A delight from start to finish, THE JAKE SHOW belongs in every middle grade classroom library. Highly recommend this very funny book.

I loved this peek into a Jewish middle schoolers life. We added it to our fifth grade homeschool curriculum at The Bookish Society.

An intriguing and well-executed premise, plenty of laugh lines, and an insider perspective on contemporary Jewish culture would make this a worthwhile addition to middle school libraries.

3.5 stars
Great middle-grade read, about a boy caught between two sets of parents with very different beliefs and ideas about raising him!
Jake frequently has identity crises. His parents, recently divorced and now married to other people, often argue about their differing methods of parenting, especially when it comes to religion. Jake is somewhat of a t.v. sitcom expert, so he considers the different ways he must behave between his parents to be like becoming a different character on a show. One “Jake face” for Mom, another for Dad. But he really wishes he could just be the Jake he wants to be, without disappointing anyone.

Memorable Quotes:
“My parents and brother took it well. They told me that who I like isn’t one of the parts of me that makes me good or bad. It’s other stuff-being kind to people. That’s what really matters.”

*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

The Jake Show was a total delight. The main character, Jake, is caught between the two very different worlds of his divorced parents. As his mother has grown more orthodox in her practices of Judaism, his father has grown more secular, and Jake must divide his time between two households, creating confusion within Jake about who he is and who he really wants to be. In both households, Jake never feels like he can truly be himself. Determined to give himself a summer where he can flourish as the star of his own show, Jake and his friends devise a plan to get him to a summer camp far from both his parents, where can focus on his own wants. Overall, I loved this book. A really important book for any kid struggling to make sense of their own identity when their parents put their own beliefs (and their own disagreements!) onto the kid caught in the middle.

The Jake Show is a delightful middle grade novel with a good mix of humor and poignancy. Themes of family and friendship are woven throughout, and I was very happy to see representation of different kinds of observance and, especially, LGBTQ representation (and support for it) in an orthodox community. Yasher koach!

A humorous story as we find Jake torn between his divorced parents trying to please both. He ends up lying to himself and to them and it drives him crazy that he keeps so many secrets. When two new friends ask him to go to a summer camp, he agrees to go but lies to both parents and makes up two different camps. When they find out and show up, what happens next?

I loved this book! Jake is a seventh grader who is struggling to carve out his own identity. His divorced parents have a lot of tension between them—Mom is orthodox and Dad is secular—and Jake feels he has to be two separate people in order to please both of them. But when he starts a new school, he seems to find friends who can see the “real” Jake. When his friends tell him about their amazing summer camp, Jake knows his parents will never approve. He comes up with a plan to mislead them so he can go to the camp and be his real self. But how real is this version of Jake if he won’t share it with his family?

This story is absolutely wonderful and very needed. All kids will relate to Jake, who is incredibly funny and likeable even as he is going through his struggles. His friends Caleb and Tehilla are the best friends a kid could ask for. They have fun together but more importantly they challenge him and truly understand him. I also loved Jake’s very real and flawed parents and his supportive stepparents. Highly recommended.