The Switch by Anthony HorowitzWhen wealthy, spoiled, thirteen-year-old Tad Spencer wishes he were someone else, he awakens as Bob Snarby, the uncouth, impoverished son of carnival workers, and as he is drawn into a life of crime he begins to discover truths about himself and his family.
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...While the events that transpire in this winsome adventure are delightfully absurd, the transformation that Tad undergoes strikes a genuine note. It is the young person's journey to self-definition writ large. Dramatically and irrevocably separated from his family, Tad sees his parents from another perspective and in a broader context, which enables him to begin to establish a moral compass for himself that is much different from his father's. Sure to please, and to expand, Horowitz's tween fan base.
But what did you think of it? And how did I miss this? And what is he doing writing slightly cheesy looking things when we need the next Alex Rider book? Thanks for the heads up!
Well, Ms. Yingling, and thanks for asking...I thought it had a decent start. The plot device of character "switch" was strong for a while but went crazy about eighty-five pages in. OK, I haven't read Horowitz before although I've put the Alex Riders in hundreds of hands, so I don't know what I think of those books. As for this one - after those first eighty-five pages it was pretty heavy-handed. Lots of revelations about EVERYTHING! OOMPH! CRASH! WHUMPH! HIS FATHER WAS A MONSTER! A GUN! THE RAIN FOREST! GENOCIDE! The jacket flap warned it was a "sardonic swap" with a meaningful message so there you go...
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