Young Adult Fiction/Middle School Romance

Transcription

1 Book Title: Author: Genre: Flipped Wendelin Van Draanen Young Adult Fiction/Middle School Romance Age Appropriateness Bryce and Julianna, the two narrators, are eighth graders. There are high school aged siblings, two sets of parents, and a wonderfully drawn grandfather, but the story is told through the eyes of the young teens. Subject/content maturity there are no drugs, sex, or violence, and the only flirtations with profanity are in the naming of a rock band, Mystery Pisser, after a dog with a bladder control problem, and the word crap Elements of the Review Plot summary Juli Baker fell in love with Bryce Loski in second grade when he moved in across the street. He has hidden from her, figuratively and literally ever since. The story is told from both points of view, with Juli explaining how she flipped for Bryce, and then flipping to Bryce s version of the events. Juli has raised chickens from an incubation science project at school, and gives the eggs to neighbors including Bryce. Fearful for diseases the eggs must carry because of the filthy state of the Baker s rented yard, Bryce tosses the eggs in the garbage for two years, then gets caught by Juli. Up to this point, Juli has been head over heels for Bryce, but this deception shows her she may have only been looking at the surface, and by the end of the book, the feelings of our two protagonists seem to have Flipped. An episode with a sycamore tree, a serious landscaping project, an eventful dinner party, and a Basket Boys charity auction in which the girls at the school bid on the boys they wish to dine with in the cafeteria on baskets of home cooking all serve to complicate the lives of these two young people and make for a great story that is anything but simple and predictable. Literary devices The story is told through the dual narrators of Bryce and Juli, who take turns commenting on the same events from unique points of view. Conflict

2 The conflict changes from Juli s dogged pursuit of Bryce, to a conflict over his deception. There are also conflicts within Bryce s family (his father is a real jerk) and between Bryce s grandfather and Bryce (Bryce is frustrated at the lack of interaction he has with the man who now lives with him, but things become clear as the novel progresses as to why his grandfather acts the way he does). Juli also has a conflict with the city over a sycamore tree she loves, and there is a comical conflict over the auctioning of Bryce between two other minor female characters who end up rolling on the floor of the cafeteria after competing over him. The most significant conflicts, though, are the internal conflicts the characters have in dealing with their feelings for each other. These drive the plot and feel the most genuine. Characters Bryce is a fourteen year old who has spent his life since second grade resisting the unrelenting Juli Baker, who is determined to kiss him. Bryce tells a big lie, and deals with the consequences in a real way, resisting both Juli and his own growing feelings for her. Juli is a loud, passionate, colorful, interesting character; a really smart girl who knows what she wants and goes out to get it. Bryce s grandfather is the wise mentor who befriends Juli much to the consternation of Bryce, who feels a little ignored by him. Van Draanen does a fantastic job with the characters. Because of the dual narrative structure, we get two very distinct perceptions of the same events, and the thoughts we are given sound very real. Bryce does some very unlikable things, and Juli is not the typical annoying neighbor girl who finally wins the heart of the reluctant put-upon male protagonist. The families have real problems, from the defiant punkish posturing of Bryce s sister, to the money problems resulting from Juli s father supporting his institutionalized brother David. The author doesn t shy away from the less pretty parts of life, and she uses the inner fears and feelings of the characters to paint a picture of their relationship that is much more complete than if we had only been given one side. Theme The main theme of the book is given to us by Bryce s grandfather, the need to look beneath the surface of the people in our lives to see what lies

3 underneath. Both Juli and Bryce are called to examine themselves and their own families to see beyond the surface to the small things that tie them together or force them apart. Juli understands more about her family s financial circumstances and sees her father as a more complete person while Bryce begins to see his father for the inconsiderate selfabsorbed insecure creep that he really is. Juli and Bryce learn to look beyond the surface of the other and see into the soul of the other person. This is not, as one Amazon reviewer said, a typical romance. It is not about the opposites finally attracting and the pretty boy learning to love the weird smart girl. It is about people with real problems and passions learning to look past first impressions and get to know someone else as a person, warts and all. Style Van Draanen does a great job differentiating between the two narrators. Juli s chapters and hyperkinetic and exuberant, whereas Bryce s are more self-centered and pondering. It is really incredible the way she moves from gender to gender and captures the thought and speech patterns of young teens. The main cultural references are to music. Juli s brothers are in a band, and there is talk of the musical style as well as the methods of production. Their music is loud and raucous, as are they. When the boys get into a conversation with Bryce s father, who was a former country musician we learn through a revelatory dinner party, they sound like they know what they are talking about, which makes sense since the author sings in a rock band herself. There is much talk of suburbia, with a conflict over an old tree being cut down and the shame that the Baker s are made to feel about the state of the yard of the house they are renting. There is a little biology and farming as well, with Juli talking about the raising and care of her chickens. Diversity The book does not really specify race and ethnicity, but one can assume the characters are all white middle-class suburbanites. Juli s family is more blue-collar than Bryce s, but they also seem to have stronger values, which they share with Bryce s grandfather. Juli and Bryce s grandfather have several conversations about tolerance, and the inclusion of the character of David stresses acceptance of those with disabilities. Readability

4 The Flesch-Kincaid index is 4.9 and the Fog index is 6.4. The Publishers Weekly recommended reader age is Awards Van Draanen has won an Edgar Allen Poe Award for the Sammy Keyes books, and Flipped was nominated last year for a Rebecca Caudill Young Reader s Book Award. Flipped was also on the Sunshine State Reading list last year for middle school. Reading Skills/Benchmarks LA.A determines the author's purpose and point of view and their effects on the text (students could write about how the points of view of the two narrators differ based on the events described in each chapter) LA.A selects and uses prereading strategies that are appropriate to the text, such as discussion, making predictions, brainstorming, generating questions, and previewing to anticipate content, purpose, and organization of a reading selection. (students could predict after reading one chapter how the other narrator will interpret the events) Connections: Cross-curricular connections for Flipped probably are the strongest for science. Kids could try to raise a chick from an egg the way Juli did or research the biology of raising chickens. They could also look at peaceful environmental protests, like the one Juli engages in to save the sycamore tree. Researching people with special needs like David or researching mental health care facilities is also a possibility. This book is not part of a series. Other books with similar characters or plots: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares, Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen, Swear to Howdy and How I Survived Being a Girl, by Wendelin Van Draanen, Surviving the Applewhites, by Stephanie Tolan Audience Recommendation Level primarily middle school, probably mostly 7 th and 8 th grade. Could be for ninth if readers like other recommended books or enjoy characterization and don t mind age of the characters. Great independent read or a read aloud

5 Filename: flipped Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\Calvin\Desktop\reviews Template: C:\Documents and Settings\Calvin\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dot Title: PERSPECTIVES TO CONSIDER Subject: Author: doughertyl Keywords: Comments: Creation Date: 6/15/ :37 AM Change Number: 5 Last Saved On: 6/21/2005 5:41 PM Last Saved By: Jennifer and Calvin Dillon Total Editing Time: 76 Minutes Last Printed On: 7/29/2006 9:38 AM As of Last Complete Printing Number of Pages: 4 Number of Words: 1,284 (approx.) Number of Characters: 7,320 (approx.)