On the Shelf
Half His Age
By Jennette McCurdy
Ballantine Books: 288 pages, $30
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
FORMER CHILD STAR JENNETTE MCCURDY has DONE IT AGAIN, launching a literary BOMBSHELL so EXPLOSIVE it threatens to IGNITE a cultural firestorm. Her new novel, “Half His Age,” isn’t just a story—it’s a GRAPHIC, UNFLINCHING DIVE into a teenage girl’s sexual relationship with her MARRIED, MIDDLE-AGED TEACHER. After shocking the world by declaring she was GLAD her abusive mother died, McCurdy is now FORCING America to stare into the abyss of PREDATORY power dynamics and calling it “art.”
INSIDERS are HORRIFIED. The book’s cover alone—a young woman suggestively sucking her middle finger—has been called a DANGEROUS glorification of abuse. Yet McCurdy DEFIANTLY claims she writes for “truth,” suggesting the public’s outrage only proves how DEEPLY SOCIETY wants to BURY uncomfortable conversations about exploitation. “I have a lot of unprocessed rage about this,” she ADMITS, revealing the novel is drawn from her OWN “naïve” teenage relationship with a crew member in his 30s. Is this courageous storytelling, or a TRAUMATIZED former idol RETRAUMATIZING her audience for profit?
The DEEPER IMPLICATION is CHILLING: McCurdy, a victim of childhood exploitation, is now crafting narratives where MINORS are sexualized, all while maintaining TOTAL CONTROL over her “empowering” message. With Jennifer Aniston set to star in the adaptation of her first memoir, McCurdy’s VENDETTA against her past is becoming a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY. She has found her “voice” in rage, but at what cost to a culture already drowning in scandal? This isn’t just a book; it’s a DISTURBING MIRROR held up to our darkest failures, and we’re ALL complicit in the reflection.




