Elizabeth Berg’s beloved first novel, a 1993 American Library Association Best Book of the Year, is now for the first time available in a Random House Trade Paperback edition.

On the hot Texas army base she calls home, Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting: waiting to grow up; waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her; waiting for her breasts to blossom; waiting for the beatings to stop. Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have struggled to understand their increasingly distant, often violent father. While Diane escapes into the arms of her boyfriend, Katie hides in her room or escapes to her best friend’s house—until Katie’s admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure that transforms her life.

Written with an unerring ability to capture the sadness of growth, the pain of change, the nearly visible vibrations that connect people, this beautiful novel by the bestselling author of Open House and Ordinary Life reminds us how wonderful—and wounding—a deeper understanding of life can be.

I'm not sure why I bought this book--it must have been a recommendation, but I'm not sure from whom, or why I took the recommendation.

Maybe they recommended it because the main character is a 12-year-old army brat. I've got one of those in my house, actually, though he's not a girl. And this isn't the 60s (50s?).

But that's also why I got turned off by the book very early on. I am so tired of every single military father in fiction being an abusive control freak. It doesn't even surprise me anymore. I just chalk it up to ignorance and a desire to keep that us vs. them separation alive so that perpetual war is okay. Oh, and I tend to not want to read the author's books anymore.

Twelve-year-old Katie and her teenage sister Diane live with their abusive army officer father after the death of their mother. Katie mostly hangs out with her 14-year-old friend Cherylanne. There's lots about how Katie and Cherylanne spend their time, and how Katie tries to avoid her father's abuse.

Then he announces they have to move, and Diane and Katie can't take it anymore.

It's more of a snapshot of a short period in a girl's life than it is a story. Some of the reviews call it a coming-of-age story, but I think that's just because Katie is 12. She doesn't really grow up or change much. It's not a character study, either, because there's not much depth to the characters. The girls are pretty bland--we see them behaving like ordinary adolescents, and there's nothing particularly memorable or illuminating about any of it. The father, too, wasn't very believable, and not just because of the caricature of a military dad. For example, some of his reactions are completely at odds with his established abuse. There's not even an attempt to explain it.

It is a very atmospheric and clear snapshot, but that's not enough to carry a book. I'm not tempted to check out the sequels.

Katie's life is one of loss. Katie not only loses her mother, but also her faith in Jesus Christ. She tells us that she used to talk to Him as the Communion wafer melted in her mouth. Then, her mother is gone, along with her faith. (If Katie is Roman Catholic, then we know her mother died after Katie's seventh birthday; Catholic children make their first Holy Communion during the seventh year of life.) Katie, however, maintains a spiritual connection- she has visions of her mother at the Blessed Virgin Mary. Katie communicates with her mother's spirit, too.

Katie is pushed around by her sister, Diane and best friend, Cherylanne. Both have rocky relationships with the protagonist. (I think Katie deserved a better confidant than Cherylanne. In fact, there is a brief meeting of Katie and her "in-school" best friend.) It makes sense that Katie admires Diane and Cherylanne- she is being physically abused by an unpredictable father. Katie is slapped around, or witnessing her sister's beatings.

Their father creeped me out. I was hoping that Katie would get far enough away from him. Does she? Well, you'll have to read to find out.

Katie will grow on you. You'll want to help her better her life. You'll want to help her find good friends, get away from her abusive father. I did not like the way Diane always treated Katie- but I agree with Diane that the father should have been forced to stop the abuse.

Bridgette is adorable!

Now, for the false advertising- my hardback copy from the library says that, "Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting.... waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her" and "until Katie's admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure that transforms her life". First, there isn't much in the way of "love" for Dickie, just that Katie remarks she can get Dickie to fall in love with her. And, the adventure is not much of an adventure, nor is it very transforming. You'll see what I mean at the end of the book.

Yes, read this. But keep in mind Katie has a long way to go!

At 12, Katie faces many of the typical adolescent-girl concerns -- stressing over her looks, over keeping up with her sophisticated best friend Cherylanne, over boys. But in other ways, Katie is carrying burdens far too heavy for a girl her age.

She and her older sister Diane are living on an Army base in Texas with their physically and emotionally abusive father following the death of their mother. While Katie gets her share of it -- the book opens with Katie's accidentally causing the toilet to overflow, and being so afraid of her father that she hides under her bed -- her father seems to center the brunt of his fury upon Diane. At 18, she's not holding anything back, and certainly letting her father know she's had enough.

One terrible night, Katie runs into Diane, quietly packing for Mexico, where she plans to live with her boyfriend Dickie. She offers Katie the chance to come along. And while both sisters share the same traumas and heartache, they don't share the same ideas about family and loyalty -- misplaced or not.

This is Elizabeth Berg's first book, and while I personally felt it wasn't as strong as the subsequent ones, I still enjoyed her work. Both Katie and Diane were extremely sympathetic characters, and although some may have written the father as a one-dimensional man, Berg managed to show glimpses of other aspects within him.

If you want to follow the family's story over the course of another year, a sequel called "Joy School" is also available.

Elizabeth Berg is a great writer, this one just didn't resonate with me.
In this book Katie struggles with an all to often distant and violent father. She spends most of her time with the neighbor girl, and trying to get closer to her older sister Diane.
Eventually the sisters runaway- only to have Katie return home to her father, right before they move away.
I love how Berg always knows her character so well. This one moved a little slow, but not too much.
The issue is that - for me- there is no real character growth, and the story is not very deep, or moving, or anything really.
Diane moves away and that is that, they move to Missouri. Her father is still the same person, and Katie is still an adolescent girl with a lot to learn that still walks on eggshells around her father, and still feels guilty when he becomes upset or angered. Katie's dad does finally tell her how she died, how it happened, or rather what finally caused it- but in no way was there suspense leading to this, or adequate drama to make you feel any pain for Katie.

While Katie is an interesting character, her story is nothing unique, and not spellbounding in any way. Instead, the read imagines Katie will go on to live much the same life, and in the sequel you find she does.

Elizabeth Berg is one of my favourite authors, but this book was definitely not written with a mature reader in mind and I did not realize this until after I had purchased the book. For a mature reader, it is a quick easy read but beware, it has an elementary writing style.

Katie has an abusive father and your heart aches for her. Her older sister, Diane, runs away with her boyfriend to Mexico. Katie starts out on the journey with them but has a change of heart. Although the book is a work of fiction, pieces of the author's throught process left me wondering if some of the events were not taken from her own life as a child. If you are in your late teens, the book will likely appeal to you and is definitely worth reading. For anyone older, the writing style will appear to have a child-like quality. Mature readers will find some of Berg's other books, such as "Open House," "Talk Before Sleep" and "Say When" more appealing than this one. All Berg's books are well written but take note that some are written with different age levels in mind.