Book Spotlight: FLIP & ROW80 Progress

Title: Flip
Author: Martyn Bedford
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Release Date: April 2011
Pages: 272


I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book to review.


Favorite Line/Passage: Alex dried himself clumsily, shaking so much he dropped the towel. His legs were hairier and more muscular, too, he noticed. When he went to pee, he had the next shock. Two shocks at once: a) pubes; b) size. No. No way. It'd be like holding another boy's thing for him while he peed. He did it sitting down, like a girl, hurriedly brushed his teeth and left the bathroom as quickly as he could so that he wouldn't have to look at himself in the mirror any longer.


Description: One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to  bed. He wakes up to  find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers.
And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him. A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.  

NIGHTSTAND WORTHY + 1

My Splats: Flip is a story for the soul-searcher ~ anyone who's ever pondered what it's really like to me, myself, and I. And if the chance to be someone else presented itself, should and/or would you take it? It's a tale about courage and growth, finding one's true self and the layer beneath the daily grind to fit in and survive. 


The narration is engaging and thought-provoking, even charming at points, as the reader is introduced to fourteen-year-old Alex, who suddenly finds himself in another teenage boy's body that is nothing like his own. Said body belongs to a boy named Phillip or better known as Flip, who is more handsome, more muscular, more athletic, and definitely more popular--especially with the girls.


What teen wouldn't want to be a little more than average without doing the work him/herself?


Alex is likable from the first mention of his name. He's average ~ a teen in attitude, attire, and carefree spirit. He also has an honest quality about him that shines through. He's a thinker, a planner, a rational character. I enjoyed how Alex began questioning himself as Alex yet must react to his surroundings as Flip. Alex as Flip is thrown into a few scenarios that are unfamiliar to him, such as being on the lacrosse team and uh-hum, girls--which adds a spice of humor to the tale. 


The more the reader learns about Alex, watching him act and react to his situation, the more personal the story becomes. The reader empathizes with Alex and questions, "What would I do? What would I feel?" 


He'd love to go home, but that means leaving this body which just helped him get his first kiss. And how's he supposed to return to his body anyway? In trying to figure out Flip and what to do, Alex discovers himself and an inner strength he didn't know he had, which will be shortchanged if he doesn't find a way to flip back. As the story comes to its climax, Alex realizes how to flip the switch and maybe change back. But that could mean hurting the only person during this whole fiasco he's yet to meet ~ Phillip aka Flip. Can he do it?


The teen years are all about discovering who we are and who we want to be. But it's also about self-acceptance. Would we truly change who we are if given the chance? What would it mean if the me others knew was gone? 


There you have it. My review.


As far as my ROW80 Progress report, I'd like to elaborate more in my post on Friday. But why then don't you take a gander over to peek at what my wonderful Support Partners have been up to:  C.Lee McKenzie, Susan Kaye Quinn, & Margo Berendsen.