Review of Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters

Peters, Julie Anne. Between Mom and Jo. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006.

In this novel, Nick faces many of the traditional challenges of growing up. He has trouble in school and also with friends, but his main obstacle is his family life. Nick has two moms who vary in character. Mom is the protective and rational parent while Jo is outgoing and outrageous. He loves each of them but realizes that his family is different from others when entering school. Teachers don’t display artwork of his family because they don’t want to support the gay community. Nick’s babysitter wants to see his moms’ bedroom and thinks if she gets into their bed she will also turn gay. When Jo starts drinking too much Nick’s family life starts to dissolve. Not only does Jo move out but his Mom gets diagnosed with cancer. This book proves that a family’s love can get you through even the toughest of times.

Between Mom and Jo was told from Nick’s perspective which helps the reader connect even further with the main character and experience the events along with him. Dialogue is also used and helps the book have a more personal feel. The chapters are titled either Mom or Jo and focus on one of his moms.

Stereotyping is seen only within the context of the book itself. Nick and his moms are seen as this nontraditional family and the babysitter even worries if they will seduce her into becoming a homosexual. This stereotype is broken when Nick is outraged that anyone would think that way or that his moms would even consider doing that.

Author Julie Anne Peters has a very informative webpage which explains that she is an insider and wanted to give gay/lesbians their own genre of literature. Her inspiration to write this story was because “One day I was in the teacher’s lounge eavesdropping on a group of teachers. Parent-teacher conferences were coming up and one teacher said, ‘I made these special certificates for any of the fathers who come. What if both of Nick’s moms come’(Peters, website)?” She said that that this conversation stayed with her for a long time and needed to write a story about it.

I would recommend this book to not only to adolescent readers who are insiders but to anyone. Between Mom and Jo captures the magic of the love of a family which is a universal theme.


Peters, Julie A. "The Story Behind the Story of Between Mom and Jo." Julie Anne Peters. http://www.julieannepeters.com/files/MomJoInspiration.htm .