published the same year as this), a classmate mentions visiting "Wander World" in Florida. Dawn goes to "Wander Land" in California. In the original BSC book, it's just Disneyland. And that font sure is reminiscent of something...

The We ♥ Kids Club, with (left to right) Maggie, Sunny, and Jill.

Dawn baby-sitting for her old charges, Clover and Daffodil:

The secret tunnel at Dawn's house (I'm still sad The Ghost at Dawn's House wasn't adapted to a graphic novel):

Karen's Surprise (LSGN#12)

Publication date: 2026

Illustrator: Shauna Grant

Synopsis:

Karen's class is putting on a school play for Thanksgiving. Rather than have tryouts, names are simply drawn out of a hat for the different parts. Karen's annoyed to be assigned the role of turkey (a roast turkey; most of the class are various Thanksgiving dinner foods) and only be able to be on stage for a little bit. With some inspiration from Kristy, Karen writes a little song for the food to sing. Everyone's happy with it, especially the students now get to have a more satisfying part in the play.

But Karen surprises everyone during the play by busting out a long solo (everyone had a line or two; Karen does a whole dance number). Her classmates and teacher are upset with her, but no one in the audience knows she wasn't supposed to do that. Her teacher talks to Karen about the importance of staying in her lane and not potentially causing a group effort to go off the rails, and Karen seems to understand.

Meanwhile, there's the question of what to do for the holiday itself. Both Karen's mom and Karen's dad want her and Andrew to have Thanksgiving dinner with them, and on the actual date, so Karen and Andrew are going to have two Thanksgiving dinners. Two little kids, with (age-appropriate) poor self-control, given access to a bunch of their favorite foods, and rushed from one place to another and back (not evening spending the night at their dad's). Maybe this sort of thing is why Karen and Andrew's parents divorced.

After Karen and Andrew feel guilty for leaving their grandparents at their mom's house and delaying dinner for the hungry family at their dad's house, and then being too tired and full to enjoy anything, their parents do realize their mistake and apologize for putting their wants ahead of the kids' needs. They promise to be more careful the future.

Continuity related to BSC books: 

The Baby-sitters Club is mentioned in passing.

Misc:

Martin dedicates the book to "Susan and Ashley, who keep my life from being too surprising. Thank you."

Grant dedicates the book to "Nola, Lola, and the niblings in my life. Keep reaching for your dreams!"

While she can be a brat, it's easy to feel bad for Karen when you see how often she has to comfort her brother who's not that much younger than she is.

Karen and her class in costume:

Jessi Ramsey, Pet Sitter (GN#18)

Publication Date: 2025

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Ellen T. Crenshaw with color by Braden Lamb and Beniam C. Hollman

Synopsis:

No real changes from the original book, just a few "modern" updates like the talking parrot mimicking a commercial that's clearly for cell phones, and Jessi's mom having a cell phone. The drawings of the pets are great!

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan): 

Claudia candy: 

Jessi's oft-forgotten reading glasses!

Their Families: 

Jessi and Becca with their first pet, Misty the hamster. I like that Becca is sporting a protective hairstyle:

The Club (and clients): 

Jamie Newton and Nina Marshall, with Mrs. Perkins (her dog escaped):

Gabby and Myriah Perkins, with the Mancusis' snake:

The club voting on whether they should switch roles:

SMS: nothing stood out

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her friends "Nicole, Anna, Rebecca, Katie, and Alison" and Crenshaw to "Paloma, Sam, and Rini. You bring me joy and inspiration every day!"

The menagerie:

Karen's Ghost (LSGN #11)

Publication date: 2025

Illustrators: D. K. Yingst, with color by Braden Lamb

Synopsis:

Halloween is coming, and Karen could hardly be more excited. Her class is going to mark the occasion by telling scary stories. Despite it not being a competition, Karen is determined to have the scariest one. With Kristy's help, she researches her great-grandfather, Ben Brewer, whose ghost is said to haunt the attic of her father's house. According to a diary (written by Ben's son) that they find, Ben's ghost holds a birthday party every ten years on his birthday--this Halloween is the next one!

When the night finally arrives, Karen lays awake (sneaking a bit of candy), and sure enough, she hears noises and even smells cake baking. And the diary is in her room when she wakes up. In the morning, she reports this to her family, only to find mundane explanations for everything--her stepmother baked a cake in the middle of the night to celebrate Emily Michelle being able to count to ten (...'kay), older kids were setting off fireworks, etc. 

However, the diary itself is left unexplained, as is the fact that Karen notices a few pages stuck together that she and Kristy hadn't seen before. Peeling them apart, Karen learns that as a child, Ben had a fight with a close friend and uninvited him from his tenth birthday party. Before they could make, the friend died. According to the diary, that friend's ghost haunted Ben for the rest of this life, and in death, Ben has a party every ten years to appease his friend's ghost.

Continuity related to BSC books: 

Stoneybrook having been originally spelled with an E ("Stoneybrooke") comes up from time to time in the BSC books.

Misc:

Martin dedicates the book to Paula.

Grant dedicates the book to "my mom, who handmade all my Halloween costumes, and my dad, who firmly believes full-size candy bars are the best treats. And thank you to Rachael and Karmyn; I enjoyed going trick-or-treating with you as I wrote this book."

Emily Michelle is in this book more than she has been in most others (including most of the Baby-sitter Club books).

My brother's birthday is on Halloween, like Ben Brewer. Mine is shortly after--my mom dressed as a jack-o-lantern the year I was born.

Karen's Prize (LSGN#10)

Publication date: 2025

Ghostwriter for the original novel: Stephanie Calmenson

Illustrators: Shauna J. Grant, with color by Braden Lamb

Synopsis:

Karen's class is going to have a spelling bee, and the winner will go on compete in a school-wide bee, and the winner in a county-wide bee, and the winner of THAT one will compete for the state title. Karen, being not only a good speller but also competitive, is beyond excited. She studies hard, and wins the class bee. 

Karen has every right to be proud of her hard work, but she quickly gets obnoxious and condescending about it. Andrew rightly calls her out on being a sore winner, and while Karen briefly thinks about not letting it go to her head, the lesson doesn't stick long. In her defense, Karen gets some pretty mixed signals from her teacher after winning the next round: the same day the teacher has a party specifically to honor Karen's achievements, she ineffectually makes a vague attempt to talk about winning graciously. Her friends start to get tired of the bragging--being proud is one thing, but Karen is being prideful. Karen goes on to win the county spelling bee, despite nearly losing her concentration when she hears Emily Michelle crying in the audience. After, the preschooler cheers for Karen, who immediately berates her for the interruption. Ouch.

Karen must feel a little chagrined; she resolves to not bring up the spelling bee and just politely say "thank you" when congratulated. Her friend thaw a bit toward her, but Karen can't control her competitive streak and tries to make contest out of simple playground games. Her friends give her the cold shoulder again.

Finally, it's the night of the state spelling bee. Karen feels confident, even cocky, but comes in second. She has a heart-to-heart with Kristy, who both helps her figure out how to make up for being a sore winner and feel good about herself for doing as well as she did. Second-best speller in the state is nothing to sneeze at!

Continuity related to BSC books: brief mention of the BSC

Misc:

Grant dedicates the book to "my friends, my sisters. Thank you for your endless love and support."

Unlike the others, this book is written in present tense. It's weird.

In second or third grade, my teacher held the spelling bee a few days early, to pass time during a power outage. I won it, but a classmate's mother complained about it being held early which she found unfair and we had to redo it. I didn't win that time. Neither did the classmate. For the record, that classmate wasn't upset and tried to stop her mom from complaining. She and I are actually friends to this day; she's a very nice person.

There were a couple words I misspelled while typing this. It bothered me more than it should have!

At first I thought it was odd that there were only eight contestants in the final round, but it turns out Connecticut only had eight counties when this was published as a chapter book in 1990. It now has nine "councils of government" which replaced its eight counties in 2022. The only states with fewer counties are Delaware (three), Hawaii (five), and Rhode Island (five). The average number of counties or equivalents per state is 62. Texas has the most with 254, while Georgia is a distant second at 159. My state, Washington, has 39.

One of my nephews has won his school's spelling bee (all grades competing kindergarten though eighth grade) a couple times. But his classmates happily cheer him on, so he must not be a sore winner; good for him!

Karen's Grandmothers (LSGN #9)

Publication date: 2024

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin

Illustrators: D.Y. Yingst, with color by Braden Lamb

Synopsis:

Karen's class is participating in an "adopt a grandparent" program, pairing the students with residents at a nearby nursing home. Karen's excited, figuring she'll set a record for number of grandmothers, since she already has four: her parents' two mothers and her stepparents' two mothers. But why is Nancy so reluctant? She has such a small family--just her and her parents. Surely she'd want a grandparent, right?

Turns out, Nancy is afraid of old people. She says sometimes she wishes she had grandparents, but she also worries she'd be afraid of them, too. Determined to help her friend, Karen writes to her granny (her stepdad's mother, in Nebraska), describing Nancy and asking if Granny would like to be a penpal grandmother. That would help feel connected to someone and gradually get used to older people.

Meanwhile, Karen gets to know Grandma B, her adopted grandmother at the nursing home. When she returns home one day, there's a letter from Granny--she's agreed to be Nancy's penpal grandmother, and sent her a letter! Full of pictures... Karen didn't get a nice long letter with pictures from Grandma B. And Granny sends Nancy personalized mittens that she knit. Grandma B just talks about her other grandchildren (who live in another state). But Nancy is excited, so Karen tries not to feel jealous.

A solution presents itself when Karen's class visits the nursing home to put on a play for the residents. Though nervous, Nancy soldiers on, even meeting Grandma B--who, it turns out, is Jewish, just like Nancy and her family. They actually have quite a bit in common, far more than Karen did, and they get along really well. It doesn't take long for Grandma B to be invited to temple with the Dawes family, and when Karen starts a different extracurricular activity, Nancy has officially adopted Grandma B, and Karen's back to four grandmothers. 

Continuity related to BSC books: nothing stood out beyond the description of the family dynamics of the Brewer household.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to Bethany Buck, "who helps make Karen come alive." Yingst dedicates it to "my mom and dad. Congratulations on the birth of your first grandchild, my niece, Eloise Rose."

Karen may have five grandmothers, but I've had six with an argument to be made for seven. Not all at once though: my paternal grandfather survived his first two wives, marrying again after they died. My maternal grandparents divorced and both remarried. My maternal grandfather married a third time after his second wife died, and my mom's stepdad also remarried after her mom died. Her stepdad and his second wife don't have a traditional grandparent relationship with me, but they are definitely part of the family as well as very nice people.

I do love that Karen thinks of her stepgrandparents as family, and vice versa. While my household is the "traditional" nuclear family, my parents grew up in blended families (their siblings include full, half, step, and adopted siblings). But beyond it being a trivia point, it's never mattered to use whether we're related by blood, and I love seeing that attitude presented so casually. (One of them went by Granny to pretty much everyone who wasn't her child, so it's funny to me that Nancy feels like she should come up with her own name for Karen's granny, calling her "Big Mama" instead.)

Grandma B

The Three Musketeers

Mallory and the Trouble with Twins (GN#17)

Publication Date: 2025

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Arly Nopra with color by Braden Lamb and Jason Caffoe

Synopsis:

Pretty close to the original book, with cute fashion drawings.

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan): nothing stood out

Claudia candy: no candy, but Claudia does hide the earrings she made under her bed.

Their Families: 

The Pikes in their ten-person van:

The Club (and clients): 

The club is introduced in past tense. It's weird. "The president was Kristy Thomas" instead of "The president is Kristy Thomas."

Logan and Shannon:

SMS: 

School hallway:

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to the "Palladinoas and Ameses, especially Kathy" and Nopra to "everyone on an exciting journey of self-discovery."

It starts:

Interesting; it was a piercing gun in the original book but this updated to use the more modern piercing technique. Still no parents needed. When my daughters got their ears pierced, we went to a piercing studio (this is in a mall) and the studio required a parent or guardian plus a birth certificate, because they won't pierce kids under eight.