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BOY MEETS GHOUL
April 2, 2008 -- PARENTS may not be happy with Simon & Schuster's newest teen heroine Jenny Green, who gleefully knifes high school boys who treat her badly. Amy Belasen and Jacob Osborn's "Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year," out in September," follows a "spoiled teen princess" who "discovers just how despicable the male gender can be - with the lying, the cheating and the utter disrespect - [and] decides to make them pay . . . with their lives." Recommended for grades 9 and up.
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Review by Daisy Qin, Teen Advisory Group member
Junior year can be killer - Jenny Green should know.
Jenny's your typical spoiled brat with a revenge craving streak. In keeping with her character, she convinces her parents to let her leave Long Island for Molson Academy, a boarding school in Montreal. Through a series of rather unfortunate incidences, Jenny begins building a case against the male gender in general.
While losing herself, Jenny discovers her inner killer. Guys, this is one femme fatale that you do not want to mess with.
Deviously funny in parts and shockingly serious in others, the dark humour in Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year is not for the faint of heart. The killer duo of Amy Belasen and Jacob Osborn has cranked out quite a murderous book - in the literal sense. More so than you know.
Funny enough for stress relief, but deep enough for readers to emphasize with, Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year will leave you questioning yourself. Just remember, not everything is as it seems. That girl-next-door over there? You could be her next victim.
One thing's for sure though; Jenny Green has had a Killer Junior Year.
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 Ah, there's nothing I like better than a nice book about a nice Jewish girl from a nice town who grows into a nice serial killer. Many, many thanks to Michelle Fadlalla of Simon & Schuster for the review copy of Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year by Amy Belasen and Jacob Osborn.
Whodunit: Jenny Green, self-proclaimed JAP (Jewish American Princess), is so over her high school on Long Island. Sophomore year was a hellish journey that ended with Veronica Cohen taking Jenny's date to the prom. Jenny decides that instead of facing her problems, she's going to run from them...all the way to Canada. She convinces her indulgent parents to send her to Molson (like the beer) Academy in Canada, where no one will know her, or about the MySpace debacle with the picture of her huge zit. Enrolling late means she ends up in a house full of hippies who barely clean the bathroom. She gets herself into AP Calculus but can't understand a word the teacher said. About the only bright spots at Molson for Jenny are her new BFF Chloe, Edgar, who helps her with her math homework, and adorable, sweet Josh Beck, who Jenny knew in Long Island. Problem is, once Jenny finally gets her hands on Josh, he turns out to be not as sweet as she thought he was. In fact, when Josh attacks Jenny, she defends herself by breaking her roommate's glass bong and stabbing him to death with the pieces.
It's not like she meant to kill him! Everyone knew he was suicidal anyway. And her new boyfriend, Dizzy D, is turning out to be kind of scummy. Ugh, wasn't Canadian boarding school supposed to get her away from scummy boys? Jenny might be the new girl, but she's not about to put up with any boy's crap. And the boys that do her wrong are in for a lot more than a little crying and a MySpace page dedicated to how bad a boyfriend they are.
And how: When I booktalk this book, I always compare it to Dexter. Jenny's no forensic scientist but the concept of the book and the show is very much the same: A person who keeps up a normal appearance murders those s/he considers evil. Jenny's voice is delightfully sociopathic, sort of a combination of blasé and outright, total panic at what she's done. The more murders she commits, the more she's able to justify her actions. She does acknowledge, sort of, that murder is wrong, but she just has sooooo many other things to worry about. In an effort to make herself into a better person, you know, the kind that doesn't murder, she tries to work and get involved with school activities. Problem is, school plays can't change the fact that Jenny still wants revenge on the boys who scorn her. It's hard to express how much I like this book, because it's so hard to talk about without making the book sound completely heinous. Jenny is a really unique character who reminded me a little of Kathy from Never Let Me Go, the way she could be so rational about such heinous acts. Through all the crazy things she does, Jenny remains true to her JAP self, still focusing on the superficial. I think she'd be a fascinating character to discuss in a group.
Also, the cover is awesome, yes? Normally I hate those covers that have models with half a head but this shot is terrific. I love the knife against the preppy clothes. It really captures the juxtaposition of personality that makes Jenny interesting to read.
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DOUG CAMILLI, The Gazette Published: Thursday, April 03
Feminism marches on: The newest role model for young teen girls is Jenny Green, who takes a knife to boys who are mean to her.
She's the heroine - I guess - of Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year, a teen novel due out this fall from Simon & Schuster. The N.Y. Post found some publicity material that explains that Jenny is a "spoiled teen princess" who "discovers just how despicable the male gender can be - with the lying, the cheating and the utter disrespect - (and) decides to make them pay ... with their lives."
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Publisher's Marketplace:
Amy Belasen and Jacob Osborn's JENNY GREEN'S KILLER JUNIOR YEAR, a satire in which a 16-year-old daddy's girl from Long Island becomes an unlikely serial killer after losing her virginity at boarding school, pitched as a teenage DEXTER, to Michael Del Rosario at Simon Pulse, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
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