Mary Jane: A Novel

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and combine this childish- cutie-pie-ish story with LEARNING for Mary Jane….. finding her own voice opposed to her parents— secretly afraid to tell her parents anything about the Cone family (where she was babysitting Izzy), because of their lifestyle, beliefs, any tidbit of Judaism or Buddhist thoughts…. The fun starts when Dr. Cone takes on a famous patient that he needs to treat for drug addiction and sex addiction. Mary Jane knows her parents would not allow her to work in a home were a drug addict (oh no!) and a sex addict is being treated. This is one of my favorite novels this year! I thank GR friend Holly for her terrific review which brought this to my radar. What a delight it was to be engrossed in the summer of 1975 with the sweet and endearing Mary Jane.

Of course, we know there’s going to be some awakening that Jews aren’t bad people, but give me a break — this book STINKS with antisemitism and racism!!!! The 100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music Videos, and Trends that Entertained Us over the Past 10 Years". Entertainment Weekly. No.1079/1080. December 11, 2009. pp.74–84. ASIN B00382WGUY. Mary Jane is exposed to a whole new world that clashes with her parent’s viewpoint. She gains confidence in her voice and even more comfortable with her body, and it was fun seeing her open up. She also builds a closer relationship with her mother eventually! I really did enjoy this one. Hodgson, Alex. "Mary Jane Or Gwen Stacy: Who Should Spider-Man Be With?". Geeks. Archived from the original on August 26, 2020 . Retrieved August 24, 2020.On one of the last weeks of summer, everyone, including Mary Jane go to a beach house. So many fun and happy days and nights!!

Singh, Anita (January 12, 2010). "Spider-Man 4 scrapped and Tobey Maguire replaced in superhero franchise". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011 . Retrieved October 24, 2010. The summer that Mary Jane is 14 she gets asked to nanny for the Cones. They will be having some guests staying with them and would like Mary Jane to be Izzy’s nanny for the summer. Bored at home with mostly her books as friends she jumps at the chance to do something different, be somewhere different! SHE IS IN FOR QUITE AN EDUCATION!!!

Barriga, Matt (July 6, 2017). "Spider-Man's Iconic Upside Down Kiss". Medium. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019 . Retrieved August 23, 2020. In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house. I just can’t forgive ugliness of the antisemitism and racism! It was glossed over, looked over…. way too easily! Gemmill, Allie (May 3, 2017). " 'Spider-Man' Love Interest Mary Jane Watson Deserved So Much More". Bustle. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019 . Retrieved August 24, 2020. This young woman was such a pleasure and her character, along with little Izzy, is what makes this story work.

Mary Jane’s life is thrown for a loop when one of Dr. Cone’s patients and his wife move in, so Dr. Cone can help him beat his addiction. But it’s not just any patient—it’s Jimmy, a famous musician, and his even-more-famous wife, Sheba. Suddenly Mary Jane is the only person paying attention to what goes on with Izzy, ensuring whether there’s food in the house, getting the laundry done, etc. And at the same time, she starts to learn things about life, love, relationships, and music, things that conflict with the things she’s always believed. It’s good when your eyes are opened to what’s around you, but difficult at the same time. Gilbey, Ryan (May 7, 2007). "Take a crawl on the dark side". The New Statesman. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017 . Retrieved May 7, 2020. Lindahl, Chris (November 13, 2020). "Kirsten Dunst Floats Return to 'Spider-Man' Movies: 'I'd Be Old MJ at This Point with Little Spidey Babies' ". IndieWire. Dunst's Mary Jane Watson appears through archive material from Spider-Man in the Into the Spider-Verse sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).Two years after the events of the first movie, Mary Jane has found success as a model and Off-Broadway actress. Maintaining her friendships with both Peter and Harry, she continues to pine for Peter, but as he continues to reject her, she starts dating astronaut John Jameson, the son of Peter's boss J. Jonah Jameson. Struggling to balance his vigilantism as Spider-Man with his personal life, Peter fails to make it to one of Mary Jane's performances of The Importance of Being Earnest. I can do cute, I can do nostalgia, I can do Popsicles, I can do a cute relationship between a babysitter, and a little girl… In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Show Tunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house. This book isn’t especially original; it’s just another tale about someone who discovers the joys to be found in embracing a carefree approach to life--or rather, it’s supposed to be. The story has a huge problem here, and it’s at the very core of that premise: Mary Jane discovers this joy via a really dysfunctional family.

Our super star, Mary Jane, came across as a bit naive but considering how she was raised and attending a super strict school, it was believable. Izzy, the daughter of a psychiatrist and his wife, is a happy, carefree little girl, wise beyond her years. She was not always looked after by her parents properly but they did show her a lot of love. The Cones are huggers and kissers and it takes a while for Mary Jane to adjust I have to admit, the beginning of this book was a little bit rough for me because I didn’t realize this book is more of a “in the life of” or a “slice of life” kind of book without a conventional plot structure. I kept thinking to myself while listening “where is this going?” and then I realized I needed to let that go and enjoy the ride. And I did, and I am really glad I read this book. Let me start with what Mary Jane is not. Despite the bold publisher blurb, it IS NOT “Almost Famous” meets Daisy Jones and the Six. At least they get the next bit right when they call it a “funny, wise, and tender novel about a fourteen-year-old girl’s coming of age in 1970s Baltimore.” Mary Jane is about the titular Mary Jane, but it’s also a tale of two families: the Dillards and Cones. However, the bulk of the story is centered on the mess that is the Cone family, with the Dillards an afterthought, as if Blau found them too boring to even think about. Unfortunately for the story, without any vivid sense of the Dillard parents, it’s even harder to understand, much less appreciate, why the Cones hold so much appeal for Mary Jane. But ultimately, for these families to be contrasted in any meaningful way, they’d have to be nuanced, and all the characters, even narrator Mary Jane, are flat as boards. That was my biggest problem with the book this time around--the adults who deal directly with Mary Jane and Sally seem to react in unbelievable ways. Oh, sure, they're meant to be sympathetic to both integration and the girls' friendship, but I doubt they would have got away with quite so much rule breaking as they did. First offenders, okay all right--but have a few first-offenses, all in a great big heap!

Looking for a terrific coming-of-age story about a teenager who realizes there’s more to life than her sheltered upbringing? Read Mary Jane, the new novel by Jessica Anya Blau. I do have one slightly preachy concern- due to the attitudes of Mary Jane’s parents, it is easier to judge them more harshly than the Cone’s. Blau’s intelligent, witty novel captures the essence of the ’70s with humor and immensely appealing characters. Highly recommended." — Library Journal (starred review) Mary Jane also appears in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a CGI-animated television series serving as a loose alternate continuation of the first Spider-Man film. She, Peter and Harry attend Empire State University together, and she attempts to start a relationship with Peter without much success, owing to his reluctance to endanger her due to his duties as Spider-Man. Mary Jane is voiced by Lisa Loeb. [19]