British Comedy Guide

Ruby Clyde of Shelf writes rom-com novel Jay's Guide To Crushing It

Sunday 21st May 2023, 10:38am by Jay Richardson

Ruby Clyde

Ruby Clyde of musical comedy act Shelf has written her first novel, a queer rom-com for teenagers.

Jay's Guide To Crushing It will be published on the 3rd of August by Scholastic.

The books is about "Jay - sorry, Jennifer - and her family [who] move to a new town for a fresh start, after bullying at her last school went too far.

"Jennifer's mum insists that she do things differently, so gone are her jeans, T-shirts, skateboard and short hair. Jennifer want to keep her mum happy, so she follows Mum's plan to start looking and acting like a girl. But it soon starts to wear on Jennifer, and she starts leading a double life, dressing in her brother's clothes to sneak out to go skateboarding in the local park.

"That's where Jennifer feels most like herself, where she can be Jay again. But then Jay gets tangled up in a crush with Alex, a closeted boy at the skate park who thinks Jay is a boy. But is her friend Mina flirting with Jay ... as a girl? Can Jay keep their different worlds from colliding?"

As Shelf, Clyde and her double act partner Rachel WD also return to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, with their show Teenage Men at the Voodoo Rooms for a full run and their children's show, The Kid's Show, at the Pleasance Courtyard for the first half of the month.

Jay's Guide To Crushing It

Jay's Guide To Crushing It
By Ruby Clyde

It isn't easy working out who you like when you're still working out who you are. Jay - sorry, Jennifer - and her family move to a new town for a fresh start, after bullying at her last school went too far. Jennifer's mum insists that she do things differently, so gone are her jeans, t-shirts, skateboard and short hair. Jennifer want to keep her mum happy, so she follows Mum's plan to start looking and acting like a girl. But it soon starts to wear on Jennifer, and she starts leading a double life, dressing in her brother's clothes to sneak out to go skateboarding in the local park. That's where Jennifer feels most like herself, where she can be Jay again. But then Jay gets tangled up in a crush with Alex, a closeted boy at the skate park who thinks Jay is a boy. But is her friend Mina flirting with Jay ... as a girl? Can Jay keep their different worlds from colliding? A romantic comedy that shows readers that sometimes the basics can be quite complicated!

First published: Thursday 3rd August 2023

  • Publisher: Scholastic
  • Pages: 304
  • Catalogue: 9780702325076

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