Karr worked at the newly formed
American Film Institute in
Washington, D.C. in 1971. After a year there, she worked for the Circle Theatre chain until her daughter was born. She wrote her first novel,
Light of My Heart, in 1984. After her young children asked her to write a story for them, she published her first children's book, ''It Ain't Always Easy'' (1990), and began a full-time career writing for children and young adults. In her novel
The Great Turkey Walk, she depicts the movement of poultry from county to county where poultry was walked from Missouri to Denver, in much the same way it was done for centuries. She is the author of
Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free about a women's prison. Based on a historical event in 1914, the inmates of Sherborn Women's Prison in
Sherborn, Massachusetts put on a performance of
The Pirates of Penzance. In her novel, the prison's chaplain uses the transformative power of music and theater in helping reform inmates and in bringing them together in spirited community. ==Death==