BOY2GIRL

Matthew, a British 13-year-old, is all set for a quiet summer of knocking about with his friends when his mother is called away to America to attend the funeral of her wild sister, Galaxy. Matt’s quiet summer is shattered further when his mother returns with Sam Lopez, his 13-year-old cousin. Sam’s a typical lower-middle-class American teen, and he immediately alienates Matt’s friends with his self-important swaggering. As school approaches, Sam wants to be friends with Matt’s gang and he suggests an initiation stunt. Matt comes up with the idea of Sam pretending to be Samantha for the first week of school, and Sam surprisingly says yes. Even more surprisingly, Sam becomes every girl’s best friend and every boy’s lust crush. When Sam’s dad, fresh out of prison, arrives sniffing around for money Sam inherited from his mother, everything gets even further out of hand. Everyone involved, except Sam, shares the narration of this amusing gender-swapping tale. Quite different from Blacker’s other import, Angel Factory (2002), this farce with a slightly too-convenient ending will please readers looking for light laugh. (Fiction. 11-14)