It evokes those rare moments when your world is on the precipice of change, almost a dream, and how thrilling it is to push your way toward something new.-Kevin Wilson This may be the best book about an adolescent since The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Filled with humor and sharpness and so much light, this book introduces an amazing cast of characters, all so unique and finely observed, held together by the clarity of Mary Jane's voice. I am sad to have finished it.' -Marcy Dermansky I dare you to find a more winning novel than Jessica Anya Blau's Mary Jane.

Highly recommended.- Library Journal (starred review) Blau's coming-of-age charmer will hit all of the nostalgia notes.-Parade 'The experience of reading Jessica Anya Blau's Mary Jane is a lot like eating quality candy: super enjoyable, crazy good.

Review Quotes A charming and poignant tale of desire, image, Americana, and chosen family.- BooklistBlau's intelligent, witty novel captures the essence of the '70s with humor and immensely appealing characters. Caught between the lifestyle she's always known and the future she's only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she's going to be.

Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (not to mention group therapy). A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane's mother to know, which she does not): the doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job-helping a famous rock star dry out. The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it's a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, Impeachment: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. A respectable job, Mary Jane's mother says. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she's glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor.

In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family's subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Nick HornbyĪlmost Famous meets Daisy Jones & The Six in this funny, wise, and tender novel about a fourteen-year-old girl's coming of age in 1970s Baltimore, caught between her straight-laced family and the progressive family she nannies for-who happen to be secretly hiding a famous rock star and his movie star wife for the summer. I LOVED this novel.If you have ever sung along to a hit on the radio, in any decade, then you will devour Mary Jane at 45 rpm.

Mary jane a novel by jessica anya blau