Junior High Jitters

Junior High #1

by Kate Kenyon, M.L. Kennedy

New school, new people, could only mean one thing for best friends Nora and Jen…… new friends. They had been friends since 2nd grade and had intended on that not ever changing, but when new girl Denise shows up things only down hill for the friendship of Nora and Jen. She’s beautiful, smart, and everything anyone dreams of so of course everyone has to friends with her.. except Nora. Nora knew she didn’t like Denise from the first time they met, but things were the opposite for Jen. Jen soon became Denise’s best friend which can only mean one thing……. How is she going to find time for her long-time AND new best friend. Can’t they ALL just be friends?

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the random errors and the random nearly ended conflict (made no sense at all), Junior High is both funny and exciting with the characters and the rest of the storyline. Also, there were a lot of cool outfits that are similar to Claudia Kishi’s outfits:
pg. 21: gray denim jumpsuit with red leather belt (Jennifer)
white cotton jumpsuit (Nora)

pg. 24: khaki jeans and ruffly, white blouse (Nora)

pg. 30: shocking pink slicker and plum stirrups (Denise)

pg. 66: tight white shorts, Flashdance hot pink sweatshirt, plum calico scarf, and pink leg warmers (Denise)

pg. 72: tomato red sweater and faded jeans (Jennifer)

pg. 73: tight animal print pants, pink and white checkered sweater vest, and silver earrings (Mia)

pg. 76: plum knit sweater, black pants that were gathered at the ankles, tiny silver earrings, and 6 thin silver bracelets (Denise)

pg. 91: red T-shirt and jeans (Tracy)

pg. 111: pink brocade jacket and tight pink and yellow floral print pants (Mia)

pg. 113: pale blue sweater and faded jeans (Tony)

pg. 118: white satin pajamas (Denise)

pg. 125-126: plum sweater, long paisley skirt, and thin gold hoop earrings (Denise)

pg. 143: black sweater and red plaid skirt (Jennifer)

pg. 164: cherry red jacket and barrettes (Jennifer)

pg. 181: yellow Garfield short-sleeved nightgown and white crew socks (Jennifer)
I haven’t seen this many great outfits since I read “The Baby-Sitters Club: Stacey’s Ex-Best Friend.”

[sj]

Wow, I read all of these in or around the fifth grade. Note to self to come back and fix all the serial information when I have time.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have been a little kid when I first saw some books in the Junior High series, which was published back in the '80s. Although my curiosity was nudged by the book covers, my unspoken impression at the time was "I'm not there yet," as "junior high" meant "practically high school" in my semi-subconscious estimation. Then once I was an old enough kid for it, the series must have already fallen off my radar, since I don't recall noticing any of the books again until last year.

Well. The sight of them did some more nudging—this time at what is now the nostalgic side of my curiosity. And I'm plenty old enough for the books now.

So, hey! Why not?

I must say that I'd expected Book One to be a much sillier or, I don't know, wackier read. That's likely due to the book cover image of a duo of laughing girls holding their schoolbooks high, apparently ready to give the boy between them some whacks over the head, but that isn't something that happens in the novel or that totally matches the story's vibe.

This read has got an adolescent sitcom feel that includes some silliness without majoring on it. I actually started eating this novel up, but that was after some weird early stuff.

That is, yeah, I'm sure pretty much all schoolkids have had some unkind or otherwise unlikeable teachers along the way, but it's weird that all of the school staff and teachers Denise encounters during her first days at the school are unhelpful or uncaring or outright mean and insulting, so bothered that a new girl is struggling to find her way around. I mean, Mr. Teacher, is it that much of a disruption to your life when a new student accidentally goes to the wrong classroom on the first or second day of school? Get a grip and just help the poor girl out, for goodness' sake!

Also, there's a scene where a girl has locked herself in a bathroom stall to be alone and cry, and while I understand that two other girls who hear her are trying to help—hey. They could have just talked to her from outside of the stall. She'd locked the door for a reason. Boundaries, people.

As for a scene where two boys are trying to flirt with a new girl at the same time, they tag along with her down the hallway, coming to crowd her on either side while she's showing zero interest and walking so fast that the boys are having an awkward time trying to keep up with her, but they keep trying. I, inwardly cringing, was like, "Dudes. Don't gang up on her like that. She's practically running away from you, so leave her alone. Don't be creeps."

Again, though, those weird parts are early in the novel. And yes, after that, I ate up this story of the main characters' joys and pains of getting started in the eighth grade.

Plus, of course, my nostalgic side found plenty of little things to snack on, like the fact that these kids call each other on home phones (telephones, specifically), they listen to music on records, and they bring up TV shows like Dallas and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in everyday conversation. Heeheehee, I even got a kick out of the tiny detail of a girl snapping a suitcase closed rather than zipping it up. I just knew she was using a real-deal suitcase like the ones they show being made on that iconic segment on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

So! Despite that the novel's ending seems like a small, pretty indirect patch-up rather than a resolution that really gets to the heart of the related conflict, I'd like to continue this series sometime. If/when I do, I'll be skipping ahead to Book Three.

Note:
• an animal dissection scene in science lab class may have too much detail for some readers

[Doris Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book