Karen's in Love by Ann M. Martin

Karen Brewer is back - and she's in love! Well, maybe...she knows that she really likes Ricky Torres and she might even love him. They're engaged to be pretend married, and Karen's really happy. But then she and Ricky have a big fight; they're barely even talking anymore, and Ricky seems more interested in Pamela Harding! Valentine's Day is coming up. Will these two be able to work it out?

Even as a child, the concept of marrying someone in elementary school was strange and kind of scary. I suppose it's just a general kind of playacting, but at the end of the book (spoiler alert?) Karen is contemplating changing her name, which to me seems a bit extreme. Anyway. People who dislike Karen as a character will find a lot of ammunition here, from Karen's behavior at Pamela's birthday party (which she self-justifies away) to her ongoing fight with Ricky and her patronizing approach to fellow student Natalie. I do like the scenes of her getting ready for Valentine's Day: making homemade cards for family, buying little funny cards for classmates, wearing all red, eating an all red breakfast, a class party. Those did bring back memories, even if the central plot of second-grade marriage didn't.

Find it at Amazon.

Read it with:
Karen's Surprise by Ann M. Martin
Karen's New Year by Ann M. Martin
Karen's Goldfish by Ann M. Martin