Book Review: Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Release Date: July 24, 2018
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
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.
Jen Dixon has somehow found herself in the position of class mom (what some call room mother) of her son Max’s kindergarten class. This isn’t her first rodeo – she has two young-adult daughters fathered by two different men in her wilder days traveling the world as a groupie. Her irreverent emails and management style don’t sit well with the younger, more traditional kindergarten moms.
I could totally relate to Jen. She’s the oldest mom out of all the kindergarten moms. I’ll be 50 when my youngest starts kindergarten! She has two grown children as well – my other kids will be 19, 17 and 13 when my baby is in kindergarten. (All four have the same dad though – I’m not quite as wild as Jen in that respect!) If I’m my baby’s room mom when he starts school, I can totally see myself being just as cynical as Jen. I’m pretty sure I already am. That’s probably why I found her emails to the parents so funny. She writes what I would want to write if I was in her position.
There isn’t a huge conflict driving the plot – it’s more a bunch of little things, just like real life. There are the annoying moms she has to deal with and the big race she’s training for. Also, her high school crush’s son is in her son’s class, which could get complicated if she lets it. I found all of it entertaining.
A bonus for me is that this book is set in my hometown of Kansas City. There aren’t many novels set there – in fact, I don’t know of any others off the top of my head. Although she doesn’t get everything right about my city, it was still fun when she mentioned real-life restaurants and other things. I guess it must have bothered other Kansas Citian’s that she didn’t get everything perfect because there’s an author’s note in the second book in the series, You’ve Been Volunteered, where she says she had to take some artistic license with the setting to advance the plot and please “no more hate mail”. Geez, Kansas City – lighten up!
Class Mom was a quick, fun and relatable read. It’s the first book in a series of four – so far. I’m definitely going to read the other books in this series!
