Review: Joy School, by Elizabeth Berg

Elizabeth Berg's newest novel, Joy School, is actually a continuation of a previous novel, Durable Goods, that I read long enough ago that I didn't actually make the connection between the two until I was midway through the story. The characters felt familiar, but there are enough changes in the circumstances that it wasn't immediately obvious to me what was going on.

Joy School is the (continued) story of Katie, who serves as the teenaged narrator of the book, which seems to take place in the sixties or so (the actual year isn't mentioned). She and her father have recently moved to Missouri after what is hinted as being a long line of relocations, and Katie is once again the New Girl, with all the challenges that go along with that status. The neighbor kids delight in being nasty to her, and her best friend's letters, which are few and far between, reflect a widening gap in maturity and experiences that make no connection with Katie's current situation. Her family situation is also a challenge, due to the death of her mother prior to the start of the book; her older sister has run away with a boyfriend to Mexico, and her father leans towards violence as a result of depression over the entire situation. Katies horizons begin to widen when she falls in (unrequited) love with an older, married young man and befriends another transplant, a beautiful student model with a penchant for shoplifting and parking.

Berg takes what could be a seedy and stereotypical plot and creates what is actually a sweet and fairly innocent story more related to a modern version of Beverly Cleary's teenage series than (gag) Twilight; throughout, I kept thinking of Fifteen, and Jean and Johnny (probably because the young man Katie falls in love with is named Jimmy, but the tone is the similar). Katie is a normal girl that many of us could relate to, and frankly who I hope my daughter would relate to; she has a moral compass, and is looking for more from life than cheap thrills. Berg does a good job reflecting the character of the general time period, rather than imposing current cultural standards on the characters. The sixties and early seventies were a time of huge social shifting, and Katie's experiences teeter on the edge of the precipice - on the one hand, she dreams about bringing Jimmy baked goods, and on the other she gets dragged along on what she discovers are very physical 'parking' dates and shoplifting lessons with her questionable new friend.

Katie's age-appropriate voice as narrator makes for a simple, yet not quite simplistic, read. The book goes fast, and took me literally two sittings to get through. Having only one perspective means that the other characters are not as developed as they could have been; I would be very interested in reading a book that focuses on her sister's separate journey. Berg gives tantalizing tidibts of information regarding her experience via Katie's interpretation, and I would like to see that fleshed out more; it's a bit of a shame that the story didn't have two parts, with the sister's telling their own stories separately at the beginning, converging into one when the family is reunited, and splitting up again afterward. That having been said, Berg does an excellent job of allowing Katie to tell her story in full, in a realistic and truthful manner.

If you enjoy YA literature in particular, or have nostalgic feelings about the YA stories of your youth, this is a good selection for you. If you prefer Twilight-esque sexual tension and melodrama, this may not be what you're looking for.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5: a sweetly charming coming-of-age tale about a level-headed heroinne.