Sophomore Switch

Gr 9 Up—What happens when a UC Santa Barbara college student agrees to a last-minute study abroad switch with a straight-laced political science student from Oxford? In alternating chapters of the novel (Candlewick, 2009) by Abby McDonald, American party girl Tasha and studious British girl Emily share their experiences of being thrust into a new culture. Both girls are running form their situations for different reasons and find their new environments challenging and isolating in ways that they didn't foresee. Katherine Kellgren does a fabulous job with both the accents and the personalities of the two girls, making their journeys of self-discovery come alive. The story does contain a fair number of adult situations—drinking, partying, and wild college action—but these situations are realistic and don't come across as gratuitous. Tasha is running away from an incident where a video of her making out with a celebrity has gone viral on the Internet, and her resolution of what has become a common and often devastating situation is handled with sensitivity and smarts. The girls get to know each other and become a support system through instant messaging and phone calls, not meeting until the very end in a satisfying conclusion. A fabulous listen with a smart and sassy voice and complex characters that will engage teenagers.—Genevieve Gallagher, Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, VA