FREAKY MONDAY

Switching bodies with your mom or dad is one thing. But switching bodies with your nerdy, always-emoting teacher? That’s the situation Hadley faces, leaving her less than pleased. As a student concerned with keeping her grades perfect, Hadley is inclined to have a full-on nervous breakdown when she discovers that she failed to prepare an oral presentation for Ms Pitt’s English class. Things go from bad to worse, however, when student and teacher switch personalities, with multiple hijinks ensuing. Of course by the end both characters have learned a little bit about one another and themselves, but there are enough good-natured mix-ups to keep the story fresh. The authors walk a thin line when Hadley’s overwhelming crush on cute boy Zane while in an adult body veers into inappropriate creepiness. The slang, too, is a bit much (do kids actually say “gotta blaze”?), but as a successor to Freaky Friday (1972), this story, although it lacks its predecessor’s infinite smarts, is sufficiently amusing to keep kids interested and engaged. (Fantasy. 8-12)