Book Review: My Partner, Jakup the Jay

This entry is part 45 of 80 in the series Reviews

“Are you kidding me? A moped? You drive a moped?”

He glowered at me. If he’d had shoulders, they’d have shrugged. I shrugged mine instead, “Take it or leave it—or use the wings you came with.”

His beak opened and closed in exasperation. He peered skyward. “What the hell did I do to get this—this person? You can be sure I’m filing a complaint with the Local. This piece of junk is not big enough for the two of us.”

“So fly.” He tried, big macho bird like him. He‘d keep up, no problem. Of course, he didn’t count on my hitting top speed and cruising, so finally I heard this cry, “Wait up. Wait up. Do you have to go so flippin’ fast?”

“Not quite the hotshot you thought you were, are you?” I gloated.

If I’d been a beetle, he’d have buried his beak in my back, judging from the dirty look he shot at me. I’m fairly sure scrub jays eat the things. I dismounted and opened the handy dandy bin at the rear of the scooter. We moped riders like to think of our mounts as power motor scooters. At least in the bin, he’d be sheltered from the wind. I spotted a moldy half-eaten apple, a Nature Bar wrapper, a couple of bungee cords, and a USB cord for charging my phone. Not my problem, beggars can’t be choosers. What the hey—jays EAT moldy apples.

He hunkered down, shoving the bungees together in a make shift nest. He didn’t say a word, but the angle of his head told me, he was one pissed off Aphelocoma Californica. No doubt, he’d have more to say on the subject of mopeds when we reached our destination. I gunned the motor and took off.

Estee Kessler (2013-11-13T06:00:00+00:00). My Partner Jackup The Jay (Kindle Locations 96-109). Jupiter Gardens Teen. Kindle Edition.

Riley Rose didn’t plan much beyond the next semester. Being the perpetual college student with all of the beautiful women and the endless supply of booze was just too good a life to give up easily, no matter what his parents thought. When he is forced to volunteer on summer break he takes on a simple job feeding baby birds. Little did he suspect that before the summer was through he would have a bird perched on his shoulder and it would be telling him what to do.

THE GOOD

Normally I do not like to review Young Adult fiction because all too often it has seemed to me that Young Adult is writer code for Not-Good-Enough-For-Adults, I was running a little short on review material and I trust the publisher, so I gave it a read. This is a piece of Young Adult fiction that I would actually recommend to my adult friends. It is a well written easy read with a quick pace and engaging story. Riley and Jackup are well defined and have lives of their own, but the supporting cast is equally distinct and supports the story in an excellent fashion. The settings are believable and well detailed, giving the story the support most often found lacking in Young Adult fiction.

THE BAD

There are times when the story skips forward or an unimportant side story is injected into a chapter, and this can make for a slightly jarring read. Obviously it is not such a problem that I did not like the book, but it was the one thing that really bothered me about the book.

THE TAKEAWAY

I enjoyed this book and I think it laid a great foundation for additional books in the series. It was presented to me as a young adult novel, but I think it would serve well as an adult read for a lazy summer day at the beach. If you get a chance to pick up a copy, go for it. You will not regret it.