Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Switcharound by Lois Lowry

Caroline and JP have their summer all planned out.  Caroline will be spending hers in the Museum of Natural History, while JP dreams of a summer tinkering with his electronics in their NYC apartment.  Unfortunately things are not working out as planned. Their father, who hasn’t been part of their lives for several years, suddenly wants them for the summer, in Des Moines, Iowa.  Once there, Caroline and JP quickly discover dad and his new wife, Lillian, have summer jobs, already lined up for them!  Caroline and JP face a summer of babysitting and coaching a baseball team of six year olds. Both are miserable.  The siblings each hatch plans to get their revenge.  Revenge more terrible than they've ever done before. Revenge that can never be undone, because dad and Lillian deserve it, or do they?


I discovered this “oldie but goodie” recently when planning a genre book club for realistic fiction.  An avid fan of Lois Lowry, I had never heard of this title before.   The students and I enjoyed analyzing the character throughout the story and predicting their decisions.   The many unexpected twists and turns as the plot develops and will keep the readers guessing!

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