good story of teen-age life before boys. as another review says --if only i had been this smart, or if only i was this smart!
good reader! ( )

"Thirteen-year-old Katie moved to a small Missouri town two years ago, after the death of her mother. She now lives with her stern, inaccessible father and his new wife, who means well but who cannot mend the tear in Katie's heart. Lonely, and isolated by her status as the 'smart' kid at school, Katie forges alliances when and where she can. When Katie tries to move up in her social world, she ends up losing her closest friend and learns some very hard lessons about herself." ( )

13 yr old girl in 1961 takes care of old folks, babysits & her best friend

10.02 ( )

Katie Nash is a thirteen-year-old living in 1961, about to start what she thinks will be the most boring summer of her life. Instead she learns from both an older couple's mutual love and respect and a young mother's frustration, and goes through tumultuous relationships with her own contemporaries. Her old friend in Texas has succumbed to the 1960s housewife ideal and is pregnant at sixteen, while Katie herself betrays her best friend, Cynthia.

There is almost nothing new in any of these scenarios. Katie learns "life lessons" from the requisite wise old couple, who are nevertheless endearing in their own way, while she learns about true friendship from her mistakes with Cynthia. Katie also seems too pure and innocent, even for the 1960s; wide-eyed and rather naive, she concentrates on her hair and calling in to her favorite radio show. The book is full of coincidences that are rather improbable - Katie wins a free trip to Texas in a radio contest, while her stepmother wins a kitchen tool in a magazine contest.

Yet the book has its redeeming qualities. The subplot of Mrs Wexler, the frustrated housewife, shows undercurrents of depression and real-life problems in this sunny '60s perfect world. The idea that all is not right in the world could be taken farther, but along with Katie's pregnant friend, Cherylanne, Mrs Wexler's story breaks up the book well. The 1960s setting was a refreshing change from the usual contemporary fiction that seems so popular, and while I couldn't ever quite visualize Katie's world, I was sad to see it go.

Despite the criticisms mentioned above, sometimes all you need is a good, sunny, innocent book, and True to Form answers all of those. ( )

Haven't read the other two books featuring this character yet, although this one seems pretty stand alone. Not a bad tale of teenage agnst told by a good girl who's just having a little trouble not being one of the in-crowd. Up to the usual standards of Elizabeth Berg, good for a little escapist reading. ( )