“Three and a half Stars: A witty tale of a teenage boy coping with teenage and adult drama.

Jay is a freshman dealing with the typical angst that plagues teenage boys. Raging hormones, unrequited feelings for his best friend, bully problems, and all the awkwardness that comes with being a teenager. His burdens become heavier when his parents announce they are separating on a trial basis. His dad is a workaholic and not home much. Consequently, his mother started up an affair with a low life, who More...

The Edumacation Of Jay Baker by Jay Clark is a young adult contemporary novel about a boy whose parents are divorcing and the effects of the divorce on him. Jay is an average freshman boy for the most part, he’s got a huge crush on his best friend Cameo Parnell, is running for student government and has an enemy, Mike Hibbert, who likes to rhyme Jay with other words.

Read the rest of my review here More...

I give this book, The Edumacation of Jay Baker, 4 out of 5 stars. Jay Clark, the author, did a fabulous job with how he wrote the story. The plot was also very intriguing. I couldn’t put it down. The book is about Jay Baker, an awkward teen who deals with issues most kids hope they never have to go through themselves. During the story, Clark would put in a lot of references to other books, movies and TV shows. There were some that I didn’t quite understand. Even though I missed some of them, the More...

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Jay Baker is a fun character, a self-proclaimed geek who really had more going for him than he understood. But unfortunately, the affected writing style distracted me so much from the story that this is what I will remember about this book.

Almost every other sentence contained a pun, pop culture reference or a play on words. Both the dialogue and the narrative are full of over-the-top cleverness, and not a single word spin was left unspun. Rather than More...

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I really liked this book. I liked Jay and his quirks, and loved (most) all of the supporting characters. He suffered from some serious teenage boy syndrome during his rival with Mike and the bad choices he made where Cameo was concerned, but he made up for it in character so that was okay.

I had a real hard time connecting with Cameo, who is mostly responsible for the loss of rating. I know the author tried to portray her as a mistake-prone girl with good in More...

Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Abigail Tyson

Recommended For: Both boys and girls aged 14 and up for moderate teenage sexuality and language.

One Word Summary: Overzealous.

In young adult literature nowadays, there are not enough books geared towards boys. Of course, many include boys and the problems boys grapple with sometimes happen peripherally to the main story, but there aren’t a plethora of books written with teenage boys in mind. In The Edumacation of Jay Baker, Jay Clark strives to remedy t More...

Irreverent yet relevant, poignant and sarcastic, witty and in your face, this book had a little bit of everything, and then some snark added on top.

Jay Baker is a freshman with a snark-o-meter that is through the roof. His life is a complicated mess of unrequited crushes, homophobic bullies and parental divorce shockers. His only allies are his sister, the Homecoming Queen (who hates everyone and everything), his best friend Cameo (one of his unrequited crushes), and his teacher, Ms. Lambert (w More...

Summary:
Jay Baker is a freshman in high school. He is in love with his cheerleader best friend (at the moment), and in a constant battle with Mike, the football playing bully that insists on calling in Gay Baker. Jay is no slouch on insults, so the two of them go at it throughout almost the entire book. Ms. Lambert helps guide Jay at school, but his home life seems to be in ruins. His parents are separating because his mother is having an affair. This leads to heartache, confusion, and sarcasm d More...

Reviewed at Paperback Dolls.com

In Clark’s fresh debut novel, THE EDUMACATION OF JAY BAKER, readers are introduced to a wonderfully awkward character that will seem quite familiar to both male and female fans.

This modern coming of age book deals with relevant issues that plague today’s generation. From parental separation (and the sordid behavior of said parents) to the normal hormonal dramas with friends, school and love interest that every teenager deals with to some degree…THE EDUMACTION OF J More...

Mom and Dad were in their room with the door shut. Again. Cautiously, I pressed my ear against the wooden frame. Hakuna Matata, no Discovery Channel-like sounds could be heard. Only two mammals speaking so quickly and intensely that their voices were nearly inaudible.


Synopsis:
Jay Baker's world is starting to crumble on all fronts. He has to face his mortal-enemy-since-the-seventh-grade in a Freshman Class Presidential debate. He only decided to run for class office to impress cheerleader Cameo More...

This book is... cute. It's not worth raiding shelves for, but it's somewhat amusing. The main problem is that the book liked itself way too much. It was funny, but not exactly laugh-out-loud funny. It had a few moments. The plot was insanely predictable, but this is the kind of story carried by the humor and pop-culture references (which are way too in-your-face. Seriously, one reference was "Viva La Chicken!" in reference to Viva La Vida. It's supposed to be ridiculous, I know, but that just sc More...

Read this review on my blog! --> The Edumacation of Jay Baker

The Edumacation of Jay Baker is a bittersweet book about Jay Baker’s once-perfect family’s spiral into Divorceville.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Jay is also having girl troubles. AND there’s a dude at his school who won’t lay off the gay jokes. All this going on and you know what I did most while reading this book? Laugh. I laughed so. much. The best way I can describe Jay Baker is him being the boy version of the character Jun More...

Jay Baker’s got trouble, right here in River City. Trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with B, and that stands for—better luck next time? You got that pop culture reference, right Mr. Baker? After all, the ones you fling at your readers span decades beyond the referential zingers any typical high schooler would have in his arsenal of snark. They also, alas, get in the way of the story you’re trying to tell, making readers take time out of the narrative to figure out just exactly what you’r More...

Behind the witty repartee, bad puns, and mangled metaphors, high school freshman Jay Baker is dealing with some serious issues: a high school love triangle, a former best friend turned enemy who’s getting him in trouble at school, and the potential breakup of his parents’ marriage. Jay is a loveable semi-misfit and smart aleck who really loves his family and his best friend since second grade, the inimitable and beautiful cheerleader Cameo “Appearance” Parnell. Things become complicated when Jay More...

Jay Baker is like most high school boys—always thinking about girls. He has been obsessed with his cheerleader best friend for years—but has never told her how he feels. An old friend who constantly calls him “Gay Baker” bullies him in school, but Jay is no victim and always has a witty comment to throw back. When Jay’s parents decide to separate and Jay finds out his mom has had an affair, Jay’s life is sent tumbling and he is unsure how to deal. He meets a girl who he likes and is soon caught More...

This book is awesome. Admittedly the story is a typical high school freshman learning to live with his parent’s separation and an infatuation with his best friend. What makes this story whole is the language. It’s not what you would find in a typical serious teen novel. It is not so far in the other direction as to be unbelievable or as if the author is trying too hard. I find this completely believable. I have a few teens in my Library I can picture as Jay. Besides the innate and lovable Jay th More...

3.5

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/03/14/r...

It took me a little while to settle into The Edumacation of Jay Baker, but it had nothing to do with the story, and everything to do with the fact I was reading an ARC. I caught a grammar error on the first page, and it took a bit before I got over myself. Once I did get invested in the story, I devoured the book in an evening. There is a valuable story nestled in between the constant barrage of pop-culture references and other snarky b More...

ugh. can I punch Jay, please? Hard? I can't stand him or his sense of humor or his infatuationn with his best friend and if Cameo had fallen for him by the end of the book I was going to scream. Best just stop.

The Edumacation Of Jay Baker

Patty's first and often lasting impression...

This is a very clever fast paced extremely funny book.

It's the story of a very clever boy who has to deal with the separation and betrayal of his parents and the fact that his life at school is a mess.

He is not into sports, his best friend is Cameo...a girl, he suffers from IBS, he is bullied by an overweight classmate who pounds him with gay references, his mother is having an affair with Cameo's father and Jay is always More...

I was woefully unimpressed with this book. As I stated in my blog (http://wendyreading.blogspot.com/), I debated on whether or not to continue reading this several times throughout the read. Reading to the bitter end led only to disappointment. As one reader noted, the pop culture referents in this book were all over the place (several decades worth) and the references to his IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) were a little too graphic (potty humor, anyone?) for my taste.
I am willing to admit if a More...

The Edumacation of Jay Baker. Another win from Goodreads worth reading. Jay is a teenager facing a lot of teenage angst with a lot of pop cultuere references. Throughout the book you laugh with him, your heart breaks for him and you admire him. And how can any of us forget what it was like to live through those awkward years? I thought the titles of the chapters or "tracks" was a clever idea and I was hooked from there. There was many comments he made that made me laugh. The only fault I found w More...

This book takes place in Ohio. Jay Baker is an average teen boy whose parents are going through a divorce. He expresses his feelings in his blog. He is new to high school and his blog helps him share his thoughts and feelings on his parents divorce, his dream girl and his enemy’s. He gets involved in a love triangle with his love of Cameo Parnell. The book gets really interesting when Jay finds out that his mom is cheating with Cameo’s dad and this is what is causing the divorce. This causes the More...

When I picked this book up, I was expecting a fun, quirky and entertaining read and that’s exactly what I got! The Edumacation of Jay Baker is one of those reads that are fun and humorous but then have serious aspects to it.

Jay Baker is your average teenage guy. He is sarcastic in every sense and hides his true feelings as every teenage male does. Girls are the main thing on his mind, in particular Cameo and Caroline. Cameo is a beautiful cheerleader type who is constantly hopping from boyfrien More...

One look at the Track List (or Table of Contents) for this book had me convinced that I would love it. I wasn't wrong, I just wasn't right either. I'm a huge fan of pop culture references in books, TV, movies, etc. that and the truly catchy synopsis and title for The Edumacation of Jay Baker had my hopes so high. Unfortunately the inclusion of SO many pop culture references brought me down from 4 stars to 3. It was just a little too much. It honestly was hard to read at times, not because it was More...

Edumacation had me laughing out loud by the second page. I really enjoyed reading it mostly because it was HILARIOUS. The way Jay talks and presents his life is really great, even when he is going through some rough times. He has the mindset typical to what most people would imagine a teenage boy would have, and I think I really loved him all the more for his blatant honesty and his quirky outlook. Jay is a very real character - he feels like your friend and he has you cheering for him from the More...

Reviewed on Alexa Loves Books.

This is the second time I've struck gold this year with a contemporary YA novel featuring a male protagonist! When I read the review Jess posted, I was instantly intrigued. And I was extremely delighted when I was given the opportunity to read this novel for myself. The Edumacation of Jay Baker was fun, entertaining and definitely a feel-good read!

The Character

Jay Baker is hilarious! I found myself laughing out loud while I was reading, and I never felt anything les More...

The Edumacation of Jay Baker was a fun read! It took a little while for the story to pick up but once it did, it was really good! It was a book of mixed emotions. Some wanted you to laugh out loud and other kept you quiet and sad. Jay Clark is a debut author for 2012, so if your participating in the challenge and want a fun, easy-to-read book, go out and pick this up!!!


The story evolves around a boy named Jay Baker. He is in love with his best friend (and cheerleader!!!) Cameo "Appearance" Parn More...

More reviews at Rondo of a Possible World: YA Book Reviews

When I read about books that center (more or less) around divorce, a little voice in my head thinks that I will be able to compare to the character's feelings. But learning the reasons of the divorce of Jay's parents don't fit within the parameter of my life so the circles move away from each other only crossing in a few intersecting points. The emotions were definitely there for both Jay and I and truly that was how I connected with hi More...

Jay Baker is a 15 year old boy…His best friend is a cheerleader named Cameo Appearance Parnell. His girlfriend is a tennis phenom. He’s snarky, sarcastic, and whips out pop culture references faster than a speeding bullet. Jay’s life is about to implode as his parent’s marriage starts to fall apart, he’s forced to battle his mortal enemy, and one teacher decides to force him to get real and quit hiding behind his wise cracks.

I have to say I was laughing out loud within the first page of this “co More...

Reasons to Read:

1.Strong main character:
One thing I really liked about Jay Baker as a character was that even though he felt totally confused and overwhelmed at the changing circumstances in his life, he doesn't just sit around and mope about it. He's constantly trying to tackle these problems head on and deal with them- not always in the most mature way, but he tries.

2.Humour GALORE:
This book is just filled with witty one-liners, which genuinely adds to Jay's personality. I think it's great to More...