Faster, Faster, Faster

January 1, 2002
Jonah Black is back in Run, Jonah, Run, Volume III of the Black Book: Diary of a Teenage Stud series. The virile volume opens with Jonah on the verge of losing his virginity to Posie. An unexpected phone call from former flame Sophie changes the mood.

June 1, 2002
Gr. 8-12. In what seems to be the final installment of the popular and engaging Black Book (Diary of a Teenage Stud) series, the loose ends are tied up in an almost too tidy package. Florida high-school junior Jonah has been hysterically funny in his misadventures searching for love, but in volume four, he gets over his Sophie obsession, his sister, Honey, finds love at Harvard, and Jonah finally figures out who his mysterious Internet admirer is. There are some surreal episodes, but the wonderful quality of slipping back and forth through the muddled morass of Jonah's fantasy is lost here because of the push to resolve story lines. Character development, too, is sketchier, relying on what's gone before. Series fans will feel let down, but this is still a necessary purchase for libraries that have the first three titles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)