Karen's Yo-Yo

I didn't much care for this book, but reading it takes me back to when I was in 3rd grade and everyone and his brother owned a yo-yo. I had a red yo-yo that lit up and made noise whenever it went up and down ;D. As a kid, I envied Karen's yo-yo; I wanted a "Genius".
Oh and Ms. Holland was a total bi*ch. I thought it was cool that Karen used her yo-yo as a pendulum. It to me looked like she was making the connection and learning something too but Ms. Holland was like, "Do not play with toys." I mean really, lighten up. I could see if she was playing with it during a math lesson or something that Ms. Holland would yell at her but not during a lesson on pendulums.
Ms. Holland imo, is one of the big tipoffs that this book is ghostwritten. If it wasn't, then Ms. Hoffman would've been the sub in this book.

I never even heard of a yo-yo group until I read this book ;D.

I had a yellow one with glitter on it. It was cheap but I could do a few tricks with it. I thought the sub was wrong for taking Karen's yo yo and not giving it back to her and then not believing Karen when she said that she didn't steal the yo yo. What a mean teacher!

I love how every time there was a new trend in Stoneybrook then everyone went completely ham over it. The toy store had an entire yo-yo aisle. That makes sense, because every kid appeared to have a completely different yo-yo. My favorite was the Spin Doctor, lol. There was also the Genius, the Magician, and the Spin Wizard. Then cheapy ones like Andrew and the other peasants had. I actually learned how long a proper yo-yo string should be. (Yo-yo on the ground, string should reach your belly button.)

They always got such evil substitutes. Do subs walk in the door with something to prove? I don’t fully mind that Ms. Holland took the yo-yo during class. Karen was even fairly content with getting it back the next day per the class rules. A week was bs. If I had been Watson (and had actually been told) I would have made a little call to the principal. Give the kid her property and tell her she couldn’t bring it to school for the rest of the week. (I’m actually kind of surprised that they were allowed to play with them during recess. My school would have called it a danger or a weapon or something else stupid.)

I was disappointed that Eagle Eye Hannie didn’t continue her trend of seeing Karen do bad things from the back of the room. I’m not sure what Hannie and Nancy’s plan was. Steal the yo-yo, give it back, then what? Karen had no self-control to leave it at home. It was a sweet gesture in a future criminal kind of way. Karen promised herself that she would tell them the next time that she was naughty because she knew that she was bound to be naughty again.

It bugs me that there were multiple chapters about jacket-buying, and then Karen is not wearing the jacket in question on the cover. (A pink and green jacket with a hood and pockets big enough to hold the Genius.)

Some of these yo-yo guys look like they shouldn't be allowed on an elementary school property. You decide which ones.

One of my favorite teachers in high school was a long-term sub that eventually got a full-time teaching contract. I don't remember any other substitutes except for one in second grade who for some reason cleaned out her change purse and gave us each a penny. (And wouldn't give up her wheat pennies, lol.)