Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
Audience: 10 and up
Rating: B
Synopsis:
Bryce is scared of his next door neighbor, Juli. She may just be a little girl, but her enthusiasm is overwhelming, and she’s overly enthusiastic in her love for him. Will Juli finally catch the guy she’s ‘flipped’ over? Will Bryce finally escape from Juli? Will he always want to? This fun book spans Bryce & Juli’s lives from second grade to high school, and the chapters alternate between their perspectives.
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) The most interesting part of this book is Bryce’s struggle to not make waves or call attention to himself. It becomes clear from Garrett, Chet, and Juli’s comments that Bryce is quite handsome, a fact that he never acknowledges to himself. It is apparent from the chapters in Bryce’s perspective that his struggle to not be like his sister Lynetta, who causes fights all the time, is not really a good thing. Yes, Lynetta is argumentative, but is the fact that she stands up for herself always a bad thing? In fact, Bryce’s biggest flaw is that he never stands up for what he believes in – like the time he laughed at Garrett’s rude joke in the library.
Finally Bryce has his big moment: he can choose to be ‘the man’ with the two hottest girls in school fighting over him, or he can pursue a more courageous path that includes free-spirited Juli. I gave him a mental cheer for making the right decision when he pushed Garrett aside and went chasing after Juli.
By the conclusion of the book, when he’s planted the sycamore in front of Juli’s house, it’s pretty clear that Bryce is not in danger of growing up to be a superficial jerk like his dad. It’s also pretty clear that Chet was right in his assessment of Juli, she’s a rare type of girl who’s not willing to conform. Hopefully Bryce finally begins to appreciate that!
Questions:
Why do you think Bryce was so scared of Juli for so many years?
Do you think Bryce and Garrett will patch things up?
Will Bryce’s parents be able to work out their problems?
Which part of the story did you enjoy reading more: Bryce’s or Juli’s?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Bubbles Says:
i think that Bryce is scared of juli because she has a lot of guts. trust me, i’d be scared of a girl that had the guts to do anything that i’m afraid of. i haven’t finished this book yet, but so far i love it:]!!!!!!
Jessie Says:
I loved this book! I read it straight through in two hours and decided to do my book report on it. This book has some great themes and the characters are very lovable and realistic. I don’t think that Bryce’s parents will ever patch things up; they have had too many arguments and fights.
Bri Bri Says:
I loved this book sooo much! I loved when there was a problem, you got to here both sides of the story!! I’d have to say, I liked when Bryce was caught throwing away all the eggs, because it showed him a lesson! This book was one of my favorites[= (:
zach Says:
why isn’t this a movie yet?