Going on Sixteen

by Betty Cavanna

Cavanna, Betty

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Juvenile

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

American juvenile author (full name: Elizabeth Allen) Betty Cavanna suffered from a crippling disease, infantile paralysis, as a child, which she eventually overcame with treatment and exercise. During her convalescence, attentive adults read to her until she was old enough to read to herself, beginning a long love affair with books.

Cavanna majored in journalism at the New Jersey College for Women in New Brunswick, from where she received the Bachelor of Letters degree in 1929. She also took art classes in New York and Philadelphia. Cavanna's first job was as a reporter for the Bayonne Times. In 1931 she joined the staff of the Westminster Press in Philadelphia and over the next ten years served as advertising manager and art director. She also wrote and sold material to Methodist and Baptist publishing firms. In 1940 she married Edward Talman Headley, with whom she had a son. They moved to Philadelphia. After her husband's death, she married George Russell Harrison, a university dean of science, as well as nonfiction writer, in 1957. He died in 1979.

Cavanna became a full-time writer in 1941. Since then she has written more than seventy books under the name of Betty Cavanna as well as two pseudonyms: Betsy Allen, under which she wrote the "Connie Blair Mystery" series, and Elizabeth Headley, under which she wrote several books, including the Diane stories. As Betty Cavanna she also published the nonfiction "Around the World Today" about young people living in various countries.

Cavanna's juvenile fiction, about the difficulties of adolescenc, appealed to generations of teenage girls. Her characters confronted loneliness, sibling rivalries, divorce, and tense mother-daughter relationships. Her books, although characterized as pleasant, conventional, and stereotyped, have been extremely popular and recommended by critics for their attention to subjects which have reflected girls' interests. Going on Sixteen and Secret Passage were Spring Book Festival honor books in 1946 and 1947.

In the 1970s Cavanna turned to writing mysteries, which she termed "escape fiction," because she said she felt out of sync with the problems of modern teenagers. Two of her books have been runners-up for the Edgar Allan Poe Award: Spice Island Mystery in 1970 and the Ghost of Ballyhooly in 1972.

She died in France (2001).

Reviews

[Jennifer Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled across this at a thrift store and snapped it up, read it in one day. I'd like to give it 4 1/2 stars. I thought it would be a fluff read about a girl who wants to be popular, and it is, but it's also a girl's love of a dog, and how that love actually transforms her into a confident young woman. It explores the power of developing a talent (in Julie's case, art) in developing a person's confidence and character. I found the writing breezy and engaging, the characters well rounded and sweet. I love a clean story, and I feel like luck struck me to find this book. It was just what I needed to start out my summer right.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arguably one of Cavanna's best books. Good character study of insecure, needy Julie, who tries to be part of the popular "in-crowd," with little success until she finds a true love: the puppy Sonny that her father is helping a dog-breeder to prepare for showing. She also discovers that she has some genuine artistic talent that others come to appreciate.

Written in 1946, (Cavanna lived nearly a century: 1909-2001) this book still resonates today. Compare to _Goodbye My Shadow_ by Mary Stolz.

[Lizzie’s Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with collies in it 😀

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much and donated it to a 4th grade classroom. The main character, Julie, is growing up without her mother and feels inadequate amongst girls at school not to mention the boys. She does secretly have a crush on Dick her childhood friend who works on Julie's farm in the summer. Julie takes on the task of raising puppies born to a dog that dies. The dogs are being boarded at Julie's farm and are not hers to keep. She falls in love with Sonne and basically raises him until he is ready to be shown in dog shows. The real owner eventually takes Sonne away and Julie occupies her time with school events and artistic work. She eventually gets to see Sonne at an important dog show but learns the dog is not the same high spirited dog after being taken from Julie. Julie agreed to show the dog for the owner and wins the show. The owner realizes the dog really belongs to Julie and gives Sonne to Julie with the condition that she show Sonne in dog competitions under the Owners name. Julie finally gets asked to the dance by Dick and finds herself feeling more comfortable and confident around her peers. She feels she has found her place and knows where she is going in the future. Very good coming of age story.

[Isabella Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great fun to read. Every time I pick up a book, I get nervous, and think, " will I like this book?" well, I very much enjoined it. Julie doesn't seem to fit in at school, and would rather stay home with her dogs, and in this case, she wants so stay home with her dogs to draw them. drawing is like her hidden talent and she doesn't want people to know, so she hides her drawings. Dick didn't seem nice in the beggening, but turned out to be a good friend for Julie.

defenlty putting this book on my "favorite," shelf at home. @>

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awkward girl finds confidence and realizes that everybody else has the same sort of self-doubt and uncertainties that she faces. It's done in a very sweet way (as expected for something written in the 1940s!).

Unexpectedly, the basic story was actually about a girl and her dog. Well done, not too sentimental, and I could easily relate to it.

[Kristin Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my entry for the Discarded Book Book Club. Honestly, it wasn't too bad. It's a pretty timeless story of a girl and her dog and how she comes of age. It was sweet, cliche and a quick read. (Dog owners note that this is NOT a typical Doggy Snuff Book! Hooray!)

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teen-age reading way back when I was a teen. Just a good growing-up story, without all the trauma that is apt to be in teen novels these days. I think I read all her books.

[Bookworman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to my GR friends who told me about Internet Archive where I was able to borrow this book. This was one of my favorite books when I was a teenager and I was so happy to be able to read it again more than 50 years later.

This is a wonderful coming of age story about Julie, who is 14 at the start of the book. Cavanna captures all the angst of being a teenage girl as well as the joy. There's also a lovely relationship with a collie that I had totally forgotten about. I also hadn't remembered how much this book helped me to understand that what I was going through as a teenager was normal which gave me a lot of hope.

Although dated, it was still a lovely story and I really enjoyed reading again after all these years.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still one of my favs, and it's from the 40's

[Norah Willett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story from the 1940s, about teenage Julie, whose mother has died and who lives in the country with her somewhat uncommunicative father. Julie used to fit in with her group of friends, but as they aged out of childhood and boys came into the picture, Julie felt more and more awkward, plain, socially inept, and left out. Her attempts to fit in with the popular group of kids fall through. A neighborhood boy, formerly just a friend but who she now has a crush on rejects her, and she becomes estranged from her former best friend, now part of the popular crowd.

But Julie's dad brings home a collie puppy that needs to be trained for dog shows. Julie takes over the training and care of the puppy, Sonny. She also develops her artistic talent. As she pursues these interests and stops worrying about being popular and whether or not the other kids like her, she gradually develops confidence in herself that allows her to reach out to other kids and make real friends. In the process she also develops her social skills and empathy for other kids that might be struggling with not being accepted.

It's a good coming-of-age read. Even though the things kids have to deal with now are much more complex, the message of developing lasting interests instead of just chasing empty popularity still applies today.

[Elizabeth Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book about a young girl who is struggling to fit in at school and finds herself becoming attached to some puppies that are being held at her farm until they are old enough to be sold. She becomes very attached to Sonny, and tries hard to keep her head up when he has to leave. As time goes by she finds herself fitting in more at school and gets to see Sonny at a show. I love this book!

[Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two year chronicle of a country gal and her gruff father (her artist mother has passed away) as they raise some dogs, she creates a poster for a school play, and she aspires to fit into the social circle.

[Nana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty happy with the ending of this book. I'm happy that Julie finally understood her self-worth, and stopped putting herself down so much (when she did, I found it pretty annoying). A pretty good read--sort of like Lassie...

[Maggiy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing that I liked about this book was the very identifiable character of Julie. Her sense of inadequacy and insecurity were very familiar to me and seem timeless.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An neat book about a teenage girl who struggles to fit in.

[cubbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread that really holds up

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal copy, deaccessioned by the Youngstown Public Library in 1969. Bought around 1980.

Julie lives on a farm with her father, Tom; her mother, Margaret was an artist who died some time ago. Julie is looking forward to going to a school dance, and is spending the weekend with her friend Anne so she can go shopping for a dress with Anne's mother. She has $15 to spend. While a childhood friend on whom she has a crush, Dick, talks to her, he doesn't pay her as much attention as she would like. After the dance, she and her father take care of a collie about to have pups, Scarlet. Scarlet belongs to Mr. Lonsdale, and is a champion show dog. After delivering four pups, Scarlet dies, and Lonsdale leaves the pups with Julie and her father, and they feed them with eyedroppers. Three survive. Julie, who likes to draw, does pictures of them and even ventures into the city with her portfolio to ask a friend's aunt who works at a publishing house to look at them. She is encouraging, as is Julie's art teacher, Miss Farrell. Julie has Miss Farrell to the house, and her teacher makes some suggestions on how to improve the living room. Julie throws herself into that project, painting the walls and helping her father open up the fire place. The other pups have been sold, but Julie's favorite, Sonny, remains with her for quite some time. Eventually, Mr. Lonsdale takes him to show, and invites Julie to a competition. Sonny isn't doing as well as hoped, and it turns out that he is missing Julie! When she handles him, he wins. There is some other drama at school, where Julie submits a winning poster for the school play and also is named the art director for the newspaper. At the end of the book, Julie is allowed to keep Sonny as long as she shows him sometimes for Mr. Lonsdale, her artwork is getting accolades, and Dick seems to be taking an interest in her.

This holds up surprisingly well for having been written 80 years ago. Aside from some fashions and outdated thoughts (there is a character named Chunky, one named Tubby, and a girl named Sue whose entire personality revolves her dieting), Julie's desire to improve her home life, hang out with her dog, and get better at art wouldn't be out of place even today. Her father is gruff, but loves her, and Mr. Lonsdale is a reasonable man who even gives Julie a book and an armchair for helping with the dogs.

One thing it's really hard to fully understand is how important dances and dating were to 14-16 year old girls at this period in history. There were not a lot of options other than marriage for many girls, so knowing how to keep house and getting dates were both super important. Sure, Julie might go to art college, but she'd need someone like Dick to "take care" of her.

I enjoyed this look at the past, even though my copy of the book has seen some wear (it has a very worn replacement cover screen printed with the picture on the original dust jacket and spider web printed interior cover sheets) and smells rather musty.

[Tirzah Eleora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a sweet little book! So vintage and cute, and there are COLLIES! Collies seem to have been more popular back then and they need to make a comeback. Lassie Come Back!

Going on Sixteen tells the story of Julie, an awkward shy teenager who struggles socially and doesn't feel like she fits in with the other girls at school. Then she starts caring for a litter of puppies on her dad's farm and as she grows up with them she starts learning confidence and consideration.

This book is no great feat of word smithing, but I loved how the author dealt with the low self-esteem and wanting to "fit in" that comes along with the teen years. It seems all YA authors deal with this question in some form or other these days. "Just love who you are!" they all crow, and while it's not bad advice as far as it goes, just telling yourself you're a great person isn't the answer. You need to BE a great person. True self-esteem is born of learning to look inward at your own shortcomings less, and learning to look outward to others and the beautiful world around you. Treat others the way they would like to be treated and respect them, and you will respect yourself more. The more you take interest in the world around you and forget about yourself, the more YOU you will become. Julie stops worrying about how unpopular she is and starts taking an interest in her dogs and art, and we see her become less and less self-conscience.

Another thing I loved about this book that I see lacking in modern YA is the respect the young people have for the adults in their life, and especially the love and respect that grow between Julie and her dad.

Wish I had read this when I was younger!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm in a Cavanna maltshop marathon. In this book, the protagonist Julie has been "going on sixteen" for over a year during the book. I liked the book but I wasn't crazy about it. The most interesting part was the dog, a champion Collie, that Julie raised, and I'm not crazy about dogs either. The moral of Cavanna's stories takes an awkward young girl who is unpopular and turns her into one of the crowd. That never happened in my day, a decade later.

In this book motherless Julie lives with her often misunderstanding father on a farm near Philadelphia. When a breeder of collies drops off a champion collie to board and she dies after giving birth to several puppies, Julie makes it her whole life taking care of the newborn puppies, feeding them every 2 hours. Two are later sold but Julie becomes abnormally attached to the last collie, named Sonny.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kinda wish I'd grown up with more of Cavanna's books. There are points where they're a little bit outdated - thus the one-star drop - but for something originally published in 1946, it's actually fairly progressive.

I was pleased, for instance, that Julie's farmer father mentions going to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia; it's a minor note in a very white middle-class book, but still gives a nice hint of the author's political and social leanings. Those come across in the story itself, and in Julie's journey of self-discovery.

This could've been a book about her falling in love, and while there is a love interest of sorts, his friendship is the part that matters most to Julie for 98% of the pages. She's more interested in other things: the prize-winning collie pup she helps raise, and the joy and fulfillment she finds as she develops her artistic skills and becomes more comfortable in her own skin.

Julie starts off shy and awkward, not really knowing how to interact with the other girls in her class, who all seem to be growing up more rapidly than she is. Some of that's due to the fact that she's being raised by a single father, but Cavanna doesn't lean too heavily on the idea that Julie's actually lacking anything without a maternal influence. She has the memory of her mother, still, as a vibrant woman with an art degree and an immense amount of talent. Her mother is someone Julie aspires to be: a career woman, who can fend for herself and forge her own place in the world.

While there are some traditional bits about Julie handling all the cooking and cleaning (the "woman's work"), engaging in a little bit of fat-shaming, and learning the matter-of-fact truth that boys "don't like smart girls," there are a lot of strong messages about independence and self-assurance.

Julie ends up "getting the guy" because she finally learns how to fully be herself, instead of fixating on how to dress and what to say. The opening chapters are entirely about an upcoming dance, and revolve around her excitement about acquiring The Perfect Dress. When she finally goes to another dance at the end of the book - this time with a date! - she barely pays attention to her dress and forgets her lipstick. She has other things to think about, and that's what ends up drawing people to her - guys, sure, but also a set of solid female friends, who turn out to have a lot more depth than Julie had initially given them credit for.

Except for Anne, of course, her former best friend - who's a perfectly nice girl, but who has no personal ambitions. She'll clearly get married straight out of high school and settle into the housewife role, and will likely be perfectly content doing so. Rather than envying her, as Julie had done at the beginning of the book, she sees the emptiness of this type of lifestyle - at least for her - and pities her friend. Julie can't imagine not having a purpose in life, or the passion to pursue an education and a career.

I like the quiet realism of this story. When Julie begins developing her artistic skills by sketching the collie puppy they're boarding, she gets it in her head that she might be able to earn enough money to buy him if she sells some of her drawings. She sets up an elaborate plan to accomplish this, including skipping half a day of school and taking a train to a publishing house in Philadelphia. In another book, she might've been successful. In this one, the editor treated her kindly and encouraged her to go to art school and come back once she'd graduated.

Any of Julie's accomplishments throughout the book feel truly earned, and reasonable for a still-young teenager. I liked, too, the little tidbit about Julie's father having dated someone before her mother - something Julie had never considered. That makes Julie's date to the dance feel more like a positive step in a much longer, larger life: she most likely won't date this particular boy forever, or grow up to marry him. That's not the important part. She's finding joy in her daily life, and making plans for the future. It's a very uplifting, encouraging story about a girl becoming a woman and deciding for herself what that will mean.

There are also some good messages about how friendships, and relationships with other people, actually work. Much of Julie's loneliness and isolation is self-imposed; because she convinces herself that people are judging or laughing at her, she retreats into a shell and eventually succeeds at driving everyone away. She assumes that people won't like her, and manages to make that come true by pushing them away first.

It's nice that there aren't any villains or "mean girls" in this book. When Julie begins blossoming on her own and finding the things that make her happy, the girls she'd cut herself off from in the previous year welcome her back with open arms. People are often friendlier than they seem, and even the most beautiful, popular ones probably have insecurities of their own that they're hiding. It's a lesson I don't see a lot of fictional characters (...or even real people!) learning, so that's an element I particularly appreciated.

And, of course, I like that there's a dog. It's funny how much the collie bits remind me of Albert Payson Terhune's work - it's like Cavanna lifts his entire descriptive style at various points. That makes it a fun, comfortable reading experience for me, because while I didn't grow up with Cavanna's books, I did grow up reading all about Terhune's collies. It's nice to have them in a different context, with a girl who loves dogs, art, and all the possibilities stretching out in front of her.

[Carson hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I have the edition from the 1980s and I wonder if the cost of the party dress was updated in 1980s dollars or 1940s dollars. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the last 15 pages or so was terribly boring and it took me forever to read them. This is a great book for adults who grew up in a more simple time.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these books when I was very young and loved them and they may be old but they're brilliant and interesting perspective for girls confused in their teen years about career or relationship matters and need to be reissued, all of them of it it and that's it of what it to be it of what it to be of what it of what it to be it to be it of what it of what it of what of it

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, one of my favorite Betty Cavanna books. She paints such a realistic picture of shy, uncertain Julie navigating the early teen years with only a distant father for guidance at home. As a Gilbert & Sullivanite, I'm always delighted with the H.M.S. Pinafore section, and even though I'm not a dog lover, this is my favorite book with a dog plot.

[Julie Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a thrift store, and bought it to read during a road trip. It's a story about Julie, a girl who raises puppies, makes friends, and learns not to be so self-conscious. It's a fun, cute book!

[Meg W · Rating 5 out of 5]

very heartwarming story

[MT · Rating 4 out of 5]

revisited this sweet book from my childhood. wonderful book for teenagers.

[Jackie]

DNF

[Julie Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a cute, wholesome coming-of-age book

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book at a thrift store quite unexpectedly. I was thrilled to find a title by Betty Cavanna, as I had been wanting to read more young adult fiction that had been published in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. Going on Sixteen was published in 1946.

This is a timeless tale of a girl struggling to fit in with the friends she had grown up with and her love for a collie she helps raise. Betty Cavanna captures teenage angst so well; it took me back to my teenage years. I thought it made a quick and delightful summer read!