Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

Summary Provided by Goodreads:

When high school junior Natalie--or Dr. Aphrodite, as she calls herself when writing the relationship column for her school paper--is accused of knowing nothing about guys and giving girls bad relationship advice, she decides to investigate what guys really think and want. But the guys in her class won't give her straight or serious answers. The only solution? Disguising herself as a guy and spending a week at Underwood Academy, the private all-boy boarding school in town. There she learns a lot about guys and girls in ways she never expected--especially when she falls for her dreamy roommate, Emilio. How can she show him she likes him without blowing her cover?

My Thoughts:

Babe in Boyland was a cute, light read. I read it in a day. It was also hilarious! This book had some of the greatest one liners I’ve read!

For her school newspaper, Natalie decides to become a boy for a week to find out the answers to the questions girls have been asking for years. She enrolls at Underwood Academy as Nat, meets a group of nerdy/sweet boys, and falls in love with her roommate, Emilio.

The story was predictable-think She’s The Man with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum, but replace Channing with Emilio and replace the “I just want to play soccer” storyline, with “I want to learn about the inner thoughts of guys”. Even with this predictability I still loved it! It’s a feel good book and Natalie’s questions are answered in a surprising way.

Her article is called “A Girl’s Guide to Guys: Their Top Seven Secrets Revealed”. The questions are:

1. When you say you are going to call and don’t, what happened?
2. Why are you so different when your friends are around? Which one is the real you?
3. What do you really look for in a girl?
4. Is it true that guys think about sex every eight seconds, or is that just a myth?
5. What’s the surest way to tell the difference between a guy who’s being sincere and one who’s just looking to score?
6. What can make you lose interest in a girl overnight?
7. If you won’t talk about your feelings, how are we supposed to know what they are?

As a girl, I can safely say we have asked ourselves at least one of these questions when we are with a guy. I enjoyed reading Natalie’s answers and watching her grow throughout the story.

My only complaint concerns Emilio and “Nat”. Their relationship didn’t flow right to me. One minute they are strangers, the next Emilio considers Nat a great friend who he reveals his deepest secrets to, the next they are in love. We see so little of Emilio that it just didn’t feel right. I wish we could have seem them interact more.

Overall, a great story that I would highly recommend.