True to Form

Elizabeth Berg

ISBN 10: 0792726243 ISBN 13: 9780792726241

Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America Sound library, 2002

Synopsis

In this poignant sequel to Durable Goods and Joy School, 14-year-old Katie, lonely and isolated by her status as the "smart" kid at school, forges alliances when and where she can: with a fellow misfit named Cynthia, with the old couple down the road, and with the three little boys she babysits for. Meanwhile, her ties to the Texas town where she grew up are unraveling, and she discovers that she has grown away from everything that once defined her. Now she must learn who she is and who she can be all over again. From the author whose work The New Yorker calls "strong" and "timeless, " True to Form proves Elizabeth Berg is at the height of her craft.

About this title

Review

In her 10th novel, True to Form, Elizabeth Berg finds her way into the year 1961 and into the head of 13-year-old Katie Nash at the start of her summer vacation. Katie's world is smooth and easy with endless possibilities and sunshine. You almost expect sitcom-style canned laughter when she whines in frustration or stomps up to her room and turns the radio way up, but then almost everything Katie does fits that era's squeaky-clean conventionalities. The younger daughter of a remarried widower, Katie craves popularity, a great summer job, and a direct line to the local DJ to make requests. Newly transplanted from Texas, she settles in with her only friend, Cynthia, who shares her views on status and appearance and boys. Between a regular babysitting gig for a household of little boys and caring for an elderly bedridden woman, her summer is off to a less than auspicious start. Cynthia's mother's plot to start a Girl Scout troop and to camp out for a weekend in their living room doesn't help. Berg's plot doesn't exactly mine new territory, but Katie emerges as a girl who sees the world differently from the rest of her peers. Her poetic perspective on her surroundings and her predicaments should eventually win readers over. The period backdrop feels unformed against this portrait of a young artist-to-be, but Katie imbues it with fresh eyes. --Emily Russin

About the Author

Elizabeth Berg is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including The Year of Pleasures, The Art of Mending, Say When, True to Form, Never Change, and Open House, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2000. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for the ABBY award in 1996. The winner of the 1997 New England Booksellers Award for her body of work, Berg is also the author of a nonfiction work, Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True. She lives in Chicago.

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America Sound library
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792726243
• ISBN 13: 9780792726241
• Binding: Audio Cassette