Durable Goods

Durable Goods

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 reminds us how wonderful—and wounding—a deeper understanding of life can be. From the Trade Paperback edition. YA-After her mother's death, Katie and her father move from their home on a Texas army base. Her sister Diane, 18, runs away with her boyfriend rather than spend any more time with her grieving, distant father. Katie, at 12, is just discovering her potential and working through relationships with friends, boys, her sister and, most especially, her father. Every once in a while, she and readers see the unresolved despair that contributes to his abusive spells. No one in this compelling story is completely right or wrong. Diane cannot see the man's pain or, if she does, cannot forgive him yet. He is seemingly uncaring and cruel, but, at moments, is also loving and concerned for his small family. At the end of this book, readers will feel that the girl and her father are going to make it. Katie is an endearing and persistent heroine, and Berg's prose borders on the poetic. This is an easy read, but its haunting images of coming of age are sure to remain with YAs. Susan H. Woodcock, Potomac Library, Woodbridge, VA Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Berg's passion for writing is evident in this first novel. For 12-year-old Katie, home is an army base in Texas. The reader struggles along with Katie and her sister, Diane, as they try to cope with the burdens of growing up with an abusive father and no mother. This beautifully told tale grips the reader from page one and does not let go until Katie comes to terms with her sister's appetite for adventure, as she tries all the while to keep pace with her own changes. Even then the prose will continue to haunt the reader. Though Katie has been living in a world that could hardly be called kind, Berg convinces the reader that she nevertheless feels renewed hope. Highly recommended. - Vicki Cecil, Hartford City P.L., Ind. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. A bittersweet slip of a debut novel about an Army brat named Katie, skating toward adolescence on a base in Texas in the early Sixties. In the aftermath of her mother's death, Katie's home becomes a hostile environment, even though her rebellious older sister, Diane, generally takes the worst blows from their physically abusive father. Under her bed while the battles rage, Katie entreats God not only to send her mother back, but for breasts and a period. Indeed, her yearning to join the secret sisterhood of women is ever on her mind, particularly when she hears Diane sneaking back into the house late at night after trysts with her boyfriend, Dickie Mac (who has a truck and a new litter of puppies!). Meanwhile, next door, Katie's sometimes best friend, Cherylanne, instructs her in the application of eye shadows and lipsticks with names like ``Barely There.'' Things might just go on as they are--because Katie's clearly a survivor made in the mold of Frankie in Member of the Wedding--but then her father announces that they must move yet again, causing Diane to run away with Dickie and taking Katie along. In the end, Katie returns alone: home is better than sleeping on motel room floors, and she suddenly finds herself sorry for her dad. Hope and sorrow mingle at the close of this finely observed, compassionate book. More from Berg will definitely be welcome. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. “Rich . . . timeless.” — The New Yorker “RADIANT . . . STARTLING AND DELICATE.” — The Boston Globe “Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems.” —ANDRE DUBUS “This quietly told tale will find a place in your soul, and will stay there.” —CHRISTOPHER TILGHMAN From the Trade Paperback edition. ELIZABETH BERG is the author of twelve novels, including her newest work, The Art of Mending, the New York Times bestsellers Say When, True to Form, Never Change, and Open House, which was an Oprah’s Book Club Selection in 2000. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for the ABBY award in 1996. The winner of the 1997 New