I’ve recently finished a book titled, “The Last Boy at St. Edith’s” by Lee Gjertsen Malone. Lee G. Malone is an avid reader, writer and former reporter. Lee is known for her extensive education in the English field. I chose to read this book because several of my friends told me that they really liked it and suggested that I might like it too.

 

Jeremy Miner, a seventh grade boy, is in a crisis when the only other boy at his school, St. Edith’s (school for girls) drops out and he is the only boy in the midst of 300 other female students. Jeremy and his new group of friends try to help him get expelled with a series of pranks so he won’t have to deal with the horrors of being surrounded by girls 24/7. That was the plan, until Jeremy realizes how lucky he is to even be in such a prestigious school and the hardships his family endures to support him.

 

I noticed how the author did a total about face at the climax of the book, when Jeremy realized that if he didn’t stay in St. Edith’s his mother would be devastated. The author then showed a change in Jeremy’s character and he began trying to rebuild his reputation for his mother. I really liked this because it shows how much he cares for the people around him and that he’s not stubborn. I wish that the author would’ve given the story more dramatic events because it was very hard for me to stay interested in this book.

 

One of my favorite passages in this book is when the second-to-last boy in the school, Andrew Marks, boards Jeremy’s bus. At the time, Jeremy did not like Andrew because he thought he was “weird” and “smelled bad”. I know this is a bit of a weird passage to choose but I’ll explain in a little. Here it is.

 

“Jeremy let out a long breath and slumped down in his seat. “Oh no.” Jeremy hadn’t particularly liked Andrew—nobody did—he brushed his teeth only about once a week, for one, and he talked about the Boston Red Sox far more than any one person should ever talk about anything. Andrew was the kind of guy Jeremy’s mom always said he should “make an effort with” and “try to get to know better.” But Jeremy figured that probably meant spending more time with Andrew, and since the time they spent together as the sole members of the boys’ tennis team was already pretty tedious, he couldn’t see how hanging out even more would improve things. (Chapter 1 Page 3)”

 

I really likes this passage because Jeremy had no idea how much he would miss Andrew being at his school – even on his bus – after being the only boy at his school for several months. This happens all the time in life as well and it shows that we need to be grateful for all of the little things in life and sometimes things or people even though we don’t like them, in Jeremy’s case, could be a blessing in disguise.

I would rate this book a 7/10 because I will admit, it took a lot of effort to keep reading this book. It wasn’t the most interesting of books I should say. But, the book also had a lot of nice qualities to it as well.

 

Until Next Time,

Matt T