Reader reviews

• jclheatherm

  (4/5)

  A very modern take on the 'freaky body switch' concept, there's an original take here when a student and teacher switch bodies and experience a few of life's firsts in the process.
• victoria gonzalez

  (5/5)

  me a encantado
• crayolacrayon

  (4/5)

  I liked this book, but it was so unreal, after a few minutes of frantic freaking-out, they totally accepted who they were. Four stars.
• boundtogetherforgood

  (4/5)

  This is a cute little book, written as a part of the Freaky Friday phenomena that was. I have read all three prior books which were written in the 70s. This one is hot off the presses; and written for TODAY's young tween.In this version of the body-swap it is Hadley, an 8th grader, who switches bodies with her literature teacher. The switch comes about because they both read this quote aloud in class, from To Kill a Mockingbird:
• harlequintwilight

  (4/5)

  Thirteen-year-old Hadley Fox (I so love her name!) is not your average eighth grader. She has a 4.3 GPA (I know, makes me feel terrible for my grades in school!), studies like crazy, and constantly has her nose in a book. Hadley, even at 13, strives for Stanford as her college destination, but the one thing she also strives to do is become her gorgeous, loved-by-everyone older sister, Tatum.Matters turn horrifying for Hadley when she forgets to write down an assignment in her “Super Student Planner Plus” and her whole world seems to collapse around her. Said assignment is an oral report for none other than Tatum’s favorite teacher, Ms. Pitt; the hippie, eccentric, over-involved teacher who prefers to be called Carol that Hadley can’t stand. As Ms. Pitt makes Hadley try to wing her report and allows her a change in topic, something happens. In the Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis fashion, they finish a sentence together, the room shakes (which only they feel), and then they are transformed. This couldn’t happen on any worse of a day for either of the two protagonists since today is the first time in months Hadley’s crush has spoken to her, and there is the first I-Hate-Mondays DANCE! As for Ms. Pitt (yes, I too can’t help but giggle), it is her meeting with the school board to become the head of the English department. Things seem to run amok between both character’s lives from family, to love, to even careers, and not quite as smoothly as either would hope. You should also note that there are more correlations between this book and the Freaky Friday movie than there were between the Freaky Friday book and movie versions, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in this case. I was amused from start to finish because of Hadley from her description of Tatum, which includes this little nugget, “In movies, brunette is code for “friend” and blonde translates to “girlfriend.” But this movie logic isn’t my reality.” And that’s just the beginning. We see movies and bands that most will probably notice, and bands that were totally made up (Sketched-Out Boy for example), but either way this is a quick, adorable, and quite amusing read. And it also reminds you that teachers have feelings, lives, and, most of the time, they do actually care. Anyone that is still in school, or even those out of school, should totally read this story. Surprisingly, Hadley, Ms. Pitt, Tatum, and even the more minor characters can teach you something that you probably wouldn’t have thought about before, and I mean that in a good way.
• jrlibrary

  (4/5)

  "You, uh, never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." When 13 year old Junior High school student Hadley and her English teacher, Ms. Pitt, utter this sentence simultaneously, the hand on the clock turns back, the lights, flicker, Hadley feels a jolt, and the two females switch bodies. What follows is a predictably humorous tale of a day spent by a teenager in the body of her teacher. Hadley gets to visit the teacher's lounge, (which didn't resemble any teacher's lounge I've ever been in), attends a self esteem club meeting at which she is the staff advisor, and takes an interview for Ms. Pitt who is hoping to become the department head for English. Meanwhile, Ms. Pitt deals with the interest of a certain teen age boy named Zane. The reader doesn't get to have as much insight into Ms. Pitt's perspective on being a teenager again since the story is told through Hadley's eyes. An enjoyable, fast, lighthearted read which I predict will be enjoyed by anyone who liked Freaky Friday, by the same author.Some figurative language examples from the book include:Hadley, describing the student council president on page 29, "She was vibrating with glee and joy and profound enthusiasm. She was a walking rainbow."OR a hyperbole:Hadley, talking about her sister on page 130, "If anyone is unequipped to deal with things going wrong, it's Tatum. I mean - the streetlights see her coming and turn green on cue," I said.
• imperfectionist_1

  (3/5)

  Thirteen-year-old Hadley Fox is the typical overachieving, overscheduled, and overwhelmed straight-A student. Though not yet in high school, she is already worrying about how she will get into Stanford. While Hadley is a traditional student, her English teacher Ms. Pitts likes to experiment with unconventional teaching methods. For this reasons, they have never gotten along well. Therefore, when she forgets to prepare for an oral presentation for Ms. Pitts' English class, Hadley completely freaks out. It was not until Hadley and Ms. Pitts switch places can they both understand each other better.It was ironic how Hadley is an overachiever in terms of learning, yet she doesn't realize that Ms. Pitts is also an overachiever in terms of teaching, often staying up late into the night just to correct papers. Their issues are further juxtaposed, as Hadley's and Ms. Pitts' secret admirers are revealed to them in the same Monday. In addition, while Hadley had an important oral presentation to deliver, Ms. Pitts' also had an equally, if not more important, interview for the position of chair of the English department.For such an accomplished junior-high student, Hadley does not really have a lot of respect for Ms. Pitts. This trait, along with her tendency to be a drama queen, annoyed me throughout the story. However, Hadley's obsession with academics reminds me of myself, and I can understand her reactions that result from her paranoia with grades and getting into college. Through her switch with Ms. Pitts, Hadley does learn to be a better person.Though the novel is predictable and greatly resembles Freaky Friday, it was enjoyable to read about the troubles that Hadley and Ms. Pitts encounter while in each other's bodies. I probably would have enjoyed this novel more if the perspective had alternated between the characters, instead of focusing on Hadley's views, considering the premise of the novel.Freaky Monday does have a great moral about not judging people until you have been in their situation. I liked the novel, but I thought it was a bit too simple, especially considering how everything eventually worked out to Hadley's favor. Overall, this was a cute, fun story to read. However, I wouldn't recommend this for anyone above the age of twelve.*This was also reviewed for HarperCollins' Children.