LS # 102, Karen's Black Cat

This book opens up with Karen sitting in the waiting room at the vet's while Elizabeth is in the exam room with the vet and Boo-Boo, Watson's 17 pound tomcat. Throughout the books, Boo-Boo has always been described as cranky. He doesn't like kids and he destroys the neighbors' gardens and he left a dead mouse on Morbidda Destiny's porch and she brought its remains over in a paper bag while Kristy was babysitting and scared her half to death. For all of these reasons and more, Boo-Boo is my favorite pet in the series. He's far, far superior to Mary Anne's stupid kitten. Anyway, as it turns out, there's nothing specific wrong with Boo-Boo, he's just getting older.

The family decides that they will get a new kitten. Elizabeth says it might cheer Boo-Boo up, but I sort of think her real reasoning is that Boo-Boo is going to die soon and it's easier to get a new kitten now then after. At least, that is the reasoning I had for getting a kitten when my old cat was old. Here is a picture of my Simon being cheered up by the new kitten:

Karen doesn't understand why everyone is so sad about Boo-Boo getting older. He's been old as long as she's known him. But she is told sharply that she can't hog the new kitten, and that she should try to think about Boo-Boo. She takes this to mean that she shouldn't love or play with the new kitten when they get it, because it might hurt Boo-Boo's feelings or make him feel resentful. Daddy tells Karen the story of how he got Boo-Boo from the shelter when he was single. He named the cat Boo-Boo because he nearly picked a different cat, and he wanted to remember that he almost made a boo-boo. I don't even know. That's the stupidest cat name logic I ever heard. I will confess that the orange kitty pictured above is called Boo-Boo, but a) that's not her official name and b) it's not after the books, either! Do you remember the show Animaniacs? They had this segment called Chicken Boo, and there was a little song. "You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man, you're a chicken, Boo." We used to sing that to our kitten but with "kitten, Boo" instead of chicken, and it morphed into calling her Boo and Boo-Boo.

Karen's class at school is having a Halloween party wherein the children can have a parent bring in a pet during the party. This sounds like the stupidest idea in the world. A bunch of overexcited kids in Halloween costumes and a bunch of animals running around, really? Karen rejects all of the other pets at her house for various reasons and decides that she will honor Boo-Boo by inviting him to her party. Watson says that she may not bring Boo-Boo, because he is getting old, hates children, and needs peace and quiet. Karen ignores this and tells the teacher she will be bringing Boo-Boo, but then Daddy overhears her talking to Hannie and Nancy about it and she is told again that she cannot bring Boo-Boo to the Halloween pet party.

The cover shows Karen, wearing glasses that look more red than pink, holding a kitten while dressed as a witch. She is not wearing a side ponytail, probably because witch hats make side ponytails difficult.

When the family goes to pick out a new kitten, Karen really wants to get an orange tiger striped one and name it Pumpkin because it is so close to Halloween, but the rest of the family votes to get a black kitten. Karen is bitterly disappointed by this. She hopes the black kitten will turn out to have feline leukemia or something so they'll have to change their minds, but no, the black kitten is perfectly healthy and comes to live with them. Boo-Boo loathes the new kitten and hisses and growls at her.

My cat Gideon is 14.4 pounds, and Simon was even bigger, and I have to tell you, the cat in this illustration is no 17-pounder. Look at those tiny legs, and he barely comes up to mid-calf on a seven-year old. Also, he is pissed. You can see him thinking "Fuck this shit. I'm going to die in the next book."

Karen ignores the kitten while the rest of the family plays with her. Then they all sit down to suggest names for the kitten. David Michael suggests Midnight. This amuses me because Morbidda Destiny next door also has a black cat named Midnight. That wouldn't get confusing at all. Of course David Michael is the one who named their dog after a neighbor, so maybe he's just not great at thinking up names on his own. Karen suggests they let Watson choose the name and everyone else agrees. Watson decides that the cat will be named Pumpkin.

Karen tries to be nice to Boo-Boo but he spends a lot of time hiding under Watson's bed and running away from her. Then when she is in her room, Pumpkin comes in and plays with a piece of paper and Karen's determination to resist Pumpkin's charms melts away. She asks the family if she can take the new kitten to her pet party at school. They all agree. At the party, Karen dresses as a witch and shares her pet with Natalie Springer, who is dressed as, I don't know, a storybook character of some sort? Probably one with droopy socks.