Have you ever wished you were someone else, with a completely different life, a new face, a new family? In Martyn Bedford’s new book Flip, Alex wakes up to find himself in a strange bedroom in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country. The woman calling out to him is not his mother and the strangers sitting at the breakfast table aren’t his father or his sister. Alex gets the shock of his life when he looks in the mirror – the face staring back at him is not his either. Is this just a really bad dream or has something terrifying happened to him?
He discovers that the body he now inhabits is that of Philip Garramond (or Flip to his friends), a boy who is almost the complete opposite of Alex. Flip is sporty, fit and popular with the girls (something that Alex has never experienced before). Alex’s initial reaction is to deny that this is actually happening to him, but the more time he spends in Flip’s body the more it seems he’s stuck in this new body. He attempts to contact his parents and returns to his old home, but he’s in Flip’s body so nobody recognises him and he ends up distressing his old family and friends. Alex is determined to find answers and trawls the web for information, leaving his details on various blogs and forums. He finally gets a message from someone called Rob, who leads him to a website about psychic evacuation. This site provides him with the answers he’s been searching for about his condition, and when he meets Rob in person he starts to come to terms with life as Flip. However, Alex holds onto the hope that he can return to his own body and he decides there is only one way to do that. It’s a huge risk and it’s something that he can never undo.
From the very first page, I was swept up in Alex’s story. Martyn Bedford keeps the reader hanging, wondering whether Alex will accept his new life as Flip or try to get his old life back. The tension builds right up to the end and the thrilling climax. Alex is a really interesting and likeable character who I could really empathise with. I know if it were me in his shoes, I’d be determined to get back to my family and my old life. I found myself really wanting to take my time reading Flip because there was so much more to the story than Alex wanting to find out what happened. There is a lot of discussion between Alex and other characters about the nature of the soul/psyche which added to the story, making it have more of an impact on me as a reader. Flip is an excellent first YA novel by Martyn Bedford and I’ll look forward to reading more by him.
Recommended for 14+ 9 out of 10
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When I first read about Anne Fine’s new book, The Devil Walks, I knew it would be an amazing book. Anne Fine described it “as a venture into 19th-century gothic” and it sounded like the kind of dark, creepy story that I’d love.
Contact jumps straight back into the story of Jordan, Luke and Peter, three of the inhabitants (or prisoners) of the town of Phoenix. It starts off right where the first book, Arrival ended with Luke, Peter and Jordan hearing the ring of a phone and running off to find out who the phone belongs to. You learn in the first book that the phones and internet don’t work in Phoenix so it’s strange to hear a phone ringing. This mysterious phone sets off a string of events that Luke, Peter and Jordan get caught up in. The people who are in charge of Phoenix discover that the three of them are snooping around, so their principal gives them tasks to keep them busy. This doesn’t stop them investigating the plans of the Shackleton Cooperative to bring about the end of the world, and as they uncover more secrets they find themselves fighting to save themselves and the ones they love.
It’s no secret that I think 
I was reminded of this quote while I was reading a wonderful book by debut Australian author, Vikki Wakefield. Her book, All I Ever Wanted is the story of Mim, who is growing up in the suburbs. She knows what she wants and where she wants to go – anywhere but home, with her mother who won’t get off the couch and her brothers in prison. She’s set herself rules to live by, like ‘I will finish school, I will not drink alcohol, I will not be like everybody else, and I will not turn out like my mother.’ However, things aren’t going to plan; drug dealers are after her, her best friend isn’t talking to her, and the guy she likes is a creep. Over the nine days before her 17th birthday, Mim’s life turns upside down.
When Luke and his mum move to the town of Phoenix, out in the middle of nowhere, Luke knows straight away that something isn’t quite right about the place. There are no cars, no phones and no internet. All the houses look the same and the only way to get around the town is to walk or bike. The town was especially built by the Shackleton Cooperative, the mysterious company that offered Luke’s mum a job, and their security officers roam the streets. A coded message brings Luke together with Peter and Jordan, and when they decipher the message they realise they’re in serious danger. Someone is plotting to wipe out the human race in 100 days and Phoenix suddenly becomes the safest and most dangerous place on earth. When Luke discovers a note in his backpack inviting them to a secret meeting at the Phoenix Airport, they hope that they’ll get some answers. However, their meeting at the airport gives them more questions than answers and as they hunt for information about Phoenix and the deadly plans, the more dangerous it becomes for them in the town.
The Gone Series by Michael Grant is one of the coolest series ever written. It’s just a normal day in Perdido Beach when all the adults (anyone over the age of 14) suddenly disappears and the town is surrounded by an impenetrable wall. You would think that life would be great without adults; you can do whatever you want, when you want to, and eat whatever you like. But when you’ve cut off from the rest of civilization, with a small supply of food and water, life starts to get worse. If that isn’t bad enough, some of the kids in Perdido Beach start developing super powers, including levitation, invisibility, healing, and super-speed. Two groups of kids form; Sam leading the kids from Perdido Beach and Caine leading the kids of Coates Academy. Their new home comes to be called The FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) and as time passes they have to deal with kids who suddenly disappear on their 15th birthday (Gone), a shrinking food supply (Hunger), the manipulation of The Darkness (Lies), and in the latest book, a terrible Plague.
My Best Friends Are Books 