so, I think this could have been great if I read the other books in the series first. jumping in with just this one left me feeling lost. I will read the other ones and report back.

Jen Dixon, everyone's favorite Class Mom, has finally moved on. Her son has finished elementary school and is moving to middle school. Middle schools don't have class moms, but they do have team boosters.

When her son makes the wrestling team, Jen becomes a team mom, which adds to the responsibilities already on her plate. She has to attend all the matches and launder the stinky uniforms. This is in addition to taking care of her house, husband and son, and teaching spin classes. As part of the sandwich generation, Jen needs to help her mom with her dad, who's becoming increasingly detached and forgetful. In her spare time, she takes care of her adorable and precocious granddaughter.

I would highly recommend Yoga Pants Nation to all Laurie Gelman fans and to any readers who love light women's fiction.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this title to review.

#SmellsLikeTweenSpirit#LaurieGelman#NetGalley

I'm officially obsessed with this series! Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman is the latest addition to the Class Mom series and I'm obsessed with this series. It's hilarious, just laugh-out-loud funny. It's a good time! As a former PTA President, I've found it surprisingly accurate and it pokes fun at the things that usually upset us which in turn added levity to certain topics. Well done!

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I was really disappointed with this book. I really think the series should've stopped at 2....or at least 3...but 4 was just rough all around.

I always look forward to reading each book that Laurie Gelman writes, and I feel like I'm the Mom featured in each book, as my own children are now following in the character's children ages, and it felt so good to be reunited with the characters once again. and I couldn't wait to read SMELLS LIKE TWEEN SPIRIT.

From the author of Class Mom and You've Been Volunteered comes Laurie Gelman's next laugh out loud novel. As a new Mat Mom of the Pioneer Middle School Wrestling Team, Jen Dixon finds herself thrown in the middle of the "guerrilla war against so-called perfect mothers" armed only with her cutting wit and acerbic sense of humor.

I listened to the audiobook format of the book and was so happy to discover that the author was narrator, making each zinger land so perfectly and bringing all the laughs.

*many thanks to Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

Fans of Laurie German will love this book! I listened to the audio version and it was exceptional. I was literally laughing out loud
Through multiple parts.

this one made me laugh out loud I really loved it. I didn't think I would because I usually don't like non fiction but this one was super good and I really recommend this to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook "Smells Like Tween Spirit" by Laurie Gelman in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable read for fans of the Class Mom series. There were lots of laughs throughout, but it is not my favourite book in the series.

I've enjoyed the Class Mom series so far and book 4 was no different. It's full of Jen's wit, sarcasm and dry humour. That said, this novel felt a little different. I felt like this book was a bit heavier than the other three in the series. It still made me chuckle, but some of the topics in the book (sick parent, loss of a parent) felt heavier than I remember the other books being. The more I read books about aging parents the more aware I become that as I age, so do my parents. Maybe it's not that these scenes were heavier, but they felt heavier for me because I connected with the subject matter in a different way this time.

I started this as an audiobook but then switched to the physical copy. I think this is the first book of the year I actually preferred as a physical book over the audio. Like the other books in the series, it's a bingable read. If you had the time, you could probably finish it in one sitting. Even though it's part of a series, you don't have to read the previous books to understand or enjoy this story.

I think this series should have ended after book 2. I did not finish this addition to the series.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I honestly don’t know if there’s a better mom series. If you are a mom you know these characters.

This series is so well written I just devour each book. I was so excited when I saw this latest installment (I thought Yoga Pant Nation was going to be the last one) and I hope there’s a ton more to come!!!

really like that’s what I thought was interesting and different and I liked the narration lots of fun intrigue

Did not realize this was a series when diving in! Not a huge deal though for those who don’t care about reading books in order. Overall a sweet and relatable read

Smells Like Tween Spirit
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 8/2/22
Author: Laurie Gelman
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrator: Laurie Gelman
GR: 4.23

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Jen Dixon is handling a whole host of new challenges, from the dreaded seventh-grade science fair to a school fundraiser (again!), Jen faces the somewhat-terrifying new social dynamics of the wrestling moms with her trademark combination of reluctance and exceptional delivery. Learning to navigate this new world while fielding calls from the principal because of Max’s newfound misogynistic behavior, Jen steels herself for the indignities of middle-school life—with her loyal spin class attendees and her bossy four-year-old granddaughter giving her the strength she needs to press on.

My Thoughts: This is the first time I read a book from this author and I adored it. While this is the fourth book in the Class Mom series, I had no problem reading it as a stand alone. It was a quick listen for me in just two days, it could even done at one sitting. Jen is balancing so many things, wrestle mom, spin instructor, aging parents, and being in her 50’s. This was just a cute spin on mom-hood with a tween, premenopausal, and learning to navigate life. The characters were well flushed out and developed with depth, witty banter, charisma, and creatively written. The humor spinner in this book is very relevant, some real laugh out loud moments for me. The author’s writing style was complex, endearing, engaging, and just brilliant. I highly recommend this book for any mom out there, in fact, it would be well served to read the whole series.

Smells Like Tween Spirit is a story of a mom, Jen Dixon, who has two grown daughters and a tween son, a toddler-aged granddaughter, while at the same time managing the challenge of caring for her aging parents and maintaining her marriage.
What I Liked:
1. Jen's self-effacing humor
2. The realistic sister relationship between the two older girls.
3. The balance that was shown between juggling a full-time job and family obligations.
4. The audiobook narrator was fantastic

What I Didn't Like:
1. I found the writing to be clunky at times
2. The lack of likable characters in the mat mom group

Overall, this book was not a winner for me. It was a fast read, but didn't offer a lot of escapism as this "humorous" book was focused on Jen learning how to set boundaries.

Welcome to another fun installment a Laurie Gelman‘s class mom series. Smells Like Tween Spirit is book 4 in the series but can hold its own as a standalone. As always with Miss Gilman you readers will enjoy humor, sarcasm, realism, and some great tips on how to make it as a mom in this crazy fast pace world.

For anyone looking for a light read with a great message.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Four fun stars for this entertaining take on mothering teens.

Good morning, bookworms! Sorry for the few weeks of radio silence over here but I’ve been deep in the throes of launching children back into school! Laurie Gelman has returned with the fourth installment of the Class Mom series and nothing feels quite as apropos for this season of crazy then to read her take on parenting. Jen Dixon returns in Smells Like Tween Spirit, this time celebrating her 7th grade son’s new interest in team wrestling and her new role as Mat Mom. As always, Gelman is hilarious and makes me fall in love with the Dixon family antics from the first chapter. This one did deal with some heavier topics as well, most notably dementia and aging parents, but Gelman still managed to handle those with a certain level of appropriate levity that kept the book from becoming overly heavy. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of both the Kindle and audiobook from Netgalley, and it was great to toggle back and forth on the formats - Gelman herself is the audiobook narrator and brought a fun spirit to the character of Jen. If you love Jen Dixon, this one will certainly not disappoint. And if you’re a mom of school-aged kids, start at the beginning of the series and revel in all that is the Dixon family.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Laurie Gelman is my spirit animal. I love this whole series, and Smells Like Tween Spirit is a must-read for all my fellow mom friends. This book made me smile and laugh throughout! She brings such unique mom perspective and humor that I could not put it down. It is also a super quick, fun read!

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator could be the main character. She has a great voice and it is very easy to follow along.

Is this a series? Yes. Did I start with book four first? Yes. Is this a problem? Definitely not. Although this is a series that builds on itself, it can also be read as a standalone since each book gives a summary of the overall series and what has happened so far.

Full of humor and sarcasm, Laurie German does a great job at showcasing the amount of work that goes into being a mom, especially an older one who is also dealing with a career and aging parents. I laughed, I cried, but mostly, I just wanted more moments with Jen Dixon and her family. Oh, and don’t even get me started on her snarky fake response emails which were by far my favorite part of this book.

I listened to this one on audio and I think it helped enhance the best parts of the book. Read by the author herself, it made the laugh out loud scenes that much funnier. Have I mentioned her emails? I already have book one, Class Mom, cued up and ready to go.

Thank you to Henry Holt for my ARC of this book and NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Favorite line: When telling her husband she feels out of the loop at her son’s school, he lists the ways she can help. “These included going back to the PTA cesspool (I’d rather listen to “Baby Shark” on repeat for the rest of my life)…”

As the mother of a middle schooler I thought I would connect more with this. There were some hilarious moments. I enjoyed the other moms as I love stories with catty school moms. I was not a fan of the author narrating it.