What is Jake Reinvented? How is Christina Mallon Involved?

Christina Mallon, a cheer coach and an English teacher at William Fields High School in Arizona, has been all over the news since her infamous video of doing a cheer routine in her class was posted in Youtube.com by one of her students who recorded it using a cell phone. Since then, she had been in the public's eyes. Recently, she has again gained the criticism (if not, irk) of some parents regarding her selection of the book, "Jake Reinvented" which she had her students read in class.

Jake Reinvented is a novel written by Gordon Korman and was released on October, 2003. It is actually 'loosely' based on a classic by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby". It's a book that reveals the sad truth about popularity, social status, and juvenile incautiousness.

In a review by Stellar Awards, this is a story from the point of view of Rick Paradis, a high school senior, kicker, backup Quarterback and best friend to the most popular boy in school, Todd, the start Quarterback of the football team which supposedly only had 'beautiful people' in it. A new kid (Jake Garnett) moves into the town and right away rises to popularity. He is cool, funny, handsome, and plays football really well. He also threw huge parties every Friday night for about 500 people with a great supply of beer. Everything was going great for Jake until he decided that the only girl in town that he likes is the most popular and beautiful girl named Didi who happens to be Todd's girlfriend. Then things started to get out of control and slowly, people started to discover Jake's secret which changes everything.

The drama unfolds when the big secret is revealed - Jake and Didi used to go the same high school. At that time, Jake was a total geek who already had feelings for the lovely Didi. In the hope of winning Didi's affection, Jake goes into a mission of reinventing himself. Rick remains friends to everyone in the story which allows him to witness all the drama that transpired on all of the characters' lives.

The story's theme revolves around 'obsession' - obsession with popularity and social acceptance, and the 'darker side of human nature'. Jake and those around him learns that people's actions can bring about much unexpected consequences. And that the joys and freedom of being a teenager has its rewards and equivalent responsibilities.

Obviously, there's more to teenage life than parties and superficial aspirations. The attention it has gotten in William Fields High School (and now, nationally) may be attributed to the fact that it was Mallon who selected it for her students. There may or may not be biases involved in this situation but while the novel is a fictional tale of juvenile popularity and peer pressure, it merely hopes to tell a story - to entertain, and hopefully, convey a lesson to its readers.

Reports from http://www.abc15.com states that prior to the dance routine in Youtube.com and "Jake Reinvented", teacher Christina Mallon had a MySpace page that also drew the attention and complaints of parents in the beginning of the school semester. Mallon has turned in her resignation and according to a school board member, the resignation will take effect on December 31. Until then, she is assigned to do other 'duties' and is banned from teaching and cheer coaching.