We’re very happy today to feature a guest post from Martyn Bedford, author of Flip, the thrilling story of a teenager who wakes up in the wrong body and must solve the mystery of how he got there. Here, Bedford tells us about his own favorite YA novels featuring young people who experience “flips” of their own.
Martyn Bedford:
Plenty of teen-fiction writers have been drawn to stories about young people who switch bodies or experience some kind of dual identity. Here are some of the ones I read before starting work on Flip or have come across since:
- Terence Blacker – Boy2Girl
A boy goes to school disguised as a girl.- Kevin Brooks – Being
A boy wakes from an operation to find some odd internal alterations have taken place.- Keren David – When I Was Joe
After witnessing a crime, a boy goes into hiding under a false I.D.- Peter Dickinson – Eva
A girl in a coma has her consciousness transplanted into a chimpanzee.- Sandra Glover – Somewhere Else
A girl no longer recognizes her family and insists she’s someone else.- Antony Horowitz – The Switch
Working class kid and posh boy switch bodies, and lives.- Andrew Matthews – The Flip Side
A boy discovers a new lease of life through his female alter ego.- Mary Rodgers – Freaky Friday
A girl wakes up to find she’s turned into her mother.- Jenny Valentine – The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight
A boy assumes the identity of a missing teenager.- Robin Wasserman – Skinned
Fatally injured in an accident, a girl’s life is saved when her consciousness is uploaded into a lifelike robotic body.
If I had to pick a favorite from this list it would be Kevin Brooks’s excellent and gripping novel, Being. I should also acknowledge its influence, with thanks. Although the storyline and the central character’s situation are radically different to those of my novel, the ideas about identity and “self”, and the relationship between mind and body, certainly shaped my thinking when I was planning and writing Flip.
Want to read more from Martyn Bedford? Catch him on these other sites as part of a blog tour supporting Flip!
April 18th – Figment
April 19th – Cracking the Cover
April 21st – The Children’s Book Review
April 22nd – Random Acts of Reading
April 25th – Write for a Reader
The Martyn Bedford sweepstakes is now closed. Thank you for your interest!
