To be perfectly honest; in the end I am in love with this story. Sophomore Switch was very light hearted and an extremely easy read. Abby McDonald throws you into a world where one carefree college student is switched for one uptight strict college student. They are exchanged life for life; which means housing for housing, classes for classes, and world for world. Leaving two very different girls to sink or swim in one anothers shoes. Which inevitably they do a little of both. Emily and Natasha awesome characters; that I immediately fell in love with and had to see through.As if that was not enough I was even more eager once Ryan and Will were added to the storyline. I was literally cheering when Emily and Ryan hook up. (Don't do this in public people will believe you are crazy) This was a perfect match from the start that I was anticpating long before it was introduced in the story. Unfortunately, the use of 'Totes' did become a little excessive, but this is understandably the way the younger generation will use slang so it was easily overlooked. In the end, as far as 'Happily Everafters' go I wished Tasha ending had been a little happier, but I understand the authors reasoning and that for the character it probably the best ending. McDonald started easy, and ended strong leaving me as an instant fan. ( )

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Tasha and Emily couldn't be more different, but each wants to escape their social nightmares. Tasha needs to hide out from the tabloid drama and Emily needs to nurse her broken heart. They swap lives: Natasha heads to Oxford and Emily heads to UC Santa Barbara.

The only problem - they've each already signed up for classes. So Natasha's stuck taking feminist courses and Emily's stuck learning about film. Neither of them fit in, until they lean on each other for a bit of advice. Both girls start to dress more appropriately, Natasha with preppy clothes and Emily with fewer layers. Slowly, things start to turn around for both girls.

Natasha embraces her classes and becomes determined to change people's mind about her. She joins in the rally to save the women's health center. Emily learns how to relax and let go of her control freakiness.

Is the newfound happiness about to come crashing down when their responsibilities resurface?

SOPHOMORE SWITCH is a great novel on several levels. It's a great tale of two girls switching lives and broadening their horizons and examining the question of feminism. The story especially delves deeply into the topic of what makes a feminist - can a girl have fun and still desire equality for women? ( )

Sophomore Switch
Abby McDonald
(c) 2009

Have you ever had a problem so big you wished you could just run away from everything, to another city, country, or even continent? How much distance would you need to put between you and it to make it better? Would an ocean be enough?

Who?
Natasha Collins: Natasha is a typical southern California girl with tanned skin, perfect hair, and an ability to party. Tasha, as her friends call her, is spontaneous and fun, always willing to skip a lecture in order to get some more beach time, make out with a random boy on a dare, and is completely comfortable in the skimpy clothes that are part of the southern California "uniform." A sophomore at the University of California - Santa Barbara, she suddenly joins the study abroad program and switches places (schools, classes, and living quarters) with Emily at the last minute.
Emily Lewis: The exact opposite of Natasha, Emily is a control freak. She schedules every minute of her day, has lists of things to do, and doesn't seem to care about anything that will not get her to where she is going in life: the perfect job at the perfect law office in England. She refused to be one of those girls who spends an hour on her make-up and hair, and is more comfortable studying at the library than anywhere else. Her application for to study abroad is lost, and the only person left to switch with is Natasha.

What?
Natasha and Emily switch places, but since it is so late (classes have already started in California and are about to commence in England) they have to do an exact switch. Natasha will take Emily's politics classes, and Emily will be taking film classes.

Where?
University of California - Santa Barbara and Oxford University in England.

When?
Current

Why?
Both girls are trying to escape something. Natasha is running away from the scandalous video on the internet of her and a boy in a hot tub. Emily is running as far as she can from her ex boyfriend, who thinks she is incapable of intimacy.

Favorite Parts:

This book reminded me of the confusion I felt in college, the need for others' approval, and dealing with not knowing yourself. I loved Emily's take on the exchange, that her and Natasha are exploring different sides of themselves. Before the book begins, Natasha has already messed up, and she spends the rest of the book dealing with those consequences. I love books that demonstrate serious consequences for serious actions. However, Natasha is young, and she figures it out. I love the way both characters respond to classmates and professors underestimating them based on how they look. In their own way, each girl is an example of feminism at its best, without being femi-nazis. The love interests in the book are secondary, which works really well here. They are most important in the way they relate to the girls' pasts. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that only one is a happy ending, and I have a great appreciation for that. Life doesn't always have a happy ending, and books that imitate that are always a fun read for me.

A few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"I just don't see why a same-sex preference has to go hand in hand with complete fashion backwardness. I mean, look at Portia de Rossi: a hot wife and an Elle subscription. It can be done!" -Natasha

"That's one thing I miss about living alone: the absence of naked breasts at every turn." -Emily

"I feel like an antropologist buried deep within an alien culture as I try to decipher the significance of each squeal and comment." -Emily

"Like, I'm a total make-out slut, and sometimes I feel bad 'cause that's all I want from them. But then I remember they only want one thing too, so, you know, their problem." -Carla

"I've often been the one urging friends to face challenges head-on, rather than let them grow out of all proportion. And here I am dreading every work because this time it all seems to matter so much more." -Emily

"I'm on the edge of something, I can tell, but even the thought of moving in any one direction is enough to paralyze me." -Emily

Least Favorite Parts:

I honestly can't remember any. I think I may have found one typo, but that is hardly intrinsic to the story.

Recommend?
Highly.
To whom?
Girls in high school or older. I don't think there is an age limit on this, as anyone could read it and look back, remembering how those years felt. There is a minor amount of swearing and indirect sex involved.

Sophomore Switch was a quick and enjoyable read. Being an ex-pat Brit who has lived in the US for 17 years, I enjoyed the culture-swap aspects of the story. Nothing very deep here, but a fun story that would appeal to college-age or younger women particularly. ( )

This was such a cute book and the perfect change I needed after reading Bad Girls Don’t Die. At first it sounds like your typical story that two exchange students are sent to places totally unsuitable for them and they end up finding themselves and fitting in better than they thought. What makes this rise above and become such a fun book are Emily and Tasha. Both girls are wonderful characters who the reader will come to love. Tasha, while starting off as the typical bubbly but somewhat superficial Californian, finds that she can show others that she’s smart without being labeled boring and she is stronger than she thought and can rise above the scandal of the hot tub incident. I especially loved her character because of her actions in the end of the book which was totally unexpected. Emily’s transformation is a little more predictable but I still loved seeing her relationship with Ryan grow and realize she doesn’t always have to stick to the path in life everyone expects of her.

If you are looking for a quick, fun read this is definitely a book to pick up. ( )