Children's Literature
- Paula McMillen
Eighteen year old Jill has to leave Winterhead, Massachusetts after that fiasco at the senior prom, but she has a dilemma—should she live with her BFF, Ramie, in Brooklyn or join her bisexual love interest, Tommy, on a cross-country road trip? Her decision is influenced by the fact that the male body and personality that replaces her own for several days each month, Jack, is in love with Ramie and hates Tommy. Even though Jill consciously seeks to expunge any memories of her time as Jack, at least at first, she still does not want to split up Ramie and Jack or compel him to be with Tommy. This is a coming of age story complicated by a monthly gender change, the origin of which is never explained in this book. Although it is clear that there is a lot of history from the previous book, Cycler, this story still stands on its own. In spite of a couple of annoying inconsistencies, such as a description of an awake-state changeover that sounds seriously painful, while we are expected to believe that normally Jill just wakes up as Jack and vice versa, the characters are well-developed and empathetic. Dialog is spot-on and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. In spite of the gender bending phenomenon—and sometimes because of it—the range of issues these characters deal with have broad appeal for teens. Jack's clear memories of "Jilltime" cause him to hold strongly feminist views, and all the characters are struggling with what values they will live and who they want to be as adults. This is an easy read for a mature audience, and although the subject matter could provoke great discussions about relationships and sexuality, the explicit descriptions of the latter require cautioususe in a group setting. For a more sophisticated sci-fi reader interested in the subtleties of gender roles and gender shifting, Ursula LeGuin's classic, The Left Hand of Darkness, is a strong recommendation. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D.
Kirkus Reviews
Jill has more reason than most recent high-school graduates to be both thrilled and terrified to leave home: Once a month, instead of having her period, she turns into a boy. Throughout high school, Jill's mother helped Jill sublimate her boy self so thoroughly that he became an entirely new personality, Jack. Now Jack and Jill, freed from the constraints of a whitewashed Massachusetts suburb, are ready to take on each other, Brooklyn and the world. In theory, anyway. In practice, Jill can't stand that Jack's dating her best friend, and Jack hates Jill's long-distance bisexual boyfriend. Moreover, Jack despises the sketchy Brooklynite Jill might be dating, and both Jack and Jill feel a little lost in the wilds of New York. Packed with realistically emo adolescent pain, Jack and Jill's journey of self-discovery is funny, heartwarming and just a little bit smutty. It won't make sense without Cycler (2008), but it's well worth the effort of reading both. (Fantasy. YA)
