"I probably don't have a crush on Grace
after all.
I think a lot of my friends are funny and
cool.
And talented.
But I don't have crushes on them."
In her first book about Katie, Growing Pangs (2022), Kathryn Ormsbee focuses on Katie's anxiety and OCD, and her friendships. A year later, Katie is very happy about her summer between sixth and seventh grade. As the new school year begins, she has her first babysitting job taking care of Jake and Courtney every Saturday morning while their mother goes to work. She's going to audition for a role in Annie, and thinks she has a chance at the lead because of her red hair and her voice. She will also have time to spend with Ginni and Amalie, her best friends.
As happens, being 12 is not easy. First, her two friends must move away with their mother to care for their ailing grandmother. Next, she does not get the lead role in the musical. All alone at her church youth group, she is bullied by everyone's worst enemy - the mean girls. It ups her anxiety. When she realizes that she has her first crush, and it's on the new girl Grace, she is confused. Having grown up homeschooled in a religious household, she is steeped in the teachings of the church concerning dress codes for girls and strict opinions on marriage that happens only between and a man and a woman. As her feelings for Grace become stronger, Katie struggles to be confident with who she is and those feelings she is experiencing.
Ms. Ormsbee explains in an author's note that Katie's story has some parallels with her own. Readers will feel both the heartache and the excitement of adolescence. Illustrations are expressive and show empathy for Katie's worries and triumphs. If you have middle grade kids or students who like to read graphic novels, this one will have real appeal.
"Being twelve isn’t turning out like I’d planned at all.
I kinda wished I’d stayed eleven,"
