Review for Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

"Flipped"
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Source: A very genorous blogger friend- Amanda@Amanda's Writings
212 pages

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? -Summary From Goodreads

  This is such a CHARMING read! I loved it! Absolutely and truly loved it!The characters are so well developed that they seem real and the plot is hilarious! I want to thank Amanda for sending it to me...Thank you! Along with the great characters and plot, I loved how the author switched point of views. Now I know this isn't new and many authors do this but the difference is that this author re-does the same scene from the other point of view. And as the reader, you get to see how one scene looked two different ways and how each character felt and thought. I thought that was brilliant! So, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a cute, hilarious, quick, beautifully done romance book! Has it come through how much I loved this book?

Excerpt:
  

TOLD IN BRYCES POV (point of view):All I've ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone For her to back off-you know, just give me some space.
It all started the summer before second grade when our moving van pulled into her neighborhood. And since we're now about done with the eighth grade, that, my friend, makes more than half a decade of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.

She didn't just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life. Did we invite her to get into our moving van and start climbing all over boxes? No! But that's exactly what she did, taking over and showing off like only Juli Baker can.
My dad tried to stop her. "Hey!" he says as she's catapulting herself on board. "What are you doing? You're getting mud everywhere!" So true, too. Her shoes were, like, caked with the stuff.
She didn't hop out, though. Instead, she planted her rear end on the floor and started pushing a big box with her feet. "Don't you want some help?" She glanced my Way. "It sure looks like you need it."