Flipped
By: Wendelin Van Draanen
My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars!
Best for: 12 and up

Well, dang. I’m flipped for Flipped. I LOVED this book!

Empathy and and kids are like oil and water. Been to Junior High lately?

My favorite books for young people are ones that help them see their life through a different lens. Flipped does that.

Flipped does that very, very well.

To Juli, Bryce is the most lovely thing she’s ever seen. She’s FLIPPED from the first time they met when he moved into the house across the street in the 2nd grade.

To Bryce, Juli is…annoying.

Through fabulously entertaining alternating perspectives, we get to grow up with Bryce, Juli, and their relationship from 2nd grade to 8th grade. We watch events unfold from Bryce’s perspective, then see the same events from Juli’s point of view. Bryce is a clueless boy. Juli is a clueless girl. They both have to learn they don’t know everything they think they know, learn about each other, and of course learn about themselves.

The result is a completely charming journey through adolescence that young readers will relate to because they are living it now, and adults will relate because we lived it then.

Man, I really could have used this book when I was 14.

Content appropriate for all ages. I might even call it required reading.

I’d encourage you to read the author’s notes at the end for a discussion on the ending…because you’re going to want to have some discussion about the ending!

Happy Reading!