First published 2002
Katie is thirteen and stuck with a summer she never wanted. Her father has signed her up for two babysitting jobs without asking her first. She has to watch the wild Wexler boys and care for Mrs. Randolph, an elderly woman confined to bed. Katie's only friend Cynthia has dragged her into a Girl Scout troop run by Cynthia's overbearing mother. When Katie visits Texas to see her old best friend Cherylanne, the trip falls short of her hopes. Then someone betrays Katie in a way that makes her question everything she believed about friendship and herself. Cherylanne tells Katie she should be proud of being true, but Katie wonders if she really knows who she is. Set in 1961, this story follows Katie as she navigates the messy complications of growing up and learns about forgiveness.
Genres: family-life, coming-of-age, contemporary, adolescence
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: Texas
Period: 1961
224 pages · Hardcover · Atria