What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic and Misery
TJ, a sturdy teenaged girl with little self-confidence, becomes best friends with a new, gay student in her high school, and when he is bullied and she tries to convince him to tell the authorities, he refuses. Presenting a raw, bitingly humorous portrait of high school life, this novel shows how magic and misery weave through one special friendship.
- GenresQueerTeenYoung AdultLGBT
293 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2008
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 30, 2009
Another stereotypical teen novel in which the girl (Toni Jo), has a crush on the guy (Pan, short for Pansy-yes really), only to find out he is gay. Stuck together in their miserable little town where nothing's happening, they swear best friendship and loyalty to each other, only to have it shaken when teen jock, Casper, falls for Toni Jo.
Pan acts like a jealous boyfriend, and Toni Jo lies to both boys: not telling Pan when she has a date with Casper, and not telling Casper that the reason she can't go to the prom with him is that she already promised to go with Pan.
Meanwhile, Pan is the victim of increasing harassment from two classmates, and refuses to complain to school authorities. Nothing Amy can say will convince him to report the abuse, and ultimately, he and his family decide they need to move out of the area.
None of the characters is well-developed, and the dialogue is occasionally wooden. While there is nothing glaringly wrong with this book, there isn't that much to recommend it either.
Pan acts like a jealous boyfriend, and Toni Jo lies to both boys: not telling Pan when she has a date with Casper, and not telling Casper that the reason she can't go to the prom with him is that she already promised to go with Pan.
Meanwhile, Pan is the victim of increasing harassment from two classmates, and refuses to complain to school authorities. Nothing Amy can say will convince him to report the abuse, and ultimately, he and his family decide they need to move out of the area.
None of the characters is well-developed, and the dialogue is occasionally wooden. While there is nothing glaringly wrong with this book, there isn't that much to recommend it either.
November 16, 2012
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
TJ is a high school junior. She believes that she is a plain and pretty boring young person. She has the ability to do well in school but is not very motivated. She is not very popular and is waiting for her first boyfriend.
Then Pan, aka James, comes into her life. He is the new kid who has moved into her blue collar small town. He is gorgeous, with blond hair and fine features. TJ decides that Pan will be her new boyfriend.
Then Pan announces that he is gay and TJ has to settle with being his best friend. Later, TJ catches the eye of a deep-thinking football player, Caspar. She has to deal with Pan's jealously, high school discrimination against gays, and first love.
I enjoyed this book, although I was confused at times. I wanted to explore TJ's little brother, who seems to have a mental problem. I loved TJ's mother and felt for her and her journey to remake herself. Pan's parents were great and I would have loved to have hung out with them.
All in all, MAGIC AND MISERY is a satisfying read and highly recommended.
TJ is a high school junior. She believes that she is a plain and pretty boring young person. She has the ability to do well in school but is not very motivated. She is not very popular and is waiting for her first boyfriend.
Then Pan, aka James, comes into her life. He is the new kid who has moved into her blue collar small town. He is gorgeous, with blond hair and fine features. TJ decides that Pan will be her new boyfriend.
Then Pan announces that he is gay and TJ has to settle with being his best friend. Later, TJ catches the eye of a deep-thinking football player, Caspar. She has to deal with Pan's jealously, high school discrimination against gays, and first love.
I enjoyed this book, although I was confused at times. I wanted to explore TJ's little brother, who seems to have a mental problem. I loved TJ's mother and felt for her and her journey to remake herself. Pan's parents were great and I would have loved to have hung out with them.
All in all, MAGIC AND MISERY is a satisfying read and highly recommended.
November 18, 2009
1.5 even. A poorly written book with one-dimensional characters and a lackluster story, Magic and Misery was disappointing even while it did touch upon important themes of homophobia and class differences. TJ has never had a boyfriend, but has a major crush on the gorgeous new guy in her town, Pan, even after he comes out to the whole school. They become best friends, promising to always be there for each other. But when TJ starts dating a thoughtful football star, there is jealousy and tension on all sides of the friendship triangle. The story feels forced and overdone, Pan is annoyingly perfect, Caspar does not have much depth to him, and TJ is wishy-washy to the extreme. I'm not sure how this book got a starred review from Booklist.
January 6, 2010
I enjoyed this book very much!
Most fiction seems to ignore the existence of gay teenagers -- as if gay men and lesbians spring full-blown into the world. But the reality is that gay boys exist and they are often best friends with straight girls.
This relationship is a complicated one, where there is often real love, but this is again an area where fiction ignores the complex emotions that are involved.
Magic and Misery takes this neglected relationship and its attendant emotions as its central theme, and I like the way that it looks as far as Micronesia to try to understand something that we don't often hear about.
Most fiction seems to ignore the existence of gay teenagers -- as if gay men and lesbians spring full-blown into the world. But the reality is that gay boys exist and they are often best friends with straight girls.
This relationship is a complicated one, where there is often real love, but this is again an area where fiction ignores the complex emotions that are involved.
Magic and Misery takes this neglected relationship and its attendant emotions as its central theme, and I like the way that it looks as far as Micronesia to try to understand something that we don't often hear about.
April 13, 2013
Overall, the theme, story and plot is very realistic and believable. Some parts did reach out and grab me while others did not as much as I thought they would. The characterization is excellent in allowing certain characters to develop in relationship with others. Certainly, the closed-minded nature of students in the school is existent and very real, and this novel offers an excellent look at alternatives and options to navigate them, some successful some not, and some not exercised but that is a benefit to the reader. I feel this sense of identity and finding it is a powerful element to this text.
January 24, 2011
This book was one of those that leave like "uhu? that's it" I kept waiting for something interesting to happen like for example Pan not being really gay or being gay and in love with his best friend's boyfriend... or something else, but I felt the story very simple and without any parts to make feel exited about picking up the book to finish reading it. I just think It could have been more to the story than what was there.
Read
July 28, 2011Consensus : Ok. The fag/faghag relationship is ripe for writing about however this book never really hooks in the reader. You keep waiting for the dramatic blow up between the main characters however it gets lost in dating drama and the unsubtle foreshadowing of violence. While it was worth the finish, it is not something I recommend.
July 7, 2009
Parents talk a lot about condoms. Gay bashing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2009
More like 3 1/2 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews