True to You

    Sally Sorenson is a 15 year old Midwestern girl who has just returned home from her summer vacation on the west coast. She's excited to see her best friend Sue and tell her all about it, as well as see Sue's older brother, Whit, who she has a crush on.

    While she was gone some things have changed. Someone has bought the house three doors down and a glamorous 15 year old named Lenore Andre now lives there. A girl names Jonni who has an Italian haircut has also moved into what is called the crackerbox subdivision. The biggest change though is that the boundary lines for the schools have changed to accommodate for a new high school and so Sally will be starting her sophomore year at a different school. Unfortunately this means that she and Sue will no longer attend school together. Although Sally is not happy about this she doesn't complain since there's nothing she can do to change it.

    On the first day of school Sally is walking with her friend Myron when Lenore and her mother, who wears her blonde hair in elaborate hairdos, drive by in their eye-catching white convertible. They stop but then quickly drive on. At lunch Lenore seeks Sally out, saying her and her mother had debated offering Sally a ride that morning but figured she would probably want to walk with Myron. The two get along well and it's clear they'll be friends. Sally also has a class with Jonni and at the end of the day is invited over to her house. However she refuses as she's eager to see Sue and tell her all about her first day.

    After school she walks straight over to Sue's and waits at the bus stop but when Sue doesn't show up she heads home, leaving a message with Sue's mother to have her call. When she doesn't call, Sally calls her and Sue quickly goes into a frenzy talking about the well-to-do Ann Aisley who's house she was invited to after school.

    As the school year goes on Sally and Sue see less and less of each other, mainly because Sue has been obsessed with Ann Aisley. Lenore and Sally have become close friends but Lenore is still something of an enigma. Her mothers hands-off parenting, the way she doesn't even glimpse at price tags while shopping, and her fathers "employees" who slip in and out of the carriage house at all hours of the day shroud the Andres family in mystery. Sally also becomes close with Jonni and when she visits her house she finds it to be filled with books, a grand piano, and an oil painting Jonni had sat for, all of which change Sally's opinion of her as a "crackerbox kid".

    While at a football game between the new school, Hadley West, and the old school, Hadley East, Sally is introduced to Jonni's friend Judd, a nice boy who develops a mutual crush on Sally. The football team for the old school is on a winning streak and plan on winning the championship. The new schools team has been on a losing streak so it's a big surprise when they beat Hadley East. Hadley East then ends up losing their next and final game costing them the championship. They take their anger out on Hadley West by vandalizing it with red paint. 

    Unfortunately Judd gets blames for the vandalism and due to him being a crackerbox kid, i.e. poor, people are willing to believe it. However at the time of the incident Lucia, Sally's 9 year old sister, had been at the school and heard enough to place Sue's brother Whit at the scene. Lucia confides this to Sally who doesn't know what to do with this uncomfortable information.

    (This is where I took a month break from reading)

    She decides to tell Sue in the hopes that she'll pass it along to Whit so he can clear himself. But Sue refuses to believe it and gets mad, ending her friendship with Sally. Sally, not knowing what else to do, tells her father but excludes any names. However she knows her father will be able to figure it out and several days later she reads an article in the newspaper saying the culprits have been questioned and confessed.

    As the first quarter of school ends Sally realizes just how much her grades have slipped due to her friendship with Lenore. Lenore does not care about grades and always pressures Sally to blow off homework and studying to hang out. When Sally questions Lenore about her future in college Lenore dismisses it saying her father can pay her way into a school or suggesting that she might marry one of her fathers employees when she soon turns 16.

    Myron ends up joining the basketball team at Sally's urging and becomes the star player. When Sally attends an away game at her old school she runs into Sue, Whit, and Ann Aisley. Sue coldly says "Hi" but Whit is quite friendly, especially towards Lenore. After the game he tells the girls he won some money betting on it and asks if they want to help him spend it. Both are put off by this and Sally worries that Whit will end up in more trouble before he learns to reel in his behavior.

    Sometime later Lenore misses a day of school and when Sally arrives home she sees an article on the front page of the newspaper about Lenore's father being arrested for hosting illegal gambling in the carriage house. The article mentions some teenage boys that helped provide the police with information to make the raid and arrest. Whit immediately comes to Sally's mind so she calls Sue who confirms that Whit was working with the police on it. Sue seems completely heartless over how this will affect Lenore and even refers to her only as "the convertible girl" which really puts Sally off. Although Sue is being friendly again and wants to make plans to catch up Sally feels disappointed and lacks any enthusiasm about the rekindling of their friendship. 

    She calls Jonni who feels terrible for Lenore and worries she'll think they don't want to be friends with her anymore. Sally calls Lenore who is surprised Sally still wants to associate with her and coaxes her to return to school. With her friends help Lenore tries to go on as usual with life and spends extra time focusing on her studies. Then one day she shows up at Sally's door in a traveling suit and informs Sally her family is moving and she'll be attending boarding school. Sally is really sad to see her go as she feels closer to Lenore than any other friend she's had before, including Sue, but she is happy for Lenore who is excited about the change.

    After Lenore's departure Sally finds herself in an awkward position at school as some people don't want to associate with her because of her friendship with Lenore. Sally doesn't mind too much tho and at Jonni's insistence she joins the Girls Club which she finds a lot of joy in. She remains close friends with Jonni, Myron, and Judd, and her friendship with Sue is once again back in tact. She also finds herself less nervous around Whit and can converse with him normally. We end with Sally life looking normal and happy.

- One thing that makes this book feel different from all the other girls books from this time is that our main character is not self conscious of her appearance, her social standing, or social skills. Sally likes how she looks and is confident. She doesn't stress over having to make new friends at a new school or feel intimidated by Lenore's beauty. It's honestly so refreshing in a character.

- On page 51 Sally is accidentally called Sue; "Lenore had not mentioned anything about a ride tomorrow, Sue thought guiltily to herself."

- It's funny when Sue accuses Sally of only saying Whit vandalized the school because she has a crush on Judd and wants to get him out of trouble. Little does Sue know Sally has been head over heels for Whit for years.

- Whenever Lenore gives Sally a gift her mother makes her return it because it is too expensive. She even clearly wants Sally to return the Christmas present Lenore bought her because she thinks it's too expensive. I think this is a little mean because it puts Sally in such an awkward position. Returning a gift appears so rude and insulting. I understand her mother is worried about the money spent of the gifts but Lenore family is clearly wealthy so I don't know why she gets so upset.

- Sally tells Lenore that more boys would like her if she didn't wear "weird-o" eye makeup and bleach her hair. I thought this was really rude and uncalled for. Lenore is already extremely popular so I don't know why Sally thinks she needs to give her advice. Lenore feels insulted and I can totally understand why.

    Overall this book is ok. There's something about it that separates it from the typical teenage book of the era. Sally a likable character and so is Lenore although I feel like we could have gotten to know both much better. 

Practically Twins

     I have read this book before and remember I found it really awful because I felt that the main character was treated very poorly and it broke my heart. 

    Mary Ann is a 15 year old girl who has just gotten a new mother and sister. Her mother had passed away five years before and since then has been raised by her father and grandmother.

    Her father works for a company that specializes in custom made packaging for parts for rockets and missiles. I assume he works in sales for the company cause he travels for work. On his travels to California he met Phyllis, a secretary for a company that uses customized packaging. Mary Ann had been told about Phyllis so she is not too surprised when her father calls her from California to say he and Phyllis are getting married. 

    They've decided to do it right away so Mary Ann is not able to be in attendance. Her father will also be remaining there until Janice, Phyllis' 15 year old daughter, gets out of school for the summer. So they get to be a happy little family for awhile while Mary Ann sits nervously alone at home.

    Well, she's not totally alone as her grandmother lives there, or rather did live there. She now has to move out which Mary Ann feels devastated over. Van-loads of Phyllis' furniture have also been arriving, replacing the familiar items in Mary Ann's home and her room has even been taken from her control as she is to share it with Janice now (even though the Grandmother's room is now empty. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me).

    Even though Mary Ann is shook up by all the changes and worries Phyllis and Janice might not like her or she might not like them, she is determined to act perfectly and say all the right things because she wants very much for her father to be happy.

    As she is waiting for her new family to arrive home from the airport she hears Gil, the 16 year old neighbor boy who is more or less her unofficial boyfriend, go into the garage. He often does yard work for Mary Ann's father and is replacing hedge clippers back in the garage. Mary Ann walks with him down the driveway where she runs into her best friend Polly and Polly's dog, Vitamins.

    While they're all on the side walk talking, Uncle Chuck pulls up with Dad, Phyllis, and Janice. Mary Ann starts panicking as she had had a whole plan of greeting the new members of the family inside the house and is now stressed about it happening publicly for the neighbors to watch. 

    She briefly feels better when her beloved father engulfs her in a hug but when he says "Honey, here she is. Wasn't I right?" she gets confused and then sad when she realizes he now calls someone else "honey". Mary Ann is intimidated when she sees how beautiful Janice and Phyllis are. Janice immediately overwhelms her with a hug and talking a mile a minute but Phyllis seems nice and calm. Mary Ann likes Phyllis right away and recalls her promise to herself not to think of Phyllis as a stepmother since "stepmother" is commonly associated with "wicked stepmother". She has promised herself to think of her simply as her mother which is just one of the ways in which Mary Ann is a sweet angel too good for this family.

    Mary Ann shows Janice around the house and they seem to be getting along great. Janice acts very friendly and Mary Ann feels at ease until she calls her father "daddy":

    Janice looked at her strangely. " Do you always call him that?"

    "Call him---?"

    "Phil. Do you always call him Daddy?"

    "Yes. Of course. Why not?"

    "Oh, nothing. Just that it..." Janice shrugged dismissively.

    Mary Ann instantly becomes self conscious again.

    That evening Phil suggests that Mary Ann (I'm just going to call her Mary from now) takes Janice around to meet the kids in the neighborhood. Polly sees them and asks if she and Vitamins can come along. While she's gone to get Vitamins, Janice goes up to Polly's 17 year old brother, Andy, and his friend Scott who are working on a car in the driveway. Upon sight of her Scott shouts out "like wow, man!" which has got to be one of the most dated things I've ever read but also sets the tone for how Janice is going to be perceived throughout the book.

    Everyone in the neighborhood adores Janice; she's beautiful, sophisticated, and a wonderful conversationalist. All this makes Mary feel terribly inadequate, especially cause she struggles awfully with talking to people. On the way home Hildred calls over to them. 

    Hildred is the most popular girl in school and has never given Mary the slightest thought. She is however very keen to befriend Janice which of course makes Mary feel awful. This, mixed with being mentally exhausted and tired causes Mary to remark how all of Janice's friends in California have private pools and drive convertibles, something Janice had mentioned earlier. 

    

    I'm not quite sure what this comment was made for. Mary says it to be rude, I assume towards Hildred, but it embarrasses Janice who takes it as mocking. That night Mary is silently crying in her bed and missing her mother when she hears Janice sniffle. She wonders if Janice is crying and feels awful, blaming herself for it.

    The next day her father has to take the car into the repair shop and asks the three girls to go with him. Mary is desperately hoping Phyllis and Janice will say no so that she can have some one-on-one time with her father, something she has yet to have since his return. But Phyllis ends up suggesting he take Janice alone and Mary stay and help her with unpacking. I think this is really thoughtful of Phyllis and nice that she wants to spend time alone with Mary. 

    While they're working she tells Mary about how Janice's father had died in a plane crash and how hard it has been for Janice to accept it. Mary is sympathetic to the point of being moved to tears, something which she's embarrassed about. 

    While they're working Gil comes knocking on the door and it's clear by his dressed up appearance he is looking to meet Janice who he has heard about from Scott. Scott is hosting a party at the roller rink, which his father just payed to have remodeled, and of course Janice is invited. Mary and Polly are also invited but the invitations seem to be an extensions of Janice's invitation.

    Once Gil leaves, Mary heads over to Polly's to tell her about the party. Polly is thrilled and starts talking about how great Janice is to have already gotten them invited to a senior boy's party. Mary doesn't stay for long and when she's walking down the street to her house she's happy to see her father in the drive way. She calls to him, runs up eagerly, and is very much hoping for a kiss like he use to always give her but instead he begins to scold her. Mary hadn't told Phyllis where she was going and Phyllis apparently became worried. Mary feels confused because she had always been allowed to leave to Polly's before with out telling anyone and hadn't been informed of the change of rules.

    When she goes in the house Janice is busy in the kitchen making Sloppy Slurpies for lunch (aka Sloppy Joes). Mary's grandmother was a wonderful cook and preferred to do the cooking herself so Mary was never given the opportunity to cook for the family before. Her father than says "You might set the table, Mary Ann. After all, Jan is making lunch" which Mary takes as criticism. She spends lunch holding back tears which aren't helped by Phil's over the top praise of Jan's cooking.

    The day of the skate party finally rolls around and Janice is such a hit that you'd think the party was being thrown in her honor. All the boys crowd around her including Gil who makes sure to have lots of...skates? Dances? Whatever the refer to them as, with Janice. At one point he pawns Mary off on Tug, a boy who had been skating with Janice and who goes by the name Tugboat.

    Tug quickly guides Mary off the rink making it clear he has no interest in her and as Mary stand conspicuously at the rail she spots Polly's brother, Andy, who offers to skate with her. Mary is an exceptionally good skater, it's one of the few things she is confident about, and she's happy to find that Andy is just as good if not better.

    As August rolls around Mary is struggling living with Janice. Jan is a terrible slob who leaves their shared bedroom and bathroom a mess for Mary to clean, abandons her chores for Mary to do, and takes over Mary's closet space. Although Mary has talked to Janice about these things nothing changes and Mary feels she cannot discuss it with anyone else without it being brushed off as jealousy.

    Jan's behavior catches up with her though when Phyllis sees the room a mess. She warns Jan that if it happens again she will be punished. It does and she is. Her punishment is that she can no longer participate in the upcoming Bike Hike, a picnic party that she has organized. Phyllis tells Mary that she will have to take over as host. This terrifies socially self conscious Mary but she ends up doing a great job which gives her confidence a boost. She also protects Janice by excusing her absence as her not feeling well. Jan appreciates this and the two bond that night over having both lost a parent.

    When the new school year starts Mary is eager to be a good sister and help Jan get settled in however she really doesn't need any help as Jan has already become one of the most popular girls in school. Mary has also noticed that Polly and Gil have seem to forgotten she exists; in the presence of Jan they ignore anything she says and pretend she is not there. They also only seem to call or visit for Jan.

    Mary Ann spends her time focusing on schoolwork which she enjoys, especially English. She has Mrs. Fellows as her English teacher this year which she is excited about as she admires Mrs. Fellows and wants to impress her. Mary soon finds out Jan isn't very good at school, mainly because she doesn't study, and is shocked and uncomfortable when she catches Jan digging through the waste paper basket for the rough draft to Mary's book report.

    First report cards of the year arrive and Mary has gotten an A, two Bs, and a C. She hopes to raise her grades but is sure they're good enough to earn her that much desired kiss from her father she has yet to receive. Jan has gotten two Cs and two Ds which everyone excuses by her being at a new school. Phyllis is the only one who acknowledges it's because Jan doesn't study.

    When Phil arrives home he compliments Mary's grades and just as she's expecting her kiss he tells her, almost criticizingly, that if she had switched schools like Jan she wouldn't be so fortunate to get good grades. Mary is confused as to why her hours of hard work are not being considered. Jan then walks in, announces her decision to study more, and Phil rewards this with a kiss, walking out of the room with his arm around her and leaving Mary devastated.

    All she wants to do is talk things over with her grandmother but both her visits for thanksgiving and Christmas get canceled. Then on top of everything else Mary ends up being the only one not invited to an upcoming party. Even Polly who is considered more of an outcast than Mary is invited. Mary is utterly humiliated but then Andy, who had helped her during the Bike Hike, asks her out to a movie that night and she has a wonderful time.

    After Christmas Jan throws a new years eve party. As midnight approaches one of the boys suggest exchanging new years kisses which everyone becomes excited about. Mary is sure Gil will be the one to kiss her since they've been dating up for a year and everyone assumes they're going steady. She's very eager to receive her first ever kiss from him so it's devastating when he kisses Jan instead. A mad rush is made by the boys at midnight to reach Jan but out of all of them she chooses Gil. Mary feels horribly betrayed and it doesn't help her mood when Tugboat is the one to kiss her, and then becomes infatuated with her for the rest of the party.

    The next morning, still feeling hurt by Jan, Mary types out a copy of an English composition she had handed in before winter break. Jan has yet to write her composition and Mary has a feeling if she leaves her paper in the wastebasket that Jan will copy it thus getting her in trouble. 

    Mary feels really guilty about what she's done, especially after Jan admits to stealing the paper and turning it in. Mary doesn't have the heart to tell Jan she had planted it there on purpose and completely blames herself for any trouble Jan is about to get in, ignoring the fact that Jan is the one who chose to cheat.

    Mary is able to get the paper back from Mrs. Fellows and plans on helping Jan write a new one but first she needs to clear her conscious. So on the walk home she tells Jan how she had left the composition in the wastebasket on purpose. Janice is furious and although she doesn't consider herself a cheater, she considers Mary a traitor and puts all the blame on her. They tell Phyllis and Phil what has happened and the whole thing becomes so absolutely over-dramatic with Phyllis actually saying "I have failed as a mother". 

    Phil tells Mary she must confess to Mrs. Fellows what she has done. Phyllis also tells Jan she must confess to the teacher but this is almost considered an afterthought. The majority of blame is unfairly put on Mary. When they tell the teacher of the situation she gives them both an F even though Mary completed the assignment on time and did not cheat. This is extremely unfair as it drastically lowers Mary's grade which she had been working very hard on. 

    Mrs. Fellows also said she's considering telling the counselor and having it go on Mary's permanent record and that it will affect her ability to get into college and get a scholarship. This is seriously over the top! Mary literally made a copy of her paper and put it in a garbage can, how is it her fault at all that Janice decided to cheat? Mary is also grounded along with Jan.

    Mary uses the time stuck at home to study and when grades have improved on the next report card she is ungrounded. Jan's grades are as bad as ever so she is still grounded, she finds this unfair and blames it on Mary Ann for being in the den too much. The den is where the girls do their homework and Janice refuses to be in the same room with Mary Ann.

    Mary begins sleeping in the den since things with Jan have become so uncomfortable. When Phil, Phyllis, and Jan go out shopping one morning Mary notices Jan has once again left their joint bedroom and bathroom a mess so she cleans it up to try and keep Jan from getting in further trouble. But, of course, this makes hissy-fitty little Jan pissy as she had told her mother she'd clean it when she got home and Mary doing it makes her look bad.

    Mary calls her grandmother from a payphone and begs her to come see her. On the phone she ends up telling her grandmother everything and her grandmother says she'll see what she can do about a visit. In preparation for the visit Mary moves back into her bedroom since the den doubles as the guest room and her and Jan begin talking to each other again.

    Mary has been going on occasional dates with Andy and one night she tells Jan that if she wants Gil she can have him as she only sees him as a brother now. Jan says she feels the same way so they agree to give him to Polly. Mary also decides to help Jan with all her school work so her grades will go up and she can get ungrounded. Grandmother comes for a visit but by that time everything is settled and the book ends.

    Oof, this book is rough. It almost feels as if it could be turned into a Beatrice Sparks book about an emotionally neglected child. I'm surprised Mary Ann didn't run away or something. She really is considered so inferior to Jan by everyone. And the only reason there is a happy ending is because Mary is willing to put up with all the terrible things she endures and pick up all of Jan's slack. If her and Andy didn't end up together there wouldn't have been anything good that happens to Mary.

    The most heartbreaking part is not how Mary is treated by Jan and her friends but how she is treated by her father. Although he is very considerate of Jan being put in a new situation he seems clueless that Mary Ann is also in a new situation. He does nothing to help her adjust and does not notice when she is struggling.

    I like Phyllis and the first time I read this book I didn't even appreciate her so I'm going to keep a list of all the kind things she does:

- she makes an effort to spend one-on-one time with Mary.

- thanks Mary for setting the table.

- implies Mary is attractive by saying she'll be kept busy by the doorbell by boys after Gil had stopped by.

- when Scott stops by to invite the girls to the roller rink party he ask "will you allow your daughter and your---and Mary Ann..." to which she immediately says "Mary Ann is also my daughter".

- she makes sure Mary gets a new skating outfit.

- she takes Mary to get a proper haircut.

- she's proud of Mary for her good report card.

- she insists Jan invites Mary along to social events like school games.

- she's sympathetic towards Mary when her grandmother can't visit for the holidays