Boy Toy | 
 enlarge | Author: Barry Lyga
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 543251
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 0618723935
EAN: 9780618723935
ASIN: 0618723935
Publication Date: September 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: We ship books out daily M-F. Tracking number will be emailed when we ship. We list the majority of our books in "Good" condition. If this book had any major flaws, it would be listed in "Acceptable" condition. Easy returns if you are unhappy with book. PLEASE NOTE: We ship immediately, however the Post Office controls delivery speed. In a hurry? Please choose EXPEDITED SHIPPING. Proceeds benefit non-profit Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.
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Product Description
Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.
Five years ago, Josh's life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town?seems like the world?thinks they understand. But they don't?they can't. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there's Rachel, the girl he thought he'd lost years ago. She's back, and she's determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won't stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink. And then there's Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh's past. It's time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.
If only he knew what the truth was . . .
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Seductive look at the power teachers' hold over their students. March 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Josh was an ordinary twelve year old who loved baseball, was good at school, and didn't have the best home life. His life was changed forever though when he was molested by his history teacher, Eve Sherman. Using alcohol, video games, and the allure of her body, Eve changes everything for Josh.
Now about to graduate high school, Josh learns that Eve is being released from prison. His world, only slightly sane during her imprisonment, becomes a turmoil of new thoughts and feelings. The guilt grows heavier than ever. A new relationship may fuel things for the better in Josh's life but can he ever truly move pass what happened to him.
Controversial, seductive, and all too realistic, Barry Lyga tackles a topic that has been become more and more prevalent in today's high school environment. There are no easy answers in real life, nor are there in this book. Josh is an engaging, quick-witted young man though and despite the trauma he went through at Eve's hands, he does have a good head on his shoulders. It is very easy to sympathize with Josh. How could you not? He went through a hell of a bad "relationship" at twelve years old. But things are not cut and dry in this book. Lyga does a good job of exploring Josh's character, of exploring the whys of why this happened to him.
I found myself comparing Eve a deadly spider, luring Josh into her home after school, making him feel like a man. It is easy to feel disgusted by her character, to feel contemptuous of her, but Lyga tries to not make her a flat, stock character. I appreciated his efforts, even as I knew nothing could make me like Eve.
This book gets somewhat raunchy at times. I read a lot of romances so the sexual content itself was not anything new, but the seductive, powerless feel of Eve's manipulations was very palpable. I wouldn't recommend this book for younger teens that is for sure.
Lyga tackles a tough issue. While I cannot say I liked everything that happened in the story, or that I even agreed with the decisions he made as a writer, there is no doubt I was hooked. There is a sordid quality to this story at the same time there is a cleanliness, a purity of soul in Josh. Josh is the reason to keep reading this book, even as I was left slightly dissatisfied by its ending.
Much more could be written on topic March 16, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Outside of parents, teachers are the most important adults in childrens' lives for at least 12 years, and they loom large in our minds for years afterward. Putting the relationships that are inappropriate aside, not very much has been done on the relationships between students and their sometimes-mysterious teachers in general. Almost all of us remember even having crushes, some very intense...but shockingly, in the last few years, horrid cases have been coming to light of teachers crossing the line into transgression and manipulation, harming their students for life; yet, there is a dearth of YA on the topic.
The reviewer who said that this book is tawdry - just because it touches on a controversial topic - misses the point; it shows the very devastating aftereffects, and that is key. There is so much more that can be written on what is going on in this vein; obviously it's worth writing about. I think those quotes in the other review are out of context. At first, I'm sure Josh (when young and naive) was fascinated by the affair, but the book is in his head years after it happened, and he is coming to realize the consequences of innocence lost. I actually thought it didn't go far enough to show how the whole trasgression started. The book started with a much older Josh struggling as an adult, but what about all the initial stirrings? The book also started with him punching an adult, a bit hard to believe. That would have resuled in explusion or an arrest where I came from.
There have only been 2-3 YA books on this topic and there is so much more to look at, along the spectrum of crush to crossing the line. There is a lot more to look at about the various ways these behaviors start and the consequences. It's a topic that can be looked at more deeply.
 Courtesy of Teens Read Too January 28, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
In BOY TOY, author Barry Lyga takes readers on an incredible journey into a world that, for some, like main character Josh Mendel, is all too real. Josh's life was changed at age twelve when his teacher took the role of educator far beyond the limits of acceptable behavior. Lyga's story does not cut corners or mince words. He is straightforward and direct in telling Josh's story. His graphic descriptions may have earned him criticism, but they have also made his story a powerful one.
Josh Mendel loves baseball. He is a wiz at math. His best friend, Zik, seems to be the one with the rocky home life and all the problems, but not for long.
Mrs. Evelyn Sherman is the new history teacher recently transferred from the local high school to the middle school. She is drop-dead gorgeous. All the boys probably find it a bit embarrassing to stand up and leave the classroom some days. Josh certainly does.
Josh's involvement with Mrs. Sherman begins when she praises his writing and asks him to help her with a project for her graduate class. Honored and excited, Josh is eager to help. Problems at home make staying after school, and later actually going home with Mrs. Sherman, a convenience for Josh and his parents. He begins spending more and more time with her even after her project is complete.
At first, being in Mrs. Sherman's apartment everyday after school is exciting, because Josh gets to play unlimited video games, drink Coke, and hang out with an attentive, beautiful woman. His time in the apartment becomes even more fascinating when Mrs. Sherman begins inviting him to help her cook dinner and sip wine with her. Then kisses begin - tentative and then passionate. The passion moves from petting to full-on sexual experimentation.
Josh is addicted. There are feelings of guilt, but those feelings are outweighed by the incredible physical pleasure Mrs. Sherman offers. Life is spiraling out of control.
The world comes crashing down when Josh finds himself playing spin the bottle with Rachel. He and Rachel have been friends on the baseball field for as long as he can remember, but when Josh's newfound experience turns the innocent teenage game too sexually explicit, Rachel runs screaming to her parents. The "game" is over, and Josh's secret is about to come out in the open.
BOY TOY is not a short romp between the sheets. In fact, it has raised many eyebrows in the world of YA literature. Readers will see exactly what went on with Mrs. Sherman, but they will also see deeply into the world of a young man trying to continue with life, make amends to his friends, and make plans for his future. It has a strong, powerful story to tell, and it tells that story well.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Excellent portrait of child sex abuse, but a few plot problems January 19, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Boy Toy's strong point is its description of how an adult grooms a child for abuse, manipulates and pushes at boundaries until they're completely gone. Eve Sherman's actions and Josh's reactions were completely plausible, and the emotions and how it affected the rest of his life were right-on.
I liked the narration by 18-year-old Josh as he decides what to do next with his life, baseball, college, and so on. He was still a young narrator, but with a more mature eye: the balance between insight he'd gained and what was still unclear to him kept my interest.
Sometimes the story went on a little too long or was paced a little slow-- I'd flip ahead and could see there was 10 or 20 more pages of pretty much the same stuff I was reading right now.
The climax of the book was also a little bit of a letdown. Josh's "I realized" moments happened almost in a vacuum, with too many internal shifts that weren't backed up by real events. I also didn't believe his interactions with the police and in court: in my experience, he would have been treated much more considerately, interviewed in a medical setting by a forensic interviewer instead of grilled by cops, perhaps been allowed to testify by video deposition rather than having to talk in open court with his abuser sitting right there. This may be a small-town thing, but it didn't ring quite true to me.
Boy Toy wasn't perfect, but it was well worth reading for its emotional notes and everyday-yet-creepy portrait of child sex abuse.
so freaking good October 6, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
BOY TOY is so freaking good I can't even tell you. But I will try.
First of all, I could not put this book down. It's amazing that I managed to put it away when I had to do things like go to work and sleep. This is one of those books where you just have to know what happens next and you keep thinking about it and you can't wait to pick it up again. It's that addictive, yo.
This book is about Josh Mendel, who has an affair with his teacher. Barry Lyga tells the story in such a way that you really understand Josh's struggle with the situation, you really believe that this could happen. He uses flashbacks to build suspense, and the story unfolds in a shocking way. Living with this secret is far from easy, and Josh experiences normal reactions to extraordinary circumstances. Nothing is black and white.
BOY TOY captures both the trauma and exhiliration of this taboo subject. It reveals what it's like to cross the line from fantasy to reality. You'll be amazed at what you'll find.
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