So I haven't been posting much because I was on vacation! (Reading tons of course, but also playing golf, taking an art class, and soaking up the rays).I read Flipped by Wendeline Van Draanen one morning and I absolutely adored it. This young adult novel focuses around two narrators: Bryce and Julianna (Juli), who switch narration each chapter, hence the title, Flipped. We meet our narrators in the second grade, when Bryce moves across the street from Juli. Juli is psyched to finally have a neighbor the same age as her, but Bryce wants nothing to do with this girl who "didn't just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life."
Juli is immediately taken with Bryce and his big blue eyes and dark eyelashes. Juli is the opposite of Bryce - fearless and strong willed, a free spirit who does whatever she feels like. Bryce is shy and keeps to himself, often going along with the crowd just so he doesn't stand out. In eight grade, things start to change for Bryce when his grandfather comes to live with his family. His grandfather is immediately taken by Juli, and helps Bryce to see another side to her when he compares Juli to paint finishes: "Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss . . . But every once in a while you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."
Both Bryce and Juli learn some hard lessons about their own families throughout the novel, which ultimately leads both of them to understand each other better. While reading this book, you can't help but time travel back to when you were that age, and the smallest thing could seem like the whole entire world. Van Draanen takes all of the great romantic comedy cues from Austen and Shakespeare and transforms them to fit within this extremely enjoyable adolescent novel.
[Photo: www.barnesandnoble.com]
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