The Flip Side

by Andrew Matthews

Book Overview

Do you know who you are? Easy question? Well, think again. Robert Hunt is one teenager who knows that there are a whole lot of people inside you, like a collection of masks. You change your mask... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385730969
• ISBN13: 9780385730969
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

The Flip Side

A book review for The Flip Side The Flip Side is a story about a 15 year-old boy named Rob. Rob is in a play for his English class. The play is, "My Fair Rosalind" by William Shakespeare. But somehow, the kids in his class convinced the English teacher to make this one of those plays where girls play boy parts and vice-versa. When Rob gets the main part, as Rosalind, he realizes that he must be a pretty good actor. So he should do well in the play, but the only thing that might stop him is the main boy part, played by a girl named Melina. Melina is the prettiest girl Rob has ever met! Rob has liked Melina for as long as he can remember. He thinks she is beautiful, even in the tattered slacks and big baggy shirt that she is wearing. He thinks she would look beautiful in whatever she was wearing, even if she was wearing a garbage bag! After the play is over, Melina thinks Rob is cute and she agrees to go out with him! Even though he now has a girlfriend, he still sometimes wants Rosalind to come out again. He tries putting on one of his mother's dresses and her old make-up, but he looks like a monster! Rob has a fabulous time every time he sees Melina, but when his best friend, Kevin, starts feeling lonely and starts having relationship problems, he needs to put his love life to the side and help his best friend. This is a book that you will enjoy if you like leaning off the edge of your chair to see what's going to happen next! Recommended for a mature reader, about 11 years of age and up because the subject matter is confusing.

The Flip Side

Fifteen-year-old Robert Hunt is confused after playing Shakespeare's Rosalind in a skit for English class. He liked dressing as a woman and he's good at it. It gives him a confidence that spills into his regular persona as Rob, allowing him to finally go out on a date with Milena. They attend a gender-bending party, where he discovers that Milena likes dressing up as a guy and his best friend Kevin comes out of the closet. Robert begins to doubt his new personality after his father learns of his cross-dressing. But he enjoys being Rosalind; how can that be wrong? When he begins to lose sight of who Rob is, he finds that there is a place for all the sides of his personality. Readers will see that people do not necessarily fit under just one label; rather, they have many layers, or sides. While THE FLIP SIDE does a good job at illustrating the gray sides in everyone, the ending comes almost too quickly and neatly to be entirely believable, leaving readers with a few questions. --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

The joy of self-discovery

While the plot was sometimes predictable, sometimes simplistic, sometimes convenient, I enjoyed this book for at least opening to me transgender issues. I think it would certainly be beneficial for gay teens to read to know that they're not alone in the struggle with their wonderful gift of sexuality, that there are both highs and lows in working out who they are, that there are allies to walk their journey with them, but, most of all, unless they embark on that journey they'll miss out on the delight that results when they discover their true self.

Weird, but Interesting

I was able to read this book by buying the British edition. I didn't get a lot of the Britspeak , but the story made up for that. Robert Hunt is a teen confused about his true identity. This book brings up some good points, especially for people confused or curious about who truly they are. It also brings up some interesting philosophical points. During a class discussion on Shakespeare, they talk about gender stereotypes and how boys would dress up to play girls roles in classical theatre. The story moves on to deal with Robert discovering his feminine side and his friend coming out about his sexuality - both topics not usually discussed in YA lit. I think the book handled them well. I found this book too short. It wasn't perfect, but it was still a fairly good (albeit an easy) read.