Honestly, Katie John!

Katie John #3

by Mary Calhoun

In the third Katie John book, all the sixth grade girls becomes boy crazy except Katie John. In self defense, she loudly declares that she hates boys and becomes a leader of the Boy-Haters Club. This hurts the feelings of her friend Edmund, who no longer wants to spent time with her. How can she remain true to herself without offending all her friends?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Classics, Friendship, Juvenile, Family

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Mary Louise Huiskamp Wilkins, also known as Mary Calhoun was born on August 3, 1926 in Keokuk, Iowa. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism for the University of Iowa in 1948. She was hired as a reporter for the World-Herald in Omaha, Nebraska after graduation. Her fascination with spirits and folklore of the 19th century led her to write stories about witches, elves, cats, dwarfs, and pixies. She has also published stories in Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty magazines. She worked at the Omaha World Herald before marrying fellow journalist Frank Calhoun. Her first book, Making the Mississippi Shout, was published in 1957. She wrote more than 50 children's books during her lifetime including the Katie John series, Julie's Tree, Henry the Sailor Cat, and Cross-Country Cat. She died on October 27, 2015 at the age of 89.

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I can remember reading over and over. I got it through the Scholastic Book program in 3rd grade...I think that this book was responsible for my love of reading. Honestly, Katie John! will always have a special place in my heart. (I have now named one of my orchids Katie John.)

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite of the Katie John books just because she is struggling with such an identifiable struggle: growing into a young lady but not wanting to act like everyone else who had turned unrecognizable and boy crazy. I think just hearing me read it might have made my daughters feel better about any internal battle they may have been having-the dilemma of having a friend who was a boy but not wanting to be aligned romantically. I love how Katie doesn't want to live a "little" life and her friend Sue tells her, "when you like a thing you do something about it. You live so much more than other people." It was rich when Priscilla used the term "sugar" towards her friends and it seemed silly to Katie John. I loved the mystery of the old house she and Edwin found and wish she might have gotten real info about that family. My daughter wanted to have her own Halloween party after she heard about Katie John's.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What girl didn't want to join Katie John's Boy Hating Club of America in sixth grade?

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! They have this book, too! I love old books like this, and the story is so fun. Tomboy Katie John is just about to hit adolescence, and is trying to reconcile herself to growing up. After screaming out that she hates all boys when some classmates tease her about having a crush, her best friend Edwin becomes angry at her and starts to avoid her. Through the course of the narrative, she learns about what it means to grow up, explores an old house that she finds in the woods, celebrates Halloween, tries to be a lady, experiences slam books and rejection, and finally comes to a happy conclusion. I loved it. It was full of familiar, delicious old fashioned stuff.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

Before Nickelodeon or Disney Channel, it was books like Honestly, Katie John! that entertained the young people of America.  Reading this 1960's book in 2013 is like a window into the past; that alone makes it entertaining, but I enjoyed it for another reason: it was a fun, well-written chronicle of a little girl who is hesitant to grow up.  Many readers, even now, would likely feel Katie John's pain, whether they are feeling it now or did in the past.  That gives Honestly, Katie John! an appeal that transcends time.



Score: 4/5

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third book in the KATIE JOHN series exquisitely captures the pain of early adolescence. Katie John can’t understand why the other girls in her class are so silly about boys. Even though one of her two best friends is a boy, Katie John starts the Boy Hater’s Club, and frustrated with feelings she can’t understand or control, alienates almost every other student in her class except for her loyal friend, Sue.

Some of the other girls seem to have a clear picture of what it means to be a teenager. “Actually, [Katie John] didn’t have many ideas about being a teenager. Her plans f or the future had been more in the realm of ‘When I grow up…’ “I don’t know what I’m going to do. All I know is, there’s more to life than BOYS—I hope!”

Katie John's friends and parents may be unrealistically good and understanding, but I would think even contemporary readers might be glad to feel that sense of safety, that at least some adults were worthy of confiding in.

The KATIE JOHN books were some of my favorites as a child, and my son just bought me a set of “the old ones” for Christmas. I can see why I loved this character and her adventures. Katie John has a great imagination that often gets her in trouble, but often helps her get out of a fix. Her parents are loving, accepting, and affirm who she is even when she causes problems. (They are some of the most understanding parents in children’s literature.)

Katie John was considered a tomboy. I love how she is so physically active, courageous, headstrong, and often acts before thinking. She is a believable and likable protagonist, worthy of one of my favorite words: irrepressible,a quality that encouraged me to be more than the socially proscribed roles I saw growing up.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember how this 60s era gem fell into my lap, but I unabashedly LOVED it. I never read these books as a kid (though I have heard of Mary Calhoun), so I was a bit surprised to love this as much as I did, since nostalgia could play no part. I like Katie John as a character a lot, though, and I see some of her in myself (though I was never so brave nor so spunky). Her path to 'figuring it all out' feels very familiar, even as an adult. It gives me hope that I'm not the only one whose thoughts circle uselessly at times and who feels deep emotions in a way that is both raw and quiet at the same time. A seemingly simple tale, but beautifully resonant, and one I wish I *had* read as a kid so that I could have a lifetime of perspective on it already.

[Amy Flink · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 9 going in 4th grade. In summer 1985 I was with my family on vacation on the Washinton State Coast staying in a cabin in Grays Harbor area, and Mom would go garage sale-ing during the day. She bought this book for 10c and I knew I was going to like it. The inside title page showed Katie on her bike and she reminded me of Beverly Cleary's Ellen Tebbits. I fell in love with Katie that summer day. The book is so good and Katie is so much like me. I found the part where she and Edwin find the old abandoned farmhouse out at Wildcat Glen VERY VERY interesting. I just wish Katie John would have asked around to find out the truth about the family that once lived there and that they explained it in the story. EVERYONE, READ KATIE JOHN! Mary should continue this series. It is good and I'm sure a lot of people agree! I still enjoy a good read like this as an adult!

I think I still my Harper Trophy edition of this book; the same copy I got at the garage sale as a child, and the first Katie John book I ever read. The cover illustration doesn't do Katie much justice. Frankly, she looks hideous! I believe the cover illustration was done by a different artist other than Calhoun's artist, Paul Frame. When I looked inside the book and saw how Frame illustrated Katie, I found he did her much more justice.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a yard sale about 100 years ago. I've always loved Katie John and wanted to revisit her. I was not disappointed.

Katie John is the same brave and interesting girl that I fell in love with more than 20 years ago. She sticks up for herself and is willing to forage her own path. However, at the same time she is kind and, just like all good children's writing, there is a lesson to be learned here.

Rereading Honestly, Katie John has been a lovely trip down memory lane. The book is about a time very different than today, but I feel that it has held up well and is still relevant.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sarahnm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was a kid. I'd probably re-read it if I could get my hands on it.

[Danielle Routh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my mom picked this up for me at a book sale or yard sale (she would have been three when it was published in 1963), and it's sat on my shelf ever since and been read quite a few times. I think this time might be the final run, however.

I suppose it shouldn't come as a shock that, in the 60s and 70s, many books were written about young girls struggling to find their place in a world that still upheld essentially one kind of "womanhood" despite the budding feminist movement--after all, girls today still struggle with identity even as society has traveled much farther regarding who a girl can be and what she can do. This is the main conflict of HKJ (which, until recently, I had no idea was part of a series) and honestly has a pretty nice ending that sees Katie begin to understand her fellow female classmates and their admiration of boys without forcing her to join them in order to be accepted. Other books I've read from this era (Veronica Ganz comes to mind) were content to set the titular girl running after boys and call it good, but Katie John's story shows more complexity, which I appreciate.

Still, there's something about this book that doesn't quite sit right with me, something that makes me feel uneasy as I read it. Maybe, due to Vintage Fiction Week, I've just read too many books lately that watch girls make mistake after mistake and fail to understand those around them, especially the opposite sex. Maybe I'm just getting too old for books about sixth-graders.

The era in which HKJ was written is pretty evident. Katie rarely, if ever, wears pants, attempts to learn womanly manners from a book written in 1896, and uses the word "queer" as a synonym for "strange," which could confuse modern readers. Books like this make me especially grateful for Beverly Cleary's books, which were written across a wide span of time but rarely tip their hand as to exactly when.

All in all, HKJ isn't a bad read for elementary or middle school readers, though some guidance might be needed. I think it's survived its last read from me, though.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katie John is in 6th grade now, and super uncomfortable with how the girls are acting around the boys--does she hate boys as much as she thinks she does? Of all of the books in this series, I remember this one the least. (Well, second least--I have zero memories of Katie and Heathcliff, and can't find a copy.) There are things to cringe at in it, but I really appreciated Katie struggling with growing up and figuring out what kind of woman she was going to be. I love that she created her own version of a tomboy who made it work and loved her life, and formed her own opinion of what being a woman means. And at the end, she realized that the other girls had found things they enjoyed as much as she enjoyed sports and mysteries, and they could all do their own thing just fine. There are books today that don't accept the different ways to be a woman and have varying interests! But overall, things were so hard and so weird and new and Katie is a little less emotionally mature than her peers, but her parents are in turn supportive and letting her figure things out on her own. It generally sweet.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books I read several times as a kid that for whatever reason really stuck with me, even though it's not particularly noteworthy or full of action. Katie John is an appealing mid-20th century protagonist, tomboyish and spunky, who gets into the usual sorts of minor scrapes and embarrassments that beset middle school-age kids. I especially liked the school choir performance where she bites off a chunk of lipstick (?!), it mixes with her bubble gum, she spits it into her hand, and then she has to clasp hands with her classmates and it gets all over everything.

[Carolyn]

I love the Katie John books by Mary Calhoon. Set in a Missouri town on the Mississippi River, they feature newcomer Katie John and her experiences and escapades during her fifth, sixth and seventh grade years. I enjoyed this series when I was a preteen, then 30 years ago when I had a daughter this age and again as I have granddaughters this age. Compared to the newer young adult books, this series gives a refreshing and humorous view into the minds and lives of girls in a simpler time,

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's another book about stable, respectable Katie John. She's not the kind of gal you would expect to be a rebellious, pot smoking teenager having sex in the backseat of cars, but you never know. Sometimes the most earnest little girls grow up to have a really good time. But in these books, Katie John is mostly good, maybe a little naughty, just to spice things up.

[Rachel Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as charming as the other Katie John books, which have Katie John going on fun adventures and making unusual friends. Katie John spends most of this book alienating people and acting like a heel. I love books about self-discovery and growth, but 11 is such an awkward age that, for me, it's better left to hazy memories.

[Beth Herzet Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Katie John as a child and am rereading all of the Katie John books as a grown up. I love them just as much now - maybe more because she brings me right back to being a little girl. I love Katie John and her parents, the house she lives in - all of it! Cozy and sweet childhood.

[Thalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books that I identified with the main character. Excellent coming of age and trying different things to find yourself book.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Katie John I could really relate to, that horrible moment when the gender thing comes into play and everything is ruined forever. :)

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read and reread this book many times when I was a kid. Absolutely loved it.

[Chris Zable]

I think this is one I loved very much when I was a kid, and have much wanted to reread.

[Daina Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a kid! In a time where girls are still smoothing their skirts and sitting quietly, Katie's a lovable tomboy who breaks the mold long before other favorites.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book perfectly describes how hard it is to be a tween-ager!~

[Laurie Connolly]

Favorite book in 4th grade.

[Christy]

I loved this book as a kid in the 80s. I enjoyed it now as well! Such a relatable story for middle school / junior high age kids. I may have to get my hands on the remainder of the series too.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 were written up instead of just summarized, though.

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

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because it was my sister-in-law's favorite when she was a little girl and somehow I ended up with her personal copy. The story takes place in the early 60s, so obviously, it's a little dated, but Katie's struggles with friendship and exploring what kind of person she wants to be still ring true. I laughed quite a bit at Katie's silly ideas, and was aghast at the thought of 'slam books.' What a horrible tradition!

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book very
funny and touching!