#FlashbackFriday – Class Mom: A Novel by Laurie Gelman #Review / #Giveaway @lauriemgelman

On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.

While cozy mysteries are my favorites to read, once in a while I need a little break. A couple of years ago I read the second book in this series and really enjoyed it. I recently snapped up the first in this series and wouldn’t you know it, it has a little mystery of its own. 

Class Mom: A Novel
Women’s Humorous Fiction
1st in Series
Setting – Kansas
Henry Holt and Co. (August 1, 2017)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250124697
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250124692
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages (July 24, 2018)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250192560
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250192561
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N20LVGD

Laurie Gelman’s clever debut novel about a year in the life of a kindergarten class mom—a brilliant send-up of the petty and surprisingly cutthroat terrain of parent politics.

Jen Dixon is not your typical Kansas City kindergarten class mom—or mom in general. Jen already has two college-age daughters by two different (probably) musicians, and it’s her second time around the class mom block with five-year-old Max—this time with a husband and father by her side. Though her best friend and PTA President sees her as the “wisest” candidate for the job (or oldest), not all of the other parents agree.

From recording parents’ response times to her emails about helping in the classroom to requesting contributions of “special” brownies for curriculum night, not all of Jen’s methods win approval from the other moms. Throw in an old flame from Jen’s past, a hyper-sensitive “allergy mom,” a surprisingly sexy kindergarten teacher, and an impossible-to-please Real Housewife-wannabe, causing problems at every turn, and the job really becomes much more than she signed up for.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I read the second book of this series first and am so glad I went back to read this one instead of skipping it and moving on to book three. Class Mom has Jen Dixon taking a job most parents run away from as fast as they can. She had held the job before when her now college-age daughters were in elementary school and the position hasn’t changed a lot since then. Her son Max is in kindergarten and her best friend is the president of the P.T.A. so there was no way she is getting out of the job.

Jen has quite a sense of humor that comes out in her emails to the parents in Max’s class. Some understand but a few just don’t get her sarcasm and wit, at least at first. Also one of the parents is a guy she had a huge crush on in high school. She also has to deal with a very interesting teacher and more than 13 other parent personalities that run the gambit including a stay-at-home student whose mother she only knows from her “out of the office” email responses.

This book was just what I needed to read. Jen Dixon just cracks me up and if we met in real life we would be fast friends.

Now you need to know this is not a book just filled with funny emails and snippets of kindergarten life. It is a great fictional story that drops into Jen’s life during Max’s kindergarten year and she tells us about it all. Her daughters at college and their boyfriend drama, her best friend struggling through an upsetting event, Jen’s interactions with her own crush, her workout schedule as she prepares for a major event, life with her “1st husband”, a little mid-life crisis, plus all the drama that comes with being a class mom and more. Ms. Gelman tells it like it is. Parenting isn’t easy but most of us wouldn’t trade it for any other job in the world. The things she focuses on are things I dealt with my own kids, the youngest of which just turned 29 that still take place today even though things are much harder at schools now for a variety of reasons.

Jen really comes to life within these pages and so do all the other characters. I felt like a butterfly on the wall observing each and every minute of this book.

What this author does expertly is bring the funny. I giggled, I guffawed, I laughed out loud, more times than I can count. I had an appointment the next day and I had to tell the woman I met with all about this book and I learned later she ordered the book as soon as she got home. She said she doesn’t read as fast as I do but is so happy I told her about it and plans to share it with her friends. She said she hasn’t laughed that hard in a long time.

Class Mom is a hilarious book! The second book, You’ve Been Volunteered, was too. The next time I need to destress I plan to pick up the third book, Yoga Pant Nation. And book four, Smells Like Tween Spirit is set to be released on August 2, 2022.

I highly recommend this book to all the moms and grandmothers out there. You will be truly entertained.

Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent

About the Author

Laurie Gelman was born and raised in the Great White North. She spent twenty-five years as a broadcaster in both Canada and the United States before trying her hand at writing novels. The author of Class Mom and You’ve Been Volunteered, Laurie has appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Watch What Happens Live, and The Talk, among others. She lives in New York City with her husband, Michael Gelman, and their two teenage daughters.

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*This book is part of my personal collection.