Reviews

Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary

11rose25's review

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jmkendall0218's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

zacochsner's review

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

carolynaugustyn's review

2.0

Oof, not my favorite. I wanted a cute fluffy read like the previous First Love books and this just did not do it for me. I didn't really like the characters, the love part was just kind of sad, and the ending made me do a "That's it? Where's the happy ending?!" I get that Johnny wasn't the dream hunk date, that's fine. But it felt like Jean just settles for Homer at the end and has a "well, I'll learn to like him" attitude which just bothered me. I wanted Jean to find a guy who gave her butterflies and took her out AND was a good guy- not to end up with someone who was a good guy and similar to her but didn't really excite her.

novelesque_life's review against another edition

3.0

Want to do a reread so will review at that time.

tcarg's review

4.0

homer hive rise up

to hell with johnny

elaine and sue the best characters here

kittykornerlibrarian's review

4.0

This book is bittersweet and funny... high school girls mooning over oblivious boys; this is teen territory for sure. Sophomore Jean is crushing on handsome, charming Johnny, who is a senior. She and her friend Elaine do all the silly things high school girls do when they are interested in a boy who doesn't know they exist. It is a pleasure to watch Jean's self-awareness and feelings of self-worth grow throughout the story. Jean triumphs in the end; but *not* because she gets her guy; because she gains new understanding of what it is to be a teenager and what true love might someday look like.

harriet_toad_maradona's review

4.0

i liked that Jean was not only smart enough to see through (eventually) asshole Johnny, but also to just go ahead and wear the skirt she made even though the plaid doesn't line up right.

gabs_myfullbookshelf's review

3.0

It took me a while to start enjoying this book. I think it had something to do with the fact that it's so...1950's. I've read a couple books that took place in the 1950's, but those were more like the Outsiders then Jean and Johnny.

I'll start with what I liked about it: it was a cute story about first loves. I liked the ending a lot. And for the most part, I liked Jean. She was a bit obsessive, but it's understandable; Johnny's her first crush!

Now, for what I didn't like. First, I couldn't really understand why Johnny was disliked by all of Jean's family. I guess they had different ideas about what makes a jerk in the 1950s, because for most of the book, I had no idea why Jean's family was wary of Johnny. He seemed like a nice person to me. I guess that I could kind of see what they were talking about, but not that much.

Plus, at times the characters annoyed me. I could somewhat identify with Jean, but at other times, I was rolling my eyes at her. The same with Elaine. They could be so annoying at times!

So, I don't know...I had mixed feelings about this book. It really was not as good as the Ramona books, or even the Henry Huggins books. At parts, I liked it, at parts I was kind of bored. It was a solid three stars.

This review can be found on http://myfullbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/

librariann's review

4.0

Ages 8+

Charming old fashioned romance. Yes, teenage girls 50 years ago swooned, called, and did "drive bys" of boys they liked. They just did it wearing longer skirts.