Flipped - Jonny

Flipped

I read Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen and I didn’t really like it. It is very weird

when the point of view changes every chapter. And it is has kind of weird plot. It is about a Boy, Bryce, who moves to

a new house and right next to his house lives a girl named Juliana. And when she sees Bryce she immediately has a HUGE

crush on him. It is also about Juliana but I think it is mainly focused on Bryce. I did like the characters Like Bryce, Bryce’s grandfather and Juliana’s two brothers Matt and Mike. But some of the characters (like Juli) just makes me want to put the book

down (when) it is from her point of view. As I said before it switches from first person point of view every chapter Bryce, Juli, Bryce, Juli , Bryce etc. And after Juli likes Bryce... Bryce likes Juli so you can see why it is called Flipped but I think it is bad that Bryce started liking Juliana because I feel that Juli is kind of strange and obsessed with chickens, and in the first ⅔ of the book Juli likes Bryce so when he plants her a tree I thought that was very unexpected. So my assertion is good characters, bad book, ,( someone also made a movie of this it might be better than the book).

The first time it switched to Juliana”s point of view I thought that the book was kind of weird, but funny because she thinks that Bryce likes her back (and he thinks she is crazy about him and stalking him and she is (it’s pretty obvious)). This book starts out kind of funny, Bryce just moved to a new neighborhood and is greeted by Juli Baker who has a huge crush on him “ I still had enough sense at age seven and a half to know that Juli Baker was dangerous” says Bryce in the beginning of the book. I also think that Juli grows a little over-attached to things for example In the middle of the book Juli gets very very sad about a sycamore tree that gets cut down also she gets extremely angry when she finds out that Bryce threw away unfertilized eggs she has been giving his family for a year.

I do think the characters are great, they can be very funny. My favorite character is definitely Bryce Loski who I think is a normal person with one big problem... JULIANA who is always stalking Bryce she even sniffs his hair in the 8th grade., And on her point of view she says it smells like watermelon. Juli is what I think gave me a bad opinion of this book she is always fantasizing about Bryce’s blue eyes. And I really think the fact he is neighbors with the Baker’s . But I do start disliking Bryce more when he starts liking Juli and that pulverizes my liking of the book even more. Matt and Mike (Juli’s Brothers) are great characters and they are very funny and they are almost the only part of the book I enjoy reading about (they are also in a band called the Mystery Pisser). It si also pretty funny when the show Bryce the Boa Constrictor they have.

And there are other great characters but that would make this post very long

In conclusion I recommend this book to no one and think that it can keep you reading it but it is a bad idea to even pick up the book in the first place. But the character’s are pretty good but that is not something to pick up the book for so just don’t read it

trust me you won’t like it is just a waste of your time. In some parts I thought it was okay but as I kept on reading I realized that the plot could have made a good book but as you can see from my post it did not so I give Flipped 1 tree! ):

Death Mountain, Disappointed by Keith Danielson

     Death Mountain, by Sherry Shahan, was not one of the best books I have read. It was dull, boring, and even a little grosser than it needed to be. I thought it was rather boring for a book with the title of Death Mountain. I didn't enjoy it much. It was also too confusing. It was very depressing as well. It was exciting on some parts though. My view on the book is that it is not very good, but can keep you reading it.
     I thought the book was dull and boring. During some parts in the book that should be very dramatic, it's almost calm. The reason I didn't think the title matched the book was because no one got close to dying. When Sherry Shahan wrote the book she made it sound like they were just on a long, boring hike. I didn't enjoy the book because it was written with a lack of details. The author wrote the story with out explaining what the areas looked like. For example, when Erin was in the country store Sherry Shahan didn't explain it at all. She didn't explain exactly what Erin was doing and what some people looked like. I thought it was gross because Erin took to the liking of regurgitating her lunch every so often. The book was confusing because Sherry Shahan kept swapping between different settings, different times, and different characters. For example when Erin and Mae were hiking, the setting kept changing to a time when Erin was camping with Gram. I thought the book was depressing because every single time the girls had some hope, it was crushed. For example, when the girls caught some fish a dog they were keeping ate them. I thought it was exciting sometimes because there were parts when the chapter ended in a cliff hanger. The beginning of the next chapter can be very exciting but it ends quickly. For example, at the end of one chapter Mae falls under the water of a very strong river. The next chapter begins with Erin trying to pull her up. After the first paragraph of that chapter, the exciting part will be over. At this part, Erin managed to pull Mae from the water.
     I think Sherry Shahan could have added more drama into the book. I would have made it very dramatic and exciting, where Sherry Shahan will make the most exciting parts more similar to the most boring parts then anything. I would like to know what happens with Erin and Lannie. Another thing I would like to know is what happens with Mae and her family. I think she could have made it more clear what the places around them looked like.
     As you can see, the book was not a very good one. My book group didn't like it either. I did not enjoy reading this book and I do not recommend it to anyone. When I reread the book for examples I found some very clear proof that melted my liking of the book even more. Seeing these examples made the book even worse in my view. Sherry Shahan could have done a better job with Death Mountain. The book had no comments or awards on the back or front which proves the lack of quality it contains. In conclusion, I give the book 2 trees.