Growing Pangs Books in Order

Kathryn Ormsbee's Growing Pangs books follow Katie, a homeschooled girl in suburban Kentucky, through the stretch of life when childhood starts giving way to something bigger and much messier. These are realistic graphic novels, not big adventure stories, but the stakes feel huge because they are the kinds of things kids actually live inside: best friends changing, bodies changing, church and school pressure, and the long process of figuring out who you are.

Katie is the center of everything.

In Growing Pangs, she is heading toward sixth grade and already feels a little out of sync with the world around her. Her friendship with Kacey has always been her safe place, but summer camp starts to shake that certainty. At the same time, Katie's worries keep multiplying. She fixates on braces, new friends, and the habits she uses to quiet the noise in her head. The book gives those fears a vivid shape, which makes her anxiety and OCD feel immediate and understandable without turning the story into a lecture.

The setting matters because Katie's world is so specific. She moves through homeschool circles, camp, church spaces, and family routines that can feel cozy one minute and claustrophobic the next. Ormsbee has said the series draws on her own childhood, and that personal link shows in the details. The jokes, awkward silences, and small embarrassments all feel lived in. So does Katie's love of theater and her intense awareness of where she fits, or doesn't.

Turning Twelve picks up as Katie gets older and starts running into a new set of problems. She wants the fun version of being twelve, pool parties, babysitting, more freedom, and a part in the musical Annie. Instead she gets friends who may be moving away, mean girls at youth group, bigger questions about puberty, and a crush on Grace, another girl in the show. Her buzzing thoughts have not vanished, so the second book keeps mental health in the picture while also opening the door to first love and identity.

These are books about the small moments that feel enormous at eleven and twelve.

What ties the series together is Katie's voice. She is funny, observant, dramatic in a very believable tween way, and often harder on herself than anyone else is. The tone stays warm even when the subject gets tough. If you like coming-of-age stories that are candid about anxiety, friendship breakups, religion, queerness, and the plain weirdness of growing up, the Growing Pangs books offer all of that with a lot of heart. They are best read in order, because part of the pleasure is watching Katie slowly build a fuller, steadier sense of herself.