Converting Kate

by Beckie Weinheimer

Book Overview

Kate was raised in the Holy Divine Church--it influenced everything from her homeschooling to her handmade clothes. But ever since her unbelieving father's death last year, she has suspected that there's more to life than memorizing scripture. Taking advantage of their move to a new town, Kate--to her devout mother's horror--quits Holy Divine. She joins the cross-country team, wears shorts to public school, and even tries a traditional Christian church...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670061522
• ISBN13: 9780670061525
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Wow, are you sure this is fiction?

Wow, Are you sure this was fiction? It rang true on so many levels, from my early longing and search for religion, but more so about who I was then and now. I appreciate the all the hard work and spiritual insight that Becky must have, to write such a great book. I laughed and cried as my friend read the entire book out loud over a 12 hour drive back home to Salt Lake City this past summer. Warning: May effect driving, caused by tears and laughter.

Road to Damascus

I have read Converting Kate several times now and with each reading, find a different pearl of wisdom hidden within it's pages. I have read it outloud on a long roadtrip with my partner and we both cried together over Kate's journey seeing our own similar experiences in her "conversion." I have also read it silently to myself - slowly pondering each chapter on completion. I always find a true mark of a great story whether on page, the movie screen or elsewhere to be one where the characters come alive in my mind and seem so real that weeks, months or years after experiencing their story I might stop and wonder what they are up to now ... I can't help but wonder what Kate is up to now.

A Compelling, Unforgettable Portrait

Converting Kate gives us a poignant yet uplifting picture of a teenager reared in a fundamentalist church who grieves over multiple losses: her parents' divorce; her father's death, for which her mother refused a funeral because of his unbelief; and a cross-country move separating Kate from family and life-long friends. Adjusting to her new situation, she struggles against the strictures of both her mother and the church, from which Kate slowly moves away. Through her mother's actions we are given glimpses of the ethical lapses such religious groups tolerate in the name of bringing others into the fold, behaviors propelling Kate into friendships with more tolerant friends as well as attendance at a mainline Protestant church. Issues of homophobia also play a part in the story as Kate observes the intolerance of her own church manifested in others, as well. In small, beautifully wrought segments, bits of memorized church dogma in Kate's thoughts gradually give way to quotations from the books her father treasured and bequeathed to her. If you have teenagers in your family, buy Converting Kate, not only for its compelling story, but as armor against religious intolerance.

An Incredibly Honest Journey

CONVERTING KATE is a deeply moving story revealing the challenges encountered during one year in the everyday life of a young girl. Kate shares her own doubts, her pain and her anger, as well as her joy - all of which are part of her journey of self-discovery. Her rebellions may not cause her any lasting bitterness, her burning resentments may not preclude a fleeting awareness of the fears and needs of others, but Kate's feelings are passionate and they are expressed to those who cannot understand, as well as to those who do. The important contribution afforded by this story is that it can make other young people feel less alone.

Recovering from "religion"

As a former member of a highly rigid and judgemental fundamentalist church, I congratulate Beckie Weinheimer for getting it right. Without calling down judgement of her own, we enter Kate's bifurcated world, where everyone and everything is either "right" (according to the values she has been raised with) or wrong (everything and everybody else). Kate's turmoil as she questions her previously unexamined faith, and explores her place in that "other" world hits the nail on the head. It is a carefully nuanced tale, for thoughtful readers who may be examining their own basic beliefs. Oh, yeah...it is also a book I was unable to put down until it was DONE! Way to go, Kate and Beckie Weinheimer!