hillaryvillagers

Switched

Jessica Wollman

This is a light-hearted story about two miserable strangers named Laura Mellon and Willa Pogue. After completing high school a year early, Laura cleans mansions to earn her college tuition. Willa lives in a mansion and struggles to get through her final year of high school. When Laura is hired to clean the Pogue residence, it is shock at first sight when the girls meet. Not only do they look alike, but they also share the same birth date. As a means of escaping their own realities, the unhappy “pseudo-twins” trade places. Since daydreams about switching places with someone else are fairly common, young adults will enjoy reading this title. Although there are many predictable moments and coincidences in the story, it is still an entertaining read. Young adults will relate to some of the feelings that Laura and Willa experience—sadness, loneliness, apathy, and unworthiness. After months of living a lie, the teens eventually realize that true happiness comes from within. Wollman’s novel brings to mind the saying: “The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.”

BIBLIO: 2007, Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press, Ages 12 to 15, $15.99.

REVIEWER: Mary Jo Edwards

FORMAT: Young Adult

ISBN: 978-0-385-73396-0

ISBN: 978-0-385-90410-0

www.childrenslit.com

MJ, this is a beautiful story.  Very heartwarming.