Ah Mary Jane! I want to cradle her in my arms and protect her at all costs. I haven't seen such a pure girl trying to figure her way around in an environment that is so unfamiliar to her without judging anyone for the decisions they made. It's a rare gift to be able to see good in everyone and trying to do something selflessly to improve others' lives. Mary Jane is perfect like Jimmy and Sheba would say!

Mary Jane didn't know what she was getting herself into when she agreed to take care of Izzy over the summer. Izzy was this curious, amazing little girl that Mary Jane loved at first sight. But she was also little bit different than other 5 year olds she knew thanks to her family. Izzy's family was free spirits of 70s where Mary Jane's family was quintessential church going, country club attending, President Ford loving middle class, white Baltimore family. Mary Jane had a culture shock the moment she walked into the Cones residence and things got even weirder yet freeing for her as a rock star and a Hollywood star walked into the same house.

As days went by, Mary Jane went through a self discovery. She started to recognize how limited her live and point of view was when there was a whole world out there. Yet she wasn't mad at her parents. She stayed as the same person she was before meeting her friends but she managed to touch everyone's lives while opening more doors of understanding for her and her family. You'll like this story if you like Daisy Jones and the Six, but I have to say there is something more to this story!

This review will be posted on my instagram account on publication day

14 year old MaryJanes parents are super strict and not much on showing MaryJane emotion and love. No hugs, no kisses, no I love you's no warmth. Everything is orderly, planned out and stiff. Parents are strict Christian's and not big on inclusivity.
MaryJane takes a summer nanny position for a couple in the neighborhood, Dr. And Mrs. Cone, and their daughter Izzy.
What a difference a family makes! This family is relaxed. They are messy, eat out most nights, and have no real schedules. But most importantly they show love and have fun!
Dr. Cone is a therapist and take a famous recovering drug addict i(and his wife) nto his home for continued therapy. These two are free spirits and MaryJane is quite surprised at the things they do and say. But the whole summer she is shown love and emotion and has the time of her life.
This is a great coming of age story, I definitely recommend!
Thanks netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A beautiful coming of age story with sex, drugs and rock and roll. It was a nice break from the pandemic mindset we live in at the moment. It's a very quick read and very relatable.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this gem!

Mary Jane is 14 years old and decides to take a job being a nanny for the Cone's family for the summer. It seems like it will be a nice job taking care of a respectable family's young daughter. However, innocent Mary Jane is going to have her world opened beyond her imagination. She is thrown into a wild world completely unlike her own and is soon exposed to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. At first shocked by what she is learning and seeing, she soon comes to love the Cone's family and starts to question what really is considered good and 'normal' for a family - and learns that maybe her own parents are not so perfect after all.

Mary Jane is a fun book with its share of laughs and drama. I wish there had been more of a resolve of the issues in her relationship with her mother and father. Also, sometimes it felt a little repetitive - her days spent with Izzy cleaning and cooking, and all the singing on every car ride. But overall, it was a good coming-of-age story that I think many will enjoy!

Mary Jane has lived in a sort of bubble for the majority of her short life. Just moving into her teenage years, she doesn't feel especially comfortable with most of her peers- with the exception (at times) of a pair of twins who live nearby. Her days mirror each other, often consisting of school, food prep and housework with her mother, dinners with chaste conversation, and Church on Sundays.
All of this changes the summer she becomes the nanny of a small child down the street. Izzy is bright, boisterous, outspoken, and lives with parents who embrace her for who she is. The Cone family is deeply unconventional for the neighborhood, and while this is awkward at first, Mary Jane comes to fall in love with the way she is able to feel, really FEEL around them. The house is a mess, the family never cooks, and Mary Jane quickly becomes a pillar of added security to the home. Dr. Cone is a therapist, and this summer he takes on a live-in client, a rock star working through the throes of addiction. He, along with his famous wife who has come to support him, forms a bond with the Cone family and Mary Jane that changes her significantly.
This is a novel about growing up and realizing that your parents aren't always right. Mary Jane witnesses clear racism from her parents, has to listen to rants about the Cone family's Jewishness, and ultimately learns how to speak up for this new family who she's grown to love so much.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, though there were a few things that kept my star review down to three.
First, the pacing felt odd to me. Much of the story is told feeling... well, the same. And then a single thing happens, everything changes, and it feels like redemption comes a bit too quickly from the rigidity of the characters I'm referring to (no spoilers). I think the intention of the author was to help the reader come to realizations at the rate that Mary Jane does, and for that I feel she absolutely did well. I'm not sure how I would choose to change up the pacing, and maybe it's intended to just be jarring? It's a technique that works well in lots of books, but it just felt odd to me here.
Second, I loved the feeling of comradery of the Cone family and their charges, but I think I felt more for how the characters created the tone... than the characters themselves. With that said, I was really impressed by that tone that was established so early. I'll be excited to read more work by Jessica Anya Blau in the future!
3.5/5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau was a fantastic novel that takes place in the 1970s. I loved all the mentions of the details of the era, it was fun to escape cell phones and modern technology within the pages of this book.

Fourteen year old Mary Jane leads a quiet and simple life. She goes to school, church and is close to her mother. She’s a quiet girl who has led a sheltered life until she starts a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a psychiatrist.

At this new household, Mary Jane sees an another world. The house is messy and cluttered, a vast contrast to the order of Mary Janes’s home. Throughout the summer, the doctor treats a rock star who moves into the house and discovers Mary Jane has an incredible singing voice. She slowly breaks out of her shell and after that summer, life will never be the same.

Take a look:

In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.

The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, Impeachment: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): the doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.

Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (not to mention group therapy). Caught between the lifestyle she’s always known and the future she’s only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she’s going to be.

This YA adult book was really enjoyable. It was such a pleasant escape from my typical books, and I highly recommend it. Look for it on May 11!

Mary Jane was a fun read. Different than I expected, but much enjoyed. I liked that the protagonist was not given to belittling her own family after being exposed to a family so different and sophisticated. High marks.

It’s 1975 and 14-year old sweet and naïve Mary Jane has landed a job nannying for a new family down the street for a doctor’s family. Except the doctor is actually a psychiatrist who works out of his office in the garage and happens to be Jewish. When the doctor takes on a client who happens to be a famous rock star battling addiction on a “live-in” basis, the rock star and his famous actress wife both move into the house for the summer---swearing Mary Jane to secrecy due to doctor-patient “confidentiality.” Of course, this is all fine with Mary Jane since if her parents ever found out she was in a house with “hippies, druggies, and Jews,” she’d likely be grounded for all of her high school years to come! This book was a delight to read---it tugged on my heartstrings and made me smile all at the same time. I could feel Mary Jane’s confusion, her trepidation, her desire to want more from her life once she realizes there’s more to be had. Such a great book---5 isn’t enough stars!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. I received an ARC for this book, and I was excited to read it because it was being promoted as a similar read to Daisy Jones and the Six. From the cover and the description, I thought this book would be about falling in love with music and figuring out who you are. Instead, the book has more of a YA feel and focuses more on the theme of "finding your voice."

First, what I liked. The book was interesting and the pacing was perfect. I read the whole book fairly quickly. I was engaged in the story and excited to pick the book back up to find out what happened next. I liked how Mary Jane grew in confidence and understanding of the world around her as the book progressed.

However, I would not consider this book an adult book. The main character is 14 and the narrative voice was naïve and sheltered. The book read more like a YA book to me. And yes, the adults in the house where Mary Jane works talk about drugs and sex, but most of Mary Jane's world is shopping, making meals, and playing with Izzy. The more serious issues in the book are not explored in depth, and the ending wraps up everything too neatly for an adult book.

I also felt the book did not really explore music or the music industry as much as the comparisons to Daisy Jones and the Six or Almost Famous in the book description might suggest. There is music in the story but mainly because they all like to sing. The main focus of the book is on a 14 year old babysitter learning more about the world.

Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of coming of age stories. I think the false marketing of the book made me expect one type of story and caused some disappointment when I read the book. However, I did like this book and I would recommend it to other readers with a caution that this is NOT like Daisy Jones and the Six. Don't be fooled by the record on the cover.

This was slice of life historical fiction at it’s best. Mary Jane tells the story of a summer in the mid-1970s when the 14-year-old title character came of age while working as a nanny for a household that was much more liberal than the one she grew up in. It’s a soft yet highly engaging story full of music, the love of chosen family, and the thoughts and worries of a 14-year-old who isn’t quite a child but not yet one of the adults either.

I read this book in a day and would recommend it to anyone who likes the music and cultural complexities of the 1970s, has thought that their parents—while not necessarily wrong—don’t always know best, or who believes that chosen family is as important in determining who we become as our biological ones.

Nanny books seem to be all the rage these days. As someone who worked as a nanny for a large part of my “youth”, I’m pretty critical of this subgenre. This certainly wasn’t bad, but I didn’t think it was very well written. Many of the character relationships seemed unrealistic.

Mary Jane by Jessica Blah Mary Jane is a teenager that is a Nanny for a little girl over one summer. There is candy necklaces, Starsky and Hutch and Rhinestone Cowboy.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Pleasure reading at its best. The book features a teenage girl living in a typical, conservative household in Baltimore in the mid 1970s. When she is hired as a babysitter for the child of a much more free thinking couple, her world opens up. When a rock star and his movie star wife also move in, she really gets an education and ultimately finds herself.

Highly recommended for those looking for a well written novel that doesn't scare you or bring up distressing subjects you're looking to escape. The novel beautifully plotted and includes a truly jaw dropping (and funny) plot twist. The characters are utterly charming. I hope this will be a hit!

I loved every page of this book. Mary Jane is such a wonderful character to get to know through the story, watching her learn and mature and become the person she wants to be was delightful. Mary Jane babysits for a family where the father, a psychiatrist, is helping a famous rock star with his drug addiction. Mary Jane learns to love everyone in this quirky household and learns a lot about herself. The book is filled humor, insight, and a whole lot of love. I highly recommend it.

Is it possible to come of age in a mere summer? For fourteen-year-old Mary Jane, the answer is a resounding yes.

The year is 1970, the place is Baltimore.

Mary Jane Dillard is a teenager whose life is filled with singing in her church choir, cooking with her mom every day, and listening to show tunes. Outspoken and worldly, she is not. When asked to be a nanny for another family for the summer, her parents agree. After all, the home is respectable, what could go wrong?

The Cones however are nothing like the Dillards nor do they fit into any box. Love is strewn about freely, something Mary Jane has never seen as she has never been told nor said I love you to anyone. When Dr. Cone, who is a Psychiatrist, takes on a special client and his wife for the summer, Mary Jane’s life becomes even more interesting. Together, this makeshift family bonds together, with Mary Jane becoming the central character.

It is through this experience that Mary Jane stands up for herself and learns who she wants to be. Mary Jane is a gem: strong, smart, and oh so sweet. From the start, I was immediately swept up in her story. Mary Jane’s relationship with Izzy Cone stole my heart as did her relationship with the entire Cone family who treated her like a daughter. That said, not every relationship in this novel is picture-perfect, which may be a testament to the time frame during which the novel took place or simply in the way the characters are written. All in all, however, “Mary Jane” is an absorbing, fantastical read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Custom House, and Jessica Anya Blau for the arc.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Review also published to Blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 as it was marketed as Daisy Jones and the Six meets Almost Famous. This book does not have anything to do with either of those two things aside from the time period. I was under the impression that it would have a heavy music focus, and although there is a musician in the novel and a short scene at the end in a record store (those being the BIGGEST incidences), I would not say that it does not encompass the novel in any way, shape or form, other than playing a few records. This is a marketing error in my opinion. However, there were plenty of positives to pull from this novel. It was a nice coming-of-age story (which you could relate to Almost Famous – but many others as well), where Mary Jane grows up and sees that the world view she has been pigeon-holed in her entire life is not the best one, the limitation, or the experiences of others. That it is okay to not believe what your parents believe and having those difficult conversations to express yourself is tough, but sometimes necessary. The culture of the 70s was accurately described, but also painful, and still relevant today, with themes of racism and judgment of other populations spread throughout the novel.

Rounded up to 3.5 Stars. The message of the novel was presented well, but the synopsis was definitely a misdirection.

When Mary Jane takes a summer nannying job with the Cones, she is exposed to a different way of living. Their liberal and free ways couldn’t be any different than her country club, Presbyterian church attending household.

When I saw this took place in Baltimore in the 70’s I knew I had to read it! I immediately thought of Hairspray, although that was the sixties. This book was such a pleasure to read. Recognizing all the Baltimore neighborhoods, in a different era, was fun. Mary Jane is quite mature in many ways, but very naive in others. It was great watching her grow and learn from meeting a family so unlike her own, and broadening her experiences. I think this time era can be noted for the massive discrepancy in values between the young adults and their parents; growing up in the fifties and seventies were so different. While Mary Jane’s parents made me shake with frustration and rage, I still enjoyed reading about them and how some parents were in these days. I loved that this book had a lot of heart and Mary Jane learned and grow without any major trauma or tragedy.

“We’d learned about the Holocaust in school, just like we’d learned about the civil rights movement. What we’d never learned was that sometimes the people who kept those ideas live were the people you lived with.”

“My mother entered my head. Not in Roland Park, she often said, as if all the ills of the world were contained in a cloud that just refused to hover over this little nook of Northern Baltimore. But there I was, in Roland Park, and a big, heavy, shattered glass storm had landed.”

Mary Jane comes out 5/11

Mary Jane tells the story of 14-year-old Mary Jane, a quiet girl from a quiet neighborhood, who takes a summer babysitting job with a family who is much different than her own. I loved this coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore.

This is being marketed as Almost Famous meets Daisy Jones and the Six, but I think a more accurate description is a Almost Famous meets a Judy Blume novel. Because it takes place in 1975 and features a celebrity musicians, Mary Jane shares some similar vibes with Daisy Jones. However, the theme and overall tone of the book is unlike Daisy Jones and the Six.

Mary Jane is about a fairly sheltered girl who typically spends her summers drinking iced tea with her parents at their country club. This summer, she is nannying for the mysterious Cone family, who have two celebrity musicians staying with them for the summer. At her job, Mary Jane becomes privy to all kinds of things she has never experienced: from eating takeout for dinner every night to open discussions about drug addiction.

Blau paints a nuanced portrait of a not-too-rebellious teenager wishing to push the envelope (just a bit). I especially appreciated that Blau did not paint Mary Jane’s relationship with her parents in a negative light. Mary Jane wishes for some room to grow, but she does not venture into completely disrespecting her parent’s views and fully recognizes fortunate childhood she has been given.

Read if you:
- are interested in the 1970s
- like coming-of-age stories
- were a ~slightly~ rebellious teen
- like stories that feature music prominently

My rating: 4 stars

Thank you to William Morrow and Custom House Books and NetGalley for this ARC! I will be posting this review to my blog on the publication date.

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau was a fun romp with colorful characters showcasing the personal growth of a young woman in her search for identity. For me, this novel did not achieve the anarchy or character revelations expected from the setup but I found this novel engaging and thought-provoking nonetheless. How do we define ourselves? How does our perspective shift regarding our upbringing? And how do we calibrate and redefine our own path? A very engaging read and one I would recommend.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love a novel with a good soundtrack. You could just hear the 70s rock, funk, folk, gospel and blues as you read. Chapter 11 has all the recommends, so I threw together a spotify playlist for those of you who like music while you read.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7IuQd5vantPXW2g0zJy0JP?si=ymwzGQbaQBS_yp0bdjBL_Q

I had fun reading this novel. Mary Jane is a coming of age story set in 1970s Baltimore. What makes it unique is Mary Jane's opportunity to rebel isn't a rebellion into lawlessness. She finds a balance to what she has been taught by her conservative mother vs what she has learned from a more contemporary, free spirited family. Thank you @netgalley @williammorrowbooks @customhousebooks for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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