True to Form by Elizabeth Berg

 This book was  delight. Berg captures so much of my adolescent thinking and in my time period, that it's just a joy to be there with her. Katie is 13, and I'm sure I read the previous two books about her a LONG time ago, but this book easily stands on its own.

From her turning orange from using too much QT to her friend getting pregnant, it's just so relatable. Katie has a summer job babysitting and helping an elderly couple, and these scenes are poignant and true. I was so much like Katie that it's uncanny. And I also wanted to fit in, but I didn't and maybe still don't have the courage to stand up to the snobs like she does. Just wow.

I also liked how she tries to make it right with her friend Cynthia after betraying her... She tries everything, including a Catholic-like confession, to get things right again. It's a beautiful description of repentance and coming to understand where your thinking can get you in trouble. So good! 

I also enjoyed her descriptions of her love of walking and the stars and of nature. And her description of how intimately she knows Cynthia when she describes everything that's in her purse. I remember being that close and intimate with a few friends at that age and it is very sweet and growth-inducing! Now I'm ready to go back to the library and get the two previous books about Katie--Durable Goods and Joy School. Somehow I didn't record them in this record so I must have read them beffore 2011? Not sure if that's the case or if I just didn't write about them. I do recall that June Apaza and I both read and talked about Durable Goods. We agreed that it felt so true to adolescent feelings and challenges.