Book Review: BABE IN BOYLAND by Jody Gehrman

Author	Jody Gehrman
Title	Babe in Boyland
Publisher	Dial
Date of Publication	February 17, 2011
Page Count	304
ISBN	978-0-803-73274-2

Summary
Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite, her school newspaper's advice columnist. However, her advice is bad and by the time we first meet her, almost everyone is mad at her for telling the girls who write in exactly what she thinks they want to hear instead of telling them how it really is. To find out what guys really think and why they do the things they do, she decides to dress up as Nat, a boy, and attend the nearby Underwood Academy, an all-boys prep school.

My thoughts
In my opinion, the best books are those you can't possibly put down, the books that keep you awake far too long at night and that end far too soon, no matter how many pages they have. Babe in Boyland is definitely one of those books. I read it over the course of approximately two busy days and lost quite a few hours of sleep - and it was all worth it!

The basic premise of this book already exists in quite a few forms - the most popular written version is probably Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (if you haven't read it yet, do so, it's great!) and a fun movie version is She's The Man with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum (yup, I admit I love that movie!). Despite those well-known takes, Jody Gehrman took the "girl dresses up as a boy, meets a boy and falls for him" story line and made it into an amazing book to read!

Besides the plot that kept me going and never bored me in the least, and Jody Gehrman's wonderful writing, I especially loved the way Natalie's character developed. There was a very distinct difference in the Natalie before and in the early stages of her "undercover project" as Nat and her actions towards the end. I really love those developments when they're not all out impossible, awkward and hard to believe. And in this case, I think it is even eye-opening to a certain degree. Cause really, girls and guys still have problems communicating (umm, yeah, I'm like a prime example *blush*).

Natalie's friends are also wonderful characters with dimension. There are Natalie's friends Chloe and Darcy, who help her throughout the whole process, transforming her into Nat and back, they cover for her while she stays at Underwood Academy. These girls have known each other for years. They're very close and always stick up for each other, even if they argue every now and then. One scene in which the girls' close connection is shown in a way I absolutely loved was the Halloween party when they talk about their costumes. The three girls have always dressed up as a threesome, be it Charlie's Angels, the three Stooges or three characters from The Wizard of Oz!

Then there are the slightly crazy geeks Max, Tyler and Earl, and Nat's roommate Emilio at Underwood Academy. May, Tyler and Earl are well aware of the fact that they're far from the most popular guys at Underwood, but they also know that their friendship is a good thing and don't mind their they are probably the nicest guys ever. In a good way! And Emilio is not necessarily a social outcast, but he is the first to admit that he doesn't have any really close friends at school. He had good friends at home, but at Underwood there's no one he can really relate to and so he tends to be quieter and more reclusive in a way.

This book definitely deserves 5 Stars and is already on my best of 2011 list!