Kitty in the Middle by Judy Delton
"Kitty in the Middle" by Judy Delton is a children's novel that follows the life of a fourth-grade girl named Kitty as she navigates friendships and experiences at St. Anthony's School in St. Paul, Minnesota, during the years 1942 and 1943. The book is structured into eight chapters and features black-and-white illustrations by Charles Robinson. Through third-person narration focused on Kitty, the story explores her relationships with her two best friends, Eileen and Mary Margaret, as they encounter typical childhood adventures and challenges in their classroom and neighborhood.
Kitty is depicted as a sensitive and adaptable character, often finding herself caught between the differing personalities of her friends: the studious and devout Mary Margaret, and the daring and ambitious Eileen. The narrative captures common childhood themes such as first crushes, fears of school, and the excitement of play, all while portraying a well-ordered home life. The story culminates in a visit to a mysterious "haunted house," where the girls meet an intriguing woman who reveals the allure of the wider world beyond their immediate experiences.
As the first book in the Kitty series, "Kitty in the Middle" resonates with themes of identity and growing up, echoing the charm of earlier children's literature. Delton's work invites young readers into a nostalgic and relatable depiction of childhood, fostering a sense of familiarity and comfort.
Subject Terms
Kitty in the Middle by Judy Delton
First published: 1979; illustrated
Subjects: Friendship
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: September, 1942, to June, 1943
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: St. Paul, Minnesota
Principal Characters:
Kitty , a fourth-grade girl who finds herself “in the middle” between two very different best friendsMary Margaret , one of Kitty’s two best friends, a devout, studious, neat, and unspoiled girlEileen , Kitty’s other best friend, a self-assured, adventurous only child who knows how to get what she wantsSister Ursuline , the fourth-grade teacher at St. Anthony’s SchoolDolores Henley , the least-liked girl in the fourth gradeEugene Legget , the handsome new boy at schoolCharlotte Neilson , the occupant of the mysterious “haunted house”
Form and Content
Judy Delton’s Kitty in the Middle, a short, easy-to-read book, is divided into eight titled chapters, each of which is illustrated with a black-and-white sketch by Charles Robinson. The novel features third-person narration, with omniscience limited to the title character, and an episodic structure that recounts the adventures of Kitty and her best friends, Eileen and Mary Margaret, at St. Anthony’s School in St. Paul, Minnesota, during 1942 and 1943. The novel, which centers on the childhood domains of classroom and neighborhood, highlights the fears, frustrations, and joys of fourth-grade life, while adult concerns occupy only a vague and distant reality.
Kitty, the only child of caring parents, inhabits a well-regulated home in which her father returns from work promptly at 5:30 p.m. to a dinner of breaded veal on Monday, pork chops on Wednesday, and tuna on Friday. Kitty’s chameleon-like personality is somewhere “in the middle” between Mary Margaret and Eileen, and she tends to take on the personality of whichever girl she is with. Mary Margaret, Kitty’s “safe” friend, is a member of a large, devout Catholic family of modest means. Studious, religious, honest, and well-liked, she always looks immaculate in her spotless homemade school uniform and perfectly arranged “sausage” curls. Eileen, on the other hand, is Kitty’s “dangerous” friend, a rather pampered only child, who longs to grow up, change her name to Dorothy, and travel the world. She knows her own mind and how to get what she wants, and she possesses the enviable ability to lie and smile simultaneously.
The novel opens, appropriately, with the first day of school, as Kitty’s apprehension about her new teacher, the formidable Sister Ursuline, is only somewhat offset by the excitement of wearing her fashionable new shoes. Kitty comes to realize, however, that Sister Ursuline is a mere mortal after all when a mischievous boy places the nun in an embarrassing predicament by stepping on her veil and refusing to lift his foot. Pride also takes a fall when the least-admired girl in class shows up wearing shoes identical to those that only a day before Kitty had judged so superior.
The traumas of the first day of school behind her, Kitty faces a series of crises only too familiar to most readers in grammar school. Valentine’s Day, always fraught with the potential for melodrama, marks the end of her first crush, when she discovers that the romantic valentine she receives from the object of her affection was given to every girl in class and that her “admirer” does not even know her name. Kitty faces another typical childhood fear by hiding in the bathroom to avoid the possibility of being called on in music class when she does not know the answer. Only after Mary Margaret advises her that giving one very wrong answer will prevent her from ever being called on again does she return to class.
After school, the girls occupy themselves making life-sized paper dolls from cardboard boxes, crashing a wedding at the local church (and even catching the bouquet), and pondering the identity of the occupant of the neighborhood’s “haunted house.” This continuous motif leads to the story’s climax, when the girls finally summon up the courage to approach the house (by devising a scheme to sell pencils for “charity”) and meet the occupant, Charlotte Neilson, a woman with a fascinating history and an attic full of wonderful old clothes. A former actress, she serves jasmine tea, encourages the girls to try on her old costumes, spins tales of her past, and offers the friends an enticing glimpse at life’s possibilities.
Critical Context
Kitty in the Middle, Judy Delton’s first novel, is also the first book in the Kitty series, which includes a prequel, Kitty from the Start (1987), and the sequels Kitty in the Summer (1980) and Kitty in High School (1984). A prolific author, Delton also created the Angel series, including Back Yard Angel (1983), Angel in Charge (1985), Angel’s Mother’s Boyfriend (1986), and Angel’s Mother’s Baby (1989), and the popular Pee Wee Scouts books, a series of easy books for very young readers.
The Kitty books are directly descended from Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy and Tib series, published in the 1940’s, including Betsy-Tacy (1940) and Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941). The books share a Minnesota setting, a triumvirate of friends, a focus on the details of childhood, and corresponding characters. Tacy, like Mary Margaret, sports “sausage curls” and comes from a large, devout Catholic family, while Tib, like Eileen, is a no-nonsense, pampered only child. Betsy, the series’ central figure is, like Kitty, the “in-the-middle” character, a girl in the process of discovering her own identity and place in the world.
Judy Delton, like Beverly Cleary in such books as Henry Huggins (1950), Ellen Tebbits (1951), and Beezus and Ramona (1955), creates a warm, comforting, and familiar childhood world in which young readers can immerse themselves and believable characters with which they can identify. Kitty in the Middle fits snugly into this tradition of fiction that treats childhood in a realistic, insightful way, making its young readers feel at home and its older readers nostalgic for their own childhood days.