A spot on yesterday’s CBS Evening News sent the debut middle-grade title, releasing today,  Just Jake (Penguin/Grosset & Dunlap) rising on Amazon’s sales rankings (it is now at #40). The hook? Author, Jake Marcionette, is just 13.

Prepub reviews are considerate of the author’s age. SLJ notes, “At times, Jake’s arrogance can be overwhelming, but readers will see through it and realize it is simply a yearning to be accepted” and PW, “Jake’s youthful exuberance shines through and keeps the story speeding ahead.”  Kirkus is a bit harsher, suggesting that “The novel would have benefited had Jake spent a little less time on his own awesomeness … It’s an eye-catching read without a whole lot of depth.”

Several libraries we checked have not ordered it; those that did ordered in modest quantities.

In the video of the segment, below, Jake says he is at work on a sequel:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 at 10:34 am and is filed under Childrens and YA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.