Rating: 
Summary: some things do stay the same
Review:
The characters in this young adult novel are so wonderfully alive! Shy but determined Jean, Johnny the adorable snake-in-the-grass, and Homer the science nerd (but not so nerdy that he doesn't ask Jean for a good-night kiss!), and Jean's sensible sister Sue and straight-arrow parents make this an interesting read. Yeah, yeah, it's set in the 50's! So what?--kids today will be both intrigued and amused by the retro references. And, it would make a great grandparent/teen together read: The grandparent could explain all the freaky references, like girls-only sewing classes in high school, and how car ownership for a teenager back then was even more of a status symbol than it is today.
This is tame enough for 5th and 6th graders to read; at that age, they are definitely interested in what adults (read "teens") do, even if they don't quite want to enter the adult world just yet.
Rating: 
Summary: As realistic a depiction of first love as I've ever seen
Review: Both when I read it as a youngster and, years later, with my own fifth grade class, I found Jean and Johnny to be a highly accurate picture of a first love. Even an adult is kept guessing, at first, whether Johnny is "interested but shy" or merely totally conceited (though the latter is the case). Every woman either has been in Jean's place or knew someone who was - and, if the young can read this delightful novel without looking for 90s self-help interpretations that do not apply, I don't doubt they'll see how very familiar the characters are!
Rating:
Summary: CHARMING TEEN ROMANCE
Review: Even tho this book came out in the 50s, it kinda reminds me of the 80s teen movies so popular then. Jean would be the Molly Ringwald character, the studly Johnny would be the guy played by Andrew Mccarthy or Rob Lowe or Emilio Estevez, and johnny's cute-in-a-dorky-way pal would be the character played by someone like Matthew Broderick or Jon Cryer, or, most likely, Anthony Michael Hall
Rating:
Summary: Real Teen Life
Review: hey i really liked this book. It really related to what real girls in high school and sometimes junior high go through. Jean(main character) met a boy named johnny. He seemed really nice but on their first date, he stood her up and then lied about it. She accepted when he asked her on a second date( and he really came) He walked her home a lot and took pictures with her but when it came time to go to the dance which her promised to go to her with, he stood her up again and lied about it. Instead she went with his friend and had an ok time, but he really made her feel special. THe ENd
Rating:
Summary: an enjoyable, easy read
Review: i really enjoyed the book, and could relate to jean, but i wish that it could have been written less condescendingly. overall, it was good, and believable, not pretentious and over-the-top like many romance novels. it deserves all five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent first-love story; dated but with a definite edge.
Review: I'm 35, & have read this book many times since childhood. I loved Jean's likable awkwardness, her loving and supportive family, her tight relationship with an even more awkward best friend. The charm of this story was in the painfully familiar adolescent details: mortification on being dressed completely wrong; tailing a crush all over and calling on weak pretexts; slighting a "dorky" best friend to earn a place with the popular crowd, etc. All the characters just jumped out at me. There's a definite edginess to the writing that I haven't seen elsewhere: Johnny is portrayed as a vain, shallow jerk...but in the end not only does he go unpunished & unguilty for his selfishness, but Jean still carries a torch! An absolutely delightful, memorable tale of unrequited love and all its humiliations.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal of a first love
Review: It's safe to say that every woman alive can identify with this very "on target" tale, which Beverly Cleary depicts with warmth, humour, occasional pathos, and perfect realism. Perhaps we are not much like Jean (I know that I never was ... seems strange she has no interests, no involvement in activities, and only one friend), but which of us has not, in some fashion, had the idea that love was mutual as long as we kept talking about a particular dream boat?I used this book, which I'd originally read over 30 years ago, with a class when I was teaching pre-teen girls. I noticed that even an adult reader would be wondering whether the gorgeous Johnny really "liked" Jean, or was merely one with a big ego. (I'll not spoil the story by saying which was the case.) I smiled in nostalgic, if bittersweet, recognition when, for example, Jean searched the dictionary for the definition of "cute." Fortunately, the book was written in the last days of when a conceited type could be taken at face value. We are spared the boring diversions into the psychology of the "hunk" which undoubtedly would divert us today. As usual, Beverly Cleary presents vivid and highly enjoyable characters and situations, with which readers of any age can identify. Top fare.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal of a first love
Review: It's safe to say that every woman alive can identify with this very "on target" tale, which Beverly Cleary depicts with warmth, humour, occasional pathos, and perfect realism. Perhaps we are not much like Jean (I know that I never was ... seems strange she has no interests, no involvement in activities, and only one friend), but which of us has not, in some fashion, had the idea that love was mutual as long as we kept talking about a particular dream boat? I used this book, which I'd originally read over 30 years ago, with a class when I was teaching pre-teen girls. I noticed that even an adult reader would be wondering whether the gorgeous Johnny really "liked" Jean, or was merely one with a big ego. (I'll not spoil the story by saying which was the case.) I smiled in nostalgic, if bittersweet, recognition when, for example, Jean searched the dictionary for the definition of "cute." Fortunately, the book was written in the last days of when a conceited type could be taken at face value. We are spared the boring diversions into the psychology of the "hunk" which undoubtedly would divert us today. As usual, Beverly Cleary presents vivid and highly enjoyable characters and situations, with which readers of any age can identify. Top fare.
Rating:
Summary: Jean and Johnny
Review: Jean and Johnny was about a girl that was fifteen years old and falls in love with a popular boy. It all started when Johnny asked her to dance at a local school party. Jean was amazed that he had actually asked her. Jean found out that Johnny went to the same school as her and they started hanging out together. Johnny would wait for Jean after classes and go out to lunch with her. Jean started liking him and asked him to the dance. He canceled because, supposedly, his grandmother was very sick. Jean knew that he didn't want to go with her, so she asked his best friend. Johnny ended up going to the dance with another girl and Jean felt that his friend was much better than he was.
I liked this book because it shows what a real teenager goes through when they like a boy. It shows how they get nervous whenever a phone rings. It shows that they cringe when their father talks about a specific boy. I like the way it shows her perspective of how life works and goes into detail about what she's thinkning.This book is a great way to learn how other people think and feel.
My favorite part of the book is when Jean dumps Johnny for Homer. Even though Homer is the best looking and is really shy, Jean looks past that. She doesn't go only looks and she likes his personality. Also, when they are at the dance and she tells Johnny, "Wonder drugs? Im so glad your grandmother is feeling better." I think it takes a lot of pride to say that and that's why I admire Jean.
Rating: 
Summary: The "no illustrations" edition.
Review: The publishers did this book a great disservice by not including the charming illustrations that were in the original 1959 edition (and most of its subsequent editions). Though these drawings were a bit dated - Jean's dad wears horn rimmed glasses, Jean and the other girls wear long skirts and saddle oxfords to school - so is the book! Keeping these 1950s-esque illustrations would just seem appropriate for a book that is so quintessentially 1950s. Without these illustrations, a first-time reader would think that this book was about Jehovah's witnesses, what with Jean and her sister making their own clothes, the high school sewing class for girls and the lavishness of going out for Cokes. With the recent return of retro, it's amazing that the publishers didn't opt with including the old illustrations. The same goes for the new editions of "Fifteen" and "Sister of the Bride" - both Beverly Cleary books that were given the same treatment. For the full effect of these charming books, better find an older edition.
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