Kat Greene Comes Clean

Such a sweet book. Melissa Roske gives us an easy to love protagonist in Kat Greene. She's smart, authentic, and very relateable. Kat navigates her struggles in realistic ways - and never loses heart - even when things get tough and she feels alone. Melissa does a nice job giving readers both a fun story with an engaging plot and entertaining middle grade moments and a heartfelt look at how a kid can tackle a big problem in real and positive ways. Teachers will want this one on their shelves.

Kat Greene Comes Clean

by Melissa Roske

Charlesbridge

Middle Grade, Children's Fiction

Pub Date 22 Aug 2017

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Kat Greene Comes Clean through the publisher and Netgalley:

Kat Greene comes to New York City and attends the very progressive Village Humanity School. Her best friend has become boy crazy. Halle is always talking about boys.

Kat' Mom suffers from OCD and is always cleaning, often throwing some of her favorite things away. Kat tries to get help for her Mother, but soon realizes it's more than she can handle on her own.

I give Kat Greene Comes Clean five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

This story had me wanting to know as soon as I got finished with the first chapter. I was thinking the whole time how much my 4th graders would enjoy and relate to Kat's story in so many ways.
Kat is a typical young girl with problems like everyone else. She's been through her parents divorce, her best friend thinks she's trying to steal her crush, her play partner tries to kiss her, and even worse her mom is suffering severely with OCD. I had to know more, and couldn't stop reading: Was Kat's mom going to be okay and manage her OCD? We're Kat and her best friend going to make up? Was Kat going to kill it in the play?
The themes that intertwine throughout the story are definitely going to be mirrors and windows for a lot of kids. I can't wait to get it in students hands this summer!

I really enjoyed this young adult book about a young girl named Kat and how she deals with the struggles of school, friends, her parents' divorce, and her concern for her mother who suffers from OCD. I would love to add this book to my classroom library.

This story is very emotional and gripping, it tells of an insecure teenager's pride and her fears about her Mom and best friend. Her mom is terminally sick and her best friend is turning against her, Kat went through a torturous battle wrestling with her emotions about her fears for her mom and the ever so lesser fear of losing her best friend Halle, This stirred her anger at the unfairness of it, especially about her friend when it all was just a simple misunderstanding, I enjoyed reading this book.

Being a middle grader is stressful at the best of times and for Kat Greene life involves cleaning products, annoying boys and a best friend who isn’t there when you need her the most.

“Sometimes it’s the little things that get to me. Like an electric toothbrush. Mom’s got one in her hand – but it’s not for her teeth. She’s using it on the kitchen floor. As if this is normal. As if it makes sense.”

“Kat Greene Comes Clean” is a cross between two of my favourite books “OCDaniel” by Wesley King and “Speed of Life” by Carol Weston. Kat Greene is just like every other teen but when she realises that there isn’t something quite right with her mum, conflicted with wanting to tell someone about it all she ends up reaching out through email. Kat Greene displays strength and tenacity, even when everything piles up on her she continues to fight and to seek the best for her family, especially her mum.

This book is not just about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), it’s also about the struggles faced as a pre-teen. It didn’t take me long to love the character Kat, there was just something very endearing about her. I feel that most middle graders and teens will be able to relate to Kat and the difficulties she faces. Kats friendship with Halle is particularly true to life, besties, yet one misunderstanding causes it to crumble. I felt so conflicted when this happened, my heart felt a tug of sadness and I just wanted Halle to stop and listen which is easy to say when looking from the outside in.

There is a funny side to the story and that is in the form of boys, silly sometimes gross boys. The boys in the story, particularly Michael and Sam bring your typical middle grade classroom into the book. They bring the light feeling into an emotionally filled story.

There is a growing trend in tween and teen books with tackling those often-taboo subjects such as OCD, depression and anxiety. I think this is a wonderful way to bring these issues to light so that children, teenagers and adults aren’t afraid to talk about the very real issues that are being faced at young ages.

I can highly recommend this book, again not just for children but for adults too. While it is an easy read for an adult, it gives the reader insight into the mind and worries of a preteen girl. I hope to see more middle grade reads from the author Melissa Roske, I know I will be reading when she does.

This book is awesome, I fell in love with the author's writing and Kat's character. This book is perfect for 9-12 year old. I found it intense and interesting and me too, had not much knowledge of OCD disorder or what's it like. Enjoyed!

Kat has to deal with stress at home as her mum has been acting weirdly and without a sense for some time now. Her best friend develops crush to one of the classmates and Kat's teacher sets a project for play and it's based on the book Kat loves, especially the main character. Shes funny and positive, if I was at her age she would be my friend!

Unfortunately she doesn't gets the role but gets to play under boy's character whom she thinks is a very boring one and there is nothing special about him. It turns out two classmates has crush on her but she has no time to deal with them as stress with mum is overtaking everything. Then she discovers her mum has OCD disorder+anxiety and life takes another unpredictable spin - her best friend has misunderstood her, boys are unbearable and mum...!

Kat lives with her divorced mother in Greenwich. She goes to a small, progressive school, and her class is working on a production of Harriet the Spy, and working on a project to go along with that. Kat is paired with Sam, and the two have their ups and downs of getting along. Her friend Halle is a bit obsessed with Michael, a boy in their class whom she thinks like her. Normal, everyday stuff-- except for the fact that Kat's mom is obsessed with cleaning, to the point where her hands are badly chapped and she brings antibacterial wipes to the grocery to use on canned goods. Kat's school has a counselor, Olympia, and Halle encourages Kat to talk to her, but it's hard. Kat looks online and figures that her mother probably suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but when her mother gets excited about making it onto a television show called Clean Sweep, Kat hopes that things will improve. Her father lives across town with his new family, and is very supportive, so when things take a turn for the worst, Kat is able to seek help from her father, her counselor, and her friends.
Strengths: Like Lambert's Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes, this was a solid middle grade novel about a parent with a problem that ends up affecting the tween character. I appreciated that Kat had a lot of support, and that she was able to carry on with her own life while trying to make sense of what was going on with her mother. Her interactions with Halle were particularly interesting-- there is so much friend drama at this age, especially concerning boys. It's also good to see a book pay attention to school projects, since they can be very time consuming.
Weaknesses: New York City is like another planet. Nannies? Calling teachers by their first names? Rapping? I would have preferred a more neutral setting, but this certainly gives some insight into how other people live!
What I really think: Quite an intriguing book. It has enough humor and drama to make it appealing to many of my students. Definitely buying a copy.

Kat Greene Comes Clean is another honest portrayal of serious mental conditions that affect families every day. Roske does an excellent job of weaving the personal and family struggles with OCD into a story of a young girl also dealing with school, friendship and not issues. Life and change can be overwhelming, but with the right story group, anyone can work through life's challenges. I appreciated this story on a personal level because of the unique school Kat attends that allows children to think for themselves, be creative and speak their minds even when it doesn't go with the flow. It was an ode to teachers and administrators who go the extra mile.

I liked the way mental health concerns are gently woven into the storyline. This book kept me reading and wanting more.

This was a charming story about the complexities of relationships--both with parents and friends. Kat was a fab main character--likeable and realistic and just trying to do her best by her mum. KAT GREENE COMES CLEAN was funny, heartfelt and I whipped through it.

Kat Greene Comes Clean is a smart, lovable story of a girl who's desperate to keep her mom's OCD from ruing both of their lives. But the more she learns about her mom's illness, the more she has to rely on others to help them both get through it. And it's those relationships that give the story--and Kat herself--so much heart.

Middle Grade perfection! This book is about family, divorce, friendship, puppy love, and mental health.

A beautiful debut that will give you all the feels! I wish this book had been around when I was in middle school as it has so much to say about parental relationships and friendships.

Kat Greene is such a real, wonderful character who is, somehow, awkward, confident, worried and hopeful. The book provides such a great template to show children how to reach out for help through the example of Kat's relationship with her school counselor.

I totally recommend KAT GREEN for middle schoolers or any reader who wants to feel like one for an afternoon.

I really loved how the author portrayed Kat's struggle to hide her mom's OCD tendencies. The feeling of being embarrassed by a parent is incredibly relatable to middle schoolers, but this takes it further to show how living with someone who has a disorder such as this can impact the whole family. It also gives hope and comfort to readers who may feel like they need to control, help, or fix the family member, but it may be bigger than them. Asking for help is hard, but it can be necessary. As an educator, I see this story and hope that my student readers will understand that they have people in their support system who they can turn to for help. Fantastic read!

5 stars on goodreads. An excellent book for MG readers and up on having a parent with OCD. My 10 year old daughter also read this and talked about it for months afterwards.