[Review] Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

Title: Babe in Boyland

Author: Jody Gehrman

Publisher: Dial (February 17, 2011)

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?

I thought Babe in Boyland was such a hilarious and enjoyable read! I've always been a sucker for plots involving a girl somehow needing to attend an all-boy's school, especially when she falls in love with her hot roommate. And that was exactly what happened in this story.

Natalie thought she was doing a pretty good job as a love columnist for her school's paper. But as it turns out, the guys at her school think she's giving crappy advice and turning their girlfriends against them. Natalie realises that she had always been answering what she thought the girls would want to hear, and that she doesn't have enough experience to dish out REAL words of wisdom on relationships. She doesn't really know what goes on inside the mind of a guy, but when she tries to interview the boys at a party, they either hit on her or get scared off. Then Natalie gets inspired-why not pretend to be a guy, assume the identity of "Nat", and join an all-boys' school to understand boys better? But what started out as a simple, if not crazy, research project for her column slowly develops into an eye-opening journey for Natalie, as she lives life as a guy among guys.

I loved how you could see Natalie slowly growing character-wise throughout the book. Her two best friends, Darcy and Chloe, are pretty awesome girls that I would love to have as besties, and I like how Natalie got to see her friends in a different light when acting as a male. Natalie started out as pretty judgemental and maybe even feminist, but she slowly becomes a little more accepting later on after realising that it was okay for a guy to have flaws, just as girls do themselves. Her essay for the column talking about her experience at the boys' school showed how much she had matured from the start!

One problem I had with this novel was how everything just seemed to fall in place too neatly. Natalie managed to enroll in the school without her mother's permission, because Chloe's boy-genius cousin hacked into the system and settled everything. And she was suddenly able to become a boarder without any complications. Natalie didn't get into trouble for anything she did, though technically she had broken many rules. I know all these minor details aren't supposed to be the focus of this book, but perhaps the writer could have made the story a little more believable. Also, is it really possible for so many things to happen in just one week?

Still, I was willing to overlook the flaws in Babe in Boyland and found it an engaging story on the whole. I think every teenaged girl with a hidden adventurous spirit should definitely try this novel. I still don't know what goes on in a guy's head, but this book tells me that I'm definitely not alone! I'm looking forward to Jody Gerhman's next book and am crossing my fingers for a sequel as well, though it's extremely unlikely.