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Katie Rose and Stacy Belford #3
A New and Different Summer
Katie Rose's good friend, Jeanie who is adopted, fears that an unpleasant newcomer in town is her biological mother. Katie Rose takes the opportunity while her mother is away to run household in a "sophisticated" manner. Part of her motivation is in impressing a young restaurant management student named Perry McHarg. Will her use of more "refined foods" such as packaged cake mixes and frozen foods make the difference?
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
9 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Lenora Mattingly Weber
38 books56 followersLenora Mattingly, though born in Missouri, lived most of her life in Denver, Colorado. In 1916 she married Albert Herman Weber and was the mother of six children.
Weber's first book, Wind on the Prairie, was published in 1929. From 1930 through 1962 she wrote short stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, McCall's, and Good Housekeeping. Her last book was published posthumously in 1972.
Lenora Mattingly Weber’s favorite topics included the Denver area, horses, and teenage girls. In 1943 the first Beany Malone book, Meet the Malones, was published. Beany Malone became Weber's most well-known creation, featured in 14 books and appearing as a minor character in the Katie Rose Belford and Stacy Belford series.
Weber's first book, Wind on the Prairie, was published in 1929. From 1930 through 1962 she wrote short stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, McCall's, and Good Housekeeping. Her last book was published posthumously in 1972.
Lenora Mattingly Weber’s favorite topics included the Denver area, horses, and teenage girls. In 1943 the first Beany Malone book, Meet the Malones, was published. Beany Malone became Weber's most well-known creation, featured in 14 books and appearing as a minor character in the Katie Rose Belford and Stacy Belford series.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 12, 2011
I started this book a year ago and then read other titles so I just got back to it and finished it today. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it. It is the story of 16 year old Katie Rose who is given the opportunity to run the family household when her mother and grandmother leave to help relatives in Ireland. She makes assumptions about her family and rushes to judgement when she is in charge and running the show. This all gets resolved in a very satisfying way and we, as readers, get to appreciate the characters and how they support Katie who sometimes doesn't really deserve it. There are a few sub-plots that keep the story interesting.
May 3, 2010
Not as good as Beany, but good good good. (And really, how could you ever expect anything to be as good as Beany? That's just unrealistic.)
May 28, 2012
I enjoyed this one, although perhaps not as much as the first two books in this series. The plot of Katie Rose wanting to redo/reorganize their house reminds me a lot of when Beany wanted the rumpus room (and those aren't the only comparisons I've found between Katie Rose's and Beany's stories!).
Parts of this book are kind of painful to read. I'm not sure why, exactly. Perhaps because I pretty much knew how things were going to turn out, and it was just hard to see Katie Rose struggle along, make mistakes, and frequently act very stubborn. (What happened to the lessons and insight she gained in the last book in regard to her family's frugality and disorderliness?) Also, considering that the trend today for health-conscious individuals is away from prepackaged and processed food, it's kind of amusing how Katie Rose sees all of that as such a novelty and luxury. Different times!
Speaking of different times, I've noticed that the original covers on these books are getting progressively uglier (in my opinion) as the publication dates climb nearer to the '70s. There are some fun mentions of '60s things in this book, though--including a reference made to a rubber flower petal swim cap (91). I'm not too fond of the '70s from a fashion perspective, but I like a lot of the '60s stuff (especially from the first half of the decade).
It's quite obvious how many of the plot points are going to work out, but some of them did surprised me. For example, I really thought that pansy-throwing woman was Jeanie's mother. It almost felt like a cop-out that she wasn't. After all, if she was, what would the big deal be? Jeanie has a real family now and what her birth mother was or wasn't doesn't determine her own character. Perhaps people thought differently about that back then, though (nature vs. nurture)…or maybe I'm missing the point!
Oh, and I just have to mention: Liz is such a dear! I love how she manages to be one of the few people supportive of Katie Rose's endeavors of improvement, even when she sees as much as anyone that they aren't practical.
As far as content, there is very little I can think of that would be considered objectionable. One thing I've noticed in some of these books, so far, is some of the Irish sayings can be a bit careless with the Lord’s name. Other than that, this was very clean…and despite my criticisms, it was also pretty fun. Lenora Mattingly Weber is definite comfort reading for me.
Parts of this book are kind of painful to read. I'm not sure why, exactly. Perhaps because I pretty much knew how things were going to turn out, and it was just hard to see Katie Rose struggle along, make mistakes, and frequently act very stubborn. (What happened to the lessons and insight she gained in the last book in regard to her family's frugality and disorderliness?) Also, considering that the trend today for health-conscious individuals is away from prepackaged and processed food, it's kind of amusing how Katie Rose sees all of that as such a novelty and luxury. Different times!
Speaking of different times, I've noticed that the original covers on these books are getting progressively uglier (in my opinion) as the publication dates climb nearer to the '70s. There are some fun mentions of '60s things in this book, though--including a reference made to a rubber flower petal swim cap (91). I'm not too fond of the '70s from a fashion perspective, but I like a lot of the '60s stuff (especially from the first half of the decade).
It's quite obvious how many of the plot points are going to work out, but some of them did surprised me. For example, I really thought that pansy-throwing woman was Jeanie's mother. It almost felt like a cop-out that she wasn't. After all, if she was, what would the big deal be? Jeanie has a real family now and what her birth mother was or wasn't doesn't determine her own character. Perhaps people thought differently about that back then, though (nature vs. nurture)…or maybe I'm missing the point!
Oh, and I just have to mention: Liz is such a dear! I love how she manages to be one of the few people supportive of Katie Rose's endeavors of improvement, even when she sees as much as anyone that they aren't practical.
As far as content, there is very little I can think of that would be considered objectionable. One thing I've noticed in some of these books, so far, is some of the Irish sayings can be a bit careless with the Lord’s name. Other than that, this was very clean…and despite my criticisms, it was also pretty fun. Lenora Mattingly Weber is definite comfort reading for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2012
Katie Rose gets to try her hand at running a household her way when her mom leaves for the summer to help a family member. I really enjoyed this book. It's very family-oriented, with lots of entertaining every-day problems. I would love to read more books by this author.
January 2, 2023
The plotline of this is similar to the first Katie Rose story (shame about her big, messy Irish family vs. the all-American suburban mid-century ideal), and she has to re-learn all the lessons she supposedly learned in Don't Call Me Katie Rose, but these books are all about the comforting and familiar, so I'm not going to complain about a bit of overlap. It's interesting to see the cultural pendulum swings: all the packaged convenience foods that Katie Rose thinks are so elegant would be seen as processed junk today, but the point about paying extra for 'maid service' still applies. I found the subplot about Jeanie thinking a tacky-looking woman is her birth mother to be the stronger storyline, despite the reliance on coincidence and exaggeration.
August 21, 2022
My favorite Katie Rose! I love reading about the glamorous and delightsome McHarging that Katie Rose experiments with while her mom is gone, as well as the scrimping and scrounging she has to do at the end as a result. The only part I don't care for is pal Jeanie's subplot.
August 7, 2023
This is notable for me among the Katie Rose Belford books as the one in which I find Katie Rose the least annoying. Also, as an adoptive mother, the whole side story of Jeanie and the woman she believes is her birth mother brings up some interesting points about adoption during that period.
March 16, 2025
Relatable
As the oldest of a large family where money was cut often and we couldn’t afford to buy convenience foods, I could relate to Katie Rose and her desire for minimalist lifestyle with food. I liked how they demonstrated the life lesson without shaming her for her desire.
As the oldest of a large family where money was cut often and we couldn’t afford to buy convenience foods, I could relate to Katie Rose and her desire for minimalist lifestyle with food. I liked how they demonstrated the life lesson without shaming her for her desire.
December 16, 2022
A nostalgia read. I always loved this one for the descriptions of Katie Rose's struggles with running a household.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews