Meet Julie

Meet Julie: An American Girl is the first book in the Julie series. It is included with Julie when she is purchased and can be purchased separately.

Facts

 * Author: Megan McDonald, Susan McAliley
 * Illustrators: Robert Hunt
 * First Published: 2007
 * Setting: Early fall 1975

Introduced

 * Julie Albright
 * Mom Albright
 * Dad Albright
 * Tracy Albright
 * Ivy Ling
 * T. J.
 * Coach Manley

Chapter One: Moving Day
Julie and Ivy are spending their last day together before Julie moves across town, turning cartwheels in Julie's yard. When Julie spots a plane in the air, she and Ivy wave to it, as Julie waves at every plane she sees because her Dad is a pilot. Mom calls Julie inside, but Ivy comes along. Julie gives Ivy a friendship bracelet in Ivy's favorite colors, red and purple. Then Ivy writes A.F.A. on Julie's high-top sneaker, for "A Friend Always". Tracy comes in and tells her that she has to start bringing her stuff down in the front room. Julie protests, but Tracy tells her that Mom said now. Ivy leaves, but before she does, Julie and her do their secret handshake, hooking pinkies. Later, Julie, Tracy, and Mom are eating Chinese take-out in their new apartment. Tracy likes it there, and Mom says that her favorite part of living there is that they lived right above her new shop, Gladrags. The name had come from a Rod Stewart song and was Tracy's idea. Mom asks Julie what she thinks she will like best about being here, and Julie says that she likes the dining table, pointing to the boxes they are eating on. Tracy and Mom laugh, and then Mom explains that the real dining table isn't put back together yet because she couldn't find the screwdriver. Tracy asks Mom if she couldn't find the hairbrush, either, and asks if Mom has looked in a mirror lately. Julie says that Mom has a giant hair bump, and Tracy says it's more like a camel hump. Tracy and Julie laugh, and then Mom tries to put her hair back up. The doorbell rings, and Tracy gets it, and says that it's a guy. Mom comes, and it's Hank, and friend of Mom's. He was Mom's first customer at Gladrags. He gives everyone some zucchini bread, and Mom asks him if he can stay for tea. Hank says no, and that he has to get to a meeting at the Veteran's center. When he leaves, Julie asks Mom if she will help her fix her room up. Mom says yes, and Julie says she needs a lampshade and curtains. Mom tells her that they can decorate and lampshade and make curtains. Then Mom and Julie clear up the table, and Tracy pretends to play tennis against one of the walls. She asks Mom and Julie if they knew that when people didn't have rackets, they played tennis with thier hands. Mom says no, and Tracy says that she can't wait for school and is going out for tennis. She keeps talking, and Julie says that her sister is a hair-freak and a tennis freak. Then, when Julie is in bed and Mom comes to tuck her in, Julie says that she doesn't know how she will start a new school. Julie can't even find a pencil or her binder. She worries that know one will talk to her and she won't be able to find a friend. Mom says that once, Julie's Grandpa moved Mom and her family to France for a year. Mom could barely speak French. At school, a girl tried to tell Mom that her dress was pretty, but Mom didn't understand. When Mom figured out what the girl was saying, they had a laugh and eventually became best friends. Julie says she didn't know this, and she asks if the stickers on Mom's old footlocker are real, and if she saw the Eiffel Tower in person. Mom says yes, and tells Julie that she knows that starting over is scary and it is scary for her, too.

Chapter Two: Capitals and Cupcakes
When Julie starts her new school, Jack London Elementary, she misses Ivy. And every time she walks down the hall, she keeps a look out for Principal Sanchez, who was strict. He had a demerit system, which Julie soon knew all about. If you got three demerits, you had to stay after school to scrub desks or wash blackboards. When Julie's teacher, Ms. Hunter, writes her name on the blackboard, a boy says that she had forgotten the "r" in Mrs. Ms. Hunter says that it's just Ms. Hunter, and she draws out the "zzz" sound, like a buzzing bee. She says that it's not Miss or Mrs. The students didn't understand. Ms. Hunter says to think of it like "Mr.", because you call a man Mr. whether he's married or not. A girl named Allison asks what is wrong with Miss or Mrs.; Ms. Hunter says that whether a woman is married or not is her business, and that Ms. works either way.

Items associated with Meet Julie

 * Julie's Meet Outfit
 * Julie's Accessories