Books › Flipped
Flipped
287 pages
A charming, he-said-she-said exploration of first love and the messy, beautiful process of learning to see people for who they truly are.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping back into the sunlit, emotionally turbulent days of middle school, where every interaction is a high-stakes puzzle. The alternating perspectives create a delightfully brisk rhythm, bouncing the reader between two distinct, highly relatable minds. It is a masterclass in dramatic irony; you watch two kids completely misinterpret each other while slowly, inevitably growing up. The mood is tender and nostalgic, laced with a wry humor that keeps the earnestness from ever feeling cloying. The prose is snappy and conversational, making it incredibly easy to devour in a single sitting. It will thoroughly delight anyone who loves character-driven coming-of-age stories that balance laugh-out-loud misunderstandings with quiet, profound moments of realizing the world is more complex than it first appears.
- Mood
- sun-warmed
- tender
- nostalgic
- lighthearted
- Tone
- wry
- earnest
- humorous
- reflective
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- shifting perspectives · first love · looking beneath the surface · coming of age · family dynamics
- The writing
- Conversational, distinctively voiced, and accessible, with a snappy back-and-forth rhythm.
- The arc
- Moves from childhood certainty and comedic misunderstanding to a nuanced, tender realization of self and others.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love character-driven coming-of-age stories with alternating perspectives and a perfect blend of humor and heart.
Content notes
- bullying
- family financial stress
- ableism
About the book
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.
Description from Open Library.
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