Durable Goods ANNOTATION
Adolescent Katie spends the lazy days of summer waiting for life to begin; waiting for womanhood to begin; waiting to fall in love; and waiting for the beatings to stop. Since the death of her mother, she and her sister have struggled to understand their father's violent behavior. Soon an adventure will transform Katie's life.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Sometimes life is so hard and then, bingo, it's like happiness is pushing at your back, waiting to come out of your front...." 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 been struggling to understand their distant, often violent father. 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. About Durable Goods Christopher Tilghman has said, "Elizabeth Berg's prose and passion come at us with all the deceptive strength of her heroine." 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 reminds us of how wonderful, and wounding, a deeper understanding of life can be.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In Berg's understated and promising fiction debut, a 12-year-old ``army brat'' comes to epitomize the quality that her father prizes: emotional durability. Narrator Katie lives on a Texas Army base with her 18-year-old sister and volatile father, an officer of unidentified rank. The girls' mother has died of cancer, although Katie never discusses how much time has passed since the loss. Accustomed to a military lifestyle, suspecting that her home will be only a temporary one, Katie leads a fairly ordinary existence. She and her best friend go swimming, talk about puberty and meet boys. When the inevitable happens and the family learns they're being transferred to Missouri, Katie tries to accept the impending change, but her sister, who can no longer tolerate her father's abuse, rebels. Direct, matter-of-fact sentences convey resilient Katie's point of view; the absence of a maternal figure is acutely felt, particularly in the vulnerable but violent father's frightening temper. Overall, however, this subdued tale of a troubled family is more modest than memorable, insinuating rather than fully examining its characters' motives. Author tour. (May)
Library Journal
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.
School Library Journal
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
Judyth Wagner. Rigler
Painfully vivid and professionally candid...a sensitively told story of love, loss, and growth...it has a message worth heeding.
-- Fort Worth Star Telegram
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, lonliness, love, and hope. And the transcendent that redeems. — Andre Duves
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