Karen's Home Run (Baby-Sitters Little Sister, No. 18) [Paperback]

Ann M. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1991 | Age Level: 4 and up

Karen is playing on her stepsister Kristy's softball team. Karen is so excited, because she's been playing great! Suddenly "Homerun Karen' can't hit at all. Will Karen break out of her slump and help win the game?.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (May 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590436422
• ISBN-13: 978-0590436427
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann M. Martin is the bestselling author of the momentous series The Baby-sitters Club, as well as the Main Street series. Her other acclaimed novels include "A Dog's Life," "Belle Teal," "Here Today," and the Newbery Honor Book "A Corner of the Universe." She lives in upstate New York. For more information, visit www.scholastic.com/bsc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Karen loses her self-confidence because she loses the game, October 8, 2010

By 

Raj "raj_thatsme" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karen's Home Run (Baby-Sitters Little Sister, No. 18) (Paperback)

Synopsis: Karen Brewer and her brother Andrew play on a softball team called "Kristy's Krushers". Karen looks forward to their softball practice but Andrew doesn't. This is because Andrew knows he is not a good hitter, and feels that he is letting his team down. Andrew keeps missing the ball, and throws the bat every time he tries to hit. He cannot help himself, but Karen and Kristy feel that with enough practice, he can do well.

Later, Kristy tells Karen and Andrew and the rest of the team that that their team would be in the Memorial Day Parade, marching proudly, and the day before Memorial Day, they would play their big game against their rivals, The Bashers.

Karen soon finds out that her whole family would be in the parade. Sam would be with his band, and Charlie would be decorating the junk bucket as a grasshopper with Emily Michelle sitting next to him, with the cheerleaders.

Later, when Karen goes to Amanda Delaney's house, she sees Amanda decorating her bicycle for the Bicycle Brigade in the Memorial Day parade, where the winner would win a prize of 100 dollars. Karen decides to stick with the Krushers. But Karen thinks about what she would do with the money, by getting a pair of rollerblades. She daydreams about rollerblades during her practice, and she is not able to concentrate, therefore she loses the game for the team.

Feeling dejected, she decides to quit the team and not march in the Memorial Day parade even though Kristy tells her not to give up. Nancy gets angry with Karen thinking she is purposely quitting just to get the money. Karen calls herself the strikeout queen. Karen decides that if she plays the game well with the bashers before the memorial day, then she will march with the team, otherwise she won't, but she prepares decorating her bicycle just in case. Can Karen win this time, and help Andrew stop throwing the bat?

Review: I thought this was an interesting book to read where Karen starts losing her self-confidence because of one bad game, but I thought some parts of the book were rather confusing and silly. I felt the story was a little confusing because there were just so many things going on in the book, like Andrew's dilemma, Karen's problem with losing, the Memorial Day parade, the Bicycle Brigade etc. I felt that if the story was focused on just one or two storylines, it would have been more interesting to read.

I also felt that the author did not really know how to write Karen's problem on whether she really felt bad for losing the game during the practice, or whether she just wanted to win the Bicycle Brigade. At times, I felt it was a little silly why Karen would take this game so seriously and get so dramatic over something so small, and I wished they would have focused more on Andrew because I thought this story was much interesting. However, some parts of Karen's dilemma were interesting to read on what she should concentrate on.

I thought the illustrations by Susan Tang were very nicely drawn, and I especially enjoyed the ones where Nancy finds Karen decorating her bicycle, or when Kristy announces to the team members about marching in Memorial Day.

Overall, I thought this was a nicely written story but I felt that it could have been written in a more simple and concise manner, and would have been better if they focused a little more on Andrew.

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT KID'S BOOK!, December 3, 2005

By 

ANNABELLESTAR "My Favorite Books!" (IDAHO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karen's Home Run (Baby-Sitters Little Sister, No. 18) (Paperback)

Karen plays on a softball team and calls herself 'Home run Karen' which jinxes her. After that she can't hit at all, she even strikes out. Will she ever hit the ball again so her team will be able to march in the big parade? Read to find out! I really liked this book!