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Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
1.0

A cute, simple, fun read. Really did not appreciate the usage of the R word to describe Uncle David though. Unlike the movie, the book is set on the early 2000's around these times the word was definitely still used but mostly by people that had no personal experience with people with intellectual disabilities. The fact that Bryce, his family and his friend Garret, some being ignorant of the correct terminology and others being downright cruel, would use this word is understandable but Juli's family refering to David with such an insulating term seems really out of place, and I think it's a wasted opportunity to strike yet another big difference between the two families. I also don't think that Bryce grew at all as a character, you would think he would learn to look past appearences but even after everything that happened with Juli he is still incredibly shallow, the way he describes Jenny Atkinson is really cruel and close-minded, he gets annoyed at Shelly and Miranda for mocking her but he was thinking the same things just not verbalising them. Bryce thinks he changed but he didn't, he still a shallow guy he just sees depth in Juli but he can't put looks aside for other people. I know he is an eight grader so you can't expect much from him, but I would have liked to see him truly make changes in his life, not just to please Juli but to become a better person.