10th Grade
by Joseph Weisberg
272 pages
(2002, Random House)

Reviews

Booklist
January 1, 2002
By John Green

This first novel is the journal of Jeremy Reskin, a tenth-grader with atrocious grammar who does not believe in the utility of commas and will stretch sentences across many lines because his writing teacher has told him to express himself. If the plot seems shticky, the book is in fact quite charming and proves surprisingly readable. Without commas (and often without apostrophes), Weisberg admirably captures the inarticulate voice of a suburban tenth-grader. Jeremy plays soccer but hangs out with a foursome who eat outside and smoke cigarettes and, occasionally, pot. Some readers may be frustrated by the meandering plot, and even those who fondly remember tenth grade might wish to be subjected to slightly less ogling of the female form; but Weisberg paints a picture that is horribly and wonderfully accurate. Whether Jeremy is shopping with his sister at the Limited or having amusingly brief dialogues in Spanish with the Love of His Life, Renee, this is a difficult, painful, and painfully funny novel. And just like tenth grade.