Karen's Mermaid (14-20)
All right, let's see what happens with Karen and Neptuna the magical mermaid!
Chapter 14 (Karen and Margo out-brat eachother)
At first I thought Margo was the only brat in this chapter but then I realized she and Karen are kind of competing in the Brat Olympics here. It's raining so Karen and Andrew go to play with the Pikes, and Jessi and Mallory help them organize a play and I feel bad for both of them for having to babysit on vacation. They have to rewrite the play to include mermaid twins because Karen and Margo won't stop fucking fighting over who gets to be the mermaid. It's Tinkerbell all over again. Margo wants to make fudge because she's an ~expert!~ and Karen's like "Well well I'M AN EXPERT AT BROWNIES" and Margo goes "BUT I'M A BETTER EXPERT THAN YOU." LOL. LOL. EL OH EL. Then they play Go Fish and Karen just automatically assumes Margo is lying about not having nines just because she didn't have any of the cards Karen asked for so far. So she's like "YOU'RE A BIG FAT PHONY!" and Margo screams and throws her cards on the ground. Her mother yells at her because Karen totally didn't instigate or anything like that, no sir! Karen and Andrew go on home and Karen finds a mermaid note asking for Murina Mermaid Chow, saying it can be found at any store. REALLY, KAREN? REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA BELIEVE THAT ONE TOO? THAT SHOULD BE THE DAMN GIVEAWAY.
Chapter 15
More running around town supervised only by 11-year-olds. 11-year-olds who allow 7-year-olds to go to supermarkets by themselves. I hope Mallory appears in more Karen books because they seem to be the only books where she gets any respect. Karen goes to the supermarket and can't find the mermaid chow, so she goes up to customer service and asks for it. Margo and Nicky burst out laughing and Karen's like "WTF?" and Margo's like "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BELIEVED ALL OF IT." Oh screw you, Margo. Instead of keeping the prank at home for her and her siblings to laugh at when the reveal was made, she had to push it so far that Karen is now publically humiliated in the middle of a store. I hate Margo, I really do. She should just go back to barfing and not having anymore personality. Maybe Karen was too gullible, but there's no need to bring her out in PUBLIC with it to be laughed at! And for the record, your siblings are just as hellish as you are for going along with it and Mallory and Claire at the only cool people in your family. So there.
Chapter 16
Karen feels stupid and is awesome when she screams at Nicky for bullying Andrew and Andrew reveals he can ride a skimboard. The end.
Chapter 17
Karen is awesome again when she tells off Margo and Nicky and says she, Nicky, and Vanessa better not even attempt to try to play with her after all the crap they pulled. You see, this is why I admire Karen. She's a brat, yes, but those same qualities that make her a brat make her a strong kid who doesn't let anyone pick on her and who doesn't take bullshit out of anybody. Any other kid in any other book would've just said "Yeah, I guess" when their tormenter asked to play with them because "it's polite" when really, they're under no obligation to be polite to their tormenters. I'll bet if Karen had a Willa Jean (Ramona series), she would've told her to just sod off and let her read instead of letting herself be dragged around. And if Karen had a Brittany Hauser (Allie Finkle series) she would've dumped the cake on her head like I was hoping and praying for Allie to do during that whole birthday party scenario. Sometimes you HAVE to be a brat in order to be someone who doesn't take bullshit and doesn't let people walk all over them. This is why I love Karen.
Chapter 18
Karen's family goes to the Fun In The Sun Festival and at the Miss Mermaid contest she finds herself next to Margo. Uh-oh.
Chapter 19
Karen tells Margo to gtfo, and Margo replies with "No, YOU gtfo" but Karen can't gtfo because there's too many people. Miss Mermaid is picked, and then she has to pick two kids in the audience to ride with her as little mermaids. Of course, she picks Margo and Karen. Karen is chagrined that she must be in the parade with her worst enemy and is sure to send a volley of insults Margo's way. GO KAREN GO! When they get to the float they have a "whisper-fight" about what went on. Karen accuses Margo of cheating at the card game again OH COME ON SHE DIDN'T CHEAT JUST 'CAUSE SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANY NINES. SHUT UP. Then they burst into giggles because they're having a whisper-fight. By the time the parade's over so's the fight. Yay.
Chapter 20
Karen displays surprising maturity and says that if they can laugh about their fight, they're not that mad about it anymore. They run around Sea City doing everything for the last time and Karen's little speech about "everything we do here today will be our last" is actually really depressing. They make it home. Karen tells Hannie and Nancy about the mermaid story. The end.
Here's hoping Margo never shows up again except to barf.
Chapter 14 (Karen and Margo out-brat eachother)
At first I thought Margo was the only brat in this chapter but then I realized she and Karen are kind of competing in the Brat Olympics here. It's raining so Karen and Andrew go to play with the Pikes, and Jessi and Mallory help them organize a play and I feel bad for both of them for having to babysit on vacation. They have to rewrite the play to include mermaid twins because Karen and Margo won't stop fucking fighting over who gets to be the mermaid. It's Tinkerbell all over again. Margo wants to make fudge because she's an ~expert!~ and Karen's like "Well well I'M AN EXPERT AT BROWNIES" and Margo goes "BUT I'M A BETTER EXPERT THAN YOU." LOL. LOL. EL OH EL. Then they play Go Fish and Karen just automatically assumes Margo is lying about not having nines just because she didn't have any of the cards Karen asked for so far. So she's like "YOU'RE A BIG FAT PHONY!" and Margo screams and throws her cards on the ground. Her mother yells at her because Karen totally didn't instigate or anything like that, no sir! Karen and Andrew go on home and Karen finds a mermaid note asking for Murina Mermaid Chow, saying it can be found at any store. REALLY, KAREN? REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA BELIEVE THAT ONE TOO? THAT SHOULD BE THE DAMN GIVEAWAY.
Chapter 15
More running around town supervised only by 11-year-olds. 11-year-olds who allow 7-year-olds to go to supermarkets by themselves. I hope Mallory appears in more Karen books because they seem to be the only books where she gets any respect. Karen goes to the supermarket and can't find the mermaid chow, so she goes up to customer service and asks for it. Margo and Nicky burst out laughing and Karen's like "WTF?" and Margo's like "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BELIEVED ALL OF IT." Oh screw you, Margo. Instead of keeping the prank at home for her and her siblings to laugh at when the reveal was made, she had to push it so far that Karen is now publically humiliated in the middle of a store. I hate Margo, I really do. She should just go back to barfing and not having anymore personality. Maybe Karen was too gullible, but there's no need to bring her out in PUBLIC with it to be laughed at! And for the record, your siblings are just as hellish as you are for going along with it and Mallory and Claire at the only cool people in your family. So there.
Chapter 16
Karen feels stupid and is awesome when she screams at Nicky for bullying Andrew and Andrew reveals he can ride a skimboard. The end.
Chapter 17
Karen is awesome again when she tells off Margo and Nicky and says she, Nicky, and Vanessa better not even attempt to try to play with her after all the crap they pulled. You see, this is why I admire Karen. She's a brat, yes, but those same qualities that make her a brat make her a strong kid who doesn't let anyone pick on her and who doesn't take bullshit out of anybody. Any other kid in any other book would've just said "Yeah, I guess" when their tormenter asked to play with them because "it's polite" when really, they're under no obligation to be polite to their tormenters. I'll bet if Karen had a Willa Jean (Ramona series), she would've told her to just sod off and let her read instead of letting herself be dragged around. And if Karen had a Brittany Hauser (Allie Finkle series) she would've dumped the cake on her head like I was hoping and praying for Allie to do during that whole birthday party scenario. Sometimes you HAVE to be a brat in order to be someone who doesn't take bullshit and doesn't let people walk all over them. This is why I love Karen.
Chapter 18
Karen's family goes to the Fun In The Sun Festival and at the Miss Mermaid contest she finds herself next to Margo. Uh-oh.
Chapter 19
Karen tells Margo to gtfo, and Margo replies with "No, YOU gtfo" but Karen can't gtfo because there's too many people. Miss Mermaid is picked, and then she has to pick two kids in the audience to ride with her as little mermaids. Of course, she picks Margo and Karen. Karen is chagrined that she must be in the parade with her worst enemy and is sure to send a volley of insults Margo's way. GO KAREN GO! When they get to the float they have a "whisper-fight" about what went on. Karen accuses Margo of cheating at the card game again OH COME ON SHE DIDN'T CHEAT JUST 'CAUSE SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANY NINES. SHUT UP. Then they burst into giggles because they're having a whisper-fight. By the time the parade's over so's the fight. Yay.
Chapter 20
Karen displays surprising maturity and says that if they can laugh about their fight, they're not that mad about it anymore. They run around Sea City doing everything for the last time and Karen's little speech about "everything we do here today will be our last" is actually really depressing. They make it home. Karen tells Hannie and Nancy about the mermaid story. The end.
Here's hoping Margo never shows up again except to barf.