Review: Flip by Martyn Bedford

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books/Random House

Publication Date: April 5th, 2011

One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to  bed. He wakes up to  find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers.
And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him.  A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.
Questions of identity, the will to survive, and what you're willing to sacrifice to be alive make this extraordinary book impossible to put down.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

This book received starred reviews from both School Library Journal and Kirkus, so I had high hopes for it.  After the first 40 or so pages, I was beginning to get nervous, thinking I had gone into with too high expectations.  I was wrong... I always tell my kids to give a book five chapters before giving up, and I am glad I took my own advice, because despite its slow start, this book is definitely a winner.

This book is difficult to review because you really can't say much without spoiling it.  It is unpredictable, and aside from the slowish start, a fabulously paced ride.  I enjoyed the characters and had to wonder about what I would do if it were me in this situation.  What I really liked was how even though it was far-fetched, there was en element of plausibility to it; not enough for it to be believable, but almost.  The writing was great, the solution to the mystery unanticipated, and the characters real.  My favorite things about this book are the questions it raises about the mind and what makes us who we are.  If you like a book that will make you think and keep you guessing until the very end, give this one a shot.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Grade Level Recommendation:  There is some teen drinking, a few swears, and some sex talk.  Also, the subject matter would be over the head of younger readers. I would put this at ages 12+ (7th grade and up).