Review: Babe in Boyland

Title: Babe in Boyland
Author: Jody Gehrman
Publisher: Dial Books
Pages: 292
Challenge: None

My Rating:

When high school junior Natalie--or Dr. Aphrodite, as she calls herself when writing the relationship column for her school paper--is accused of knowing nothing about guys and giving girls bad relationship advice, she decides to investigate what guys really think and want. But the guys in her class won't give her straight or serious answers. The only solution? Disguising herself as a guy and spending a week at Underwood Academy, the private all-boy boarding school in town. There she learns a lot about guys and girls in ways she never expected--especially when she falls for her dreamy roommate, Emilio. How can she show him she likes him without blowing her cover? -summary from goodreads.com

This is one of those laugh-out-loud kind of books. I started it during slow work hours- BIG MISTAKE! Everyone kept looking at me like I was crazy because of all the LOL moments I was having.

Natalie was my favorite character. She’s a witty girl who fought for anything she felt passionate on. For her school newspaper, Natalie decides to go undercover and become a boy. She enrolls at Underwood Academy as Nat. At first she isn’t accepted and she ends up befriending the “nerdy” group of boys. And then of course the inevitable happens; she falls in love with her roommate, Emilio.

Naturally, Babe in Boyland is full of drama, but it’s halfway realistic. The author gives you enough ridiculousness to accept Nat’s adventures at the academy, but enough reality to keep you from snapping out of your reading experience and claiming, “that would never happen!” One thing that really bugged me was the use of one main run-of-the-mill young adult plot device; the removal of parents or authority figures. By having Nat enroll in an all boys’ prep school and have to live there, the author cuts out unnecessary parental involvement. Authority figures are only incorporated at convenient times throughout the story. But in a way I see why this lit plot was used, by having it any other way, some scenes wouldn't have had that "utterly hilarious" feeling to them.

Overall, Babe in Boyland is a cute and funny read. I finished it in one sitting. And yes, I'm not giving to much away by saying that this book is very similar to the movie “She’s the man”…. But let me tell you that I’ve seen that movie countless times and I still very much enjoyed reading Ms. Gehrman’s novel. So if you’re looking for a quick, light, fun read- Babe in Boyland is the book for you.