Jennette McCurdy's New Novel, 'Half His Age,' Follows a Familiar Script

"At the time, she was Mormon, extremely sheltered, and being sexually abused by her mother, who also encouraged her disordered eating in order to keep her body childlike. McCurdy had no idea about sex, she writes. "What have I done?!" her older paramour laments about breaking up with his age-appropriate girlfriend for McCurdy after she gives him a blowjob for the first time."

"There's no doubt that this experience inspired McCurdy's latest book, Half His Age , which is her first novel. Here, though, her protagonist, Waldo, is sexually experienced and is the one to initiate the relationship. She's in the driver's seat-at least that's what Mr. Korgy, Waldo's high school English teacher, tells her. "We can't stop any time you want," he says at several points throughout their intense, whirlwind relationship, which spans most of Waldo's senior year. "You're in control here.""

"Waldo is not particularly special: She's "seventeen with bad grades," insecure about her looks, and her idea of fun is shopping on Shein with whatever is leftover from her Victoria's Secret paycheck after she's paid her mother's electricity bill. Her mother, who had Waldo when she was younger than Waldo is now, neglects Waldo for days at a time in favor of her deadbeat boyfriend, who doesn't even know Waldo's name."

Waldo seeks agency through her relationship with Mr. Korgy while navigating sexual initiation, parental neglect, and economic precarity. The relationship spans her senior year and is framed as intense and whirlwind. Mr. Korgy repeatedly tells Waldo "We can't stop any time you want" and "You're in control here," positioning her as the initiator. Waldo is seventeen with bad grades, insecure about her looks, and uses leftover Victoria's Secret pay to shop on Shein after paying her mother's electricity. Her mother neglects her for days, favoring a deadbeat boyfriend who misnames her as "Wanda." Attempts to reclaim agency coexist with patterns of abuse, neglect, and self-erasure, and some parallels between Waldo's devotion to Korgy and her mother's neglect receive limited exploration.

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