Customer Reviews

Jailbait

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Leslea Newman, Jailbait (Delacorte, 2005)

It is quite probable that, no matter what happens with Leslea Newman's career, she will forever have her name linked with Heather Has Two Mommies, her 1990 juvenile picture book that inspired a firestorm of controversy (that still rages today). She could win the Nobel Prize for Literature next week, and people would probably still refer to her as "the person who wrote Heather Has Two Mommies." Whether Jailbait was an attempt to break the mold by writing another book with an undeniably controversial theme or not, I've no idea, but I must admit the thought crossed my mind more than once.

I find it exceptionally interesting that a previous Amazon reviewer (August 16, 2005) criticizes the novel for not "[disproving] the myth that young girls always understand the consequences sexual involvement with an older man can bring." I'm not terribly sure where that reviewer is getting her information; in America, the myth (and the law to back it up) is that no "child" of either sex understands the consequences of sexual involvement with an older member of either sex. And while to say exactly how Newman tackles that question would be the spoiler of spoilers for the book (for that question and how it is addressed, predictably, is the climax of the novel), I have to say that from where I'm standing, the previous reviewer seems to have read exactly the opposite of the book I did.


It's impossible to judge the book without looking at the deeper ethical concepts raised, unfortunately, but I think I managed to base my review more on the book's construction than the questions it addresses. It is aimed at the 10-12 grade crowd, and the language fits. The characters are well, and surprisingly, drawn; for a book set in 1971, the token trapped-in-the-sixties stoner is surprisingly understated, and one has to give at least grudging respect to the idea that Newman had to have been tempted to turn said token stoner into a stereotype. Instead, he turns out as human as the rest of the cast. The boyfriend, who is of course at the core of the book, is handled quite well; Newman uses the book's first-person-singular to keep us from knowing any more about him than her protagonist does, which proves on more than one occasion to simultaneously frustrate the reader and lend an air of veracity. (One imagines an author with lesser skills sending her protagonist off to play amateur detective, a move Newman wisely avoids.) Our hero's parents slip a little now and again towards stereotype, but that's to be expected in literature aimed at the teen set, and Newman never takes it too far.

An interesting book, both well-written and worth thinking about for its subject matter; I just wish Newman had strayed as far from conventional morality in the latter as she did from conventional genre writing in the former. *** ½

I really wanted to like this story. It sounded interesting and different.

Instead, I got to read about a sullen, uninteresting and completely screwed up teeanagers in the 1970's.

Kind of boring and very typical. There was not a redeeming feature in any of the characters and the storyline was stilted and rigid.

Not a good read.

I finished Jailbait a couple of hours ago, and I'm still shaking. It's a young adult novel, but it could also be horror. Leslea Newman does a perfect job of detailing how an average girl from a sleepy suburban town can suddenly find herself to be "jailbait."

I knew this book was about an underage girl, Andrea, who gets involved with an older man, so when I started reading it yesterday I assumed that although I may find the story interesting and well-written (which it absolutely is!), I doubted I would ever be able to identify with this character at all. I would never get into some strange man's car to begin with. Or even if I did, I certainly never would get physical with him. And there's no way I would ever lie or steal for some guy. Or would I? Am I really above succumbing to some suave older man's wiles? While I never had an experience quite like Andrea's, in retrospect . . . I did take some pretty brainless risks back when I was a teenager. And I rationalized them the same way Andrea does.

This novel made me question my self-assuredness and highlights how stealthily sexual predators operate. Jailbait is scary not just because of the plot but also because how easily readers, via Newman's honest prose, can identify with Andrea's state of mind and the emotions propelling her well-meaning but destructive choices.

Jailbait should be required reading for all young adults, and their parents.

The title and cover seem to imply more drama than this novel provides - Andi's affair with an older man, Frank, is instead a private matter, which makes the story all the more realistic. In 1971, Andi is fifteen-going-on-sixteen, a somewhat overweight (so she thinks) loner at school (her best friend has moved away, her brother is at college) and bullied slightly. When she meets Frank, a handsome older man who drives by her every day on her way home, she creates romantic scenarios inside her head, falling hard and fast for a guy she barely knows, even after she spends time with him. She's drawn in by the compliments and the intimacy, and even when he becomes distant or abusive, she still cares about him and wants him to go back to the way he was. Although sex is a part of this novel such scenes are appropriately non-graphic, as befits the YA audience, and while the conclusion isn't entirely satisfactory (particularly given that the reader sees the unhealthy relationship far more clearly than Andi appears to) it does feel authentic.

Andi, a fifteen year old growing up in 1970s suburbia, has no friends, a miserable school life, and a family that she hates. When a car drives by her every day, Andi begins to fantasize about a relationship with the driver. Until the day he stops, opens the door, and says "Get in, gorgeous." Frank is a lot older, and during their daily after-school meetings, he makes Andi feels beautiful, loved and wanted. Andi knows that she has to keep thier relationship a secret, because Frank could go to jail for the things that he does with her. And even when their relationship begins to take an unpleasant edge, Andi knows that she can never, ever tell.

This book starts with a overheard, anonymous quote about statutory rape: "Please, that girl knew exactly what she was getting into." And this book neither proves nor disproves the quote. It shows a compelling and tragic portrait of a girl from a good neighborhood and a good family who falls below the radar. It is easy to see how Andi could be blinded by someone who made her feel special. What is more difficult is to understand how someone as smart as Andi could have gotten into the relationship in the first place, or have fallen for Frank's stories, or let it go on as far as it did. Even though the book is from Andi's perspective, it doesn't feel like we're in her head. I still don't understand how Andi got to where she got with Frank. It feels like you're watching from a distance. And at the end of the book, even though things have, in a way, changed, it's still difficult to see any change or growth in Andi. It's more like she narrowly avoided disaster than that she grew up enough to navigate clear of it. This is an unsatisfactory book that left me feeling a little empty and unfulfilled at the end of it.

When I asked Leslea about why she wrote this book, she stated it was because of her curiosity about a rather well known case that had been in the news.

DISCLAIMER: While not close, I am proud to consider Leslea Newman to be a friend. I probably would have rated this higher if I didn't know the author.

This book a fiction, but it explores one possibility why a teenage girl could do something so obviously foolish. It's why other reviewers had such a problem, her dangerous behavior never makes sense to anyone be her. However, you can clearly see why she is thinking it.

On another level, people put their lives in the hands of total strangers every day. Some for sex, others for compassion and yet others because they just need anyone. If the story seems unrealistically far-fetched, you've had a good life, be thankful. My sister went down a very similar path with an ex-con while she was under 18. Thankfully, it didn't destroy her life, and she's now has a very loving family of her own.

It's an interesting thought provoking book if you don't put yourself in the main character place.

The begining premise of this novel is intriguing--a young friendless teen becomes involved with an older man--it does not fulfil it's side of the bargain.

Newman opens her story with a quote she overheard at a coffee shop: "Please, that girl knew exactly what she was getting into." From this quote one would hope Newman's novel would disprove the myth that young girls always understand the consequences sexual involvement with older men can bring.

She does not dispell this myth.

In fact, her novel proves that these misguided children know the consequences of their actions ane embrass the effects. That is, until they get hurt.

I found Newman's novel bland, boring and basicly blah. There was no reason to set the novel in 1971. The character does not change for none of the desisions in the book are made by her. She is a puppy dog being led through life, giving women a bad name.

It is a disapointing novel which no teen girl should ever be lead to read.