This is book 2 in the Katie trilogy by Berg. I recently read Durable Goods, and wanted to see where the story of Katie was going.

The book opens with 13 year old Katie and her dad now stationed on a base in Missouri. She is having a tough time adjusting to her new life. It is difficult for her to make friends, her sister Diane is not with her to help her deal with the problems she is having. Her dad is still very distant and her mothers recent death is still tormenting Katie.

One day Katie meets the man of her dreams, 23 year old Jimmy. He is a gas station attendant who is extremely handsome and nice, although married. This doesnt stop Katie from falling in love with him and planning their life together. As she settles into her new life Katie makes new friends, and has to make some choices about which road to take, without much adult guidance.

Once again, I love the simple but heart felt style of writing that Berg utilizes. The writing is spare but you really identify with many of Katies feelings and actions. A sweet tale of first love and the joy and pain it can bring. I have book three True to Form sitting here waiting to be read. I dont think Ill wait very long.

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I really enjoyed the story. It is about a 13-year old girl, new to her Missouri town, living alone with a stern, inaccessible father following her mother's death. She forges alliances where she can, and that ultimately offer her more than she had anticipated. A very nice read.

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Nobody does characters like Elizabeth Berg. This is a great growing up story.

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Very nice story. I enjoy Berg's books.

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Second in the 'Katie' series, I loved it.

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I read "Durable Goods" recently and gave it four stars. "Joy School" is also a solid four stars. When the book starts, Katie is 12 years old and a freshman in high school. We learn that she skipped fourth grade. However, if that's the only grade she skipped, I think the author miscalculated. Most students are 14 when they start their freshman year in high school and turn 15 during the school year. Katie started her frosh year as a 12 year old and turned 13 during the school year, thus she was two years younger than most of her classmates--not one year had she skipped only one grade.

This book, like "Durable Goods," didn't have much action in it but it was a little more interesting than its predecessor--there's something going on with Diane, Katie's older sister, who ran off to Mexico (in the first book) with her boyfriend, Dickie, and got married; Ginger, the new housekeeper, becomes interested in Katie's dad and he in her; Katie develops a serious crush on an older man; and she becomes friends with Cynthia and Taylor, two very different young gals.

"Joy School" like "Durable Goods" was a book that I started one day and finished the next. It's not great literature but it's an easy and entertaining read and sometimes that is enough. I plan to request the third book from the local library.

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I always enjoy Berg's take on life, and I think she has a remarkable ability to write from the perspective of a child/young teen. This story invites us to remember those awkward, trying-to-fit-in, early teen years, self-consciousness about one's family, the first blush of love. Good story. Enjoy.

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Good book. Interesting for young readers.

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Very enjoyable book on growing up.

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This is a large print edition.

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