Karen's Roller Skates (LSGN #2)

Publication date: 2020

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

Illustrators: Katy Farina, with color by Braden Lamb

Synposis:

Karen is roller skating and jumps over two coffee cans to impress Andrew, but falls after sticking the trick, breaking her wrist. She has to be in a cast for eight weeks! She's embarrassed that she just fell in a somewhat clumsy fashion, and soon starts spinning a tale about jumping over twenty cans while twirling and taking a dive to miss a caterpillar and her three babies and there being a police response and--

LIES!

Andrew's finally had enough of her tall tales, and tells what really happened. And no one makes fun of Karen for "just" falling. She is still concerned that classmate Ricky, who broke his ankle the day before she broke her wrist, will upstage Karen at school, so she's been collecting signatures--Ricky's going to have his cast signed by a famous baseball player. Karen works up the nerve to get Mrs. Porter's autograph, but she's not sure a witch is as good as a celebrity. She's relieved when her mom reveals she knows a movie star who's in town, so Karen can get her autograph. And when she and Ricky get to school, they're able to share the spotlight just fine.

Karen's class

Continuity related to the BSC books:

Shannon Kilbourne makes an appearance.

Associate sitters represent!

Misc:

Ann M. Martin dedicates in memory of her grandmother Adele Read Martin (August 2, 1894-April 18-1988); Katy Farina to "my parents, who were always there to make scrapes, sickness, and broken bones feel better." 

I assume Dawn Read Schafter's middle name is an homage to Martin's grandmother.

I asked my youngest, who's Andrew's age, if caterpillars have babies. She said no, they are babies. This was one of the few I read as a kid, I remember this bugging (pun intended) me when I read this as a kid--Karen is supposed to be smart enough to skip a grade, but she doesn't realize that butterfly babies are caterpillars. 

Watson plays with his smart phone while waiting for Karen's check up with the doctor.

Baby-sitters Little Sister in the 21st century