Flip-Flop Girl

Flip-Flop Girl is a 1994 children's novel written by American novelist Katherine Paterson.

Flip-Flop Girl
First edition cover
AuthorKatherine Paterson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
PublisherDutton Juvenile
Publication date
March 1, 1994
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages120 pp (hardcover edition)
ISBN0-525-67480-2 (hardback edition)

The book is considered a very good story for children who are trying to adjust in a new school.[1][2] and appears on school study and reading lists.[3][4][5]

Plot

The book focuses on a nine-year-old girl named Lavina (but is called Vinnie) whose life has been in turmoil following her father's death. Vinnie and her five-year-old brother Mason, who has turned mute following their father's funeral, are sent to live with their grandmother in a rural Virginia community. Vinnie has difficulty adjusting to her new school, where the only signs of friendship are extended to her by a poor Latina named Lupe, who only ever wears flip-flops, and a supportive male teacher. Vinnie reacts poorly to this outreach, vandalizing the teacher's automobile and pinning the blame on Lupe, but she later learns to deal with her anger and makes amends for her inappropriate behavior.

Reception

Reviews of Flip-Flop Girl have been mostly positive. Kirkus Reviews found "Once again, Paterson sets characters drawn with extraordinary empathy in a story distinguished by its overarching theme." and "Touching, engrossing, beautifully wrought."[6] and Publishers Weekly wrote that "Paterson explores the impact of grief and the slow process of healing. With deep compassion, her story crystallizes the vulnerability and resiliency of preadolescents placed in tragic circumstances."[7] However, The Independent wrote "Katherine Paterson has done some good work in the past, but Flip-Flop Girl is definitely more flop than flip."[8]

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References
  1. "CHILDREN'S BOOKS; Nobody Understands Vinnie," New York Times, May 22, 1994
  2. ""Meet Authors & Illustrators: Katherine Paterson," Children's Literature: Independent Information and Reviews, September 22, 2002". Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  3. "St. Paul's Episcopal School 2013-2014 Summer Reading". www.stpaulsmobile.net. St. Paul's Episcopal School. May 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  4. "The Language of Trauma and Loss Teacher Guide" (PDF). www.westernreservepublicmedia.org. The Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  5. "6th Grade Language Arts" (PDF). www.darienps.org. Darien Public Schools. 23 March 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  6. "Flip-Flop Girl". www.kirkusreviews.com. Kirkus Media LLC. 15 December 1993. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  7. "The Flip-Flop Girl: 9". www.publishersweekly.com. PWxyz LLC. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  8. Tucker, Nicholas (2 July 1994). "CHILDREN'S BOOKS / Old haunts, and dances with elves: Nicholas Tucker on a grisly clutch of children's stories, full of ghosts, kidnappers and cliffhangers". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
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