At the beginning of this book, Karen is reading a book about unicorns. She's recently become interested in them and has found out that unicorns are special, magical creatures. According to Karen, you have to be very, very good for a unicorn to befriend you. Also, if you get close to a unicorn, you can make a wish, and the unicorn will grant it. And unicorns are always pure white, and they can detoxify drinking water with their horns. Karen's been trying to tell her friends and family about unicorns, but nobody else believes in them.
Karen's unicorn daydreams are interrupted by Andrew, who is trying to learn to ride a two-wheeler and wants Karen to help him. Karen tries, but Andrew isn't having much luck. She tries to tell him he's too little to ride a bike but he is having none of it. Tricycles are for babies and he is going to learn to ride a bike, even though it is Karen's old bike that is too big for him. You would think Watson the Real Live Millionaire could buy his son an appropriately sized boy's bike, but I guess he probably wouldn't let him bring it to Mommy's house anyway.
I thought the illustration of it was really cute. Andrew is wearing knee and elbow pads. Apparently he was not scared enough by Karen's roller skating mishap to wear wrist guards as well. Karen is rocking her usual side ponytail. They go inside and eat dinner and find out that Seth is going to have to move his carpentry shop because the building he's in is being renovated and the rent increased.
The next day, on the bus ride to school, Karen and Nancy see a poster. The circus is coming to town. Not only is the circus coming to town, but it is going to feature a Real Live Unicorn. (No other animal acts, just the unicorn.)
All the kids are talking about the circus when they get to school, but Karen is the only one in her class who believes that unicorns are real. They get some more exciting news when they find out that the class will be taking a field trip to the circus and will get to take a special tour. Karen is absolutely positive that the unicorn will grant her wishes. She makes a list of the wishes she wants the unicorn to grant.
The thing I like about her unicorn wish list is that she adds the parenthetical aside about who Maxie is. Even though it's just her own list that she's writing for herself. You know, in case later on, she's reading the wishes and is like "Who the hell is Maxie? Why do I want a letter from her?"
On unicorn circus day, Karen gets up and dresses in her unicorn sweatshirt and thinks that she hopes the unicorn will like her shirt. My niece went through a phase where she would always tell us that the cat liked her shirt. She was four, though. It's not that the cat actively disliked the shirts or anything, but I secretly suspect she didn't care, much like I secretly suspect the unicorn won't care.
Here is the cover. I used to have three copies of this book for unknown reasons, so I'm not sure why the one I kept has a giant crease on the cover, but that's OK. You can see Nancy, Karen, and Hannie watching the circus together. Karen is enchanted by the unicorn. After the show, the class gets their special tour. Bobby makes some comments about how the unicorn's horn is probably glued on, but Karen is even more positive that it is a real unicorn. She thinks her wishes at him as hard as she can.
When Karen gets home, she thinks that maybe the unicorn is busy, and five wishes is a lot, so she'll help him out a little. She writes a postcard to Maxie, and studies for her math test. When the tests come back, she missed 3 answers and is quite pleased with herself. I would have been crushed to miss three answers on a test in elementary school, but Karen seems happy. I guess
50 books ago, she was copying answers off Ricky, so it's an improvement. She also gets a response from Maxie.
Watson has gotten tickets to the circus that he can't use, and he offers them to Lisa, so Karen gets to see the circus again, which is the third of her wishes.
Here is Karen and her family watching a scary clown. After the show, Karen sneaks underneath the tent where the unicorn is kept while Mommy is using the port-a-potty. She thinks she sees his horn wiggle, but then it seems steady, so she just isn't sure. She thinks her two remaining wishes at the unicorn as hard as she can.
The next day, Andrew finally gets the hang of riding his bike, but he doesn't know how to stop. Karen runs along with him and they cross one street and turn one corner and see a brand new mini-mall which Karen decides will be perfect for Seth's workshop. They go home and tell Seth about it. He calls, and it turns out the place is perfect. Either Seth or his realtor must be kind of slacking, to not know about a property three blocks from their house, but everything ends up happy.
Karen's friends still don't believe in unicorns. Nancy says she's happy that Karen's wishes came true, but she did a lot of work for them, like studying and helping Andrew. Karen is still convinced the unicorn granted the wishes.
They go over to look at the building where Seth's carpentry workshop will be, and Karen sees circus trucks pulling out of town. The last thing she sees is a horse trailer, and she is just sure the unicorn winks at her as he drives away.
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