Flipped

Flipped is a contemporary young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen. The main characters, Juli Baker and Bryce Loski, are neighbors in Mayfield, a fictional American town. Now in eighth grade, the two protagonists reveal the story of their relationship in a dual narrative of alternating first-person chapters that recount how Juli “flips” for Bryce at a young age but later decides she is not interested…right around the time Bryce finally “flips” for Juli. The book was originally published in 2001. It won the South Carolina Children’s Book Award, the California Young Reader Medal, the Nevada Young Readers Award, the Virginia Young Readers Program Award, and the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award in Illinois. Rob Reiner directed a 2010 movie version of Flipped. Van Draanen's other well-known novels include Wild Bird (2017), Swear to Howdy (2003), and The Running Dream (2011).

This guide references the 2001 edition by Alfred A. Knopf.

Content warning: Several characters use the word “retarded” to refer to a character with an intellectual disability.

Plot Summary

The story of Flipped is told in 14 first-person chapters that alternate between the perspectives of Bryce Loski and Julianna Baker, eighth graders at Mayfield Junior High.