Kate's Turn By Cheri J. Crane Covenant Communications, 1994. Trade paperback: 355 pages. ISBN: 1-55503-982-0 Suggested retail price: $10.94 (US)
Reviewed by: Katie Parker

Sixteen-year-old Kate Erickson is on the wrong path. She's experimented with drinking and smoking, hangs out with the wrong crowd, and she's been leaving her job at Burger King early and meeting her loser boyfriend. Furthermore, she's a grouch around her family and determined to ruin any family bonding activities. And she doesn't have a testimony. Her parents, particularly her mother, are upset about it and have tried talking to her as well as yelling at her. The plot heats up a little when her mother catches her in what appears to be a compromising position with a boy. During the ensuing spat, Kate tells her mom what she seems to be suspecting: that she's "been with more boys than you can count on both hands" (68). This is actually a lie, and once the heated moment passes, Kate can see how hurt her mother is over this "confession" and she tries to tell her the truth. Her mother, however, is so upset that she refuses to listen to anything Kate has to say. This alienates Kate further; it really hurts her to know that her mother would actually believe these things about her.

Something strange happens when Kate storms off after another confrontation and is hit by a car. She ends up in a coma in the hospital, but she also somehow ends up in the year 1848 with some of her ancestors in a wagon train headed to the Salt Lake Valley. After disposing of the provocative clothing she's wearing, they accept her as one of their own, believing her to be a niece rather than the great-great-great-great granddaughter that she really is. They have to get after her occasionally for her language, and Kate sorely misses modern-day conveniences, but she learns to cope with pioneer life and to love the people she's with. Her 4th-great grandmother, Colleen, shows true pioneer strength as she leads her family on the daily trek and eventually buries yet another of her young children. She also helps Kate on her quest for a testimony. Colleen's daughter Molly, who would be a distant great aunt of Kate's, is another story. Molly is actually very much like Kate, and the two quarrel for much of the book. Molly is engaged to David, a fine priesthood holder, but hasn't agreed to a wedding date because of her weak testimony. Meanwhile, Jedediah, a greasy but charming nonmember who is traveling with them is also pursuing her. Everyone can tell that this man is only trouble, except, of course, for Molly. She runs off with him and leaves David high and dry. Kate, however, gains a testimony of her own.

When Kate finally awakens from her coma, her family is overjoyed and she plans to make a fresh start in life. The story doesn't end there, though. When she was with her ancestors, she learned about a secret compartment in Colleen's trunk. Her aunt now has this trunk, and Kate opens the compartment and finds Molly's journal. Eagerly, Kate reads Molly's tragic account of her marriage to Jedediah, and how he abuses her and keeps her locked up in his mountain cabin. Eventually Molly makes it to Salt Lake and finally marries David. Kate renews her promise to herself to be careful about who she dates, and starts dating a guy who's about to leave on a mission.

On the plus side, I thought Molly's journal was a good touch, as were Kate's stories of Superman that she tells to the pioneer children. Unfortunately, a large portion of the book didn't work for me at all. Much of the first part of the book is told in Kate's mother's point of view. While it does show her mother's concerns and frustrations over Kate's behavior, it also portrays Kate in a negative light, through her frustrated mother's eyes. Seeing the mom's point of view may be educational for young readers, and the book in fact is billed as one that mothers and daughters can read together. But this shouldn't be done at Kate's expense; after all, she's the star of the book. I wanted to sympathize with Kate, not with her mom. Perhaps this is a deliberate technique used to prevent young readers from feeling comfortable with Kate's poor choices. Or perhaps the author just didn't feel much sympathy for Kate, either.

Point of view on the whole is handled sloppily. Most of the story is told from either Kate's or her mother's point of view, but occasionally Crane cuts in with another voice: her dad's, or Molly's, or Colleen's, or Jedediah's, or the guy Kate is currently kissing. This happens repeatedly in the same scene without warning. Many times I got confused as I read, only to realize too late that I was now in someone else's head. I soon found that the only consistency is within a single paragraph.

The back of the book proclaims, "You'll want to take sides with Kate one minute and punish her for her outrageous behavior the next." I didn't find her behavior too outrageous, or interesting for that matter. Yes, the girl has problems, but I found them to be rather two-dimensional. Her antics at home include general grouchiness and insults, banging her fist on a wood fence and getting splinters, and getting stung by a bee and falling in the lake. Not until her "confession" to her mother about her promiscuity did I have much interest in the story, although even this situation was milked a bit too long. But I thought that it added some much-needed depth to Kate and to the story.

Although we are assured that Kate's reading the scriptures and trying to gain a testimony happens over a period of time, her repentance is too easy and complete to be real. This especially bothers me at the end of the book, when Kate's mom gives her a letter that her loser boyfriend Jace had sent her while she was comatose:

Hey babe,

     If your mama, the hag-woman, ever gives this to you, I'll be in total shock. I called the other day and thought she was gonna hang up on me!
     When ya gonna haul that firm little tush of yours outta bed? (Can you believe I said that, knowin' what my goal for the past two years has been?) Our little get-togethers just aren't the same without ya. Linda got so high the other night, we thought she'd never come down. I guess she's worried about ya. We all are. Some vacation. I told ya to stay here with me. I would've shown ya a better time than your family did! Guess it'll have to wait until ya come home. Hurry up, sweet cheeks. A guy like me can't wait forever!

Jace (344-45)

Kate lets her mother read this, and then says, "Mom, I want you to know I will never have anything to do with Jace again. I don't ever want to end up with a Jedediah!" Then she adds, "The Church is true, Mom! I feel it inside, all of those things you used to tell me about. It all makes sense now. I've still got some changes to make, and there are some things I'll have to take care of -- but I can do it. Especially if you'll help me" (345).

This is about as two-dimensional as it gets. Where is Jace's concern over Kate's comatose condition? His profession of love? Even guys with low moral standards have feelings, or at least pretend to. And where are Kate's feelings? She's only been dating the guy for the last two years. Doesn't she feel any sorrow at letting him go? Any confusion?

The blurb on the back of the next book in the series, Kate's Return, promises that in this next book Kate will now have to deal with her old friends and prove to them and to everyone else that she really has changed. Hopefully it will address some of the feelings that are missing in Kate's Turn.

My overall opinion: The story about Molly was a lot more interesting. The book should've been about her.