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) poo 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: