It is 1961 and 13-year-old Katie Nash lives with dad and step mom in Missouri.  Katie lived in Texas, but two years ago her mother passed away and life has not been easy.  Katie’s over bearing dad finds her summer jobs of helping to take care of an elderly neighborhood woman and babysitting three very rambunctious young boys.  She finds that she is losing connection with her best friend from Texas Cherylanne who has become boy crazy to the point of no return and has nothing in common with Katie anymore.

Then there is her new friend Cynthia who likes to do things that Katie does like eating way too much junk food, choosing clothing, and talking about boys at a more “thirteenish” level.   yet when Katie is offered a chance to go to an upscale school, she throws Cynthia under the bus to get in good with the popular rich girls.. only to quickly find out – that this group is not really where she longs to be.  Not Katie is left with trying to mend a broken friendship and learn some hard lessons as she does so.

Yes.  I am on a Berg kick.  This is my second adventure into Elizabeth Berg territory and I am once again glad to have experienced the adventure.  While I did not find this storyline as powerful as We Are All Welcome Here, Elizabeth Berg stills comes across in her mild manner of making a point from a young girls perspective.

Katie’s voice is captured so well that I could not help but laugh as she tells this story.  There is everything in this thirteen year old mind and actions that I would say many of us had experienced at that age:

snooping around at the house you are babysitting at

Turning the radio up really loud to tune out the parental figures

the stomping of feet and the slamming of doors

The inner thoughts about the teachers, the adults, the homework…

Elizabeth Berg captures Katie’s emotions so well you would think that she was thirteen years old as she wrote the book.  I do not know enough about Elizabeth’s Berg’s writing to say if this is her signature style yet, but if it is – I will happily read on.

This book has a smorgasbord of covers and I do love covers!  Look at these:

Amazon Rating

I have updated the 2011 Reading Map to include True to Form

Nabbed…. errrr… borrowed from my local Library