Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen | Teen Ink

Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen

November 19, 2010
By TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
254 articles 202 photos 945 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I feel that a hero is somebody who will stand up for their values and what they believe in and that can take any form. People that have values and have thought them through rather than those who just do what they’re told."-Skandar Keynes

"When it’


The first time she saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time he saw Juli Baker, he ran. For six years these neighbors had played the same game of cat-and-mouse (Juli was the cat; Bryce was the unfortunate mouse).

For years Juli dreamed of one thing: her first kiss from the boy with those gorgeous baby blues. Nothing else seemed to matter. But when Juli’s favorite sycamore tree is threatened by developers, things begin to change. She begins to see things and places and people in a different light. Things, for years, she thought to be important, become things she can live without; and people she thought to be the center of her universe, become nothing more than a star in a far away galaxy.

Things begin changing with Bryce also. It all begins with the eggs…which then cause a domino effect of changes with his relationships with his best friend, his father, the Bakers and, ultimately, Juli.

I had seen this book on the shelf at bookstores for years, but never bothered to pick it up because it looked to be another book from Jerry Spinelli (not exactly my favorite author in the world) and so, continually, I would walk past it without giving it a second glance; and, if by chance I had picked it up, I most likely would not have read it, since the summary on the back didn't seem too appealing. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I heard about Flipped the movie. I read an interview with Callan McAuliffe (the actor who portrays Bryce) and thought that Flipped was a romance right up my alley; cute, innocent and as far from Jane Austin as you could get. After reading the interview and a summary of the movie, I found the plot-line to be somewhat appealing and a definite breath of fresh air opposed to the dark material I have been recently reading and writing. I found the book a few days later in a Goodwill bookstore and finished it in three days.

The story isn’t what you would consider deep…it isn’t shallow and pointless either…I guess you could say it’s the perfect balance of life-lessons and innocence.

You read about Bryce and Juli (each from their own points of view) and how, throughout six years, their lives and views and opinions change and develop. Flipped is somewhat of a coming of age story about two kids learning to see life from the other’s point of view and learning that growing up isn’t about staying the same, but changing; changing likes and dislikes; changing friends and crushes and views on family.

Uniquely written, every other chapter showing the same scenes and events, only from the other’s point of view, you see how the saying, “Two sides to every story,” is true. You are able to see both Juli and Bryce’s reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say…not just what the other sees.

It will be interesting to see how this writing style comes into play in the movie. Overall I thought this story was incredibly cute and light-hearted, although it didn’t entirely meet my expectations. Especially the ending. I felt as though it ended quite abruptly and that there was more story that needed to be told.

But even with that, after having taken a step back and taken my mind off of Flipped, I find the story has stuck with me and stayed in the back of my mind, making me highly anticipate seeing this book turned to a film. I understand why it has been so popular for almost two decades and am looking forward to seeing Flipped on the big screen soon.


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This article has 5 comments.


Destiny E. said...
on Feb. 17 2015 at 6:58 pm
I agree to this review. It is a coming of age story seeing how their feelings had changed over the years. A domino effect is the best way to say it, Bryce is finding out things he was blinded by for years.

Sofia said...
on Feb. 10 2015 at 6:07 pm
I really relate to this article, yes this book is cute, but I really understood the part when you said that Juli is the cat and Bryce is the mouse. Juli was desperate to catch Bryce and have him all to her. On the other hand Bryce wanted to run away and try not to get caught with Juli. Even though I haven't this book yet I completely agree.

Sofia said...
on Feb. 10 2015 at 6:04 pm
I completely agree with this review. I really understood what you meant by Juli is the cat as Bryce is the mouse. This article relates to my own feelings towards this book, eve though I haven't finished it yet. Thanks for sharing your review

on Oct. 7 2014 at 6:45 pm
I have a book report on this book and I think that you helped me understand how to write this, thanks... p.s. I am not plagurizing your review im just saying thanks for the help .

Indigo said...
on Aug. 15 2012 at 8:36 am
I agree with your review. You may want to include some details from the story though. Other than that I like your review on the story flipped.(it's my book assignment.)