Ever Flipped over Flipped?

        Flipped is a romance novel written by American author Wendelin Van

Draanen in May of 2003.

        This unique book is a standalone teen romance novel that features

dynamic lead characters and very realistic dialogue scenes.

Each chapter alternately switches narration between the two main

characters, Bryce Loski and Juli Baker. It is uniquely written in a he-said she-

said manner that allows each of the main characters to share their perspective

on a shared set of events. Therefore, this novel truly allows the reader to get

both sides of the story.

        "It was really interesting because you can see what a guy and a girl

think. Sometimes one [of them] thinks [that] they think alike but they really

don't," said Claudia Castro, a senior in the California Academy.

        Juli Baker and Bryce Loski, were both seven when they met and became

neighbors. The second Juli saw Bryce's blue eyes she fell in love with him, and

that's how she felt for him for the next six years. Bryce, on the other hand, never

felt the same way for her, that is, until everything "flips" in the eighth grade.

        Each character has a very distinctive voice, and pretty soon the readers

feel as if they have known the characters very well, which allows them to draw

parallels between their lives.

        "What teenager can't identify with them? I think we've all experienced the

same feelings [of infatuation] during our childhood. And we've all gone through

a similar process of maturity, developing a better understanding of the world

and of life," said Brenda Morales, a senior in the Technology and Media

Academy.

        In this novel teens learn a valuable lesson: to look beyond the surface of

people; that there's more than meets the eye. "Get beyond his eyes and his

smile and the sheen of his hair -- Look at what's really there," Bryce’s Grampa

advised Juli.

        "If we haven't realized it already, it's a great eye-opener: true love is

not solely based on physical attraction. It's deeper than that and that's what

the book shows," said Morales.

        There is more to this novel than just teen romance. It has many

unthinkable twists and turns that make the book all the more readable. It

definitely includes all the elements that you would expect to find in a quick

read.

        "It's a really good book. At first I thought it was going to be lame, but at

the end [ I found out] it was really interesting. I would recommend this book to

all kinds of people, [even] to those who wouldn't be interested in love or

romance novels. It tells the actual truth [about life]," said Castro.