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The Day Joanie Frankenhauser Became a Boy
Joanie's mom wants her to act more like a girl, but who can play basketball in a skirt and cute plastic sandals? When Joanie's family moves to a new town, a typo on the school records makes her John instead of Joan, and she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself. But how long can she keep pretending? And even if she could keep her identity secret, would she want to? Being a boy is no walk in the park! Francess Lantz seamlessly weaves great sports action, a compelling family drama, and Joanie's secret stories about SuperKid into a funny, thought-provoking novel about friendship and self-discovery.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published July 21, 2005
2 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Francess Lin Lantz
47 books12 followersFrancess Lin Lantz (b. August 27, 1952, Trenton, New Jersey — d. November 22, 2004, Santa Barbara, California) was an American children's librarian turned fiction writer, whose fan base was mostly preteen and teenaged girls.
For more than two decades, Lantz wrote more than 30 books, including several juvenile bestsellers. She won the American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults award for her 1997 romance, Someone to Love. Stepsister from Planet Weird (Random House, 1996) was made into a Disney Channel television movie in 2000.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Lantz was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She initially aspired to become a rock musician and composer. She graduated in 1974 from Dickinson College (in Pennsylvania) and from Simmons College (in Boston) in 1975, where she earned a master's degree in library sciences.
She died in Santa Barbara, California in 2004 following a five years long battle with ovarian cancer; she was 52 years old.
For more than two decades, Lantz wrote more than 30 books, including several juvenile bestsellers. She won the American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults award for her 1997 romance, Someone to Love. Stepsister from Planet Weird (Random House, 1996) was made into a Disney Channel television movie in 2000.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Lantz was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She initially aspired to become a rock musician and composer. She graduated in 1974 from Dickinson College (in Pennsylvania) and from Simmons College (in Boston) in 1975, where she earned a master's degree in library sciences.
She died in Santa Barbara, California in 2004 following a five years long battle with ovarian cancer; she was 52 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 24, 2012
This was another cute book about some gender issues. I particularly liked how Joanie's relationship with her mother grew over the course of the book, even if the mother still remains pretty stereotypical. I do like that positives and negatives of being a boy and being a girl are both explored, especially in a pretty short book for young kids. It's a lot less didactic than Nelson's Gender Blender but possibly less nuanced as well. It does dismantle stereotypical behaviors earlier in the book though, and presents a female heroine who wants to be a boy without getting into sexual orientation issues. Of course, Joanie ends up wanting to be herself rather than a boy, something which seems to require being a girl but I wish that she had more autonomy in choosing which, if any, gender role she participates in.
February 22, 2014
Joanie is a 5th grade girl who likes playing football. Her mother desperately wants her to act more like a girl. The boys want to exclude her from playing football. She also writes superhero stories.
When her family moves to a new town, the teacher calls Joanie "Johnny" by accident. She decides to go with it, thinking that now she can do all the "dude" things she wants to do--play football and be a superhero--and NOT have to act all girly and cook and wear makeup. This charade moves along pretty well, despite having to ditch her skirt and her mother's sweater in the bushes on the way to school, until one of the boys she is hanging out with turns out to be a real bully.
I liked how this book touches just gently on serious issues such as gender stereotypes and bullying. By having the group of boys be divided on whether or not firecrackers should be thrown at a cat or various other "boy" activities, the author nicely demonstrates that bullying is not typical behavior of all boys. At one point, the boys wrestle a girl into the bushes so that they can see the color of her bra. This is downright assault.
What I didn't like about the book was that the premise seemed a little too simplistic. I think it is possible that a mistake could have initially been made, but it certainly would have been caught in the weeks that followed. Additionally, it is apparent that the teacher DID know before the end of the book, and simply let it go on. I cannot believe that would have happened. I would also have liked to known Casey--Joanie's closest friend among the boys--a little bit better. Other than Joanie herself, all of the characters seem a little one dimensional. I also thought the use of the superhero stories were a bit distracting. It seems like a good analogy--but I kept getting lost trying to figure out which character each superhero was supposed to represent.
Overall I liked that book even though I cannot mark it as a favorite. I think I liked it simply because there really are so few books for children on this subject. The idea that certain things are boys and others for girls seem to be so accepted in my part of the world that even books that cover this topic seem to do so in a way that usually highlights existing sterotypes about boys and girls. Going so far as to consider that a girl might rather be a boy seems somewhat controversial. Joannie doesn't just want to be play football--she really wants to reject all things girl, at least initially, until she realizes that there is a lot to reject about being a boy as well.
When her family moves to a new town, the teacher calls Joanie "Johnny" by accident. She decides to go with it, thinking that now she can do all the "dude" things she wants to do--play football and be a superhero--and NOT have to act all girly and cook and wear makeup. This charade moves along pretty well, despite having to ditch her skirt and her mother's sweater in the bushes on the way to school, until one of the boys she is hanging out with turns out to be a real bully.
I liked how this book touches just gently on serious issues such as gender stereotypes and bullying. By having the group of boys be divided on whether or not firecrackers should be thrown at a cat or various other "boy" activities, the author nicely demonstrates that bullying is not typical behavior of all boys. At one point, the boys wrestle a girl into the bushes so that they can see the color of her bra. This is downright assault.
What I didn't like about the book was that the premise seemed a little too simplistic. I think it is possible that a mistake could have initially been made, but it certainly would have been caught in the weeks that followed. Additionally, it is apparent that the teacher DID know before the end of the book, and simply let it go on. I cannot believe that would have happened. I would also have liked to known Casey--Joanie's closest friend among the boys--a little bit better. Other than Joanie herself, all of the characters seem a little one dimensional. I also thought the use of the superhero stories were a bit distracting. It seems like a good analogy--but I kept getting lost trying to figure out which character each superhero was supposed to represent.
Overall I liked that book even though I cannot mark it as a favorite. I think I liked it simply because there really are so few books for children on this subject. The idea that certain things are boys and others for girls seem to be so accepted in my part of the world that even books that cover this topic seem to do so in a way that usually highlights existing sterotypes about boys and girls. Going so far as to consider that a girl might rather be a boy seems somewhat controversial. Joannie doesn't just want to be play football--she really wants to reject all things girl, at least initially, until she realizes that there is a lot to reject about being a boy as well.
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August 10, 2008Dredging the archives of my old YA blog--from back in the day when I was a YA para-librarian. Awesome!
A typo on the attendance roll makes Joan into John at her new school. She decides to run with it; after all, the boys will have to let her play football with them now. Turns out, being a boy is just as hard as being a girl—and even harder if you’re actually a girl!
This book deals with some pretty typical gender stereotypes, and Ms. Lantz does a decent job of presenting them and allowing her characters to overcome them. After I read this book, which is a J (as in Juvenile) and not a YA book, I did a little research on the author. The first thing I turned up is that this novel was released post-humously after the author died of ovarian cancer. The other thing I turned up is a short story that she wrote in the YA collection On the Fringe (ed. by Donald R. Gallo). The story is entitled: “Standing on the Roof Naked,” and it’s about a teenage girl who looks androgynous and all the jock-jerks call her Johnny instead of Jeannie. She ends up overcoming their terrorizing teasing, and turns out to be pure badass. This story is edgier and hits a deeper emotional current than the J novel, and I enjoyed it immensely. The collection On the Fringe is all short stories written by some of my favorite YA authors including M. E. Kerr (an out YA novelist), Chris Crutcher, and Jack Gantos (whose story is super-creepy). It’s all about the freaks, the weirdos, the nerds, the geeks, the queers, the outcasts, and the rebels we all knew or were in high school. The book was compiled, it seems, as a response to the Columbine shootings, to give a voice to “every kid who has ever been called a hurtful name,” as the dedication reads. Terrific.
A typo on the attendance roll makes Joan into John at her new school. She decides to run with it; after all, the boys will have to let her play football with them now. Turns out, being a boy is just as hard as being a girl—and even harder if you’re actually a girl!
This book deals with some pretty typical gender stereotypes, and Ms. Lantz does a decent job of presenting them and allowing her characters to overcome them. After I read this book, which is a J (as in Juvenile) and not a YA book, I did a little research on the author. The first thing I turned up is that this novel was released post-humously after the author died of ovarian cancer. The other thing I turned up is a short story that she wrote in the YA collection On the Fringe (ed. by Donald R. Gallo). The story is entitled: “Standing on the Roof Naked,” and it’s about a teenage girl who looks androgynous and all the jock-jerks call her Johnny instead of Jeannie. She ends up overcoming their terrorizing teasing, and turns out to be pure badass. This story is edgier and hits a deeper emotional current than the J novel, and I enjoyed it immensely. The collection On the Fringe is all short stories written by some of my favorite YA authors including M. E. Kerr (an out YA novelist), Chris Crutcher, and Jack Gantos (whose story is super-creepy). It’s all about the freaks, the weirdos, the nerds, the geeks, the queers, the outcasts, and the rebels we all knew or were in high school. The book was compiled, it seems, as a response to the Columbine shootings, to give a voice to “every kid who has ever been called a hurtful name,” as the dedication reads. Terrific.
November 6, 2007
This was a pretty quick read. I held my breath as the end got closer, waiting for the cheesy Hallmark ending where Joanie would realize she really had a crush on a boy and therefore couldn't "pretend" to be a boy anymore and would come clean with her real feelings. Fortunately, it was never quite that bad. There are a few ending details that did piss me off for their heterocentricity (is that a word?) but it tries hard to give a "be whoever you are" message. Mainstream? Yes. Terrible? No. (In my opinion. Please feel free to tell me the reasons I should rethink that.)
December 14, 2008
Joanie Frankenhauser loves football, basketball, and skateboarding, but her mom thinks it's time she started to act, and dress, like a girl. When they move to a new town, a typo on her transcript turns Joan into John. She can't turn down the chance to live life as one of the boys, but it turns out to be harder than she thought. How long can Joanie keep her secret?
January 23, 2011
Read this after The Education of Bet, trying to find other books about girls dressing up as boys. This one I liked a bit better. AND I was very impressed with the brevity. Yeah, you know, as I keep writing this review, it actually strikes me as a very decent book.
April 7, 2008
this book sucked
Want to read
December 30, 2008Recommended by Amazon based, apparently, on my purchase of a Psych of Women textbook. (Apparently, my love of juvy lit is just a given.)
October 11, 2015
Good middle school read talking about growing up and stereotypes as a tomboy pretends to be a boy at her new school.
February 15, 2023
I was in fourth grade the first time I read this book. Hadn't yet come out as a lesbian, or realized that I was transgender myself. I remember reading about Joanie being John and seeing myself reflected back from the pages. Every first time I was told that being my true self wasn't wrong was through books.
September 24, 2024
Interesting story about gender and assumptions.
November 11, 2024
Niente di particolare, nè nella narrazione nè nella trama. Storia prevedibile, con l’unica aggiunta della parte a fumetti (che però non essendo sviluppata a fumetti perde parecchia attrattiva).
February 25, 2018
I was surprised to find out this book came out in 2005 because it seemed as though it was set much earlier than that. At least a decade, potentially much more than that. So with that in mind, I can't hold it as being quite as forward thinking as I thought it was while I was reading it, but it is good to see a book addressing gender roles.
However, while the examination of the issues Joanie faces trying to come to terms with her identity after having this "opportunity" to try out being someone else is interesting, and the Superkid sections have a sort of charming transparency in what Joanie is working through in her life, the story feels a bit thin. I considered putting it down about half way through because the story was laid out in such a way there there was really only the one ending. Other than the subplot with the dog, nothing in the second half of the book was surprising.
As a further note, I see why the book ended where it did with an understanding between Joanie and her mom based on their taking care of the dog together, and she and Casey remaining friends with an appreciation/acknowledgement of their differences, but I was very aware that it stopped before Joanie got home to face any fallout from her teacher's conversation with her parents.
However, while the examination of the issues Joanie faces trying to come to terms with her identity after having this "opportunity" to try out being someone else is interesting, and the Superkid sections have a sort of charming transparency in what Joanie is working through in her life, the story feels a bit thin. I considered putting it down about half way through because the story was laid out in such a way there there was really only the one ending. Other than the subplot with the dog, nothing in the second half of the book was surprising.
As a further note, I see why the book ended where it did with an understanding between Joanie and her mom based on their taking care of the dog together, and she and Casey remaining friends with an appreciation/acknowledgement of their differences, but I was very aware that it stopped before Joanie got home to face any fallout from her teacher's conversation with her parents.
May 12, 2008
Even though I cried this book only gets a three. Joanie Frankenhauser hates being a girl, she doesn't like being sweet all the time and she can't play sports with the boys. When her family moves to a new city she decided to pretend that she's a boy so that she can start living the good life. She has a lot of fun for awhile but lying becomes draining and the demands of Zane (the most popular boy in her class) push her past the boiling point.
This is a cute story and the concept of the book is clever but the writing is very poor. Nothing is more annoying to me than poor writing for children. That being said, this book is a YRCA nominee. Go figure.
This is a cute story and the concept of the book is clever but the writing is very poor. Nothing is more annoying to me than poor writing for children. That being said, this book is a YRCA nominee. Go figure.
July 29, 2016
Joanie sees the perfect opportunity to be able to play sports with the boys by becoming one when she moves to a new school. She discovers that being a boy isn't just about getting a haircut and burping. Puberty is theme and I wouldn't recommend this for students younger than 5th grade without guidance from parents. This book is a very interesting look at the emotional differences as well as the physical differences between boys and girls. Social expectations for the two genders are also explored. A very good book for tomboys and boys who don't appreciate that girls can also excel at "boy" sports.
December 10, 2008
I was really curious as to how kidlit would handle trans issues. I was a bit disappointed, not because Joanie/John's gender identity isn't tied up in the end (She is eleven-ish, I think, so that seemed pretty realistic), but because I think Lantz creates a world that's much, much more rigid about gender than most people are today. The story would be better set in the 1960s or 70s. I did think it was pretty awesome that gender identity was tackled in a way that would make sense to kids.
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October 6, 2014 I really liked this book. This book was about how Joanie had alway wondered how would it be to be to be a boy she thought that it will be great because she will get wear whatever she wanted and no body will care mostly her mom and also she thought it was great because she wouldn't have to be so clean all the time or just be quite she thought if she was a boy she could do the opposite from that.
February 3, 2008
Thanks Susan, i LOVED it. Joanie is so cool, i want her to be my friend.
Currently reading
February 29, 2008Since I am teaching I read a lot of young adult books. They are actually pretty good.
March 28, 2008
funny, kinda short. a girl becomes a boy! *gasp!
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May 12, 2008this is the most inapropiat book for humans subspecies might be able to bear it
August 18, 2009
i didn't really like it, but i reread it and got through it in like a day
January 28, 2010
this was an ok book,it wasnt really that exiting at some parts it was really good but only like twice
December 12, 2012
Relationship analysis interspered with clever, creative writing.
June 17, 2014
The grass is always greener perspective.
October 23, 2015
something with fuzzy polar bears huh!
December 14, 2008
it was a great book that i could really relate to
December 18, 2009
this book is devastatingly boring o mg i think iam die
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews