Literature / Degrassi Junior High

Spike holding up the infamous Eggbert.

During the original run of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, a series of tie-in novels were published, with most of them focusing on individual characters, including Spike, Joey, Melanie, Snake, Maya, BLT, Caitlin, Wheels, Shane, and Stephanie. The majority of these novels closely follow plotlines from the series, but some take a different turn altogether. There was also a general novel, Exit Stage Left, that focused on the Degrassi students as they put together a school play.

Because the novels were written by different authors, there are multiple inconsistencies are present when it comes to names, geography, and events. For instance, in Maya's novel, Claude, Caitlin's ex-boyfriend, is described as a different person to another one of Caitlin's exes who shares the same characteristics as Claude. Some characters' full or last names can be completely different (e.g. in one novel, Lucy's last name is Baines, not Fernandez) and various places such as hotels are described as being closer or even across the street from the school, which they aren't on the show and in real life.

For a period, the novels were very rare, and in some cases, non-existent (e.g. Spike) on the used book market, contributing to their relative obscurity. As of early 2024, they are much more common on eBay. Two of them^note Exit Stage Left and Stephanie Kaye are available on the Internet Archive along with French-Canadian editions of many of the books.

Novels:

• Exit Stage Left: The only novel in the series to not center on one character. It reads like an extra episode of the show, following the Degrassi Junior High students as they organize a school play; meanwhile, in the aftermath of her father's angina episode, LD becomes afraid that he is dying because of his behavior, but it turns out that he got an opportunity to holiday in Corsica, of which their family tree has ties to.
• Stephanie Kaye: Mostly follows all of Steph's storylines from the first episode to her last appearance. However towards the end, the events in her life take more of a toll on her.
• Joey Jeremiah: Set during the holidays between seasons 2 and 3, Joey's failure to pass eighth grade begins to haunt and depress him. One day at the Queen Street Community Centre, he notices an advertisement for a battle-of-the-bands tournament, joins its advertising committee and decides to enter The Zit Remedy. In the committee, he meets Teresa Caruso, who has her own band, 4-ever, but this relationship threatens to turn into a rivalry.
• Shane
• Spike: While featuring bits and pieces from the TV series, Spike's book explores what the show doesn't. For instance, after a disagreement with Shane, he reveals to everyone in the cafeteria that Spike is going to have a baby and that he is the father. The backlash towards her pregnancy is also expanded upon, as she is driven out of school thanks to a petition that accumulates 300 signatures from angry parents.
• Melanie: Melanie Brodie reconnects with her estranged father via mail, threatening the close-knit relationship between her and her single mother. At school, she once again crosses paths with elementary school bullies Amy and Allison, who constantly give her a hard time.
• Snake: Mostly based around Junior High season 3 episode "He Ain't Heavy", when Snake's brother returns from college to reveal that he is gay to family. The novel further explores Snake's own thoughts, and questioning of his own sexuality.
• BLT: Bryant Lester Thomas (BLT) starts playing basketball with a group of guys from another school, but starts failing to keep up with their more affluent lifestyles. Meanwhile, he takes an interest in the sister of one of his new friends...while Michelle is away on holiday.
• Caitlin: Basically an adaptation of her storyline with Claude in Degrassi High, except Claude is replaced with an expy named Robert.
• Lucy: Tired of her parents' constant absence, Lucy, with the help of her friends, plans a secret getaway to the Bahamas, but in doing so puts her friendship with LD into jeopardy.
• Maya: Maya struggles to find a decent job because of her spina bifida and the stigma toward handicapped people. However, she gets accepted at Slurps, a burger joint and common Degrassi hangout, where she finds a new Love Interest: a guy named Kirk, who keeps his troubled home life a secret from her, leading to communication problems. Meanwhile, she slowly begins to realize that the store manager is a pervert and a sexual predator...and that she might have not been the only target.
• Wheels: Beginning after the death of his parents, Wheels' novel gives further insight into his descent into Wangst, as he becomes involved with two hardcore street kids, Tami and Barry, who get him arrested and tried in court for shoplifting.

Tropes specific to the Degrassi Junior High novels:

• Adaptation Name Change: A couple:
  • In Stephanie Kaye's novel, Snake's full name is not Archie Simpson, but is instead "Michael Snakowski".
  • In Exit Stage Left, Lucy's last name is Baines, and not Fernandez as is on the show.
• Adaptational Expansion: The main purpose behind these novels. As this was a half-hour show with a large cast, they couldn't go in too deep with particular characters, and so the novels were made as a way to rectify that. Even more minor characters like Maya Goldberg (the girl in the wheelchair) were given novels. Some major examples include:
  • Spike goes into detail about how she deals with her Teen Pregnancy, including her visits to the doctor and her being ousted from school by the PTA thanks to a 300-signature petition.
  • Joey Jeremiah involves the Zit Remedy entering a Battle of the Bands competition. They get third place.
  • Exit Stage Left features a second Zit Remedy song which is never ever played in the show: "I Don't Want To Be A Porcupine With Anyone Else But You, Baby".^note Joey briefly mentions two songs at the beginning of DJH episode "A Helping Hand"
  • Melanie not only expands on Melanie's background, but also Those Two Girls Amy and Allison, who used to tease Melanie to tears frequently at elementary school, and who Melanie discovers are also attending Degrassi. Towards the end, they find Melanie's diary and read it aloud, to which Melanie slaps Allison hard in the face and chews her out for the way she and Amy treated her. They don't mess wth her again.
• Adaptational Explanation: Some of the books actually give a better backstory to events in the show than the show itself. For instance, Spike explains how she even met Shane in the first place; at a soccer game. It also gives a brief rundown of their relationship in the leadup to the night at Lucy's party.
  • Melanie explores Melanie's low-income home life, to the point where she appreciates the fresh smell of her new school supplies after dealing with so many old-smelling things she and her mom bought at thrift shops.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Amy and Allison, Those Two Girls, were already bitchy, gossipy types in the series, but Melanie takes this up a notch, by making them frequent bullies of Melanie as far back as elementary school.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Snake's book, based loosely from the episode He's Not Heavy about his gay brother, also has him struggling with his own sexuality.
• Bitch Slap: In Spike's novel, she does this on Shane.....twice, during an argument.^note In the argument, Shane makes a comment comparing his father, a minister, to her mother, who was an unwed teen when she had Spike. The comment enraged Spike, leading to the slap.
• Credit Card Plot: Subverted. In Lucy's novel, she is lent her mom's credit card to pay for tickets to the ballet. This trope is subverted because she doesn't recklessly spend the cash, but uses it to buy an entire vacation package to the Bahamas.
• Expy: A few:
  • In Caitlin, Caitlin is roped into an anti-nuclear protest group by a guy named Robert, who is essentially a more fleshed-out version of Claude Tanner. He is briefly mentioned again in Maya's novel, the two having already split by then, along with Claude.
  • In BLT, one of his basketball buddies, a pale, red-haired, slender kid with an awkward demeanor, can easily conjure up images of Snake.
• First-Person Perspective: Spike puts you in her shoes by being written from the first person.
• Freak Out: In Stephanie's novel, which partly chronicles her spiral into depression following a chaotic year, she is tipped over the edge when she finds out that grade nine is being added to Degrassi, and breaks down spectacularly out the front of the school. She has to be restrained by the twins.
• Heroic BSoD: Joey in Joey Jeremiah, after the Zit Remedy get third place in the battle of the bands competition that he had a major hand in organizing and promoting.
• Hidden Depths: In Caitlin, Mr. Raditch reveals he was once arrested for protesting his university after he discovered that they were investing in a company that was manufacturing weapons used in The Vietnam War.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The books are extremely rare on the used market, especially Spike, which can go for hundreds of dollars on online bookstores. During 2021, several of the books (in their French-Canadian pressings) were made available on the Internet Archive to borrow. In addition, Exit Stage Left and Stephanie Kaye have also made it on there in English, so it's likely a matter of time before the rest of the books are made available.
• One-Word Title: With the exception of Exit Stage Left, Joey Jeremiah and Stephanie Kaye, every other book has the character's first name.
• Precision F-Strike: Although School's Out is considered the first and only time swearing was used in Degrassi, Shane's novel features several instances of "shit", all by Shane himself.
• Second Place Is for Winners: In Joey Jeremiah, a mixture of Type 3 and 4. While Joey, still haunted by failing grade eight, is bummed out by the Zit Remedy getting third place in the battle of the bands, Snake and Wheels consider it a victory regardless.
• Tropical Island Adventure: Lucy's novel revolves around her deciding to plan one in the Bahamas because she is sick of being ignored by her parents. Her father, arriving back from a business trip, catches her out at the airport right before she boards the plane.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Caitlin deals with the Cold War: Soviets, Chernobyl, nuclear annhilation, and the Greenham Common. It is littered with references to late 80s geopolitics and pop culture, and even mentions an actual short film made by Canada's film board starring Australian anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott. This does make sense when you learn that Catherine Dunphy, the author, was a journalist for the Toronto Star.