I loved this book for its content, for the author keeping it real, for the innocent crush, the families that seem like they are one way, but inside it all, they are not the way everyone perceived them from the outside. I loved the new found friendships that developed, the truth and understanding all unveiling itself at its own time, the courage and confidence of a young girl, the typical boyish attitude and male stance and the realization that what you didn't see before has always been right under your nose. It was just turned up so high at one point that you couldn't see beyond it!
Juli Baker crushed on Bryce Loski since the second grade. When she saw those big blue mesmerizing eyes, she was all putty in his hands. Juli had the smarts, the whit, the confidence and the boldness of a young girl that totally caught my attention. From the first day Bryce and his family moved into her neighborhood she knew, he was the one that held her "FIRST KISS." I just love how Juli was so confident, so sure of herself, fun, loving just like a young girl should act. Bryce on the other hand, was not having it. He was annoyed by Juli Baker his across the street neighbor. He tried to avoid her at every cost, but Juli wasn't having it, she was right there where he could see her and where she knew he needed her. I like how the author took both POV of Juli and Bryce.
I'm gonna share parts of the book that really moved me. This part is where Bryce and his grandfather take a walk in the neighborhood after his family got into a big argument during dinner. Bryce never felt close to his grandfather, but things changed and this is part of the conversation, his grandfather told Bryce, "Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss..." He turned to me. "But every once in a while yo ufind someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare." I liked what his grandfather said to Bryce, he was referring to Juli. She had a spark in her that no other person he could see had. He wanted Bryce to really try and see Juli for the person she was and not for all the annoying things he judged her by.
Bryce is talking to himself, " I'd spent so many years avoiding Juli Baker that I'd never really looked at her, and now all of a sudden I couldn't stop. This weird feeling started taking over the pit of my stomach, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. To tell you the truth, it scared the Sheetrock out of me." Yea baby brother, thats what I'm talking about. All this time you were worried about ditching Juli or getting away from her and now your eyes are finally open- TAH DAH! She's beautiful, smart, caring, has a mind of her own and for so many years she's adored you and all you did was try to avoid her- I say to you, EAT MY SHORTS! haha..I love when guys finally see the light- takes forever, but it happens ha!
I loved the part where Juli's parents got into an argument and Juli was sitting at the table listening to them argue and she started to cry. She explains that her parents came to her room one at a time and told her why things were the way they were and she says to herself, " I felt sorry for my father. I felt sorry for my mother. But most of all I felt lucky for me that they were mine." What a loving and comforting thing to say about her parents. That comment right there moved me to tears. I know we don't say it enough to our parents, but I know I'm lucky to have had great parents just like anyone else. I'm now left with one parent, as my father has returned to the man in charge up above. I'm lucky to have a remaining parent, and I gotta be like Juli and be grateful and lucky she's here! (sigh..)
This part is where Bryce's grandfather (CHET) is talking to Juli. She asked him how he fell in love with his wife (she passed away). He told her it was by accident. He spoke of how beautiful his fiancee to be was and how she was a vision of an angel, and he tells her for a time all he could see was her beauty. But lucky for him, he saw the true beauty and it was not her, he found even more beauty in his wife RENE,who had inner and outer beauty; she was the WINNER! He said" Its easy to look back and see it, and its easy to give the advice, but the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late." Whoa, so true papa CHET! For some people, catching whats really real underneath the surface can be saved and changed, but for others they find out too late and by then, families fall apart, hearts are broken and life takes on a whole new challenge, but lets focus on the POSITIVE SIDE! We'll hope that folks find out in the nick of time whats really underneath the surface!
Coming to realization: Bryce is in his room saying, "As I lay in my bed staring out the window at the sky, I thought about how my dad had always looked down on the Bakers. How he'd put down their house and their yard and their cars and what they did for a living. How he'd called them trash and made fun of Mr. Baker's paintings.And now I ws seeing that there was something really cool about that family. All of them. THEY WERE JUST...REAL! And who were we? There was something spinning wickedly out of control inside this house. It was like seeing inside the Bakers' world had opened up windows into our own, and the view was not a pretty one. Where had all this stuff come from? And why hadn't I ever seen it before.
This was a turning point in the book. Bryce was finally realizing that his dad was one of those men who would belittle everyone and anything around him so as to make it easier to put himself high up on the pedistal. NOt kool, in my book at all! Bryce's Sister Lynetta, yelled at her dad for judging others and saying rude remarks about people and all these years Bryce just sat there and his mother just didn't bother to make a big deal out of it. But, finally Bryce see's what kind of man his dad truly is and he does not want to follow in his footsteps.
Bryce's grandfather mentioned before that sometimes its too late to see beneath the surface and I know for a surety he was referrting to his daughter who married Bryce's father. What a patient and loving father to step aside and even though he knew what kind of a man Mr .Loski was; he couldn't tell his daughter not to marry the man she loved. In this case, he had to let her see for herself what was revealed underneath the surface which surfaced at the family dinner with the Baker's. NOt a pretty sight, but the Bakers being who they are and well mannered, they took all the low blows that Mr. Loski threw at them like CHAMPS! TEAM MYSTERY PISSERS - LOL!!
The Loski's invited the Bakers over for dinner: Juli was not happy about it because she over heard Garret (Bryce's BFF) talk about her and her retarded uncle. She was so upset and told Bryce she never wanted to speak to him again. At this time Bryce is already falling for Juli; so he's feeling like KING KONG JERK FACE right now haha! Bryce isn't good at standing up for himself at all.
After dinner Juli's father says, "You boys showed a lot of restraint tonight. I don't know if I could've kept my cool that way." "Aw,he's just, you know...entrenched." Matt said. "Gotta adjust to the perspective and deal from there." Then he added, " Not that I'd want him as my dad..." Mike practically sprayed his milk. "Dude! Can you imagine?" Then Matt gave my dad a slap on the back and said, "No way, I'm sticking with my main man here." My mom grinned from across the kitchen and said, Me too." I'd never seen my father cry. And he didn't exactly sit there bawling, but there were definitely tears welling up in his eyes." I loved those parts in the book where you could see how the Bakers genuinely loved each other. It didn't matter that they didn't have all the luxuries that the Loski's across the steet had, what mattered was that they were together, getting by, not complaining and not feeling like they were missing out on anything. They were taken care of, fed, loved, nurtured by good parents and therefore the Bakers were absolutely fine. The Loski's on the other hand, appeared to be happy having all the fine paintings, nice clothes, nice cars yet there was something missing. They weren't a family unit. Bryce was scared of his father, couldn't talk to him. His sister Lynetta didn't want to talk to him because he was too busy putting people down and finding faults in everyone. His wife was one of those ladies who just loved her husband but never really dug underneath the surface to see what was really brewing up down there. Her father (CHET) saw it all along, but with his help and his new found friendship with Juli by gosh there was hope for Bryce to see the light!
The light gets brighter and brighter each time I think about Bryce - YES! So people, this is the last part Im' going to share since I think this review is like way long, but oh well. Gota let it all out and so it is said: this is the part where is Basket Boy Lunch takes place and there are oike 10 boys I believe that the girls in school can bid on and that boy has lumch with her and they are excused from class the whole day. Each boy brings a basket lunch for the auction. Of course, Bryce is one of the boys being auctioned and he is bid for $122.50 by (2) of the most popular girls, but before he gets bidded on, Juli bids $18 on Jon, who is a nice boy. She really doesn't like him, but she put his name on the ballot to be one of the basket boys. She felt bad when noone was bidding for him, so she did and he was all hers for $18. She had lunch with him and was having a good time, when the unthinkable happens...wait for it....wait for it....BAYUM...Bryce grabs her by the arm and says he needs to talk to her, she's like what's wrong. Bryce says, do you like John and she says yes he's nice, but not like that. Bryce says, "No! She said no! I didn't care where I was, I didn't care who saw. I wanted, just had to KISS HER. I leaned in, closed my eyes, and then.... she broke away from me. Yup ladies and gentlemen and thats how it happend, Bryce Loski had FLIPPED for Juli Baker- (SCORE!!)
This is the part where Bryce is talking to his grandfather (CHET) about what happened or what didn't happen at school with Juli. Bryce says, " It started with that stupid newspaper article. And I don't know..I've been weirded out ever since. She doesn't look the same, she doesn't sound the same, she doesn't even seem like the same person to me!" I stared out the window at the Bakers'. " She's ..she's just different." My grandfather stood beside me and looked across the street, too. " NO Bryce," he said softly. "She's the same as she's always been; you're the one who's changed." He clapped his hand on my shoulder and whispered. "And, son, from here on out, you'll never be the same again."
During the story, Juli climbs up this big Sycamore tree that his been in the neighborhood for years. One day he owners wnat to cut it down and build a new apartment over it. Juli is furious and stays in the tree and refuses to come down. Eventually her father persuades her to come down and the tree is cut! A very sad day for Juli. She wasn't the same since the tree was cut. It was like a little spark of hers was gone with the tree when it was cut down.
To make this long review short(I HOPE) to show Juli that he's truly sorry for the bad things he's done to her which I dind't mention in the review, he decided to ask her dad if he could plant a sycamore tree in their front yard. Juli's father agrees and Bryce surprises Juli with the little tree which in time and years the tree will sprout up to be an amazing and beautiful SYCAMORE TREE!
At the end this is what Juli says, she's still not talking to Bryce for trying to kiss her in front of everyone and she's confused he was never really her friend and now he wants to be her boyfriend, she says" So maybe I should go over there and thank him for the tree. Maybe we could sit on the porch and talk. It just occurred to me that in all the years we've know each other, we've never done that. Never really talked. Maybe my mother's right. Mayber there is more to Bryce Loski than I know. Maybe it's time to meet him in the proper light."
And that is how the story ends, but what an amazing book. It was well written catering to a younger crowd, but the principles being taught in this book are marvelous. Don't judge other people because you don't know their situation, when dating or preparing for marriage, please look beyond the beauty and look for whats underneath the surface; for what rises above the surface, might not be what you expected, make the most of what you got, be happy and grateful you have what you have; for others who have more than what you have, may not have nothing at all!
Thank you for a great read and I'll be recommending this book to so many of my family that all we'll be talking about for the holidays will be a book called "FLIPPED!" A great read with realistic situations and tons of stuff to relate to in the real world.. I think I've been FLIPPED with a better attitude after reading this book...Thanks again Ms. Draanen for a good read
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