Audio book performed by Arija BareikisElizabeth Berg returns to the story of Katie Nash in this third installment (after Durable Goods and Joy School). It is 1961, and 13-year-old Katie, having started school early and skipped a year is now in high school. An Army brat, she is used to moving from city to city, but her father and new stepmother seem somewhat settled in this St Louis suburb. While she still feels like an outsider, she does have a best friend, Cynthia, as well as a continuing relationship with Cherylanne, her friend and neighbor back in Killeen, Texas. She’s looking forward to a summer job working the popcorn concession stand at the pool (and hanging out with cute lifeguards), when her father announces he’s found her the perfect jobs – babysitting a trio of rambunctious boys alternating with “babysitting” an elderly woman who is bed-ridden. To further cement her reputation as a loser, she is roped into joining a Girl Scout troop. Not everything is bleak, however. Katie is also blossoming as a poet and writer. A trip back to Texas to visit Cherylanne and a chance to become part of the popular “in” group at a new school leave her questioning the meaning of friendship and struggling to find a way to branch out into new experiences and still remain true to herself. This is Berg at her best. Katie is believable and real. Yes, she is extraordinarily bright and gifted as a writer and observer of life, but she’s also a young teen who makes mistakes in judging other people and suffers the consequences of her decisions. Her journey forces her to learn whom she can really trust, whom to listen to, and how to forgive. This quote describes the basic life lessons Katie learns:It is never about how good your voice is; it is only about feeling the urge to sing, and then having the courage to do it with the voice you are given. It is about what people try to share with each other, even if so many of us are so off-key when we do it. While this is the third book in a trilogy it easily stands alone; I do not think a reader will feel s/he is missing anything by not having reading the previous books. Arija Bareikis does a wonderful job voicing the audio book. She really brings Katie and the other characters to life. I’ll admit there were a few scenes that had me near tears, but on the whole this is a coming-of-age story with a hopeful outcome.
THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY3.5. I really think like many other reviewers, this would be a great book for young teenage girlsIf you're looking for something a little fluffy but well written, not shallow or sappy, I recommend True to Form. The book was written and marketed for adults, but I wish I could have read it when I was thirteen or fourteen. Maybe it would have helped me understand that all girls make similar mistakes and have similar "aha" moments at that age. Maybe I wouldn't have felt so alone in my dilemmas and awkwardness. What made this book work for me was that I really liked Katie Nash. She's a very precocious 13 1/2 years old. She wants to be a poet. She loves to write and store away observations about her world. A lot of her observations are laugh-out-loud funny, and others get you right down there where it murmurs. Katie's mother died a couple of years ago, so she's had to grow up faster than other girls. The loss has made her more thoughtful and more aware of pain in other people. Katie takes us through the summer of 1961 in Missouri. She navigates treacherous social waters, learns about true love from an elderly couple, and painfully discovers what real friendship means. I'm usually prone to cynical scoffing at books of this nature. However, Elizabeth Berg's rendition of Katie's voice is so...well, "true to form." It brought back a lot of memories of my own adolescent struggles and awakenings. I love the way Katie takes note of every detail of the good moments in her life. She stores these moments in her internal "scrapbook" so she can pull them out and look at them when things aren't going well. I did exactly the same thing when I was her age. I used to tell myself to pay close attention, because when I got older I was going to wish I could have these moments back. I don't know how I knew that, I just did. All these years later, those amazing moments still pop into my mind when I least expect them. "Whoa! Where did that come from?"
What do You think about True To Form (2004)?
My first-ever audio book.My first notes from before I finished: I have to write this down before I forget (the downside of a tape vs. a book you can flip through!) -- I thought it was such a lovely way for Katie to describe her stepmother: . . . the calm, pleasant look in her eyes a welcome mat for my feelings.I'm through tapes 1 and 2 and have started 3. I would be further along, but my mom called me about halfway between here and Colorado Springs this morning, and I talked to her for probably 45 minutes!I love the actress's voice for this book! OHMYWORD -- are all audio books like this? Such a perfect match of story and narrator? wow Too bad it made me cry while I was driving!And the rest:I realize I don't actually have much else to add, except that I really liked how the actress' voice captured the voice of the girl telling the story, and I liked the stepmom. I remember having a pit in my stomach about her friend (was her name Cynthia? I can't remember) at the party with the "cool" girls she was trying to impress. And I also liked (a lot!) her relationship with the old couple and the kids she babysat.
—Antof9
Read (reread in some cases) the Katie Nash coming of age trilogy over the last 10 days. I felt in need of the literary equivalent of comfort food and Elizabeth Bergs' series total fits the bill. Tho Katie comes of age and is a tween about 10-15 years prior to my tween time, so much of it is a shared memory, the baby oil baking in the sun, the living vicariously thru a best friend who you suspect keeps you around for an audience, the adoration of the written word, inappropriate major crush and sneaky suspicion that you're not only smarter than anyone else in some ways, but also that you will live your life at the window, just out of reach. I love Katie, knew my share of Cheryl Annes and oh the horror of being Cynthia. Heartbreaking, delightful and with Joy School and Durable Goods, a trilogy for the ages
—Andi
I listened to this book as an unabridged audio recording. The reader does a good job of portraying a frustrated young girl on the verge of womanhood but I often wished she'd speed up the reading a bit. She . . .. talks . . . casually . . . with . . . many . . . irritating . . . pauses.The story, as it is, is an easy listen. Set in the 1950's (or early 60's?) Katie is a lonely thirteen year old living with her stern father and his new wife (who is isn't the evil witchy stereotype for a change) in a new town. Katie's own mother died and dad became so unbearable that Katie's older sister ran off. Katie's looking forward to spending her summer ogling sexy young lifeguard's at the beach but those dreams come to a crashing halt when her father insists she spend her summer assisting a bedridden neighbor and babysitting some neighborhood brats. Katie enters a "free vacation" contest, never expecting to win, but win she does and decides to visit her home town and her old friend CherylAnn for a few days. The trip turns out to be a bust as Katie realizes CherylAnn, always one of the cool kids, is very shallow and boring. The story continues as Katie grows up, makes mistakes and experiences all of the angst as only a thirteen year old can.Katie makes some very wise observations about life and its changes and this glimpse into her life was a pleasure to read.
—Bark's Book Nonsense
