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Rating: 
Summary: HEARTWARMING AND FUNNY
Review: Elizabeth Berg first introduced us to Katie Nash in her book "Durable Goods" and now in this book we meet up again with Katie who is now 13 yrs. old and her father has married Ginger whom Katie really likes. Ginger is a quieting influence in the family.........Since moving to Missouri because her father was transferred from a military base in Texas, Katie feels lonely once again, missing her best friend, Cherylanne. Katie did go back to Texas to visit once and the two friends keep in touch by letters.....Katie meets a new best friend named Cynthia, but Katie betrays her when she wants to fit in with the "in-crowd" at a new private school she now attends......Katie feels very badly about this and wants more than anything to have Cynthia forgive her.....Katie has learned not to take people she loves for granted because they could be taken from her as her sister was (she ran away to another state) or her mother was (by dying)...Through trial and error, Katie learns to forgive people, even herself........This story is about adolescence in a more innocent time during the 1960's.......I enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartwarming coming-of-age story!
Review: Elizabeth Berg's True to Form is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about Katie Nash -- a precocious thirteen-year-old -- and the important lessons that she learns on the summer of 1961. Katie feels like a loser. Not only does she have a job looking after three brats, she also has to care for her elderly neighbor Mrs. Randolph. In order to get reacquainted with the past, she wins a trip to her hometown to see her best friend Cherylanne. However, Katie is about to face some harsh realities. She also learns the true value of friendship...This novel is funny, heartwarming and memorable. Katie made me laugh on various occasions; she also touched me in so many levels. Having loved Never Change and Open House, I knew I'd love this offering. Ms. Berg hasn't disappointed me. I couldn't put this novel down. Berg penned to other books about Katie and I look forward to reading them. In the meantime, I strongly recommend this wonderful gem.
Rating:
Summary: growing up doesn't come with directions
Review: I have read all of E. Berg's books and always find myself waiting for the next one. "True to form" again reminds of how the author can make you remember things you had long forgotten. I love her style of writing and her ability to put your heart right into the book. All the other reviews have gone into detail about the contents of the book and the story line so it would be redundant for me to repeat all of that here. I think this book is one of Berg's best and agree that Kate Nash has to continue in yet another book. She is a wonderful character. I am glad for her step-mother and her part in Kate life, she needed a mother and Ginger fits that role well. I loved the line in this book when she reads Kate's poetry. She admits that she knows nothing about poetry and Kate suddenly regrets showing her the poetry, but Ginger continues, and says " but I do know when someone has something special and you do." Katies whole life changed with those words. In this book she found Ginger and the Randolphs who all found something special in her. With her dad's personality, she needed those who validated her as a person and let her know what a worthwhile person she is. A wonderful read.
Rating: 
Summary: True to Formula
Review: I'd heard of Elizabeth Berg and had read a review of True to Form, so I decided to pick it up one day. I wasn't disappointed, but some of my expectations fell through. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite!
Review: I've never had one favorite author until now. I've read all of Elizabeth Berg's fiction and she has never disappointed. This one, as well as Never Change, are two of the most memorable books I've ever read. Ms. Berg has the extraordinary ability to capture the true essence of her characters. She could easily be writing about my life right down to the dead-on dialogue. I am constantly astounded by how brilliantly she is able to accurately describe feelings that I never could put into words. This author is a true observer of the human experience right down to the most minute detail and it shows in her work. I've shared this book with friends who all agree that it is outstanding. As a librarian, I've recommended it to my patrons, also. Katie Nash, the main character in this novel, is, by far, a character whom I will remember for years to come. I am an avid reader,therefore, I think that says a lot. Oftentimes, when one reads a lot, the characters, plots, and even titles begin to run together in the memory banks, but then one comes along that stands alone. True to Form is that novel for me. I'm looking forward to more of Ms. Berg's work. I found out recently that she and I share the same birthday and I think that has to have something to do with why I relate so well to her books.
Rating:
Summary: Written Truly and Surely
Review: Katie Nash, the effortlessly charming heroine of "Durable Goods" and "Joy School," is back in this novel about her thirteenth summer. And she's just as good as before! As I read this book, I realized once again why I delight in Elizabeth Berg's writing and the character of Katie. I love how, in Berg's hands, the writing never feels forced and Katie's narration just seamlessly carries the novel. I love how Katie is so "truly" created, so warmly human, that you just want to grasp the pages of the book and pull her out for a chat. I love how Katie interacts with the world; doing the most ordinary things and recounting her adventures with such joy for life and a rare intelligence. Yet most of all, I love how Berg makes Katie someone who can pull all the truth in the world out of a simple act like eating a butterscotch-dipped ice cream cone. For anyone who is mourning the fact that they will never find another heroine as achingly excellent as L.M. Montegomery's Anne or Betty Smith's Francie, read "True to Form." I think you'll find that Katie Nash can easily take her place with Anne and Francie.
Rating:
Summary: Written Truly and Surely
Review: Katie Nash, the effortlessly charming heroine of "Durable Goods" and "Joy School," is back in this novel about her thirteenth summer. And she's just as good as before! As I read this book, I realized once again why I delight in Elizabeth Berg's writing and the character of Katie. I love how, in Berg's hands, the writing never feels forced and Katie's narration just seamlessly carries the novel. I love how Katie is so "truly" created, so warmly human, that you just want to grasp the pages of the book and pull her out for a chat. I love how Katie interacts with the world; doing the most ordinary things and recounting her adventures with such joy for life and a rare intelligence. Yet most of all, I love how Berg makes Katie someone who can pull all the truth in the world out of a simple act like eating a butterscotch-dipped ice cream cone. For anyone who is mourning the fact that they will never find another heroine as achingly excellent as L.M. Montegomery's Anne or Betty Smith's Francie, read "True to Form." I think you'll find that Katie Nash can easily take her place with Anne and Francie.
Rating:
Summary: Another Katie Nash story
Review: TRUE TO FORM by Elizabeth Berg
November 25, 2004
One of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Berg has written three books centering on the young Katie Nash, as she tells her tales about growing up in the early 1960's. TRUE TO FORM is the third and final book in this series, and each book has been a delight to read. Reading about Katie and her thoughts and fears about growing up has been such a treat. I feel that Berg gets it "right on" with everything Katie goes through, including the loss of a parent, first crush, and the trials and tribulations of growing up a misfit.
In TRUE TO FORM, Katie is now thirteen years old and is getting ready to start high school. Her relationship with her new stepmother, Ginger, is developing and growing, and while her own father was never there for her emotionally, it is Ginger that becomes the dominant parent in Katie's life. As for Katie's older sister, she is now living in California and is rarely heard from anymore. It's as far away from their father as she could possibly get without leaving the country.
Katie is still in touch with her best friend from Texas, Cherylanne, who is still in contact via long letters filled with advice and the latest news. Cherylanne has her own trials to get through, but as always, she's quick on the advice and very confident that she will get through this difficult time in her life. Katie finds herself growing apart from Cherylanne, as the older girl is now having sex with her boyfriend and is hoping to get married to him soon, but Katie still goes to her as her one source of advice when all else fails. As the novel progresses, Katie learns what true friendship is really about, and how as life goes on, she in turn will move on to new places, new friends, and she is finally learning to accept her new home.
In the meantime, Katie is recruited by her father to baby-sit the neighbors' three boys, as well as help an elderly man take care of his bedridden wife. Between the two couples, Katie learns what real love is all about, as she watches the love between old Mr. Randolph and his wife who is still beautiful in his eyes. Katie also watches while the Wexlers, who are a much younger couple, fall apart before her very eyes. The wonderful thing about Katie is that while she is at first repulsed by the older couple, she learns to care for both Mr. and Mrs. Randolph as she gets to know them better, and wishes she will someday find a love as strong as theirs.
Katie's new best friend is Cynthia, another misfit. They sleep over each other's house and know each other's secrets as only best friends do. The climax of the novel is Katie's friendship with Cynthia, and how she betrays Cynthia while trying to fit in with a new set of friends in a school that Katie has just gotten accepted to (with the help of Mr. Randolph). It's a private school for girls, very exclusive, and Katie thinks now she will be popular and no longer be the misfit she's felt like all her life. It's a harsh lesson in life that Katie has to learn, but Berg writes this book so realistically that I felt this part of the book was done very well. It was believable and I was not let down with how the book ended.
TRUE TO FORM gets 5 stars from me. Ratings are obviously subjective, as one can tell by reading various reviews on Amazon.com, and for me, I personally enjoyed the story of Katie Nash, as I have done with the previous novels. I also enjoy the way Elizabeth Berg writes, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Her style is very simple, but yet she tends to pack a wallop in such short books, which I find very impressive. That is really my main reason for giving it such a high rating. Those who enjoy reading Women's Lit will love TRUE TO FORM.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable coming of age novel; great young adult reading
Review: True to Form continues the story of Katie Nash, the young, motherless girl who we first met in Durable Goods. Katie is now 13, and her life appears to have stabalized: her father has remarried a sweet stepmother, she has finally gotten used to her new town, and she is excited about the start of summer vacation. Of course problems still occur--the two summer jobs arranged by her father don't fit her "dream job" description, she desperately wants to fit in with the popular crowd, etc.--but at this point, Katie's difficulties seem to be more of the "normal" growing up variety as opposed to the more challenging obstacles she faced in Berg's earlier novels. Although I enjoyed reading about Katie's development into a more poised, thoughtful young woman, I found Berg's treatment of Katie to be very reminiscent of Judy Blume, and thus I think that Katie's story would be most appealing to young adult readers.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Enjoyable
Review: What a pleasant way to pass a few summer afternoons! Katie's "coming of age" is touching, realistic and sometimes funny. I enjoyed it! As an author of a book for mothers, NEW PSALMS FOR NEW MOMS: A KEEPSAKE JOURNAL, I care deeply about children; this novel has the same feeling. Let's cherish all of our children and raise them with good values.
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