Half His Age

Bookseller recommendation

“I enjoyed this fun, flirty, dark humor story! ”

— Heather • Fables and Fairy Tales

Bookseller recommendation

“Wow…Waldo is far beyond her years. I read this so fast. I couldn’t stop, but I was nervous the whole time. Nothing I expected to happen did…and I wonder if the story is more normalized than the media portrays. Yikes…this one is going to haunt me. ”

— Missy • Pages & Parcels

Bookseller recommendation

“Slimy and riveting. Told through the perspective of a high school student, McCurdy immerses readers in Waldo’s relationship with her high school English teacher. The style draws the reader in and keeps them invested. Not so much a train wreck that you can’t look away from than a merry-go-round that you can’t get to stop spinning. ”

— Elias • Outside of a Dog Books and Games

Bookseller recommendation

“Okay, I broke my own rule and really enjoyed a fiction audiobook. Oh, Jennette McCurdy! Yes, we know your autobiography totally rocked and was an international sensation, but did you have to open your debut novel with a bleak, dry description of your seventeen-year-old protagonist Waldo receiving cunnilingus? Yes, I guess you did. Readers might feel, at first, like they’re tucking into another trashy, tragic and salacious teenage romp that can’t figure out what it wants to say beyond, “Yes, this author has had some sex!” However, I think there’s more to this grimy story, and the sex (some of which would be considered illegal) is a red herring. The bigger question is, why do people develop compulsive consumerist behaviour in pursuit of social acceptance? McCurdy describes the terrifying world that a young person in the 2020s inhabits. Waldo is targeted by capitalism, manipulated by adults with unfulfilled fantasies, and burdened with unfair expectations of maturity. I think this book does a great job of illuminating the heady impulsiveness of the later teenage years, when you want to believe there is a great future ahead but you feel so unsure of what is good for you, and whether other adults have your best interests at heart. ”

— Claudia • Scorpio Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Vulgar but effective. I loved the writing style and darkly humorous approach to an otherwise uncomfortable subject. ”

— Stephanie • Läs is More

Bookseller recommendation

“So compelling and excellently handled. I loved her memoir, and was so exited to read this. It totally delivered and I devoured it in one day. In this novel, you can expect a similar writing voice, witty, sharp, and self-aware, like her memoir. The topic is cringey, and that’s the point. Definitely worth the read! ”

— Eliza • The Chatham Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“"What's the harm in a little crush?" This novel overtakes you with obsession and capitalism and want. McCurdy writes a furious and blunt story of an obsessive affair that questions what really matters most after the chase is over. ”

— Claire • Mostly Books

Bookseller recommendation

“This is a slap to the face of uncomfortable topics in the most eloquent way. The way that Jennette tackles grooming, generational trauma, depression, and obsession, as well as the way women think they need to look, act, sound, and be, had me hanging on to every word. The writing is aggressive but not in an off-putting way, in a way that you can feel the experience and emotion in every part of it. ”

— Sam • The Book Rack

Bookseller recommendation

“So many authors have broached the subject of illicit teacher-student relationships/grooming that it feels like there is not much left to say about this topic. McCurdy has proven that this is not the case. With her distinctive voice and razor-sharp wit, she cuts to the core of why relationships like this continue to happen and how we continue to fail young women as a culture. Well worth a listen even for those who didn’t grow up watching her on TV. ”

— Anne • The Regulator Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“ “Ain’t no little girl fast enough to catch a grown man.” This is a hard book to recommend so instead I'll give assurances. It is graphic, but it's in no way titillating. Waldo is messy and self-destructive, but the narrative is clear in where the blame lies. The relationship is never truly romanticized to the reader. It's a difficult read at times, but worthwhile. ”

— Chelsea • The Lakewood Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“It’s graphic from the start, blunt and honest. It is a worthwhile read, though it may not be for everyone due to the graphic depiction of sex. It does strike me as Lolita from Lolita’s POV. ”

— Kim • Banter Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“I read this in one squirmy yet riveting sitting— it’s hard to explain the combination of vulgarity and sophistication in prose that characterize this book. After taking time to think about it, I guess that is the point. That the truth of many lives is hard to look at yet essential to examine. That the things that seem most extreme are often quotidian, but shouldn’t necessarily be. I guess this is a roundabout way of saying this isn’t really a book to “like,” but one you should sit with.”

— Destinee • East City Bookshop