As shallow and silly as she sounded pining for more than one cashmere sweater, being slightly embarrassed by her childish princess dress (I didn’t think anything was wrong with princess dresses when I read it – which might have proven Jane’s point considering how old I was), being embarrassed by her parents, or being jealous of the sophisticated upperclassman, Marcy Stokes, for being blonde and “the cashmere sweater type” (you know, that girl), she was so relatable and honest that you couldn’t help but root for her.

I know that by today’s standards the plot is not very empowering and Jane is kind of passive (that’s my euphemism), but she fascinated me when I was a child, from the way she fastidiously plucked her eyebrows a few hairs at a time, to her brushes with being a bad girl (that kiss I mentioned earlier, don’t be shocked, involved money!). As Jane experiences the ups and downs of a first love, she grows up and becomes more confident – showing that no one really feels that ordinary at fifteen. Her first tentative steps towards romance take her to the interior of a Doggie Diner delivery truck, kissing on a bridge, Chinatown, and getting written about in the popular school newspaper gossip column. Stan is good-looking and older (16!) but he seems to like her too. Before you dismiss her as too frivolous, be informed that Jane also babysits around the neighborhood, and it’s while minding the nightmare child of the block that she meets the already popular new boy in town – Stan Crandall. She shudders at how her mother doesn’t wear stockings (parents just don’t understand!), and covets a wardrobe brimming with cashmere sweaters – the latest thing at school.

Jane Purdy is your average fifteen year old high school girl, growing up in California, who is still self-conscious and sees herself as very ordinary. This book can still bring you back to a simpler time when a girl just wanted a boy to pin her with his ID bracelet, and you could tell how much a boy liked you by how shiny his shoes were. It was pretty simplistic and juvenile, but sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for. I love Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books, but I will always have more of a soft spot for Fifteen (1956), her sweet story about a girl’s first love.

Fifteen book by beverly cleary