The Private Notebook of Katie Roberts, Age 11 - Softcover

Hest, Amy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1564028593 ISBN 13: 9781564028594

Publisher: Candlewick, 1996

Synopsis

Katie's father died in World War II, and four years later her mother has married Sam Gold and taken her away from New York City to a ranch in Texas. Amy Hest, author of the acclaimed novel LOVE YOU, SOLDIER that featured Katie at age seven, has written a new story in the intimate form of Katie's diary, letters, and drawings. With perfect pitch for the fears and hopes of an 11-year-old, this funny, poignant novel sings of a young girl's longing to fit into a new life without forgetting the old.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5?An intimate view of a preteen's internal life. Katie clearly voices the pains and concerns of most girls who are just coming to terms with the changes in their bodies and the shifting social world that maturity brings. The fact that she has never adjusted to her father's wartime death makes her mother's remarriage and their move from New York City to a Texas farm that much more difficult. For a parting gift, Katie's dear friend Mrs. Leitstein gives her a notebook that becomes her confidant. Through her diary entries and letters to Mrs. Leitstein from August, 1947 to April, 1948, Katie describes her reluctant participation in her new life, as well as the anger and jealousy she feels toward both her mother and stepfather. With the passage of time and many painful experiences, Katie's entries gradually change as she forms new relationships and matures enough to accept a place in her growing family (including twin baby brothers). While the letters to Mrs. Leitstein repeat some of the diary entries, they provide a different perspective on Katie's life that is enlightening as well as amusingly poignant. Scattered throughout are Katie's humorous sketches and detailed illustrations simulating hazy photos. As the central and only well-defined character, Katie emerges as a bright, somewhat spoiled, and typically self-absorbed girl who begins to realize that thinking of others affects her own happiness. Though the format is somewhat cumbersome, this is nonetheless a lively coming-of-age story.?Maggie McEwen, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, ME
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-6. Readers who enjoyed Hest's poignant Love You, Soldier (1991), which introduced Katie Roberts, will be delighted with this sequel. Eleven-year-old Katie wishes she and her mother had never left New York City. She hates their Texas "ranch in the middle of nowhere," and she misses her father, who died in World War II. She also misses her former neighbor Mrs. Leitstein, who gave Katie the notebook that's the repository for the letters, doodles, and private thoughts that make up this story. Readers quickly become Katie's confidantes, with Hest letting them share the girl's feelings and secrets as she struggles to make friends, adjust to her "bumpy and strange" developing body, and counter the isolation and jealousy she feels when she learns her mother is pregnant. Katie is a captivating, outspoken protagonist whose concerns will be familiar to many children, and Hest's satisfying, realistic conclusion leaves the girl sure of her place in her new, blended family. A sequel worthy of its fine predecessor. Chris Sherman

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1564028593
• ISBN 13: 9781564028594
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80
• Illustrator: Lamut Sonja