With a sense of fun but also an eye to her classic premise's therapeutic potential, Shull (Amazing Grace, 2005) has middle-school students Jack and Ellie switch bodies for a mutually salutary weekend. Outwardly, Jack is a popular, smoking-hot superjock, and Ellie is a shy loner with major self-esteem issues in the wake of her BFF's transformation into a particularly vicious mean girl. Both proceed to have eye-opening experiences as, despite their best efforts, "Jack" is corralled into a beauty-salon makeover and sleepover while "Ellie" finds herself living with three older brothers in a rigidly regimented household and partying with rowdy guy friends. There are also the expected experiences of puberty: the author gives "Ellie" a couple of nonexplicit boners, and "Jack"just misses being present for a first period. It's the fresh perspective that each brings to the other's life and family that works the most profound changes; by the time they switch back (and form a close, if platonic, bond), they have learned to appreciate their worth and form better relations with their overbearing single parents. A few too many wordy lectures and life lessons aside, this is an entertaining variation on a familiar theme.

Jack is still reeling from the loss of his mother; Ellie is trying to survive rejection by her best friend. When the two encounter each other and their wish to trade places is granted, they spend three days in each other's bodies. Shull focuses on building the characters' emotions, leaving the physical reality of inhabiting bodies of the opposite sex largely unexplored.

It-s a familiar premise: two kids, struggling in their own situations, somehow switch places and experience each other-s lives, which then helps them gain an appreciation for their own; Shull-s twist is that the two kids are of different genders. Seventh-grader Ellie O-Brien is struggling to fit in ever since her former best friend turned on her. Popular eighth-grader Jack Malloy just wants to play hockey with his older brothers, but his strict father thinks life is about striving for perfection. Ellie and Jack barely know each other, but when a chance meeting in the nurse-s office results in a body-switch for the weekend, they get to walk in each other-s shoes-and discover they kind of like them, even despite some awkward moments involving unfamiliar body parts. Shull (Amazing Grace) keeps this story fast and fun (though the body-switched scenes take some getting used to, at least initially). No real surprises are in store, but the premise will still leave readers with plenty to think about. Ages 10-14. Agent: Margaret Riley King, William Morris Endeavor. (Aug.)

Gr 5 Up-This is realistic fiction with a twisttwo characters form an unlikely friendship when they swap bodies. Meet Ellie: a girl who lives with her mom and is entering seventh grade with her former best friend, Sassy. Sassy is crazy in love with Jack Malloy, "The Prince." Jack, an eighth grader, has it all: good grades, athletic ability, great manners, and good looks to boot. When circumstances land both Jack and Ellie in the nurse's office on the first day of school, they admire the ease at which each other has it in life. The next thing they know, that strange new nurse is gone and they are in each other's bodies. Now they have to make it through the weekendfilled with soccer tryouts, doctor appointments, hockey practice, and sleepovers—before they can get the nurse to switch them back. Told in alternating perspectives, Shull creates two authentic main characters with unique tween voices. They deal with familial issues (death, divorce) as well as social (bullying, sibling relationships, friends) with clumsy grace. The book is heartbreaking and hilarious—truly evocative of middle school experiences. A great, entertaining read that will appeal to boys and girls. Readers may wonder what happened to the nurse and yearn for an explanation of the switch, but ultimately this is a highly recommended purchase.— Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL