Book Review: Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

Pages: 304

Publication: February 17, 2011

Publisher: Dial

Summary taken from goodreads:

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?

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

My Review:

The title and cover of this book immediately caught my attention. The summary merely convinced me to buy it since it was so similar to She's the Man which is one of my favorite chick flicks of all time for its ability to never fail in making me laugh.

To my pleasure, Babe in Boyland also didn't fail to make me laugh at some of the crazy situations that Natalie (or should I say Nat?) had to go through during her one week adventure as a boy.

The first few chapters are a little slow since they're mainly there to set up the situation, but once you get past them, the plot immediately picks up and you're sucked into the story. Plus, there's much more humor and crazy antics when she's going through her makeover and enters the school.

Like I mentioned earlier, the plot of the book is similar to She's the Man, but other than the fact Natalie's cross-dressing to get into an all-boys school, ends up falling for her roommate, and two other scene slightly similar scenes, the similarities between Babe in Boyland and She's the Man ends there. One main difference that I totally love is the fact that Emilio, her roommate, is a sexy Latino who loves to sleep in only his boxers. :D

The characters were all great. I loved watching Natalie's transformation in not only cross-dressing but also in her personality and depth of knowledge from the experience that she gained from her duplicity. Her best friends were also flawed and completely different from each other, but together, the three's dynamic is great, and they learn a lot from each other. The other side characters were well fleshed out and I could definitely relate with them (except for Josh and Summer but there are always characters like them). And Emilio...well, let's just say that I'd totally kidnap him for myself if I ever ran into the guy. ^^

Overall, Babe in Boyland is a fun, light read that teaches a great moral story about a girl's quest in finding the answer to the mysteries of boys and the revelations that she discovers in the end all the while involving lots of humor and insight.