Mundie Moms

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Book Review: The Edumacation of Jay Baker


Published by: MacMillan
To Be Released on: January 31st, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review
3.5 stars: It's A Good Read
Pre-Order from: MacMillan | Amazon

A few “sexy” bullet points about Jay: • He is in love with a cheerleader named Cameo “Appearance” Parnell • He is forever losing “Love-15” to tennis-playing goddess Caroline Richardson • He rocks a touché array of pop-culture references, jokes, and puns • His family-life cookie is about to crumble. Live vicariously through Jay as he faces off against his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents’ relationship implode, and, finally, learns to get real and be himself(ish) -quoted from Goodreads

If you're looking for a good, laugh out loud read pick up Jay Clark's debut book! Jay Baker is hilarious. There were times he had me laughing out loud and other teams I felt so sorry for him, but before I could teary eyed for all he's dealing with he says something funny that makes me start laughing again. He's a typical teenager who deals with a lot, his first love, a great best friend, a broken home and a bully. Normally I'd feel horrible for Jay, I mean I did, but his snarky and down right hilarious comments he makes to deal with all that goes around him had me laughing at moments I didn't even except to laugh out. For most of the book I found his sarcastic ways charming, and some of his best lines were used towards the bully he deals with in the story.

Jay does a lot of stuff and says a lot of things I felt were very realistic for a typical teenage guy. I felt his character was very believable and may even be relatable to some. Jay Clark did an awesome job at giving his character a true to life teenage voice, which is one of the things that made me like this book. That doesn't mean I agreed with everything Jay says or does, but there's something about what he does through out the story that makes him so enduring. The other person I enjoyed was Jay's sister. They both dish it to each other like all normal siblings do, but they're both also there for each other when the other needs it. I won't even get on the topic of Jay's mother... that women irritated so much.

Jay's writing is fresh, it's surprising, and it's real. I enjoyed the way he tells Jay's story and how he allowed me to get to know his characters. I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud so often while reading a book. His debut is a solid read, and I even enjoyed the surprise ending. I have to say, I didn't see it ending the way it did. The only compliant I have, and this is going to show my age, is all the teen lingo, but I'm "old" and definitely not in the 12-18 yrs old range (even though I may at times act like it). This is definitely a read the targeted age range will love, which is 13-18 yrs old. As I said above, this is a good read, and it's one I recommend to YA readers who are looking for a good contemporary book from a male teen's pov.


Don't miss our interview with Jay & enter for your chance to win a published copy of The Edumacation of Jay Baker HERE.

5 comments:

  1. lovely review! I’ve heard (read actually) a lot about this book. time to add it on my TBR! :)

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  2. Thank you Jenna! It's such a fun read. Jay's writing is great. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

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  3. Thanks for the great review! I could use a good laugh out loud book, so I really look forward to this one! I love snarky characters, and a make pov? Yes please!

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    1. You're so welcome! Thank you for your comment. If you need a laugh out loud book, go pick this one up! It's fabulous.

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  4. Hi Katie! I am so excited to see your review for this book. It's one I received at ALA as well, and I'm so excited to read it. I like that you've prepped me for the young teen lingo. It's always good to know what to expect going into a new book. :)

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