Review by Karl Verhoven
Chi-Chi Ekeh is a senior at Mission Springs Preparatory School, and considered strange by her friends because she’s attracted to white guys. That’s going make Flip uncomfortable reading from the start, as why should skin colour be an issue when it comes to attraction? It’s worth working past any unsettling feelings as Flip develops into a very readable comedy with smart social observations.
A pattern of annual strange events at the school has been mentioned when Chi-Chi’s attempt to ask Flip Henderson to go to prom with her is an inventively disastrous failure. In the ensuing embarrassment Chi-Chi falls and hits her head. The following morning she discovers her mind now inhabits Flip’s body while he’s now inhabiting hers. On turning her down he commented “I just don’t know you that well”, which now has a rich irony.
The idea of switching bodies isn’t new to young adult fiction or other artforms, but Ngoze Ukazu turns in a spirited variation with plenty of innovative ideas, not least an exorcism. Those ideas and the pace they generate ensure a book clocking in at over three hundred pages never slows down and always heads somewhere new, the comedy perpetuated by Chi-Chi and Flip seemingly switching in moments of crisis. In addition to conceiving funny sequences Ukazu makes a few points along the way, not least how easily we judge people on how they look. Despite knowing Chi-Chi is trapped in Flip’s body her friends react to what’s said as they would were it Flip speaking.
Emotionally strong cartooning presenting appealing characters and thoughtful layouts maximise the plot’s possibilities, and Ukazu’s considered plenty of those from Chi-Chi and Flip learning to act as the other to the benefits each might have from being in another body. Along the way the inequalities and pecking order of the school system are aired.
Around halfway through Ukazu begins exploring theories about what might have caused the switch, and that introduces an elevated level of suspense. It’s also the point where readers might think Chi-Chi and Flip’s situation has become a little too comfortable, so a revelation is masterfully dropped, and Ukazu begins exploring some deeper and potentially upsetting issues. They’re sensitively handled, but delve to the core of both major characters.
There’s only one aspect that doesn’t quite work. Chi-Chi’s love for a Korean boy band is frequently mentioned, and their eventual contribution breaches the saccharine bar, but it’s sincere and may work for young adult readers. Otherwise Flip hits every right note in what’s a delightful idea with something to say.
