"True to Form" beautifully illustrates the small challenges and trials of growing up in one of the most realistically stunning novels I've read in a long time.

In this coming of age novel, we are reunited with young Katie Nash, of Berg's previous novels, who is facing some difficult choices appropriate for a young girl at the age of thirteen. While, as many have noted, we're not exactly breaking new ground here, Berg writes beautifully and with such authenticity that it's nearly impossible not to enjoy the ride.

Katie's struggles are relatively minor, but they are vividly drawn portraits of the challenges of a thirteen year-old girl, and watching Katie work through it with the pluck and shortcomings of a precocious young girl is an absolute delight. Unlike other novels that deal with childhood betrayal, Katie's transgressions are fairly simple, and more typical of a girl her age - she backstabs a close friend in the name of being 'cool' - yet it is so wonderfully written that every scene leaps off the page. This is not a book that's high on plot - it's more of a simple, beautiful character study of a young girl coming into her own, warts and all.

I absolutely reveled and delighted in it, and it's short enough to be a quick summer read while frittering away a hot afternoon by the pool.