Flipped

Back of the Book:

Bryce: My mom didn’t understand why it was so awful that “that cute little girl” had held my hand. She thought I should be friends with her. “You like soccer. Why don’t you go out there and kick the ball around?” Because I didn’t want to be kicked around, that’s why. And although I couldn’t say it like that at the time, I still had enough sense at age seven and a half to know that Julianna Baker was dangerous.

            Julianna: What did a kiss feel like anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast. Like a wolf and a whippet. Only science would put them on the same tree. Looking back, I like to think it was at least partly scientific curiosity that made me chase after that kiss, but it was probably more those blue eyes.

Bryce Loski’s impossible dream is for the girl next door to simply leave him alone. From the day he moved in, she’s been a thorn in his side. And he cannot shake her, no matter how hard he tries. He’s done every play in the book to try and shake her off his trail, but nothing seems to work. From pitching out her chicken’s eggs every day for a year (wouldn’t want to get salmonella) to dating the popular girl Juli hates, he frantically tries to escape her. But what happens when he realizes that maybe, just maybe, he likes her too?

The second Juli Baker saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. Ever since then, she’s desperate for his attention. But no matter how hard she tries, Bryce just can’t seem to notice. He shoots down every one of her attempts to reach out to him. But as the years pass, her eyes slowly begin to open until she realizes what a jerk he is. Bryce finally seems to take an interest in her, but could she only have flipped for those big blue eyes, not the person within?

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen is a must-read for teens. This book is packed with laugh-out-loud humor, and the reader will sympathize with Juli’s desperate crush on Bryce, and his desperate need to escape her. Told from the perspective of both next-door-neighbors, the truth of life and love are conveyed through each chapter. The novel Flipped is the perfect fast, funny, romantic, comedic summer read.