"A beautiful coming of age tale"

In 1961, her military rigid father informs thirteen-year- old Katie Nash that since she is now grown up she needs employment during the summer. Katie thinks of obtaining a job at a nearby concession stand, but her dad must not believe she is that grown up because he arranges her work. She is to help the elderly Randolphs and to baby sit the Wexler males spawned in hell. Katie's opinion is interpreted as sassy talking back further proving how grown up her father feels his daughter is.

A trip to Texas to visit her former best friend turns into a disaster as both have moved on different paths since they last saw one another. Back home, the mother of her friend Cynthia, forces Katie to join the local scouts. Katie believes she is now a member of a the loser's club. As the summer of her discontent moves towards the beginning of the school year, Katie learns the meaning of friendship at a high cost with only her stepmother as her ally.

TRUE TO FORM is an engaging coming of age character study that focuses on an adolescent's struggle with changes in her life forces her to look inside herself. The story line is breezy yet poignant, not an easy feat but accomplished by talented Elizabeth Berg. The author keeps life's lessons lighthearted for the reader, but deep and angst- laden for the lead protagonist, who is the puissant key to an effective, entertaining elucidation on maturing.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 14, 2002

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Summary

It is 1961, and thirteen-year-old Katie is facing a summer full of conflict. First, instead of letting her find her own work for the season, Katie's father has arranged for two less-than-ideal baby-sitting jobs -- one for the rambunctious Wexler boys and another for Mrs. Randolph, a kind but elderly, bed-ridden neighbor. To make matters worse, Katie has been forcibly inducted into the "loser" Girl Scout troop organized by her only friend Cynthia's controlling and clueless mother. A much-anticipated visit to her former home in Texas and ex-best friend Cherylanne proves disappointing. And then comes an act of betrayal that leaves Katie questioning her views on friendship, on her ability not to take those she loves for granted, and, most important, on herself. "One thing to say about you, Katie, is that you are true. You should be proud of it, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise," Cherylanne insists. But whether or not Katie will ever feel true to herself remains to be seen.

From the writer whose work The New Yorker calls "strong" and "timeless," True to Form is a delicately told tale of a young girl wise beyond her years, whose growing pains finally awaken her to the clarity of forgiveness and a greater understanding of the complicated world around her. Full of the anguish and the joys of adolescence in a much more innocent time, True to Form is sure to make readers remember and reflect on their own moments of discovery and self-definition.