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From: guest
, 219 months, post #1 |
When two sixth graders magically change bodies after bumping their
heads together, the results are traumatic for them but hilarious
for readers-especially those who have wondered what it would feel
like to be a member of the opposite sex. After Tom and Emma realize
they've undergone a gender switch, it takes them awhile to get used
to their new skins. Besides having to adjust to the smaller,
lighter frame of a female gymnast, Tom has to learn how to eat a
civilized dinner with Emma's straight-laced family, juggle endless
activities, deal with backbiting girlfriends, and put on and take
off a bra. Emma, now a gangly, big-footed boy, must also conform to
a new way of life, pitching baseballs instead of doing flips,
coping with a pesky younger brother and rough-housing with guys
whose idea of fun is throwing dirt clods and racing downhill in a
shopping cart. Throughout the novel, Nelson (Rock Star, Superstar)
demonstrates his keen understanding of peer pressure and gender
stereotyping. In one exchange, Tom (in Emma's body) says, "If I
can't get dirty, then you can't cry," to which Emma (as Tom)
replies, "I'll cry if I have to. This isn't exactly easy, you
know." Showing equal sensitivity to both sexes, the author provides
honest, humorous answers to questions youngsters are often too
embarrassed to ask: What does it mean to get a boner? What is it
like to get your period? Can boys and girls really be friends?
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From: guest (anonymous cj)
, 218 months, post #2 |
No one else has reviewed this so I finally gave in and got a copy.
I had hoped it would be a realistic description of what would
happen if such a body swap occurred but I should have known better.
It all too often presents cliched situations typical in most body
swap stories.
It is reasonably well written otherwise, but much like other
preteen-teen novels like 'freaky friday' and 'changing places' it
almost goes out of it's way to avoid the physical changes, relying
instead on old reliable stereotypes like the boy playing baseball
and the girl doing gymnastics, with the switchee now doing the
'opposite' gender sports and activities. I had hoped for more
realism from the book's description.
This is not to say that it doesn't have moments. The characters are
better written than the two aforementioned novels. the girl learns
why her friend became less friendly to her after his mother became
a single mom, leaving him without a father in the home. He,
meanwhile, learns a lot about female friendship when he gets her
first period and her female classmates help him take care of it and
fetch the nice sex ed teacher to give him more advice etc. (The
period is barely mentioned again after the girl complains that she
missed that special moment, another flaw in the story. Did it only
bother him for a few minutes??? Apparently. The author didn't even
use the word blood when writing about it if I recall correctly,
with the boy finding a stain on his underwear.) But there is also
another flaw in the book. It seems highly unlikely that the girls
would rally around 'her' first period with lots of support. A few
might, of course, but more than a few would probably tease her/him
and taunt her/him. And she pitches so well in his male body after
living in it for just a few days, getting him a starting position
in the school baseball team. How likely is that???
There are also a few apparently minor continuity problems. At first
he says no to wearing bras, and she tells him that's not a problem
knowing how petite (and flat) her chest is. Then he apparently puts
one on without it being more than a line in the story. But pages
later, in the girl's gym dressing area, he suddenly can't get his
bra off, not only hard to believe since he must have already done
so putting one on after the shower, but he wasn't even going to
wear one in the first place. When did he change his mind, and why?
We are not told.
The author only brought it up to have a girl he liked offer to help
him undo the bra, but instead tightening the bra even more,
taunting him because she like his normal body and felt that 'she'
was getting too close to her potential boyfriend. She was the only
girl to appear to be an unlikeable character for the most part,
both one dimensional, and predictable. The author almost made that
character a better read by having her stuff her bra despite being
more developed than most of the other girls to impress boys, but
even the way it was discovered seemed slightly anticlimactic.
The author teases us with potential discovery situations several
times, but then goes out of the way to make them mild and even
bland, like the boy taking a shower and starting to strip in front
of the mirror like a girl in a movie might, only to have 'her'
older sister demand that 'she' get out of the shower in five
minutes just before he finished taking off her shirt, forcing the
boy to rush through the shower and barely notice his swiftly
stripped, feminine body.
To sum up, it wasn't worth the $10 I got it for at amazon.com, but
if it comes out as a paperback later, you might want to get it if
you are a fan of body swaps and/or gender changes. More than 1/2 of
the book does offer such a scenario.
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From: DB Cooper
, 218 months, post #3 |
I finally read this. Not a bad little book, but it mainly focused
on the mental/social side of things, rather than the physical.
You're not going to find a book for young teens that describes a
the boy feeling his new breasts or the girl peeing standing up (at
least in detail). It would just be too adult. For what it's worth,
the book was well written.
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