Well written and worth the time spent reading the story of teen aged Katie Nash. Struggling with the issues we face as teens, Berg presents a wonderful story of life lessons well learned.

Katie has a over bearing military father, a loving step mother, and a good friend. The relationship she has with her friend is based upon them feeling as outsiders. Their bond is strong, until Katie wins a scholarship to a private girl's school where her father teaches.

Bathing in feeling as though she is a part of the in crowd, Katie does the unforgiveable behavior of bad mouthing her friend in order to feel a part of the snobby and rich girls. Sadly, Katie's friend overhears her derision and making fun of her friend to a member of the in crowd. It changes their relationship and Katie must confront the definition of friendship.

The character grows as she babysits a group of three rowdy boys who are very unselfish and likeable, and helps an elderly man take care of his wife who has many physical needs. It is through the relationship of her friend and the family of boys and the love shown by the husband to his wife that Katie learns to mature.

This is a coming of age story portrayed accurately, depicting the trials and tribulations of teen age years that define us for the rest of our lives.

Four Stars! ( )

A lovely, lilting book written from the view of a teenaged Katie Nash. I have not read the first two books in the series, but this one stood alone nicely. Katie is full of heart and hormones and struggling to decide who she wants to or even can be. Even at my age, I can relate to the angst of growing up and navigating the waters of acceptance...in many ways we are doing that all of our lives.

Berg's writing is sometimes lyrical stream of consciousness.
"I take in a huge breath and look at the sky as hard as I can. I feel like I'm trying to eat it with my eyes. I wish there would be certain things you come across and you could say, Okay, that's one. Put that away for me to pull out later just exactly as it is now. My dream is for me to be a poet who could make things like this sky come to life for someone else. If you see a sunset and try and describe it to someone in normal words, all you can say is, "Boy, I saw a great sunset last night." but if you are a poet, you give it to someone to feel for themselves. Like you make a little seed of what you say, they swallow it, and it blooms again inside their own heart."
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I thought I had read everything Elizabeth Berg has written but....I just found this one! Such a wonderful collection of ideas---pieces of wisdom that are put forth by Berg in such a delightful way. Now I need to find her memoir.... I'll be Seeing You: A Memoir. ( )

Narrated by Jen Taylor. Thirteen-year-old Katie lives in Missouri with her stern military father and perky stepmother, Ginger. It is summertime and she looks forward to working on her tan, writing poetry and hanging out with best friend Cynthia. But her father has acquired two jobs for her: assisting the elderly Randolph couple and babysitting the three Wexler boys. Katie, upbeat and resilient, ends up enjoying both jobs and getting to know the Randolphs and the boys. With the help of Mr. Randolph she wins a full scholarship to the prestigious Bartlett School but she ends up alienating Cynthia in her efforts to be part of the bartlett crowd. Perplexed and lonely, Katie tries to win Cynthia back and ponders giving up the scholarship. The last part of the book comes off as pedantic as Katie philosophizes about the ways of life and friendship--duh, here's the moral. But the narrator creates a Katie who is humorous, contemplative, practical and down-to-earth, someone you'd want to get to know.

Audio book performed by Arija Bareikis

Elizabeth 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.
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