Just Dial a Number

by Edith Maxwell

Someone tried to kill Cathy gasped into the phone. It was only a prank call dialed at random— a joke played by four teen-agers fooling around. But what happened afterwards plunged them into a nightmare. By the next morning two people were dead because Of that phone call. Keeping their guilt secret, Cathy, Todd, Paul, and Deedee had to live with the terror Of being found out. An intricate and thought-provoking analysis of four different personalities."— Publishers Weekly "Edith Maxwell has a decided flare for building suspense and maintaining dramatic intensity. She has written a taut — The New York Times story

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Suspense, Drama

Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Majenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover models look too 1980s-preppy, but they do look horrified. It's a good story set in early-1970s California, about Cathy Shorer, whose dad is the Dean of her high school, so she's learned to be wary when guys seem interested: do they just want her to put in the good word for them with her dad? She's more-sure-than-not about Todd, and they're up for "Couple of the Year" (how many of you had that at your high schools?) and her friend Deedee is sure she will have the perfect future with Paul--despite that too-far-out, greasy, troublemaking older brother of his. But a bit of teenage silliness quickly turns much more serious. Imagine the Dean's daughter being involved in something like that! And she even turns to drugs to escape! (Not really--she just takes a trip to the hospital and is "put under" during a wisdom-teeth extraction.)

Thanks for reading.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book popped into my head this morning for reasons too boring to get into. I re-read it as an adult a bunch of years ago, and it's actually quite decent for the genre. The biggest problem is that it's badly dated (it has lots of references to "be-ins" and other hippie stuff, and its view of women is just ever so slightly retrograde).

[Virginia Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. Well this was not at all what I expected.

So I found a little advertisement for this book, along with many others, in the back of yet another older book. I was instantly intrigued, thinking (hoping) it would be this intense murder-mystery thriller. However this turned out to be one giant mess (and I mean enormous) of 70's teen drama and guilt. Just to give you an idea of the plot from the MC, Cathy's pov:

School play
party
drug use
"the phone call"
guilt
"the news"
guilt
"meeting the victim's daughter" (Mary Ann)
friend drama
trying to lessen guilt by sending clothes to Mary Ann
boy drama
pushy mom who's wrapped up in popularity and boys
ski trip
lot of guilt
friend drama
feelings for another guy (her best friend's bf, Paul)
couple of the year stuff (aka popularity contest)
guilt
dumped by her bf b/c they won the couple of the yr and Cathy no longer serves a purpose.
more trying to lessen guilt by inviting Mary Ann to a cheerleader club thing
pushy mom who is more annoying the longer I read
flirting/ kissing Paul on beach
fight with best friend (aka Paul's gf)
cutting off with Paul for the sake of friendship
accepts date with old bf who dumped her earlier
Mary Ann has a bf now
drama
truth about "the phone call" is revealed
Mary Ann runs away to where the hippies hang out
Mary Ann comes home
truth is out
Deedee is no longer her best friend
Cathy ends up with Paul

You see what I mean? This was so shallow and annoying. All anyone cared about were appearances and popularity. Cathy's bf, Todd, was a complete jerk. Her mom was so wrapped up in status and making sure Cathy had a date to the school dance. Even her friend, Deedee, after all was said and done and the truth was out, she cut all ties with her because, and I quote, "Cathy didn't blame Deedee, really. She should have remembered that Deedee never did like to back a loser." YES, that is an EXACT quote! Deedee wasn't so innocent herself when it came down to it. Some friend.

All in all there was no mystery and it certainty wasn't suspenseful. The guilt was so thick that it was smothering. Personally, I wouldn't recommend this.

I'm giving it a 1.5 because I DID like the story's flow and transition.

[Xenophon Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this way back in junior high. I remember thinking it was heavy handed.

[Nattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sad. I kept wishing that I could change what happened. What I didn't like about the story was the way Cathy let Todd blame her for what happened. She did a stupid thing, but Todd started it, and it was Todd that dialed the number. What I did not understand, was why Cathy kept claiming SHE dialed the number, when it was clear that it was Todd.

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but scary!

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Read it so many times the binding broke and it's in about 5 book chunks now. Continually suspenseful and unexpected. Great writing.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never, ever, EVER want to be 17 again.
This book was a good, quick reminder of why.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was first published back in 1971.

My copy is a reprint from Archway circa 1988. The cover is updated for that preppy 80s look but inside the pages are still all about pot smoking hippies.

Both of the main male characters are getting ready to graduate high school and join the Navy or go to West Point. Very different time period going on trying to keep that clean cut American Pie vibe.

Either way both of them mislead you into thinking we are going to get some sort of teen thriller like Lois Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer but no... not really.

Cathy's father is the dean of her high school, so everyone thinks she is a goody two shoes who would tell on her classmates for smoking pot and underage drinking. Boyfriend Todd doesn't think that her one line in the school play was convincing enough to cause any real terror in the audience.

Deedee and her boyfriend Paul are with them the night after the cast party at her house and Todd convinces Cathy to call a random number and say her line convincingly as a little prank:

"Someone tried to kill me."

Monday at school it is all over the place that the parents of a fifteen-year-old girl named Mary Ann Connolly died in a car accident rushing home when the call came. Mary Ann's parents were visiting her grandmother and couldn't get an answer on their house phone.

The guilt of it nags most of them but Cathy is broken inside. Todd wants to forget it and act like everything is still peachy keen since they will be graduating soon. Deedee is still guilty but soon comes around to Todd's way of thinking because well...Mary Ann is only fifteen and just not a part of the "crowd" so to speak.

Cathy can't help but notice how Mary Ann seems to wear the same clothes all the time and tries to anonymously donate them to ease her conscious since other people have been doing the same thing.

Mary Ann recognizes the clothes and soon is Cathy's shadow and walking reminder of her guilt to Todd's anger and Deedee's annoyance. Paul remains very quiet about all of this but is far more likeable than Todd. Relationships both romantic and not start to crack and rip at the seams until eventually the truth has to come out...

Just Dial a Number is book dealing with grief and peer pressure all at a time in a teenager's life when things change. Wishfully thinking, this should be a change for the better yet instead it ruins not just the life of one person but of others.

In the end, only one person's life is the most broken and tragic. Life goes on for the other characters but even then, you can't help but pick up on the tone that the future is not free from consequences.

If you are looking for some teen horror or suspense, you won't find it in Just Dial a Number. If you are a fan of coming-of-age dramas with an insight to understanding guilt, this may be worth adding to your bookshelf.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excuse my goodreads while I go through a kick of reading 70s YA novels

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really disliked this book.

It is YA. The plot concerns a group of kids who decide to play a gag on someone. It is the age of Land Line phones as this book was published a long time ago, well before even caller ID.

So these bratty little kids call a random number and pretend to be the daughter of a young couple who is in deep trouble. One of the girls, Cathy, is screaming for her parents to help her.

To the people on the other line, they mistakenly think it is their actual daughter calling. They get in their car to get to her..and wind up getting in a car crash. Both parents are killed.

Have I brought you down yet? Yes this book is torturously sad..but it gets worse.

One of the kids..Kathy the one who posed as the daughter..feels guilty..so she befriends the REAL daughter who is now living with Grandma because her parents have been killed. To make matters worse everyone thinks the real daughter..Mary Ann..made the phone call and the bratty kids do not seem concerned enough to step forward.

But Kathy is plagued by guilt. Not enough guilt, apparently to just come forward and tell the truth about what happened because then..gasp! people might not like her! But really she wants to help Mary Ann..so why not befriend her?

This book was terrible. I seriously cried and also seriously thought about counting the cracks in the ceiling after I read it because that would have been more preferable to this book (Just kidding..had no ceiling cracks..but still..)

It is just morose. And NOT for a young kid. I read some serious stuff as a child but this was just so depressing. And do not even ask about the button that says "Am I God's joke?"

I realize the themes are loss and sadness but for an eight year old? It reminded me a bit of Lois Duncan's "I know what you did last summer" but that book did it better. This was to much and I doubt even if I'd first read it as an adult I'd have liked it anymore.

So..one star. Sorry but not for me.

[Allison Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because, despite being a rather old-fashioned book, the ideas of guilt, forgiveness, fear, and love. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was written in a time and had certain stereotypes that I have not grown up with. If I were to suggest this book to anyone, I would suggest it to my grandmother. She and I have a love of mystery books and the logic and mental stress that main characters are put through would be something she would enjoy studying and looking into.
There are a few ways that I could apply this book if I were to use this in a middle school classroom. It would be an interesting activity to assign the students a few books from different time periods. Then, using the stereotypes, gender roles, writing styles, and other aspects of the books, create a timeline or a compare and contrast diagram of the books and what they have learned about the evolution of gender roles and other controversial issues.

Warning
- Death

[Isabelle Mortensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, I picked up this book as a young child out of curiosity, and got a doozy of a story in return. Years later, as an adult, I pick up this story again and repeat the experience. While written in the late 60s-70s and containing some elements some forward-minded people may consider “old-fashioned,” “Just Dial a Number” is still a compelling gem of a coming-of-age story where teens must reevaluate their priorities in live when faced with fatal consequences of a prank gone wrong (or horribly right?).

I recommend this book young adults faced with the trials of social status vs. honoring moral obligations. Do I believe this book should be a required text in middle and high school classes? Not in particular since some of the ideas are a bit dated compared to those of present day.

Content Warning:
- Subject of Death
- Drugs
- Strong Language
- Social Status Quo

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it started off pretty slow, but the ending was pretty realistic. I respect the author for this.

[Shadow.Jinxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for teens and young adults