Honestly, Katie John

What a mess this girl's thoughts and behaviors are! Well, sure, to be expected with all different messages girls were getting in the early 60s. Should they be ladylike like their grandmothers & mothers were by etiquette books? Or should they be their own person, trusting in common sense & self-confidence to choose what's right? At age 11, can they be active explorers, or do they have to be boy-crazy? And omg, slam books... I hope that most communities don't engage in anything like that anymore (though I know some social media does).

I may or may not bother with the 4th and last book, as I really don't care to see what kind of 'first love' the author has in store for our girl. I do wish the antics of the summer between 2nd & 3rd books show more were written up instead of just summarized, though.

Recommended to children only if parent is interested enough to read first and discuss. show less

Re-read.
Oh, poor Katie John. Everything she touches twists around and bites her in this wonderful book about being almost-but-not-quite an adolescent. Does she really hate boys? Is she really crazy? Reading this is not unlike living through it. *squirm* Recommended.

I found this at a Little Library and was reminded that I read Mary Calhoun titles as a child, including Katie John, I am sure. This one is wholesome and not diverse but the alienation Katie John feels among her peers as they enter puberty is universal. Katie John goes through phases of reactive hatefulness and confused emotions. It's her exploration of an abandoned old house and clues to Netta, the former woman of the house that helps Katie John figure out she too can be true to herself while growing into womanhood.

In the third book in the series, Katie John enters 6th grade and encounters nothing but trouble.

The predictions of a fortune teller come true for eleven-year-old Katie John