TRUE TO FORM by Elizabeth Berg

 Finished Tu 9/1/20

This is a hardback that Janny bought at a lawn sale. I think that this novel could be aimed at the 'young adult' market, but maybe contemporary kids would think it too sweet.

The character of Katie was in two other novels; 'DURABLE GOODS' 'JOY SCHOOL'.

The novel is set in 1961. Katie is thirteen and this is her summer break and her father wants her to work. She gets a baby sitting job taking care of three young boys and also helping an old man take care of his elderly wife, Mrs. Randolph. And, her best friend Cynthia, has a mother who insists that young girls should be part of The Girl Scouts of America. 

Mr. Randolph is a retired teacher and he is able to get her into the exclusive girls school where he used to teach. Katie wants to be part of the 'popular' girls at the new school and she gets used. The new girls want to use her for her intelligence and she denigrates Cynthia in front of her new friends. Cynthia hears it and will not speak with Katie. This is the major 'clash' of the novel. 

The book is a kind of meditation on Friendship. 

From the book's page at Amazon:

"Living with her stern, unapproachable father and his new wife after the death of her mother, thirteen-year-old Katie finds herself lonely and forges an alliance with Cynthia, a fellow misfit."

A review by 'Top 500 Reviewer Vine Voice':

"Written with wisdom and wit, this book by Elizabeth Berg—the third in a series—is a coming of age story to which any woman who came of age in the '60s will thoroughly enjoy, if not actually treasure.

It's the summer of 1961 and Katie Nash is 13, bridging that confusing time between childhood and adolescence. But Katie does something so terrible and upsetting that she can barely forgive herself, and the act may very well bring her remorse her entire life. How she tries to make amends is both endearing and sad and teaches us all lessons in not only how to forgive one another, but also humble ourselves to seek forgiveness from those we have harmed.

While this book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I think you will appreciate it so much more if you read "Durable Goods" and "Joy School" first."