Joy School

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Summary: This book was sensational!!!!
Review: This book was the best book I have ever read in my whole life. I really didn't like reading but when this book got put in my hands and I read even the first line it sucked me in. If you read this book I suggest reading "Durable Goods" just to get the backround on the characters. Elizabeth Berg is the most talented writer I've ever read. If you can read this book. I read "Durable Goods" after "Joy School" so I didn't get into it really fast because "Joy School" was always intresting ever word was intresting. I was so moved by this book and I'm only 12 years old. I hope Elizabeth Berg can see this and e-mail me because I've tried to find her online before but couldn't.

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Summary: Touching and true to life.
Review: Once again I'm amazed that Elizabeth Berg has so perfectly captured the essence of a teen aged girl...or at least the kind of girl I was. As with Durable Goods, I felt my heart being squeezed because Katie was so touching and familiar to me. Like the author, I have a hard time letting Katie go.

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Summary: Bittersweet, yet extremely funny
Review: Elizabeth Berg's writing style is one that describes characters, and feelings down to a T. This book reminded me of my own sometimes times painful adolescence and the main chararacter utters many a word that I have said as well. It is at times painfully sad, yet there is an enormous amount of humor, most of which rings so close to home, it's even funnier! Reading one of Elizabeth's books feels like 'dishing' with an old pal - nothing is held back, no secrets kept. I loved this book and recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating.
Review: I loved it. Even though the storyline is familiar, the feeling and the depth of this story are not. It wasn't what I expected--a trite, silly story. Every word is carefully chosen and nothing is in excess. I was pleasantly surprised with the simple, beautiful writing. In some ways, Katie is a very peculiar little girl-woman. Her attention to detail is meticulous and the narration is strange. Innocent, yet perceptive and wise. At the same time, Katie's desperation and yearning for "something more" is something that probably many people can relate to. Katie's genuinely likable--not brilliant, not talented, not beautiful. She's just real and only wants to find where she fits in.

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Summary: Berg deftly describes the passage to adolesence.
Review: One of the most remarkable aspects of our early adolesence is our ability to make events loom larger than life. Elizabeth Berg carefully inspects the heart of one young women and invests her with those qualities of character and personality which endear her to the reader. This is not merely an investigation of the heart itself, but of the world of love, hope, and fears which inhabit all of us throughout our lives. Coming-of-age novels appeal to us because we, regardless of our chronological age, evolve. Berg convinces us that the way to discover ourselves is to involve ourselves in the larger emotional issues of life, and damn the consequences.

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Summary: I could not put it down.
Review: Reading is not my favorite past time, actually I have never enjoyed it. There are few books I have read from cover to cover, I usually get too bored to finish them. JOY SCHOOL was an exception! It was like time travel. I couldn't beleive how Ms. Berg captured my adolecence almost word for word. I AM Katie! I lost my mother when I was 14, my sister got married and pregnant(not in that order) and moved to Texas, I grew up in Missouri and still live here, my father was not emotionally there for me, and my life revolved around GREG, the 24 year old man that worked at the grocery store up the street. I want to thank Ms. Berg for making me look back at that painful time in my life with some humor and understanding the great growing experience it was.

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic, but entertaining
Review: I was glad I finished this book even though it didn't keep me coming back for more. It was a little too simplistic, although the innocence was refreshing. I look forward to reading other Berg novels that are of a more adult style.

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Summary: Berg is a marvelous storyteller.
Review: As the author of young adult fiction I kept wondering if THE JOY SCHOOL was of that genre. But whatever genre, I thought it was a wonderful look into the mind of thirteen-year-old Katie. I've read all but one (TALK BEFORE SLEEP) of Elizabeth Berg's books. She is a marvelous storyteller and THE JOY SCHOOL is proof of that..

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Summary: Great story of coming of age
Review: I just finished this book last night, in one sitting. This was my first book by this author, but now I am anxious to read more. It is written in a beautiful style, that one can almost put themselves in Katie's shoes. I loved it!

Rating:
Summary: Reading Elizabeth Berg is like talking to your best friend.
Review: Joy School's protaganist Katie is refreshing, funny, and very real. Anyone woman who had a difficult time growing up could surely relate to Katie's world view. Even though Katie is having a difficult "coming-of-age," this book is anything but depressing. The other characters are well-developed and interesting, especially Katie's know-it-all friend Cherylanne who sends Katie letters filled with advise about boys. This was my first Elizabeth Berg novel and I have since read everything she's written.