Just like the first three books in the Class Mom series, Smells Like Tween Spirit feels like catching up with a good friend in all her quippy, laidback, non sequitur glory. I recommend the whole series, but this title can be read as a standalone.

The book follows Jen Dixon's first year as a mat mom with her son's middle school wrestling team, complete with her signature snarky emails. Her adult daughters, aging parents, and cycling students make for a quirky set of side characters and provide plenty more humor.

Though this book addresses some heavier topics (including grief and death of a loved one), the overall tone remains light-hearted. Full of heart and shenanigans, Smells Like Tween Spirit is a feel good, laugh-out-loud read that will be especially relatable for mamas.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan and Laurie Gelman for a digital ARC of this book. This is the fourth book in the delightful Class Mom Series. If you are new to this series, I recommend starting with the first book for maximum reading enjoyment. Jen Dixon is a new Mat Mom for her seventh grade son’s wrestling team and getting introduced to a whole new world of ultra competitive sports moms. In addition to her son, Jen has two grown daughters starting a new business together and an adorable four-year-old granddaughter. Aging parents, a husband who is beginning to feel neglected, and teaching spin classes makes for a very busy Jen! This is a humorous read that also deals with real life issues. The writing flows smoothly, the characters are well developed, likable and relatable. All in all, a great addition to the Summer 2022 TBR list!

This is one of my favorite series! I love the characters. Everything that happens to Jen is so believable and real (and funny) that you can't help but laugh and want to know more! Jen's sense of humor is great and I love her thoughts and e-mails. Can't wait until the audio version is out to listen and re-visit this story again!

Jen Dixon is back and now she is a new Mat Mom for the Pioneer Middle School (PMS) Wrestling team. Between school events and teaching spin classes, Jen finds herself fully immersed in sports-mom competitiveness. Jen steels herself for the indignities of middle school life—with her loyal spin class attendees and her bossy four-year-old granddaughter giving her the strength she needs to press on. Mix in a Parent Night, New Year’s Party, and Valentine’s Day Dance, and Jen Dixon certainly has her hands, and her calendar, full. And through it all, Jen continues to charm with her riotously funny quips and memorable one-liners.
I love this series. Jen is so funny, and never fails to make me laugh. Her emails and one-liners are always a delight to read. Even though this is the third book in the series, you wouldn't necessarily have to read the books in order. You could read this one and still know what was going on. But I guarantee if you read one, you will want to read them all. If you want a light read that will give you a good laugh, then this is the book for you.

4.5 stars rounded up. This is a fast semi-humorous read. There is a good bit of seriousness to this particular book.

I've followed this series (can only 4 books be considered a series???) from the beginning. These books started out a little sillier than the last two books. But that is fine with me, it just shows me how all of the players are growing. I learned quite a bit about pubescent boys who are training for wrestling. Yikes!

I love the fact that Jen is still her usual irreverent self, this time becoming a Pioneer Middle School (PMS), mat mom. Jen is still teaching spinning, taking care of her granddaughter at times, her father, and her husband and let us not forget taking care of herself. She is a busy new-millennium Grandmom and I wish I had half of her energy and sense of humor.

In this book, we have unfortunate and sad things happening-but we also have some very childish things going on and that was with the adult children/ LOL! It just goes to show you that around your parents you never have really grown up!

*ARC supplied by Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan Publishers, the author, and NetGalley.

I was thrilled to be offered an ARC by the publisher, Henry Holt & Co., in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of Laurie Gelman's previous Jen Dixon books and this one did not disappoint! Jen has finally left the world of elementary PTA and class moms behind for Pioneer Middle School (yes, PMS) Mat Moms! Her son, Max, has decided to join the wrestling team - which means Jen is pulled back into school politics. And of course, her new nemesis, a mom from a rival team!

Jen's daughters have decided to open a business together - and both have a crush on the same guy - what could go wrong?

Gelman yet again does a wonderful job of combining laugh out loud moments, biting wit, and the everyday family drama. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the well rounded cast of characters that I've grown to love over the past several books. I sincerely hope we get to see Jen tackle high school next!!!

Pub date: 8/2/22
Genre: fiction, humor
In one sentence: Jen Dixon has retired as class mom, but her new title of mat mom for the Pioneer Middle School wrestling team comes with plenty more challenges.
Series: Class Mom, book 4
Do I need to read the other books first?
I've read book 3 (Yoga Pant Nation), and I think reading at least one other book in the series will help you get to know Jen and her family. But if you don't have time, it can be read as a standalone.

I really enjoyed the latest installment in this lighthearted look at modern motherhood - Jen's son Max has gotten older, but parenting hasn't gotten any easier. Her interactions with the other wrestling parents, aka mat moms, kept me laughing - no one sends a cheery yet sarcastic email quite like Jen Dixon. Although I don't have kids, there's a lot to relate to in Jen's pressure-filled world. I love her multilayered character - and I wish I could take a spin class with her in real life! I flew through this book and would wholeheartedly recommend it as a light read - perfect for summer before back to school kicks in.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! The Class Mom series is a favorite of mine. I probably didn't like this quite as much as the first two, but this series can't be beat for a light, silly beach read!

This book was hilarious. I had not read any other books in the series but didn't feel like I was missing anything. I am planning on reading the other books, as I haven't laughed so much in a long time.

Jen is married with children - she has a young son in middle school and two adult daughters in competition with each other. There are also some serious things going on - her father has Alzheimer's and her mother is not dealing with it too well. Jen works part time - she teaches a spin class, and boy, does she have some interesting people who attend her class. (I made a vow after reading this book to never be overly familiar with someone who teaches a class.) Her son is in the 7th grade this year, and joins the wrestling team. Jen volunteers to become a MAT Mom, which turns out to have a lot of pitfalls. The smell, the overly competitive parents, the smell - on top of everything else that she has going on with her family.

This book has made me laugh more than any book I've read this year, and also almost brought me to tears at times. I especially appreciated the book's treatment of her father, who had Alzheimer's, and how difficult it was for Jen's mother to accept his decline. I did think the family was a little hard on Jen at one point - she had a lot to deal with.

Thanks to the publisher Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book. It was a pleasure to read and review.

This is a solid 3.75 stars. This author surpasses expectations when it come to writing a funny book on parenting stressors. If you do not laugh at least once I would be surprised. This book does discuss eldercare and touches on some heaviness but otherwise is a great quick read. I learned parenting a wrestler is a stinky business!

*****************I received an ARC from Net Galley for my honest opinion*************************

I couldn’t wait to revisit the crazy world of the literary Class Mom. This is the fourth in Laurie Gelman’s series and I really enjoy the unconventional and hilarious adventures of Jen Dixon, mom to a middle school son and two adult daughters, and reluctant school volunteer.

In this installment, she’s hung up her badge as the elementary school class mom and is now a MAT Mom, volunteering with her son’s wrestling team. She has to watch her son get beat up twice a week, while also avoiding the weird competitiveness of one of the rival team’s moms - “smell you later, Mimi Melon!”

Outside of school, Jen navigates her job as a spin instructor (and the clingy students that come with it), her daughters’ romantic lives, her precocious 4-year old granddaughter, and her mother’s increased volunteer efforts despite her father’s failing health.

I love the snarky emails that begin each chapter. Jen reminds me of a cool mom (but like an actual cool mom, not the version from Mean Girls). In the acknowledgements, Laurie Gelman commented that this book came to fruition despite the reviews of #3. I hope she continues to put out books in this series - they’re quick and refreshing and guaranteed to make you laugh out loud at least once or twice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company as well as for the opportunity to experience this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #HenryHolt&Company #LaurieGelman
I love, love, love all the books in this series. However, and this is saying a lot, this was my favorite so far. Jen Dixon is as snarky as ever and she just gets more delightful each time. As usual, these books are a pleasure to review!
Jen Dixon’s son Max has entered seventh grade. That means no more class mom duties! This is both a relief and nostalgic. Jen is now a “Mat Mom” however, which is the term for the moms of the middle school wrestling team. She’s also teaching her own spin class and babysitting her granddaughter. This book, while still as humor-filled as ever, was also filled with heart. This is what made this my favorite book of the series. We are treated to the same sarcastic Jen that we’re used to but we also see her go through some rough times. We’re given a more in depth look at the Dixon family. I really hope we get to see more of this series and that it continues in the same direction.

This is the first of Laurie Gelman's books I've read... although a few of her others have been on my TBR shelf for a while and I will probably circle back to them eventually. Smells Like Tween Spirit featured the ups and downs of Jen Dixon as she navigates the school year as a "mat mom" (aka mom of a wrestler).

Jen is like the grown up version of Beverly Cleary's Ramona. She's a spitfire, but has a sweet heart. She spouts off at times, but knows when to reign it in. Despite her best efforts, she finds herself in precarious situations and awkward conversations that are actually quite relatable. Jen says the things that most of us are thinking and is able to find the humor in motherhood while still embracing the joy.

Smells Like Tween Spirit is a fun, lighthearted read makes for a nice, relatable escape. Jen is a "real" mom with "real" issues and her story is a refreshing (and comedic) take on raising middle schoolers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Gelman hits another home run with her fictional volunteer work as a wrestling mat mom for her son, Max. This is book four of the Class Mom series.

From her laugh-out-loud emails to other mt parents to her wise and sometimes unwise endeavors to get to know each student in her spin class, to the poignant death of her father, Jen Dixon unveils the truths as she feels them. Prodded by her bossy granddaughter, Maude, and husband Ron, a man almost too close to perfect, Dixon forges on.

What volunteer opportunity will Gelman tackle next? I can't wait to read her next 5-star entry into the domestic fiction world.

I have really enjoyed all the Class Mom books. This one did not disappoint. Jen is such a funny, relatable character. I hope Laurie German continues this series.

Hilarious!! All three of my boys wrestled, so a lot of it was funny because of that. Laurie really nailed the crossover from elementary school to middle school. Parts were sad, but she got you right back laughing. This will be a go to book for patron recommendations!

Absolutely loved this book! This series has quickly become one of my favorites and I am already looking forward to the next one.

I hope this author continues to write this series all the way through high school graduation. As the mom of similarly aged children I find her stories to be spot on - as truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
This next chapter of the teenage years does not disappoint. Already recommending to other mom’s for Theo summer vacation read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for the ARC of Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman.

This is the 4th book in this series and in my opinion it wasn't is funny as the others. I felt like Jen wasn't as feisty and her sarcastic emails weren't as funny. She just didn't seem to have the same spunk as she had in the other books. Now in Jen's defense, she could just be exhausted since she is balancing her job, raising a preteen son who is active in wrestling, 2 adult daughters, a granddaughter, 2 elder parents and a husband. Even though I just rate it 4 stars, I would still recommend this book especially if you read the others and I think many can relate to Jen! I do not regret reading and I just hope Jen's spunk is back in the next one.

I loved this book by Laurie Gelman. Like her other books, her writing style is hilarious and feels like 'real life.' I hope there are more books in this series because i really enjoy reading about Jen's family and curious what will happen next.