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. ( )

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. ( )

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 ( )