Flipped

Friends of Juli’s and Bryce’s get little attention in the novel. Why do you think the author chose to emphasize the influence of parents and family on the main characters instead of that of peers? Support your speculation with details from the text.

Seeing Uncle David and realizing the extent of her parents’ sacrifice for his care are important steps in Juli’s coming-of-age. Do Uncle David and Mr. Baker’s involvement with him have any other bearing on the plot, characters, or additional story elements? Especially consider what the author might be trying to juxtapose and the dichotomy she is trying to establish.

Mr. Baker and Mr. Loski are dramatic foils in various ways: careers, personalities, regard for family members. In what ways are Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Loski dramatic foils? In what parts of the novel are their opposite natures most apparent? What is their relationship like by the end of the book, and what does this suggest about their personalities? Find details in the text to support your thoughts.

Bryce tends to avoid escalating arguments by instead “diving down” and waiting for the “waves” of others’ temperamental emotions to go over him, but his sister Lynetta prefers to face off in disagreements and let her temper flare. What other dissimilar personality traits are evident between members of the Loski household, and in what ways do these dissimilarities contribute to the family’s growing discontent? Discuss at least three examples from the text; try to represent both Bryce’s and Juli’s perspectives.

Juli’s decision to transform the front yard is significant to the plot, as it leads to a new friendship with Chet; it is also meaningful to her character development, as she learns from the challenge the work presents. The end result is also symbolic of her personal transformation. What action on Bryce’s part might serve him in a parallel capacity in terms of plot significance, character development, and symbolism? Use details from the story to provide support for your rationale.

Each of the two viewpoints in Flipped contributes one character’s “take” on events, memories, and emotions. What if the story was told from three viewpoints? Which character is uniquely or best qualified to share their version of the history and outcome of Bryce and Juli’s relationship? What qualities would be added to the story's overall effect by including a third narrative viewpoint?

Juli’s brothers Mike and Matt are only lightly and indirectly characterized up until the dinner party; mentions of them are mostly limited to Mrs. Baker’s discovery of their snake, their jokes about the Bakers’ dog and Juli’s chicks, and Bryce’s assessment of their band. The brothers, however, take center stage at the dinner party and back home that night. How might readers’ evaluation of these two characters change due to those scenes? How does a “flip” in readers’ judgment befit the theme topics of perspective and change in the book?

Much of Juli’s narrative dips into the past with recollections and backstory. What three or four events before eighth grade contribute most to character development in Juli? In Bryce? How do the events of the past resurface in expected or unexpected ways?