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Katie Nash #2
Joy School
In this exquisite new novel by bestselling writer Elizabeth Berg, a young woman falls in love -- and learns how sorrow can lead to an understanding of joy.
Katie, the narrator, has relocated to Missouri with her distant, occasionally abusive father, and she feels very much her much-loved mother is dead; her new school is unaccepting of her; and her only friends fall far short of being ideal companions. When she accidentally falls through the ice while skating, she meets Jimmy. He is handsome, far older than she, and married, but she is entranced. As their relationship unfolds, so too does Katie's awareness of the pain and intensity first love can bring.
Beautifully written in Berg's irresistible voice, Joy School portrays the soaring happiness of real love, the deep despair one can feel when it goes unrequited, and the stubbornness of hope that will not let us let go. Here also is recognition that love can come in many forms and offer many different things. Joy School illuminates, too, how the things that hurt the most can sometimes teach us the lessons that really matter.
About Durable Goods , Elizabeth Berg's first novel, Andre Dubus said, "Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems." The same will be said of Joy School , Elizabeth Berg's most luminous novel to date.
Katie, the narrator, has relocated to Missouri with her distant, occasionally abusive father, and she feels very much her much-loved mother is dead; her new school is unaccepting of her; and her only friends fall far short of being ideal companions. When she accidentally falls through the ice while skating, she meets Jimmy. He is handsome, far older than she, and married, but she is entranced. As their relationship unfolds, so too does Katie's awareness of the pain and intensity first love can bring.
Beautifully written in Berg's irresistible voice, Joy School portrays the soaring happiness of real love, the deep despair one can feel when it goes unrequited, and the stubbornness of hope that will not let us let go. Here also is recognition that love can come in many forms and offer many different things. Joy School illuminates, too, how the things that hurt the most can sometimes teach us the lessons that really matter.
About Durable Goods , Elizabeth Berg's first novel, Andre Dubus said, "Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems." The same will be said of Joy School , Elizabeth Berg's most luminous novel to date.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
287 people are currently reading
2237 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Berg
69 books5,031 followersElizabeth Berg is an American novelist.
She was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and lived in Boston prior to her residence in Chicago. She studied English and Humanities at the University of Minnesota, but later ended up with a nursing degree. Her writing career started when she won an essay contest in Parents magazine. Since her debut novel in 1993, her novels have sold in large numbers and have received several awards and nominations, although some critics have tagged them as sentimental. She won the New England Book Awards in 1997.
The novels Durable Goods, Joy School, and True to Form form a trilogy about the 12-year-old Katie Nash, in part based on the author's own experience as a daughter in a military family. Her essay "The Pretend Knitter" appears in the anthology Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, published by W. W. Norton & Company in November 2013.
She was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and lived in Boston prior to her residence in Chicago. She studied English and Humanities at the University of Minnesota, but later ended up with a nursing degree. Her writing career started when she won an essay contest in Parents magazine. Since her debut novel in 1993, her novels have sold in large numbers and have received several awards and nominations, although some critics have tagged them as sentimental. She won the New England Book Awards in 1997.
The novels Durable Goods, Joy School, and True to Form form a trilogy about the 12-year-old Katie Nash, in part based on the author's own experience as a daughter in a military family. Her essay "The Pretend Knitter" appears in the anthology Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, published by W. W. Norton & Company in November 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 506 reviews
June 4, 2009
Joy School is a follow-up to Elizabeth Berg’s debut novel, Durable Goods, where we were introduced to main character Katie at twelve years of age. Although I enjoyed the first book, in Joy School there are more conflicts, beautifully layered together. At its heart though, this book, set in the 1950’s, is a story of first love.
Now thirteen, Katie meets and falls for 23-year-old “shiver-handsome” Jimmy, who works in a garage, is married, and has a child. But Katie doesn’t realize this for quite some time. At first, Jimmy is her “Joy School.” And to be clear, there are no untoward advances by Jimmy. This is simply a story about unrequited love, the isolation Katie feels throughout, and her feeling of hope at the end.
This story is probably more suitable for a young adult audience, but I still found it delightful.
Now thirteen, Katie meets and falls for 23-year-old “shiver-handsome” Jimmy, who works in a garage, is married, and has a child. But Katie doesn’t realize this for quite some time. At first, Jimmy is her “Joy School.” And to be clear, there are no untoward advances by Jimmy. This is simply a story about unrequited love, the isolation Katie feels throughout, and her feeling of hope at the end.
This story is probably more suitable for a young adult audience, but I still found it delightful.
June 27, 2025
An amazingly authentic-feeling snippet of the life of a 12-13-year-old girl. She's lost, looking for friends, and learns a lot from the various cast of characters around her. You feel for her, and wonder if she'll find her way, but feel solid by the end that she'll be okay, and stronger for it. Elizabeth Berg is frequently brilliant and Joy School is no exception. Recommended.
Sep 27, 2023
Sep 27, 2023
February 15, 2019
I think Katie could be good friends with Francie from Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I could be friends with them both. They are both old souls with a clear sense of self. Children are definitely meant to be listened to because they usually make the most sense.
May 18, 2012
Perhaps this was a guilty pleasure but I really liked this wonderful (if not a bit formulaic) dip into the mind of a thirteen-year-old girl as she navigates a cruel new town, unusual new friends, and an older man she falls in love with. There were a lot of funny scenes and I appreciated Berg's quick and succinct way of introducing her characters and how they look and act. A sweet little book with a lot of heart. Pretty close to a 5-star book for me actually. Am I getting soft or what?!
September 6, 2024
Memory Lane indeed! I loved spending time with young Katie.
Her emotionally volatile father, her dying mother, her rebellious, beautiful sister, Diane: I couldn't get enough of them, so for sure I read the other two books in the Katie Nash series.
Katie is an army brat and soon learns that "home" is what you carry inside you, because her physical surroundings will never be fixed so long as she lives under her father's roof.
As the author states in one of the Reader's Guides at the end of Joy School, Katie is all heart - and she often wears it on her sleeve. Such a joy to be around. Full of flaws, but open and brave and downright honourable when necessary.
I'm posting this same review for all three books because I think you should experience Katie Nash for yourself: there is a bit of Katie in all of us. I wonder if Elizabeth Berg ever wrote a grown=up Katie Nash as a side character in any of her other books? Would love to see how Katie turned out!
Her emotionally volatile father, her dying mother, her rebellious, beautiful sister, Diane: I couldn't get enough of them, so for sure I read the other two books in the Katie Nash series.
Katie is an army brat and soon learns that "home" is what you carry inside you, because her physical surroundings will never be fixed so long as she lives under her father's roof.
As the author states in one of the Reader's Guides at the end of Joy School, Katie is all heart - and she often wears it on her sleeve. Such a joy to be around. Full of flaws, but open and brave and downright honourable when necessary.
I'm posting this same review for all three books because I think you should experience Katie Nash for yourself: there is a bit of Katie in all of us. I wonder if Elizabeth Berg ever wrote a grown=up Katie Nash as a side character in any of her other books? Would love to see how Katie turned out!
September 17, 2009
The kind of y/a adults will gobble up as eagerly. Not quite as moving as its prequel, Durable Goods, Joy School is nonetheless wrenching and engaging. Katie, now living in Missouri with her father and their housekeeper/nanny, is about to turn 13. She has trouble making friends at her new school for a while, then makes some dubious ones (all while reminding me strongly of Haven Kimmel's child self-portait in A Girl Called Zippy), while half-maintaining correspondence with the ever delightful Cherylanne and with Katie's sister in Mexico, whose marriage is not going so well. A bit Cherylannish herself with her new tween sophistication and make-up, Katie is still young and awkward, and sweetly idealistic in matters of the heart. This is beautifully illustrated in her descriptions of the various romantic (and pseudo-romantic) relationships in the story: between the married housekeeper and Katie's father; between her shoplifting model friend Taylor and the boys she goes to drive-ins with, dragging Katie along as an unwitting and unwilling double-date partner; between Cherylanne and her high school boyfriends; and most tenderly, in the love triangle Katie believes she is caught in with a gentle 23-year-old gas station owner and his wife. I love Berg's work in general, but the Katie books are an especial treasure.
March 31, 2021
Back to the 50’s and my teenage years, revisiting Katie as she turns 13. A sweet story of a young girls first brush with love and its loss. Times seemed so much more innocent then. Looking back I think they were.
Ms Berg is close to my generation, I think that is why I enjoy her look at the way things were. Her heart is in her excellent writing. There is one more book with Katie that I will look forward to reading. She is a very wise and likable character.
Ms Berg is close to my generation, I think that is why I enjoy her look at the way things were. Her heart is in her excellent writing. There is one more book with Katie that I will look forward to reading. She is a very wise and likable character.
February 26, 2016
Katie is an 12-year-old Army brat, whose mother has died. She is new to town and school, and she has a huge crush on a married garage station manager. It's a touching coming of age story, told poignantly.
UPDATE - second reading 20July2013
Twelve-year-old Katie has moved with her Army colonel father to a suburb of St Louis. An Army brat, Katie is used to being the new kid in school, but things are particularly difficult now that her mother has died and her older sister, Diane, has gotten married and moved away.
This is book two in a coming-of-age trilogy that follows Katie over three years. This particular novel focuses on her efforts to develop new relationships in her new setting. Will she choose her friends wisely, or be seduced by the excitement of “bad girl” behavior? Two adults feature prominently – Jimmy, the “older” (and married) garage mechanic on whom she develops a major crush, and Father Compton, the elderly parish priest who listens patiently to her and offers gentle advice without judging her.
But the undisputed star of this trilogy is Katie, herself. She’s a wonderful character – resilient, courageous, and intelligent and a keen observer of life. Here are a couple of excerpts:
If I ever get to be God, I’m calling all the gym teachers in the world into one room to say this: All right, knock it off! And then I’m going to make them all change into pink formals with pink satin heels.
Or …
Last in the day is home ec. Here is where they teach you how to make food you never want to eat and how to make clothes you never want to wear.
The books are marketed for adults, but would be suitable for teens as well.
UPDATE - second reading 20July2013
Twelve-year-old Katie has moved with her Army colonel father to a suburb of St Louis. An Army brat, Katie is used to being the new kid in school, but things are particularly difficult now that her mother has died and her older sister, Diane, has gotten married and moved away.
This is book two in a coming-of-age trilogy that follows Katie over three years. This particular novel focuses on her efforts to develop new relationships in her new setting. Will she choose her friends wisely, or be seduced by the excitement of “bad girl” behavior? Two adults feature prominently – Jimmy, the “older” (and married) garage mechanic on whom she develops a major crush, and Father Compton, the elderly parish priest who listens patiently to her and offers gentle advice without judging her.
But the undisputed star of this trilogy is Katie, herself. She’s a wonderful character – resilient, courageous, and intelligent and a keen observer of life. Here are a couple of excerpts:
If I ever get to be God, I’m calling all the gym teachers in the world into one room to say this: All right, knock it off! And then I’m going to make them all change into pink formals with pink satin heels.
Or …
Last in the day is home ec. Here is where they teach you how to make food you never want to eat and how to make clothes you never want to wear.
The books are marketed for adults, but would be suitable for teens as well.
April 7, 2020
Katie Nash and her dad have moved from Texas to Missouri. She’s not crazy about the school she’s at, but she starts making friends. Cynthia is a classmate and has a mother that Katie hates, but she loves her grandma. The other friend, Taylor, is a thief and tries to get Katie to do some awful things. Diane is no longer in the story, much. She also loves Jimmy who is totally bad for her because he’s so much older. The dad is not as mean this time, but he also seems to be falling in love with the new maid. I know that this description is probably boring and pointless, but that’s kind of the way that Katie talks and I find it very sweet and honest.
February 2, 2020
Five stars for me. I laughed out loud so many times, and related so deeply to Katie. I too moved to a new town at that age. Such wisdom and precision and love throughout this book. One of Berg's best in my opinion.
January 28, 2019
Not quite a 4, but definitely a 3-1/2 stars.
Joy School is the second book in the Katie Nash series. I read this one in just two days (it helped that I was on a flight to Toronto from Florida.) (I think I would had read it that fast anyway). I do enjoy Elizabeth Berg's books!
Like the first book, Durable Reads, Berg's is a master of getting into a mind of a 13 year. As a reader, you'd swear Berg's was just recently a 13 year herself. How she is able to pull this off, like no other writer can do, is a writer's gift!
And like Durable Reads, 13 year old Katie faces many daily challenges and struggles, that we can only truly remember by going through it with her. She's moved to a new state, tries to fit into school, has to deal with rude notes left by the front bushes by her bedroom window, misses her best friend back home (and who I never liked), falls for an older man (who's 23), and is forever tiptoeing around her moody father. (Okay, some I could relate too, others no.)
The story is funny, sad, surprising (spoiler alert - her father and their house cleaner like each other) and you'll have a hard time putting down the book, at least I did.
I've started on #3, True to Form. Somehow I don't think I'm going to be disappointed.
Joy School is the second book in the Katie Nash series. I read this one in just two days (it helped that I was on a flight to Toronto from Florida.) (I think I would had read it that fast anyway). I do enjoy Elizabeth Berg's books!
Like the first book, Durable Reads, Berg's is a master of getting into a mind of a 13 year. As a reader, you'd swear Berg's was just recently a 13 year herself. How she is able to pull this off, like no other writer can do, is a writer's gift!
And like Durable Reads, 13 year old Katie faces many daily challenges and struggles, that we can only truly remember by going through it with her. She's moved to a new state, tries to fit into school, has to deal with rude notes left by the front bushes by her bedroom window, misses her best friend back home (and who I never liked), falls for an older man (who's 23), and is forever tiptoeing around her moody father. (Okay, some I could relate too, others no.)
The story is funny, sad, surprising (spoiler alert - her father and their house cleaner like each other) and you'll have a hard time putting down the book, at least I did.
I've started on #3, True to Form. Somehow I don't think I'm going to be disappointed.
January 27, 2018
I'm so glad I finally realized that the Katie Nash books formed a trilogy. Better late than never! They all work fine as stand alones, but obviously work best if read in order.
Berg has created a wonderful character in Katie: just entering her teen years, she's struggling with the loss of her mother, trying to make new friends after her father has moved (yet again) to another army base, and discovering heartache of first love and loss... all of it adds up to a lovely little book, and a heartwarming trilogy. These are Berg's best books.
Berg has created a wonderful character in Katie: just entering her teen years, she's struggling with the loss of her mother, trying to make new friends after her father has moved (yet again) to another army base, and discovering heartache of first love and loss... all of it adds up to a lovely little book, and a heartwarming trilogy. These are Berg's best books.
July 21, 2014
OK, on to Katie Nash #3. She is an addictive character with a unique voice. A sweet follow up to Durable Goods. Berg's a writer I'd love to have lunch with....
January 22, 2022
Beautifully written! Bring on more Elizabeth Berg!
January 12, 2023
This was a delightful book that I read in less than 24 hours. The book is about a twelve year old girl, Katie, trying to find her place in the world while dealing with her crush on an older man, finding new friends, and a distant and unavailable father. Katie is dealing with several difficult things sometimes well and other times not so well. She describes her world and her experiences in such a unique and gently humorous way. I had to get out a pencil and start underlining several of the passages and that is not something I normally do. While Katie's world was sometimes painful I genuinely enjoyed traveling through it with her.
June 19, 2025
The story of Katie continues. She's in high school after her move to Missouri. These books are so good, down to earth and touching.
June 2, 2018
So this one was really, really nice. Like the last book I read, it was more of a 4.5 star than a 4 star rating, but since Goodreads doesn't let you do half stars, it's just a 4 star on here. I should say that I may have read this book when I was in high school- I know I read the first book in this series, Durable Goods but I'm not sure if I picked up this one. I don't think I did- there are some scenes, particularly the that I'm sure would've stuck in my brain had I read it before, but you can never be sure.
What I loved most about this book was how it really was a "slice of life" and also subverted my expectations for what it would be. When the character of Jimmy is first introduced, you assume that he'll take advantage of Katie, but that's not the case- he actually turns out to be a nice guy, and that was nice to see for once. Katie's friend Taylor (Taylor Sinn, what a great name, if a little too on the nose) shoplifts, but is never punished for it. It kind of reminded me of a better, book version of Boyhood in that sense, where the lines are blurred sometimes but often nothing bad really does happen in situations like those.
I may pick up Durable Goods or the other books in the series if I have a chance. I'm glad to have rediscovered Elizabeth Berg in adulthood, because I really liked her in high school.
What I loved most about this book was how it really was a "slice of life" and also subverted my expectations for what it would be. When the character of Jimmy is first introduced, you assume that he'll take advantage of Katie, but that's not the case- he actually turns out to be a nice guy, and that was nice to see for once. Katie's friend Taylor (Taylor Sinn, what a great name, if a little too on the nose) shoplifts, but is never punished for it. It kind of reminded me of a better, book version of Boyhood in that sense, where the lines are blurred sometimes but often nothing bad really does happen in situations like those.
I may pick up Durable Goods or the other books in the series if I have a chance. I'm glad to have rediscovered Elizabeth Berg in adulthood, because I really liked her in high school.
November 19, 2015
I would give this 4.5 stars if possible, and I am extremely stingy with 5 stars, so that's a big compliment.
I continue to be in awe of Elizabeth Berg's ability to capture the "voice" of adolescent narrators. How does she do it? Makes me wonder if she kept a detailed journal when she was at that stage of life. Don't miss her novel, What We Keep, for another masterpiece of capturing the young person's perspective.
I've now read the entire Katie Nash trilogy - the other volumes being Durable Goods and True to Form - and I'm sorry to be finished with them. I can't put them down.
The protagonist's descriptions of her teachers made me laugh out loud for so long that my husband asked me "What????" Passages from Cherylanne's letters to Katie also had me in stitches.
Yet this book is far from a mindless comical romp. We have issues of working through the death of a parent, being the new kid in a new state, trying to make friends, trying to retain old friends left behind, and coping with the emotional roller coaster of a crush on an older man.
I read this in two days and only put it down when absolutely necessary (like to cook dinner and go to work)!
Elizabeth Berg's books never fail to deliver an enriching, touching reading experience. Highly recommended.
I continue to be in awe of Elizabeth Berg's ability to capture the "voice" of adolescent narrators. How does she do it? Makes me wonder if she kept a detailed journal when she was at that stage of life. Don't miss her novel, What We Keep, for another masterpiece of capturing the young person's perspective.
I've now read the entire Katie Nash trilogy - the other volumes being Durable Goods and True to Form - and I'm sorry to be finished with them. I can't put them down.
The protagonist's descriptions of her teachers made me laugh out loud for so long that my husband asked me "What????" Passages from Cherylanne's letters to Katie also had me in stitches.
Yet this book is far from a mindless comical romp. We have issues of working through the death of a parent, being the new kid in a new state, trying to make friends, trying to retain old friends left behind, and coping with the emotional roller coaster of a crush on an older man.
I read this in two days and only put it down when absolutely necessary (like to cook dinner and go to work)!
Elizabeth Berg's books never fail to deliver an enriching, touching reading experience. Highly recommended.
February 21, 2018
What a sweet little read. I've gone about reading the Nash trilogy backwards...I thought "Joy School" was the first in the Nash trilogy, turns out it's second. So I'm reading "Durable Goods" right now, which is the first in the series. But "Joy School" also works well as a standalone.
Berg's writing is beautiful. Katie's voice is authentic in this and the narrative hits all the right marks. She's not overly precocious or pretentious and I loved the letters to and from her friend Cherylanne. Katie struggles with the age-old teenage issues...choosing between keeping old friends or going with new (and possibly bad) friends, trying to fit in at a new school, trying to figure out how to communicate with her father, trying to establish an identity in that in-between world of childhood and adulthood. But the biggest issue was her unrequited love for a 23 year old mechanic...he never looks at her as anything more than a sweet kid, while she looks at him as the love of her life, even though she's only thirteen.
So it was an enjoyable read and I'm already loving "Durable Goods".
Berg's writing is beautiful. Katie's voice is authentic in this and the narrative hits all the right marks. She's not overly precocious or pretentious and I loved the letters to and from her friend Cherylanne. Katie struggles with the age-old teenage issues...choosing between keeping old friends or going with new (and possibly bad) friends, trying to fit in at a new school, trying to figure out how to communicate with her father, trying to establish an identity in that in-between world of childhood and adulthood. But the biggest issue was her unrequited love for a 23 year old mechanic...he never looks at her as anything more than a sweet kid, while she looks at him as the love of her life, even though she's only thirteen.
So it was an enjoyable read and I'm already loving "Durable Goods".
February 18, 2020
I recently found this book by Googling the little tidbits of it that I remembered from before. I had read it when I was about 16, and now I reread it with so much pleasure and nostalgia. Elizabeth Berg describes the plight of the misunderstood adolescent so well, which is something that adults seem to forget later on. But I remember vividly how it felt to love someone so much, and suffer from your feelings being unrequited. I related to Katie, down to when she memorized car terminology to impress Jimmy (I did the same when I had a crush on a waterskiier).
The book does take place quite a while ago, though (I Googled it, and it's the early 1960's). That explains all the dated references to home ec class and women, who are obligated to cook for men. lol Also, there was an "N word" in there, which shocked me, but that's just how black people were referred to back then. So while at times, the outdated ideas made me raise an eyebrow, I enjoyed the themes of friendship, coming of age, and first love.
The book does take place quite a while ago, though (I Googled it, and it's the early 1960's). That explains all the dated references to home ec class and women, who are obligated to cook for men. lol Also, there was an "N word" in there, which shocked me, but that's just how black people were referred to back then. So while at times, the outdated ideas made me raise an eyebrow, I enjoyed the themes of friendship, coming of age, and first love.
June 26, 2014
Katie's army father has moved her to Missouri, far from her familiar school, her best friend, and her older sister. Katie struggles to fit in in her new home and becomes friends with a rag-tag group of people--the most beautiful girl in school, a classmate's ailing Italian grandmother, and an all too handsome gas station attendant.
This book was laugh-out-loud funny. The protagonist, an introverted 13 year old, whose thoughts are loud and precocious and almost too honest, is wildly loveable. She's hilarious and adorable but also so broken. Occasionally, she lets readers all the way in to her heart to learn about her mother's death and her struggle to move on.
I just loved this book. It combines a classic coming of age tale with a tale of healing with a tale of father-daughter struggles. It was poignant but also lighthearted. I learned after finishing it that it's part of a series. The best part of the novel? It could stand on its own without any other book. Such a memorable read!
This book was laugh-out-loud funny. The protagonist, an introverted 13 year old, whose thoughts are loud and precocious and almost too honest, is wildly loveable. She's hilarious and adorable but also so broken. Occasionally, she lets readers all the way in to her heart to learn about her mother's death and her struggle to move on.
I just loved this book. It combines a classic coming of age tale with a tale of healing with a tale of father-daughter struggles. It was poignant but also lighthearted. I learned after finishing it that it's part of a series. The best part of the novel? It could stand on its own without any other book. Such a memorable read!
June 10, 2020
I took a break from Elizabeth Berg several years ago after "Open House" sent me into a mild depression. Prior to that phase of my life, she was one of my go to authors so I picked up Joy School at a used book sale, later making it one of my Covid quarantine reads.
I was slightly flummoxed at first since this is the second in a series (added Durable Goods afterward) but as a read alone, Joy School is still an enjoyable novel. Berg captures the loneliness and striving for belonging of early adolescence in her young heroine Katie Nash. Skipped ahead in school, military kid Katie has a tougher adjustment than the average high school freshman. Building friendships, crushing on a 23 year old service station owner and navigating her divisive relationship with her father are daunting challenges but Katie handles them eventually with strength and grace. I can't wait to read the first in the series and return to Elizabeth Berg.
I was slightly flummoxed at first since this is the second in a series (added Durable Goods afterward) but as a read alone, Joy School is still an enjoyable novel. Berg captures the loneliness and striving for belonging of early adolescence in her young heroine Katie Nash. Skipped ahead in school, military kid Katie has a tougher adjustment than the average high school freshman. Building friendships, crushing on a 23 year old service station owner and navigating her divisive relationship with her father are daunting challenges but Katie handles them eventually with strength and grace. I can't wait to read the first in the series and return to Elizabeth Berg.
December 1, 2018
Honest. Clever. Guileless. Did I mention honest? Joy School's heroine is as winsome as they come. Elizabeth Berg's twelve-year-old Katie is a child so sincerely trying to grow up, get by, do the right thing, be liked, love and be loved, I cannot help but be in her corner. Katie is smart, observant, sensitive, and funny. From her hilarious descriptions of her high school teachers to her desire to know how to kiss when the time comes, this novel entertains. And helps me laugh at what I probably felt at twelve but never articulated nearly as well as Katie does. Joy School also tugs at heartstrings. Katie is lonely and learns who she wants to be through ups and downs of friendships and her first big crush. Elizabeth Berg masterfully crafts all the characters. I enjoyed Joy School more than a decade ago and thoroughly enjoyed it again this time.
October 11, 2017
It's so hard to be a teenage girl! But in the hands of author Elizabeth Berg, the experiences of 13-year-old Katie Nash are rich with joy and sorrow, despair and hope and love and friendship. This is the second of a three-part series (the first of which is "Durable Goods" and the second of which is "True to Form"). It's the early 1960s. Katie, who is an Army brat, has moved with her father from Texas to Missouri where she is in ninth grade. If you've ever been the "new kid" in school, you will relate to this book. With wit and charm, Berg brings to life Katie's voice in a timeless way that will remind every grown woman of what it was like to fall in love, make friends and find her way in what can be a scary world. Bonus: This book will make you laugh out loud.
January 15, 2023
A sweet, yet difficult view into the life of Katie, a girl whose mother has died, and her sister, her sometimes anchor, has moved away and doesn't keep in touch. Katie looks for friendship in an awkward girl, Cynthia, who, along with her mother, is a little strange, Taylor, who's a gorgeous model with a propensity for shoplifting and "parking" with boys, and Jimmy, a 23-year-old man who takes care of her after she falls through the ice, and who, she thinks, will leave his wife for her, even though she's thirteen.
Adolescence is a tough season of life, and Berg doesn't sugar coat what Katie's going through.
Adolescence is a tough season of life, and Berg doesn't sugar coat what Katie's going through.
August 30, 2025
My Original Notes (1997):
What an enjoyable novel! I loved the story and couldn't put it down. Berg is a wonderful writer and I've enjoyed so many of her other books, especially Talk Before Sleep. I'll look forward to reading these both again in a few years.
My Current Thoughts:
I don't know if I ever reread this or not, but it looks like it only took me a couple of days to read it the first time around, so I may give it another go. I'll read Durable Goods again, though, since that's the first in the Katie Nash trilogy.
What an enjoyable novel! I loved the story and couldn't put it down. Berg is a wonderful writer and I've enjoyed so many of her other books, especially Talk Before Sleep. I'll look forward to reading these both again in a few years.
My Current Thoughts:
I don't know if I ever reread this or not, but it looks like it only took me a couple of days to read it the first time around, so I may give it another go. I'll read Durable Goods again, though, since that's the first in the Katie Nash trilogy.
March 7, 2020
This is a continuation of the story of Katie Nash who is now 13-years-old living in Missouri with her sometimes abusive father. Her older sister Diane is married, pregnant, and living in Mexico. Despite being the new kid on the block and at school, having some questionable friends, and "falling in love" with an older man (He's 23 and married!), Katie always looks for the good in people. But rather than being pie-eyed and gullible, Katie is learning to stand up for herself and navigate successfully through the turbulent period of adolescence.
Go Cards! L1C4!!
Go Cards! L1C4!!
October 30, 2021
Enjoyed this one more than katie nash 1. I feel i understand katie a little more. Where she speaks in short choppy sentences, like a 12 yr old, because, well, she is 12 …. She is a deep thinker and her thought processes are interesting. The way she arrives at a particular point of thought is at times mesmerizing. She is authentic, genuine, clever, mature past her years. The author was able to write with the voice of a 12 year old without sounding too juvenile and keep the interest of this reader enough to move on to book 3.
February 8, 2019
Initially I thought I wasn't going to like this book that much. It seemed a little like something a girl in junior high (showing my age there!) would read. But, as I continued reading, it really began to remind and show me how a girl of 13 begins to mature. The thought processes and relationships begin to change. There was humor and insight to many of the characters and I ended up liking it very much. It was quick and easy to read too.
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