Jinx

by Margaret Wild

Book Overview

Do not get to know me. Do not ask me out. Do not love me. Be warned I am Jinx. Jinx doesn't start out as Jinx -- at first she's dull, safe, boring Jen. Jen who always hands her homework in on time, Jen who never stays out late, Jen who can always be counted on. When Jen's first boyfriend dies, she thinks she's unlucky...until her second boyfriend dies too. Jen is Jinx now -- a curse, a promise of bad luck, a girl who's angry and alone, who can't get...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689865414
• ISBN13: 9780689865411
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 215 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Jinx is a masterpiece.

A completely lifechanging book. You really grow with the characters. And if you're not a fan of poetry, you will still love it. So very sad, though. I'd cry on one page, get over it, turn to the next page, and then start crying all over again. Absolutely wonderful, though. Very touching.

The Book Jinx

The book "Jinx" is and awesome book. This book is about a girls named Jen that gets the nickname Jinx. She gets this nickname because of really bad situations she has with a series of boyfriends. Jen starts hanging out with a bad crowd and starts doing more bad things. But in the end of this book she ends up happy. The author Margaret Wild is an really good witer. She keeps you from putting down the book with the exiting events in it. If you are a person who likes the kind of books that are dramatic and keep you exited then this is the book you want to read! Trust me it is GREAT!!

Jinx

This book had so many feelings to it. It's an easy read book with only a short paragraph on each page. If you like books that have to deal with relationships ending or books that make you cry sometimes or laugh, then you should read this book!!! This book was just so great that I could just read this over and over again.

Poignant Verse Novel

Jen is different from other teenagers. Unlike other teenagers, Jen is absolutely perfect in every way. She always hands in her homework on time, she can always be counted on, she never stays out late, she's boring, dull, safe, etc. That is, until Jen's very first boyfriend dies. To Jen, it's just a streak of bad luck. Until her second boyfriend dies as well. Jen, now referring to herself as Jinx, for that's what she now is, a jinx, is alone, angry, and a curse. Forced to live her life now in what could almost be classified in seclusion, Jinx begins fighting her way back to Jen, where she will now happily return to being dull, safe, boring, Jen.When I first began reading this book, I was shocked to see that it was a novel written in verse, as the back cover almost led you to believe that it was an actual novel. And, even though I have never read a novel written in verse, I was quite pleased with this one. JINX is a poignant look at a teenage girl who goes from being unhappy with her life for being perfect, to being unhappy with her life for being unlucky. During the tremendous turn of events, Jinx realizes that her life was great before tragedy struck, and wishes that she had never been unhappy with being known as perfect Jen. Margaret Wild has created a wonderful verse novel filled with the emotions that teenagers, both male and female, feel everyday in their lives. A wonderful book for all, especially those going through what they believe is turmoil.Erika Sorocco

Richie's Picks: JINX

JEN >>>dream machine<p>Charlie loves two things:<br>me!<br>and his dream machine.<br>It was a rusty old bomb<br>but Charlie and his dad<br>worked on it for a year.<br>It's a Mazda RX2 Capella<br>with a rotary engine,<br>lowered suspension,<br>tinted windows,<br>sports exhaust,<br>alloy wheels,<br>and a sound system with<br>subwoofers and an amp.<p>You can hear it booming<br>a mile away.<br>Mom says it's embarrassing:<br>"Testosterone on wheels."<br>Once, she needed a lift--<br>wore dark glasses<br>and huddled in the back<p>in case her friends saw her.<p>I don't tell her how we cruise<br>up and down Norton Street<br>making the coffee drinkers<br>cringe.<p>Telling stories in verse goes back to Homer. More recently, there have been sacred texts of major religions, along with the likes of Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Ernest Thayer, Clement Clarke Moore, Bob Dylan, and Ani DiFranco. Verse is the genesis of literature. The language of verse is so appealing that the works of these poets has endured for hundreds or thousands of years. <p>Nevertheless, if there were verse novels when I was a kid, it was a secret to me. It has been in the last dozen years that the genre has really taken off, with exceptional works by Karen Hesse, Mel Glenn, Sonya Sones, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Ron Koertge, and Ann Turner, among others. <p>Great verse novels are typically filled with wonderful language. I love how the form permits an author to incorporate this language into a sophisticated story while paring the words to a minimum. How each poem in the book can present a complete, unique, little picture. How the form allows authors to present the perspectives of multiple characters in a single book. <p>Such is the case with JINX, a gem of a verse novel, written by Australian author Margaret Wild. JINX is the name Jen gives herself when her teenage world comes completely unglued. We get to see and hear from Jen, as well as friends, parents, and stepparents, as they all try to find their way. <p>jen's mom will write<p>Jen's mom writes advertising copy.<br>She specializes in white goods:<br>washing machines, dryers, fridges,<br>freezers, dishwashers.<br>She hates these appliances<br>hulking<br>in corners,<br>power-hungry and fractious.<br>One day, she will have a wood stove,<br>and she'll write about things that matter--<br>she will write about birth and death,<br>about love and the absence of love,<br>about fathers and children,<br>about mothers and daughters,<br>about lovers and friends.<br>She'll write about the whole goddamn<br>wonderful, awful business<br>of loving and being loved.<p>One of the most intriguing characters of the book is Grace, Jen's sister whose Down's syndrome was detected early enough that her mom had the option of terminating the pregnancy. That Jen's mom chose not to do so was the cause of Jen's father leaving them. <p>JEN >>>the smartest person<p>Grace can read and write.<br>She takes her homework<br>very seriously.<br>She borrows my history