Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter

-by Randy L. Schmidt
(epub)

I grew up listening to Karen Carpenter's velvet voice wafting from our record player in the late 70s and 80s. My mom always had her records playing, so The Carpenters' music was, in many ways, the soundtrack of my youth. When I was around years old 13 years old, I remember watching the made-for-TV movie of her life. Learning about the sad girl behind the amazing voice always stuck with me. Karen life was obviously tinged with a deep sadness, with hopes unfulfilled.

While Little Girl Blue came across as somewhat cold and factual at times, it was obviously well-researched. I learned many things that I did not know previously about Karen's life.

Karen's story in Little Girl Blue is not a "pleasant" read, by any means, but it is a worthwhile one, even if you aren't a fan of the music.