McDonald, Abby. Sophomore Switch. Candlewick Press. March 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7636-3936-5. Gr 8-12.
-- School Library Journal, 1/28/2009
Sophomore Switch is about two college sophomores - Emily, the uptight Oxford student, and Tasha, the reckless Californian party girl – who swap places for a semester to escape their pasts. Both try to adjust to their new, foreign homes as they swap classes, make friends, and find love. Because of the switch, Tasha is studying feminism and Emily starts in filming a movie in a 'fluff class'. Though the plot sounds good at first, it isn't until the two main characters finally talk, about halfway through the book, that it gets interesting.I liked the parts on feminism. It was nice to read a book that could have turned out so clichéd focus on an underwritten topic in modern teen literature. However, this was overshadowed by Tasha's whiny and annoying character. She kept whining about an incident back in California and the fact that she didn't fit in at Oxford. Instead of feeling sorry for her, I found myself skimming her sections. Nevertheless, where Tasha was underdeveloped and annoying, Emily was better developed and relatable as a character. Though Emily worried about not fitting in as well, her story didn't focus entirely on that.
The cover of this book features the word sophomore with the word switch flipped beneath it. On the top of the front cover, there was a "Meet Emily/Meet Tasha" section. I think the word sections really should be on the back cover, because it gives a basic outline of the book without giving almost anything away. It gives the front cover a cluttered feel. I also think that while the flipped switch is clever, it's overdone in both book and movie graphics.My main problem with the book was that the idea of life-switching has been overdone in the recent past (e.g. The Holiday, Tara Road). It was entertaining to read about, but it made the whole book a bit predictable. Some characters, such as the gay feminist activist Carrie, seemed stereotyped, along with the overall stuffy climate of Oxford and the out of control girls of Santa Barbara, CA. I can see these stereotypes taken to a certain extent to show the differences between the cultures, but they were taken a little over the top. - Elizabeth S., age 15
This review is from a member of the Teens Know "Best" YA Galley Group of the St. Paul Public Library and the Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center (MN), a part of YALSA's Young Adult Galley/Teen Top Ten Project which uses 15 public libraries and school library media centers from across the country to provide feedback to publishers of young adult books.
