Flipped [Paperback]

Wendelin Van Draanen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 13, 2003 | Age Range: 10 and up

The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he’s thinking there’s more to her than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed.

This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Juli Baker devoutly believes in three things: the sanctity of trees (especially her beloved sycamore), the wholesomeness of the eggs she collects from her backyard flock of chickens, and that someday she will kiss Bryce Loski. Ever since she saw Bryce's baby blues back in second grade, Juli has been smitten. Unfortunately, Bryce has never felt the same. Frankly, he thinks Juli Baker is a little weird--after all, what kind of freak raises chickens and sits in trees for fun? Then, in eighth grade, everything changes. Bryce begins to see that Juli's unusual interests and pride in her family are, well, kind of cool. And Juli starts to think that maybe Bryce's brilliant blue eyes are as empty as the rest of Bryce seems to be. After all, what kind of jerk doesn't care about other people's feelings about chickens and trees? With Flipped, mystery author Wendelin Van Draanen has taken a break from her Sammy Keyes series, and the result is flipping fantastic. Bryce and Juli's rants and raves about each other ring so true that teen readers will quickly identify with at least one of these hilarious feuding egos, if not both. A perfect introduction to the adolescent war between the sexes. (Ages 12 to 14) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Two distinct, thoroughly likable voices emerge in Van Draanen's (the Sammy Keyes series) enticing story, relayed alternately by eighth graders Bryce and Juli. When Juli moved in across the street from Bryce, just before second grade, he found the feisty, friendly girl overwhelming and off-putting, and tried to distance himself from her but then eighth grade rolls around. Within the framework of their complex, intermittently antagonistic and affectionate rapport, the author shapes insightful portraits of their dissimilar families. Among the most affecting supporting characters are Bryce's grandfather, who helps Juli spruce up her family's eyesore of a yard after Bryce makes an unkind remark about the property, and Juli's father, a deep-feeling artist who tries to explain to his daughter how a painting becomes more than the sum of its parts. Juli finally understands this notion after she discovers the exhilaration of sitting high in a beloved tree in her neighborhood ("The view from my sycamore was more than rooftops and clouds and wind and colors combined"). Although the relationship between Bryce's grandfather and his own family remains a bit sketchy, his growing bond with Juli is credibly and poignantly developed. A couple of coincidences are a bit convenient, but Van Draanen succeeds in presenting two entirely authentic perspectives on the same incidents without becoming repetitious. With a charismatic leading lady kids will flip over, a compelling dynamic between the two narrators and a resonant ending (including a clever double entendre on the title), this novel is a great deal larger than the sum of its parts. Ages 10-14.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ember; Reprint edition (May 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375825444
• ISBN-13: 978-0375825446
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (394 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Through writing, I open up my heart and soul in ways I never could in everyday life. The joy, the pain, the wonder and loneliness I felt in growing up, meld into stories which I hope will help kids believe in themselves and have compassion for those around them."--Wendelin Van Draanen

Wendelin Van Draanen is the winner of the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Children's Mystery Book for Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes is a 2003 Edgar Award nominee.


Visit Wendelin Van Draanen's Web site at www.wendelinvandraanen.com for the lastest on The Gecko and Sticky, Sammy Keyes, Shredderman, and more!

How in the world did I wind up writing a book about a kleptomaniacal, talking gecko lizard? I'm the first to admit-talking animals are not my thing. First person, realistic fiction-that's what I like. And yet, after Sticky appeared as a sidekick television character in my Shredderman series and uttered his first "Holy guaco-tacarole!" I was hooked. He's so funny. And so full of mischief.
I always develop a backstory for my characters to get to know them. Even if they're secondary characters, I have to understand their background and motivations before I let them into the story. The premise of the third Shredderman book (Meet the Gecko) is that a television crew comes to town to shoot an episode, and Shredderman helps out the star of the show. Not wanting to deal with the legal complications of using a real television show, I made up my own: The Gecko and Sticky. In the process, I came up with the hero (Dave Sanchez-a boy who has the "superpower" of being able to walk up walls, and is known as the Gecko), the sidekick (Sticky who is, as you already know, a talking gecko with . . . h'hem, sticky fingers), the villain (the deadly, diabolical, and definitely demented Damien Black), and Damien's sidekicks (the Bandito Brothers, who are, in fact, not brothers, but a thieving mariachi band).
It was definitely wilder than anything I'd come up with before, but hey-it was just a made-up TV show, right?
Ah, how diabolically infectious made-up TV shows can be!
Sticky, you see, got under my skin. His "Ay-ay-ay"s and his "What the jalapeno was that?" and his "You cut me to the quick, senor" enchanted me, and I was sorry when his role in the Shredderman books was over.
After the Shredderman quartet was complete, I began getting lots of fan mail from kids (and teachers) asking me to please write more Shredderman books. It was tempting, because I love Nolan and the gang. But I'd completed my mission with the quartet; so instead, I started writing The Gecko and Sticky.
My first attempt resulted in an over 200-page manuscript. That was closer to a Sammy Keyes novel than a Shredderman book. So I hacked it up, threw it out, and started all over.
My next try had me at 150 pages-still too long, and something about it wasn't quite right. So I chucked it and asked myself what in the world I was thinking, writing in the voice of a lizard.
But then on a flight from New York to California, I started hearing a voice. It wasn't my voice. Or the guy snoring in the seat beside me. It was, you know, a voice. One in my head.
Yeah, we writers hear them, and although we will almost certainly deny it if you press us about it, we also listen. It's how I wrote Swear to Howdy; how Bryce appeared in Flipped; where Holly's poems came from in Runaway . . . and it's how the narrator took over the storytelling for The Gecko and Sticky.
It's a man's voice in my head. (Okay, I concede that I might need some help.) But he's funny as all get-out, and I like to listen to him. He's the voice of someone who loves the art of storytelling; of someone who will hold a child's wide-eyed attention as he shares the wild antics of a boy and his mischievous gecko; of someone I'd plead, "Just one more chapter, please?"
So I hope that explains it, because I really must go. He's talking to me again and I've got to get back to Dave and Sticky. They are, after all, in the midst of some deep, diabolical doo-doo . . .

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 95 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and wonderful January 28, 2002

By A. KAPLAN VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss . . ." Bryce Loski's grandfather tells him. "But every once in a while you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

From the moment the Loski family moves into town, Juli Baker finds herself drawn to their young son, Bryce. Even before his family finishes unloading the moving van, Bryce finds himself running away from her, and so their relationship remains for the next six years. All Bryce sees is the weird girl from across the street that lives in a messy house and climbs way too high up the ancient sycamore tree at the school bus stop. For her part, Juli can't get past Bryce's dreamy blue eyes and the scent of watermelon wafting from his hair.

And then comes the day that everything begins to change.

Told by both Bryce and Juli in alternating first-person chapters, this book is more than a simple romance. It isn't about two people overcoming obstacles in the path to true love. Instead, it details the creation of those obstacles, deftly illustrating how the reality of human perceptions and emotions differs from the ideal notion of love at first sight. In Bryce and Juli, Ms. Van Draanen has created a pair of living, breathing, three-dimensional characters, and the more we learn about the two of them, the less inevitable a happy ending seems to be.

By contrasting the points of view, this "he-said/she-said" story shows the difference between our thoughts and our actions. What we think about what we say and do doesn't matter; it's what people see us saying and doing that counts. However, while Bryce learns that the best of intentions can't necessarily excuse unkind actions, both he and Juli come to realize that they both have to look beneath the surface to see the truth about each other. Perhaps the poor condition of the Baker house-and what it says about their family-doesn't tell the simple story Bryce assumes it does, and perhaps Bryce's beautiful blue eyes aren't a strong enough reason for Juli to pursue him.

This story's initial light, breezy, funny style drew me in immediately. The more I read, the more caught up I became in the emotion of the characters, and the more I began to care about both of them. Fortunately, Ms. Van Draanen remained true to the complexity of her creations, providing an ending that perfectly satisfied, without being simple or pat. With all due respect to her Sammy Keyes books, I certainly hope this isn't the last time we see this sort of work from her.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A very entertaining book! November 3, 2001

A Kid's Review

Format:Hardcover

Ever since the first time Juli Baker looked into Bryce Loski's bright blue eyes for the first time when he moved in next door when they were both seven years old, she knew that one day they would be together, and for six years, every time she looked at Bryce, she thought "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." Unfortunately, Bryce did not feel the same way about Juli. Every time he saw her, he wanted to run. That is until 8th grade, which is when they flipped. Juli suddenly had no feelings left for Bryce. However, for the first time, Bryce took a good look at Juli and from then on, could not quit looking at her. After that, the story takes many twists and turns, until a you are left with a cliffhanger.
When I bought "Flipped" I didn't know what to expect because all of Wendelin Van Draanen's other novels have been mysteries, and I didn't know how her first attempt at another genre would turn out. However, I found "Flipped" to be funny, original and entertaining. I hope Ms. Van Draanen will write a sequal.

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book May 17, 2002

By "hugyourkid"

Format:Hardcover

...I picked up the book and read its back cover -- it seemed like fluffy romance to me. I was about to put it back when I realised that the author was Wendelin Van Draanen. Being a huge Sammy Keyes fan, I decided that even if it WAS fluff, it would be worth a read. And so I bought it.

It took me a chapter or two to get into it, but by the time I finished it (less than two days, if I remember correctly -- I couldn't put it down) I'd fallen in love with Bryce and Juli, Bryce's grandfather Chet, Juli's father, even Juli's brothers. The book has a little romance in it, but not as much as the book's cover made it out to be. It is not a romance by any means; instead, it is a book about growing up -- but the concept is presented in a modern, real, noncondescending way.

The book is downright funny many times, but poignant and serious at others. The chapter when Juli visits her uncle made an impression on me in particular, as well as the chapter when Bryce finally begins to "see" people -- his father, his grandfather, and at last, Juli.

Though the Sammy Keyes books are well-written, Ms. Van Draanen has absolutely proved (to me, at least) that she is much more than a writer who merely entertains. It takes a very talented writer to cause the reader to become involved in the story, to care about the characters. It takes a gifted writer to involve the reader in the story and characters, to show the change the characters go through in the story, and to really make the reader -think-. Ms. Van Draanen is a gifted writer. Bryce's change is not only touching, but believable; Juli is not the know-it-all she seems to be, but a deep and beautiful young woman. And the story makes the reader question his or her own way of living -- a "fakeness" that I have been seeing in people so much more acutely as I grow up.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Wonderful job, Ms. Van Draanen, on a truly wonderful book.