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!
