T-Backs, T-Shirts, Coat, and Suit [Library Binding]

E. L. Konigsburg (Author), Facaros (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1999 | ISBN-10: 0785766847 | ISBN-13: 978-0785766841

Going to Peco, Florida, for the summer to stay with Bernadette is not Chloe's first choice. Or her second or her third. It's her only choice. She has to leave town because of the hair contract. If she didn't sign it, her friends would shun her; if she did sign it, anytime any one of them had a bad hair day it would mean total immersion in the local pool for all of them, Chloe included. Chloe not only hates total immersion, she fears it.

So it's off to Bernadette's for the summer. "Help Bernadette, " Nick, Chloe's stepfather, says. Bernadette is his sister. "And give the unexpected a chance." Just what that means Chloe discovers right away. Everything about Bernadette is unexpected: her dog; her job driving a commissary van that serves sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and junk food to shipyard and dock workers; her way of teaching Chloe to swim; her ability to skate on Rollerblades; her adventures in the commune where she and Nick had lived for a year; and especially the fact that the unexpected is never unexpected to her, not even the events that follow when some commissary drivers begin wearing T-back swimsuits to work (a way of increasing business) and other groups in Peco decide T-backs should be banned forever.

Bernadette, who will not wear T-backs but will not oppose them either, is caught in the middle. And no matter what Chloe does, the results are unexpected. Unexpected, it seems, is all you can really count on, unless, like Bernadette, you know enough about the past to have an idea of what the future might bring. And even then, well, maybe Bernadette doesn't always know everything.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newbery Medal winner Konigsburg introduces another of her typically saturnine heroines in this tart, smart novel. Suburban New Jerseyite Chloe is spending the summer in Florida with her aunt Bernadette. A one-time commune dweller, Bernadette is like nothing from Chloe's universe: she drives a commissary van and sells junk food at roadsides, she expertly teaches Chloe to swim but will not go in the water herself, and she puts wild mushrooms and flowers in her salads. Chloe overcomes her own taste for the ironic to develop an unvarnished affection for Bernadette, who likewise softens, relaxing her strict guard on her own privacy. Konigsburg gives this movingly developed friendship extra weight by centering her tale on timely, thoughtful plot lines: Two shapely new commissary drivers start wearing "T-backs"--G-string-like bathing suits--denting Bernadette's sales and causing an outcry from local conservatives. Bernadette will not don a T-back, nor will she oppose the costume on moral grounds, despite pressure from a fundamentalist group. In a twist that will especially interest admirers of Konigsburg's Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth . . . , Chloe decides to punish the smug son of one of the T-back wearers by convincing him that Bernadette is a witch--only to discover, too late, that the son is aligned with the fundamentalists. The issues are as complicated as the characters; teenagers as well as the target audience will enjoy this book. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-It's summer, and Chloe, 12, is about to sign a compact with her best friends that if one girl has a "bad hair day," all three must jump in the water. If she refuses, they'll shun her; if she signs, she faces the possibility of immersion in the local pool-a much-feared consequence, since she cannot swim. Her stepfather comes to the rescue, sending her to Florida to visit his sister, and advising her to "give the unexpected a chance." Chloe begins to develop real affection for and understanding of the woman, a former flower-child activist. When a heated debate ensues over the decency of wearing revealing bathing suits to work, Bernadette is caught between COAT (Citizens Opposing All T-Backs) and the pressure of her co-workers for "solidarity." With the help of her lawyer-friend, she stands up for her own beliefs, teaching Chloe an invaluable lesson and opening up her own closed-off life to the possibility of loving another person. Konigsburg has developed unusual characters who reveal their innermost secrets as the story unfolds. Despite the initially trivial premise, the plot is carefully constructed and the humorous dialogue will engage readers. While it offers a lighter look at self-discovery than that found in the author's Throwing Shadows (Macmillan, 1988), T-Backs could serve as a possible discussion-starter on the importance of commitment and personal values.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, Wheeler School, Providence, RI
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Econo-Clad Books (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785766847
• ISBN-13: 978-0785766841
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,123,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

E. L. Konigsburg is the only author to have won the Newbery Medal and be runner-up in the same year. In 1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler won the Newbery Medal and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was named Newbery Honor Book. Almost thirty years later she won the Newbery Medal once again for The View From Saturday. She has also written and illustrated three picture books: Samuel Todd's Book of Great Colors, Samuel Todd's Book of Great Inventions, and Amy Elizabeth Explores Bloomingdale's. In 2000 she wrote Silent to the Bone, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, among many other honors.

After completing her degree at Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Konigsburg did graduate work in organic chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. For several years she taught science at a private girls' school. When the third of her three children started kindergarten, she began to write. She now lives on the beach in North Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Moral Controversy, June 9, 2007

By 

A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit (Paperback)

Chloe is desperately looking for a way to get away from her friends and the pressure of fitting in for the summer. She asks her mother and stepfather what to do, and her stepfather decides that she should spend the summer in Florida with his older sister, Bernadette. Chloe isn't thrilled about the idea, but it seems as though it is her only choice. She boards a plane and sets off from New Jersey to live with her aunt for a few weeks.

Bernadette is a very strange woman, but Chloe promised her stepfather she would give the woman a chance, so she does. Soon she is used to the routine--getting up early every morning to help Bernadette load up and then sell food from a lunch wagon, then off to the beach where Bernadette is teaching her to swim before dinner in the evenings. Things seem to be going really well.

Then two of the women who drive lunch wagons start wearing t-back bathing suits--thongs--to work. Suddenly they are getting all of the business and Bernadette doesn't have as many customers anymore. Soon everyone except Bernadette is wearing a t-back to work, and their story is getting coverage on the news. A local religious group is doing its best to stop what they see as a moral crisis. Bernadette is refusing to get involved on either side. She won't wear a t-back but she also won't sign a petition against them. As things heat up in town, though, it's beginning to look like Bernadette may be forced to choose a side.

I liked Bernadette's character and how she didn't change her life or herself to accommodate Chloe. I also liked seeing how the escalation of the t-back war changed things in town. I thought Tyler's character was really annoying and I couldn't figure out why Chloe would even go to the trouble of harassing him when she should have just stayed out of his way.

4.0 out of 5 stars NOT TOO HIPPY, February 12, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit (Paperback)

people may say this book is too "hippy" but i think it is a fun and enjoyable book about basicly not judging a book by it's cover. Yes i confess that i chose this book because of it's cover but i am glad i did. it jumps right in to the plot of the story and never drags on.

Cloe's stepfather sends her to FL to visit his sister. Cloe thinks that this will be boring. Cloe has always had to compete with the in and outs of styles if it is fashion or boys you have to know when to like it or hate it. She soon finds out that in some cases you need to not care if your hair is frizzy or if you are sweating like a pig but as long as you are enjoying being with the people you are with. READ THIS BOOK PLEASE!!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, April 9, 2006

By 

Bort "book reader" (North Dakota, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit (Paperback)

Hippies, witches and religious fundamentalists - E.L. Konigsburg brings them all together in T-Backs, T-Shirts, Coat and Suit. Twelve-year-old Chlo? does not like conformity. In order to escape the peer pressure of trying to be just like her friends, she wants to go away from her New Jersey home for the summer. She agrees with her adoptive father to go stay with his sister Bernadette in Florida and help her out when she needs it.

Bernadette is much different than people Chlo? is used to and does things in her own way. She works selling food from a van and is successful. However, that changes when other sellers begin wearing t-backs (thongs) and take away her business. Bernadette refuses to follow along, but refuses to disclose why.

Controversy erupts, as the religious fundamentalists from the Church of the Endless Horizon protest the lack of morality. They try to enlist Bernadette, but she refuses.

Meanwhile, Chlo? meets the thirteen-year-old Tyler, who is very sure of himself. In order to get the better of him, she manages to convince him that Bernadette is a witch, which later leads to disaster.

Throughout the book, characters talk about history in short anecdotes that give some of the reasons for what they did. Some of the anecdotes were from the characters' lives (this is where the hippies come in). Like some of Konigsburg's other stories, the lives of the characters are connected together in a variety of ways. Other stories included famous historical figures like Galileo, enabling the reader to learn something. All of this information shows how the past affects the present.

In this book, Konigsburg crafted another compelling story. The characters are strong and stand up for themselves, and provide good role models for standing up to peer pressure. In conclusion, the book is amusing and should appeal to a variety of readers.