"You are not going to believe me, nobody in their right mind could possibly believe me, but it's true, it really is!"
Freaky Friday, Mary Rodgers
You guys, I don't even know. I have no explanation why I read, like, no books this year (just to give you a sense of it, in 2006 I read like, 225 books, and this year I'll barely crack 100),* especially since I read so many kids books. I am actually finding it a little embarassing to write about sooo many kids books in a row. Like, I did read some grown up books this year - I guess just none in December. Anyway, ugh, here we are.
I am a big fan of Freaky Friday. Both movies are pretty good (I prefer Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris, though I respect you if lean Jamie Lee Curtis/pre-disaster Lindsay), but the book is great. And what makes it so, so great is the 1970's-ness of it all. It is so much of its time period - 1970's New York. Not that it's dated, but it just reeks of that world - the cleaning ladies, the ad excutive father - the sanctimonious political correctness of the youth - everything. Oh, I can't really explain it, but it just is of its own time period, which is a gas. You know the story, obviously, (mom and daughter change place), but what's fun is how we only see Annabel as her mom - we don't know anything about what Mom as Annabel is up to (or even if Mom is Annabel) until the end, which makes the thing fun - it comes together as a big sort of twist. And it's funny - the scene where Annabel is on the phone with the police - at her own school talking about herself. I mean, it's a kids book, of course, but an adult can enjoy it - the writing is good enough to keep you entertained. If you liked either movie and never read it, it would be a quick but enjoyable read.
Categories: Fiction, Re-read, Young Adult
*Well, I know one reason. Or rather, two small reasons (hint, it rhymes with Schmate and Schmete).