Changing Jamie [Paperback]

Dakota Chase (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Jamie’s pretty much your average gay teenager. He’s not out with his folks, he’s got a crush on a fellow high school athlete, and his life isn’t perfect. It’s a good thing he has his friend, Billy, to take his mind off things, and to show him that all things are possible. Billy seems to be all Jamie isn’t. Billy’s openly gay, he has enough money to follow fashion trends, and he’s got dates all the time. Lots of them. With older men. When Billy starts acting weird and hiding things from him, Jamie’s whole life seems to tilt off its axis. His stepfather, who has never been the greatest role model, escalates his behavior until Jamie dreads going home. His English teacher assigns him tutoring sessions with the object of his crush, the gorgeous track star Dylan. Jamie’s not even sure he can talk to Dylan, let alone tutor him, but it’s impossible to talk to Billy about it. Billy’s too wrapped up in a very dangerous game they call bug chasing: trying to catch HIV. Learning about Billy’s risk-taking nearly shatters their friendship, and forces Jamie to look at the world in a whole new way. Can Jamie try to keep Billy safe and still stay on top of homework, a new boyfriend, and keeping his step-father in line?

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Prizm Books (June 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603703519
• ISBN-13: 978-1603703512
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #587,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Changing Jamie, July 1, 2008

By 

Jean Paquin "avid reader" (Mississippi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changing Jamie (Paperback)

I don't normally read Young Adult but I've just finished Changing Jamie by Dakota Chase that has made me realize what I've been missing out on. No one ever said growing up was easy, butwhen you're young, gay, and haven't told anyone, especially your parents, it's downright hard. Jamie's best friend, Billy, is openly gay and his goal in life is to cause his straight-laced parents as much embarrassment as possible. Jamie's stepfather is emotionally abusive, and he feels his mother is siding with his stepfather over him. Jamie has a crush on Dylan Anderson, high school jock and when he's assigned as a tutor to help Dylan pass his SATs, he thinks his fantasies have come true, except now he actually has to talk to him. Jamie learns that Billy is playing a dangerous game where he is purposely trying to catch AIDS. To top it all off, circumstances force him to come out in front of the whole school. The twists and turns this book takes keeps you turning the pages. You realize that gay or straight, all teenagers have the same wants and the same fears. This is one book I recommend not passing up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!, August 25, 2008

By 

dkmcd "Dan" (Dearborn, MI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Changing Jamie (Paperback)

Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! What a wonderful hidden gem! This story should become must reading for all young adults- gay or straight! Dakota Chase writes perfectly for his target audience. Too many authors of young adult fiction condescend or write down to their audience. Chase does not. This novel has lessons for all of us.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, taken down a peg due to grammar and spelling mistakes, April 24, 2010

By 

Sean A. Previl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Changing Jamie (Paperback)

I found that Changing Jamie was a wonderful story. You see so many young gay novels about love and sex and discovery, but you can rarely find a book about "bug chasers" and "gift-givers", it's not a topic you'd ever see touched on. The only flaw to this book is the grammar and spelling mistakes littered throughout the book, even at one point accidentally mixing up the names. It might be due to the past as an English major, but it was the one thing that took the book down a peg for me.