Half His Age
by Jennette McCurdy
From the author of I'm Glad My Mom Died, a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy and power.
Best for: Readers who like sharp, darkly funny novels about modern life.
Half His Age is #23 on BookWard's Rising chart for October 2026: the hottest new books published in the past two years.
What Half His Age is about
Seventeen-year-old Waldo is finishing high school in Anchorage, Alaska, and already runs much of her home, because her mother is unreliable and often absent in the ways that count. When her creative writing teacher, Mr. Korgy, a married man of forty with a child, begins a sexual relationship with her, she reads great meaning into it. Over the year it lasts, his carelessness and immaturity keep getting in the way of the story she has told herself.
Jennette McCurdy, author of I'm Glad My Mom Died, turns to fiction here with a close portrait of a young woman wanting badly to be noticed. The novel watches her loneliness deepen, her illusions wear thin and her grasp of who held the power sharpen. McCurdy has described it as a look at female rage, power and desire. It is darkly funny in places and uncomfortable in others.
Why Half His Age is on the Rising chart
Its Wikipedia page had 18,748 views last month. The Rising score blends six public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 against the other new books and weighted as shown.
| Signal | This book | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reader pace | 45 | 28% |
| Buzz | 81 | 24% |
| Growth | 8 | 18% |
| Being read right now | 43 | 12% |
| Reader love | 57 | 10% |
| Newness | 92 | 8% |
Holding strong Wikipedia attention is steady (within -20% to +25% of the two months before).
The numbers behind it
- Wikipedia: 18,748 page views last month, against an average of 22,085 in the two months before (down 15%). Read the article.
- Open Library readers: 24 want to read, 0 reading now, 5 have read it.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 3 Open Library ratings.
Half His Age on the Rising chart: history
First on the chart this month. The history grows with every monthly update.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | #23 | 52 |
Questions about Half His Age
Is Half His Age a new book?
Yes. Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy was first published in 2026, and BookWard's Rising chart only includes books published in the past two years.
Why is Half His Age on the Rising chart?
Its Wikipedia page had 18,748 views last month.
More new books readers are finding
- The Calamity Club Kathryn Stockett
- The Things We Never Say Elizabeth Strout
- John of John Douglas Stuart
- Martyr! Kaveh Akbar
Prefer proven favorites? See the Top 100, or all Rising books.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views. The description is paraphrased from real source text (Open Library or Wikipedia). A book is on the Rising chart only if it was published in 2025 or 2026 and its readers are active and its interest is not falling. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales. Read the full methodology.
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