Kitty in the Middle

Set over the school year of 1942-43, this book chronicles the life and times of Kitty, a fourth grader at St. Anthony's Parochial School in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the unlikely friendship shared between Kitty and the extremely opposite Margaret Mary and Eileen. Margaret Mary is always serious, studious, responsible, religious, and tries to do what is right and moral, while Eileen prefers to live life on the wild side, follows her own opinions instead of someone else's, is not really into religion, and likes to have fun more than studying or taking on adult responsibilities. Kitty is sort of their middlewoman, a chameleon, a peacemaker who has brought these two unlikely friends together. Through their fourth grade year, they experience such things as war shortages, ration coupons, the strict teacher Sister Ursuline (who unfortunately is rather a stereotype of the strict nun teacher), having to exchange Valentines in secret because they were told to buy war bond stamps instead, a new boy in class, attending the wedding of strangers, and the discovery of just who lives in a mysterious old house. It really brings to life what it must have been like to grow up during World War II and what it was like to be Catholic before Vatican II. It's also the sweet story of an important friendship. I loved the Kitty series as a preteen and am enjoying getting reacquainted with it so many years later, and even realized that I got a couple of ideas for my own World War II-era YA historical fiction from it! However, since I had just read the prequel 'Kitty from the Start,' I also realized that Ms. Delton had rewritten her characters' own history when she went back to the beginning of her story. This book opens by saying that Kitty, Margaret Mary, and Eileen have been friends since the first grade, though 'Kitty from the Start' takes place when they're in the third grade and Kitty has just moved to a new neighborhood and is the new girl at St. Anthony's. I don't like when writers rewrite the history and characters they had so wonderfully created, either because they genuinely forgot after so many years, or just because they weren't as up to speed on reviewing their past books in order to not make any continuity mistakes. Upon rereading this book as an adult, I also found that there isn't much of a real plot carrying it along, more like a series of charming stories from throughout the school year and the conclusion of the girls getting to finally go inside the mysterious house. Since this was Ms. Delton's first novel, however, I can somewhat look past that common newbie mistake. I wish this book were still in print!