The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids

#23 Angels Don’t Know Karate by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones, 1996.

Before Christmas, the kids at Bailey School are making snow angels, and they start talking about whether or not real angels exist. Melody and Liza say that they do and that everyone has a guardian angel. Eddie jokes that the new school crossing guard should have one as she repaints the crosswalk lines in the road. The kids say that she should also be careful not to get paint on the sidewalk in front of Mr. Mason’s house Mr. Mason is the meanest man in the neighborhood.

As the kids stand around talking, Ben, the school bully, hits Eddie in the mouth with a snowball. Eddie wishes that he knew karate so that he could take care of Ben, and Ben tells him that he’s a just a chicken, daring him to climb a tree on the playground. The other kids tell Eddie not to do it because the tree branches are snowy and icy and he’d probably fall, but Eddie feels like he has to do it to prove that he isn’t chicken. (Yeah, kid, the best way to prove you’re not scared of things is to do a stupidly dangerous thing because you don’t mind demonstrating that you’re desperately scared of what someone you don’t even like thinks about you.) Of course, Eddie does fall, but the others have the impression that the tree branches seem to be helping to hand him down to the ground, where the new crossing guard catches him. Melody thinks that, for a moment, it looked like the crossing guard had angel wings, but no one else saw it because they were all looking at Eddie.

The crossing guard says that her name is Angela Michaels and that she has just come to town for the opening of a new karate school. She invites the children to come to a karate demonstration at the mall. Eddie thinks that the karate demonstration would be great, and Howie says that karate isn’t about attacking people so much as protecting. More and more, Melody becomes convinced that Angela’s rescue of Eddie was a miracle, that she’s Eddie’s guardian angel, and that she’s come to Bailey City on a mission.

Angela turns out to be a karate expert, and the kids are impressed. Mr. Mason yells at the kids as they walk by his house on the way home, and they wish that Angela would teach him a lesson. Eddie says that if they want to spy on Angela and find out if she’s a real angel, Mr. Mason’s yard is the best place to do it because it’s near the crosswalk and no one would expect kids to be hiding in his yard. The others say that he’s crazy to want to go in mean Mr. Mason’s yard, but Eddie says that if Angela is a real guardian angel, they should be safe.

Mr. Mason catches the children in his yard, and Angela does intervene when Mr. Mason yells at them. She convinces Mr. Mason to let her make him a cup of Heavenly Tea. Melody decides that Angela’s mission is probably to help Mr. Mason be nicer and make some friends. Melody says that they should help Angela by being friends with Mr. Mason and doing nice things for him. The others think that she’s crazy, but she’s convinced that it’s safe to do nice things for Mr. Mason because Angela will make sure that they’ll be safe and that Mr. Mason won’t get mad.

Mr. Mason yells at the kids when they come to help him, but Melody convinces him to accept the cookies they’ve brought him and let them shovel some snow for him and decorate his yard for Christmas. He doesn’t seem particularly grateful at first, but he does accept their kindness. Then, to the children’s surprise, Mr. Mason becomes their new school crossing guard, replacing Angela. He says that Angela had to leave on some important business and that she convinced him that he would like the job, and he admits that he does like it. Melody remains convinced that Angela was an angel. Eddie says that she never proved it, but she says that some things don’t need proof, just belief.

Eddie never does use karate on Ben, but Angela deals with Ben for him. Angela catches Ben bullying another younger boy and teaches him that strong people are supposed to protect weaker people, not bully them. The children take karate lessons from Angela, and she’s tough. Eddie compares her to a drill sergeant. But, being tough isn’t the same as being mean. Angela is serious when she says that strong people have a duty to protect others, and that’s what she teaches other people to do. She uses her strength and toughness to help people, not hurt them. It’s a good philosophy!

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.