Me and Katie

by Ann M. Martin

Wendy's life would be perfect if it weren't for her younger sister, Katie. Katie spies on her and tattles on her. Worst of all, Katie is terrific at everything she tries!

Wendy would like to prove herself and to "Katie the Pest" that she can be successful too. So, Wendy signs up for riding lessons. Wendy is sure that Katie, who's less athletic, won't be interested. But within a week, Katie has enrolled in the same class!

Genres: Childrens, Horses, Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Family

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Stephanie Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my six year old friend recently... and I'd completely forgotten it, but while reading the whole thing came back to me, especially the part about the Saga of Barbie and Ken, and suddenly I felt 8 years old again like the book was a time machine that took me back to the tree that I used to read under as a kid.

To sum up: books are magic.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew that this book was a sequel to Stage Fright , until I read this review about the latter.

I really enjoyed this book, it was much better than Stage Fright. I liked Wendy more than Sara, I liked her family more than Sara's mom (even The Pest!) and I found the story more engaging this time. A fluffy book, but definitely a gem by AMM.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to have an Apple paperback of this 1985 story in the 1990s. I either sold or gave it away. I remember liking the story, but not being terribly thrilled with it.

I found a text only later edition on Book Read Free. It includes a short autobiography of Ann M. Martin, best known as the original writer of The Baby-Sitter's Club. The photographs in the autobiography are not included with the Books Read Free version.

Quite honestly, the autobiography is more interesting than this story. Granted, I'm now about 44 years older than the target audience, but there are things in this book that really irk me.

First off, out of all the horses mentioned, only one horse is described. If Wendy, our narrator, loves horses so much, then why doesn't she bother describing a horse's color, or markings, or anything? Horse crazy kids love these details. Wendy doesn't even know what a bay is, for Chrissakes, and she's supposedly read every Marguerite Henry horse book? That doesn't make sense.

There also is nothing about horse care. The horses are all tacked up, ready to go for these little snot-nosed brats. Although Wendy starts helping out at Hasty Acres, this is only casually mentioned in a couple of sentences. She never writes about grooming, mucking out, watering, tack ... anything. Again, horse crazy kids would eat these details up and ask for seconds.

The second most annoying thing was that the family buys a puppy from a pet store. Yes, this was published in 1985, but even then, pet store puppies were infamous for dying suddenly from parvo ... as well as being nearly impossible to train, since they spent all of their young lives stuck in a cage. This was a later edition with a honkin' large autobiography, and there couldn't be ONE SENTENCE noting that you should never buy puppies, kittens or bunnies from pet stores?

Overall, I just could not get over how filthy rich this family was, and how rich the whole white neighborhood was. This family HAS A NANNY. They have a Goddamned garage and at least two cars. They have a back yard big enough for a horse (or almost big enough.) Granted, this was published in 1985, when things cost less, there were more jobs, and the American population was well under 1 billion.

But still ... wealth cures everything is such a bad message for kids today to read. This isn't a new theme in kids' literature. Just look at some of Jim Kjelgaard's most popular books, where a rich friend or boss winds up saving the day. When I was in my 20s during the 1990s, I didn't mind so much reading about the rich, since that was often part and parcel of reading horse stories.

Now I mind. The brutal truth is that most kids that love horses will never get to ride in their lives ... let alone even own a horse. When I was a kid, you know how much a riding lesson was at a good stable for an hour? $25.

Now, you're lucky to get a lesson for under $100. And most places will make you commit to at least four lessons before you can ever stick a foot in a stirrup.

This is not a book that aged well.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the BSC so I wanted to read this, just to read some of Ann M. Martins other writing. It feels like the BSC in so many ways--the relationships between the characters, the pacing, and the way that it feels like being back at 11, 12, 13. Also the jealousy and pride mix of an older sister to a more successful younger sibling is really well captured.

[Rhianne Crook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I ever read and for that alone, it will always be a five star book.

[miaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. I think it is pretty tiring when you have a sister that basically can do everything. Not just doing them, but winning medals regularly. I think I can understand when Wendy wanted to puke, I had these butterflies inside my belly any time my younger sister won my parents attention when we're young!

***

Kisah kakak-beradik yang seru. Emang nyebelin sih kalau punya adik yang bisa melakukan semuanya dengan baik, dan sering mendapatkan penghargaan. Rasanya aku paham perasaan Wendy ketika dia ingin muntah, aku masih ingat rasa tak enak di perutku setiap kali adik perempuanku mencuri perhatian orang tua kami saat masih kecil. Sekarang sih setelah dewasa, walau dia masih agak menjengkelkan, jalan berdua seru juga hehe

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been reading this book for years... (the cover is starting to come off). Even now as an adult, I have mixed feelings about this book. I can't remember who I favoured more, Wendy or Katie, as a child. But as an adult I am torn. Katie is annoying sure, but Wendy seems to be worse. She flies off the handle at the smallest things and even when Katie is making an effort, Wendy just doesn't trust her. I am a middle child and by default I subconciously favour Katie, because I totally understand what it is like for the older sister to be screaming at you for no real reason. Still, always a good book for when you are feeling like reading about horses, strange and competitive children and have about an hour to kill. (or in my case last night to help with insomnia!)

[Palsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story about typical relationship between siblings. Quarrel all the time, but never lack of love...

yea it's family we all love, don't we?

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it - although it made me glad I was an only child!

[Cws]

JEAR3-Mar

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to Katie for her reading nights. We didn't love it. The plot is weak, the sister characters bratty to each other, and the parents annoying. Meh.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this to my daughter. She loved it, I liked it. It deals with issues such as sibling rivalry, significance, friendships, etc.

[Gabrielle S · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars really. This was not great. Wendy was sort of horrid to Katie. I say this as someone who had a pesky younger sibling so I have sympathy.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this as a kid, but didn't remember just how mean the main character was!

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favourite books as a child and read more than once.