10th Grade : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: 10th Grade: A True Look into a High School Mind
Review: "...in the years to come I will...always remember 10th Grade."-Jeremy Reskin

This is a quote that Jeremy Reskin, the main character in the book 10th Grade, says towards the end of the play, and one that will apply to anybody who reads this book. 10th Grade provides insight into the mind of the average 10th grade male, and also shows the ups and downs of high school life.

The book starts with the beginning of Jeremy's Sophomore year. He reveals to the reader how he has no friends and his goals for the year; he wants to "make some friends and he wants to take a girl's shirt off." He begins to hang out with the "goths'' of his grades, yet constantly trying to make friends with the more popular kids in his grade. The hottest grade soon becomes with him and it is all uphill from there. Every weekend Jeremy attends parties and at the end of the year he goes to the junior prom. His hilarious insights can make the reader laugh out loud for minutes at a time.

The only negative part of this book, which makes me take a star off its overall grade, is the grammar that the book is printed in. There isn't a single comma in the book and every sentence is a runon. One would think that after a year at school the writing ability of a sophmore would improve, but jeremy proves this to be wrong. Sometimes during the book the reader would get lost half way through the sentence and have to read it over again because of the grammatical errors.

If you are looking for a book that will not make you cry or make you depressed, read the hilarious novel 10th Grade. Trust me, it will be a book that you will not forget.

Rating:
Summary: 10th Grade...well, sort of...
Review: 10th Grade by Joseph Weisberg
Jeremy Reskin is the typical tenth grade boy: Insecure, awkward, and hormonally charged. This novel, 10th Grade, is a look at sophomore year through Jeremy's eyes. We join him in the boring town of Hutch Falls, New Jersey. With him, we experience everything from family bonding moments, to fantasies, to trying to be a part of the "in crowd". We go to soccer practice with him, we hang out at the mall (a.k.a. the vacuum cleaner for money) with his friends, and we go to prom with one of the popular girls. It's a very real, very candid look at what goes on in the mind of a tenth grader.
Joseph Weisberg has done a fairly good job in perfecting the character of Jeremy. He writes in such a way that brings Jeremy to life. With the creative use of grammatical flaws, this book is entirely believable. With every missed comma, every run-on sentence, every poor transition you get a feel for what it would be like to be this kid. At times, you'll find yourself wondering if this really was written by a sixteen-year-old boy.
As well-created as the characters were, the plot was a little lacking in the excitement department. It was very realistic, but that's not what is interesting to read. People don't want to read about real life, they want to read something different, something adventurous, something romantic. This book went nowhere, and took us all with it. We were constantly tortured by Jeremy's lack of romance, even though there were many directions Weisberg could have taken that part of the story in. His sexual frustration started to frustrate the reader in turn.
There is also a noticeably absent message in this story. Jeremy doesn't find love, he doesn't find himself, and he doesn't learn any life lessons. In the beginning he refuses to negotiate his morals for his friends, and isn't rewarded. Then later, he compromises his morals for popularity, but there are no repercussions. There is nothing to take away from this story when you finish it. It's simply the account of a very average high school boy.
With all that said, this book can be enjoyable from time to time, and is a good story for anyone who's gone through the tough sophomore year. But in the end, something's missing.


Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: 10th Grade is fabulous--it captures perfectly the essence of sophmore year--no longer a freshman, but still entirely clueless (no offense to any 10th graders meant; you'll understand when you get to the reunion phase of life). Jeremy, our narrator, is a hilariously charming protagonist, unsure of himself, yet still pretty OK. He navigates his sophmore year quite well, dealing with making friends, handling family, getting a girlfriend. He's a believable character telling a believable story. Weisberg does a great job bringing back high school and all the uncertainties that go along with it. Be warned that this novel is written as if by a 10th grader with less than stellar punctuation skills. A sentence starts, runs on, no commas, semicolons, etc., and then ends with a period. Reading it is like talking to an out of breath teenager. (Which is fun). This novel will make you laugh out loud and it will also bring some wistful tears to your eyes. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A cult-classic waiting to happen
Review: 10th Grade is the more realistic and less pretentious twin brother to the cult-classic "The Perks of Being A Wallflower". While Charlie of "Perks" is crying in his room, Jeremy of "10th Grade" is out exploring the world and describing girl's breasts.

Anyone who says that this is an unrealistic portrayal of teenage boys, is sorely mistaken. While YOU may have been an asexual nerd, the vast majority of boys (and girls) will relate perfectly to the hormone driven innocence of Jeremy.

The writing style is very informal, sometimes hard to understand. And the plot IS rather aimless. But Weisberg is wonderful at turning what could have been another boring book about teenage angst into a hilarious memoir of an average kid.

If you like this book, I would also recommend "YOUTH IN REVOLT" BY C.D. PAYNE.

Rating:
Summary: The "Tenth Grade" that everyone forgets
Review: Before reading this book, it sounded interesting to me and something that I just might want to read. The intriguing part was the fact that it was all the thoughts of a tenth grader. This does relate to me because I was in tenth grade two years ago. This book is gorged with run-on sentences and a hugely annoying amount of grammatical errors. The book was funny because of some really embarassing moments. Some people seemed to really enjoy this book, but I found it quite boring at times. I found out that I am not at all interested with the perverted thoughts of a tenth grade male. I feel that this book would appeal more to guys by the ideas it shares. I do not recommend this book to anyone else.


Rating:
Summary: one of my favorites.
Review: i borrowed this book from a friend of mine who had met him and signed his book. they met because of Zoe Trope (i think), author of Please Don't Kill the Freshman, which is somewhat like 10th Grade. i did prefer 10th Grade much more. i LOVED this book. i laughed so many times through it. it is so hilarious how the author describes every detail of a girl's boobs. funny, funny, funny. through the whole book, i could almost always relate to everything. it is an amazing book. being a sophomore 2 years ago (i'm a senior now) didn't make it hard for me to understand anything. this is exactly what it's like in high school. great book. although, i wish i had met the author.

Rating:
Summary: Brittany's Review
Review: I did not really enjoy this book all that much. I felt it took forever to get the point of the novel and then once i was finished, I realized that there was no point! I also did not like the grammatical errors and the fragmented sentences. The only thing I did like was how it related directly to what a teenage boy in tenth grade experiences.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to get through and dull
Review: I understand the reason why it is written in such short form, but I hated it. It was way too much. Way over the top. It makes for such a difficult read. The book was pretty dull anyway. Not much happens here.

Rating:
Summary: typical sophomore
Review: Jeremy was a charater that describe 10th graders exactaly how they are. This book showed him going through different stages and him maturing. But this is how it it. He talks about girl's bodies and is infactuated with boobs. He also handles the struggle though his soccer seasons.
Jeremy is a good kid and many of the girls thinks he is sweet and kind. But his mind isn't always in the best place. Buthe sees how girls have their different feelings though out the book and seems to mature a little more. This was an easy read book and i recomend it to anyone that likes a stories that dont take alot to think.

Rating:
Summary: boo it stinks
Review: this book was written by a tenth grader as he goes through the school year the errors in grammar such as no comas, and his lack of period make the book irritating. pretty much the only accurate thing is how much he thinks about women. Overall I found the book okay but nothing special.