"Beckie Weinheimer's tender debut novel explores what happens when a girl outgrows her religion and starts searching for something else to believe in."
---Viking Books

"Richly multilayered characters, portrayed with empathy, make this debut novel a strong addition to a growing body of works about adolescents seeking to reconcile the cohesive faith of childhood with the fractured religious diversity of the adult world."
- Kirkus Reviews

"[Kate's] plight will likely strike a chord with any teen who has struggled with a belief system that has been handed to them."
-Publishers Weekly

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"Converting Kate" song composed
& played by Marc Peterson.


Listen an interview with Beth Kidd about Converting Kate

Converting Kate Book cover

I looked at Mom. "Has it ever, even once in your whole life, occurred to you that maybe God accepts other churches besides yours?" I ask her in a voice that surprises me with its steadiness and calmness. I continue with a speech, one I've carefully prepared in my head for months. "Did you even once wonder if maybe the Holy Divine Church isn't as special as you think? I mean, isn't it arrogant to think that a small group of people, who have inbred for generations and make it a practice not to study other religions, really have the monopoly on religious truth?"

Mom's eyes darken; one blue blood vessel along her temple bulges. Her voice is quiet and so slow and steady it frightens me. "You've. Been. Reading. Your. Father's. Books."

Read the first five pages (Adobe Acrobat Reader, turn counterclockwise)

converting kate

Kate was raised in the Church of the Holy Divine - it's influenced everything in her life from her homeschooling to her ugly handmade clothes. But ever since the death of her nonreligious father, Kate has suspected there's more to life than memorizing Bible passages.

Taking advantage of their move to a new town, Kate - to her devout mother's horror - quits the Holy Divine. She replaces it with the cross-country team at her public school, her father's beloved book collection, and services at a more mainstream Christian church. But these new diversions don't bring all the answers she's looking for. And as Kate struggles to come to terms with her father's death and her mother's blind allegiance to the Holy Divine, she discovers there's a big difference between religion and spirituality - and the two don't always go hand in hand.

Read Beckie's latest Writer's Tip (May 9, 2008)

On April 3, Beckie spoke and facilitated a writer's workshop at the Shelter Rock Library in Albertson, NY. View photos.

The New York Public Library included Converting Kate on its annual list of recommended books for teens - Books for the Teen Age. Beckie was honored at a reception on March 22.

Converting Kate has been chosen for the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books of 2008



Beckie Weinheimer received her MFA in creative writing from Vermont College. She lives in Richmond Hill, NY, with her husband and has two daughters in their 20s, who are her most brutal critics and most loyal supporters. This is her first novel. When she isn't writing, she likes to take long walks and watch movies with her husband.

beckie weinheimer