I wish I could be anyone but me!
—The back of the book
A Children's Literature book series by Nancy Krulik about Katie Carew, a third (later fourth) grade girl who switches bodies with her friends and family as a result of a wish on a shooting star.
This series provides examples of:
- Animorphism: The magic wind occasionally turns Katie into other animals. Katie has been a hamster, a cocker spaniel, a black cat, a raccoon, a clownfish, a snake, a horse, a bat, a reindeer, a dolphin, and a goat.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Katie regrets her wish of being "anyone but herself" very, very quickly.
- Christmas Episode: A Katie Kazoo Christmas and Holly's Jolly Christmas both feature multiple stories revolving around the Christmas season.
- Everytown, America: Cherrydale. The state is unknown; the only real clue is that it is somewhere in the USA. It also fits most of the description of this trope; there is a single elementary school named after the town, most of the residents are friendly except for one or two, it is a Close-Knit Community and Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here, the town’s history is very simple, and the characters are routinely involved in city affairs. Celebrity guests also visit the town with an alarming frequency.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: The premise of the each book is Katie transforming into a different person and what happens as a result.
- Gender Bender: The Magic Wind turns Katie into boys, too. Was most prominent in Girls Don't Have Cooties due to it being her first one.
- Granola Girl: In Free the Worms! Katie refused to feed the class snake worms because of her vegetarian morals.
- Halloween Episode: Witch Switch takes place during the Halloween Parade.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: Katie cannot control when the Magic Wind comes, who it will turn her into, or when she'll switch back.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: George. Goes from complete jerk to comedian - after five minutes of talk with Katie.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Suzanne can be arrogant, but her and Katie are still best friends.
- The Mall: Where everyone hangs out. EVERYONE. Usually at the candy shop or pizza place.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: When Katie undergoes an Animorphism, she sometimes gives into her animalistic urges. This trope is usually absent whenever she turns into another human though.
- New Transfer Student: Becky is a new student to class 3A, and tries copying Suzanne in an attempt to fit in.
- Nice Girl: Katie is kind to every person and animal she meets.
- Orphaned Series: More than likely, there hasn't been a new book since 2013.
- Plot-Driving Secret: Katie keeps her switcheroos a secret, so most of her problems are caused by her trying to pretend to be her inhabitant and failing at it.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Katie has this combination along with the ability to switch bodies.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Jeremy is a great student who also wears glasses.
- Strictly Formula: The plot of pretty much every book is “Katie encounters a problem which directly involves a certain person (or sometimes animal). She then turns into said person/animal, messes things up, turns back, and then solves the original problem based off the experiences she gained from that screwup."
- Summer Campy: This trope gets put into context of a science camp (the type of which most schools send the kids off to in March one year in any grade from third to eighth), with Genie, a female Drill Sergeant Nasty, as the instructor. The only deviation is that the other counselors are genuinely nice, as if to make up for Genie’s meanness.
- A Wizard Did It: Absolutely no explanation is ever given as to what the Magic Wind truly is or where it comes from. It is literally no deeper than being a misguided gift from a shooting star.
