By: Katherine Paterson Publisher: Puffin Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Puffin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: February 01, 1996 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
A Good Read I liked it....It was a pretty good book it pulled me right into the story. I felt like i was there it felt real to me it was a great book!!.But if you like action books and things like that then this isn't your book.It's kind of a girly book it's not really a boys kind of book.It's a sad story in a way because her and her brothers dad dies.But any-ways it is a good book to me other people might think something different it is a good read I dont recommend it to boys or guyes because its kind off a girls book but if you like these kind of books then it's the right book for you so.. i do recommend this book to lots of people.
A Decent But Not Great Book When I read the Flip Flop Girl there were some parts that I liked and disliked. A young girl named Vinnie moved to a new town and new school. Her teacher Mr. Clayton is the nicest teacher ever. Vinnie younger bother Mason who doesn't want to speak. Vinnie is wondering if she will ever make friends. Truely, you need to read this book to find out what happens to Vinnie.
Decent, but not great It must be tough to be Katherine Paterson. She's won three Newbery Awards, and penned what is unarguably one of the most emotionally moving books of all-time, "Bridge to Terabithia." Since she has consistently written great stuff, people expect everyone of her books to be great. However, things don't work like that, and "The Flip Flop Girl" is an example of a decent, but not great Paterson book.
This book does contain many of Paterson's usual themes- her main character is a social/economic outcast with a troubled homelife which is almost a stock situation in Paterson's books. It's one of Paterson's most unique traits- her characters are not from well-to-do, stable homes, and it's one of her greatest strengths in that she enables young readers to empathasize with characters who in real-life they might ostracize.
Here the main character is Lavinia "Vinnie" Matthews whose father has just died, and whose family, consisting of a working mom and younger brother, has moved from the Washington, D.C. area to a small Virginia town to live with her step-grandmother. It's tough enough being the new kid, but money is tight so Vinnie goes to school in clothes bought from the Salvation Army. Also, life is even made more difficult because her younger brother, Mason, stopped talking after the death of their father and has developed into a serious behaviorial problem. Vinnie is further distressed by the fact that Mason's issues have gathered almost all of their harried mother's attentions.
A dead father, a "weird" little brother, a clueless grandmother, an inattentive mother, and a completely new (and not particularly friendly) environment have led Vinnie almost to despair. However, she finds solace in the attentions and praise of a kind-hearted teacher, Mr. Clayton, and the awkward "friendship" with a girl who is even more of an outcast than she is- Lupe Mahoney, "the flip-flop girl." Tall, quiet, and always wearing orange flip-flops, Lupe stands out among her classmates not only in appearance, but also in that there seems to be a stigma about her that has led the other kids to avoid her and adults, not as kind-hearted as Mr. Clayton, to suspect her first in any wrongdoing. By learning about Lupe and her life, Vinnie starts to come to terms with her father's death and the effects it's had on her family.
The strength of the book is that the characters are eminently believable, a Paterson forte. Further, it does a wonderful job of showing how the death of a parent can emotionally effect a child, and offers comfort that one can deal with the pain. However, the book wraps things up a little too quickly and neatly which is very unusual for a Paterson book. Also, the emotional high point just seems to be something recycled from "Bridge to Terabithia"- a child rescued by another which results in an understanding between siblings. It also contains a cheesy "made for tv movie" like transformation. Overall, this is a decent Paterson book, but she has written a lot better ones.
Flip-Flop Girl This story was about a girl that lost her dad and had to move with her grandmother along with her family. When she started to go to her new school, she felt alone and had no one on her side because her mom was to busy taking care of her baby brother and her granmother was to busy at the house.So one day she met a girl in flip flops that liked to plant fruits. So they met and they became best friends and got to go to school with her.
Flip Flop Girl great read! The Flip Flop Girl is an excellent read. You are taken right into the life of Vinnie, a young girl who is facing a lot of tough challenges. The author makes this wonderful contemporary fiction book very realistic! The problems of death, moving and changing schools, little brothers and making new friends all plays an important role in making this book what it is. The setting is one that a young reader could very easily imagine and visualize. Paterson also does an excellent job of dealing with the feelings of loss and confusion that surround death in the eyes of a young child. I think every young reader shoud read this book. It has so many different aspects within, it's bound to touch the heart of every reader.
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