Joy School (Ballantine Reader’s Circle)

In this exquisite new novel by best-selling writer Elizabeth Berg, a young woman falls in love - and learns how sorrow can lead to an understanding of joy. Katie, the narrator, has relocated to Missouri with her distant, occasionally abusive father, and she feels very much alone: her much-loved mother is dead; her new school is unaccepting of her; and her only friends fall far short of ideal companions. When she accidently falls through the ice while skating, she meets Jimmy. He is handsome, far older than she, and married, but she is entranced. As their relationship unfolds, so too does Katie's awareness of the pain and intensity first love can bring. Beautifully written in Berg's irresistible voice, Joy School portrays the soaring happiness one can feel at real love, the deep despair when it goes unrequited, and the stubbornness of hope that will not let us go. Here also is recognition that love can come in many forms and offer many different things. Joy School illuminates, too, how deep the things that hurt the most can sometimes teach us the lessons that really matter.