Review Detail

In E. Lockharts Fly on the Wall, we meet Gretchen Yee. In an artsy magnet school full of people trying really hard to be different (which really makes them all kind of the same, just in different ways), she feels really ordinary. And she just doesnt get guys. Why in the world do they say the things they say? Do they really only think about one thing? She just doesnt get it and even her best friend Katya cant help (not to mention, Katya seems to have a leg up on Gretchen as far as guys are concerned).

The worst, perhaps, is that she has a full-on crush on Titus but she cant tell if he likes her or not. Maybe shes reading too much into things? Maybe&maybe she just has no clue.

But then&things get really interesting. After off-handedly mentioning to Katya that she wished she was a fly on the wall of the boys locker room, Gretchen gets her wish. She wakes up the next morning as a fly. Yes, a hairy-legged, bug-eyed fly. In the boys locker room.

Suddenly, the girl whos never been hardly able to even look a guy in the eye and converse with him is surrounded by naked male bodies.

Hmmm. Yeah, just think about that a second.

For the first day or so of her flyhood, Gretchen learns a lot about boys and their, er, gherkins. Then she starts to notice the other things going on, like the locker room conversations. The way that Titus seems to be totally inept at sports and is ashamed of his body (but dont worry, this doesnt make her like him lessand she also learns what a good friend Titus can be when he stands up to the biggest bully around.). The way the hierarchies ebb and flow. The way that some boys really like to leave nothing to the imagination.

She sees cruelness. Kindness. And, of course, lots of&gherkins (this, honestly, was a euphemism Id never come across before, but it works in a very funny way. Conversely, girls breasts are referred to as biscuits in the book. Another new one for me. I have to ask, E. Lockhart, were you hungry when writing this one?).

At the end of the week, Gretchen very happily finds herself back in her own body. And, with her newfound knowledge shes determined to make some things right.

Can she stop Katya from breaking up with her boyfriend over something silly? Will she have the courage to actually ask Titus out? Will she take a stand and ask for equal rights for the girls in the school (who have to suffer with an under-sized locker room)?

Only one of the plot points didnt wrap up in a satisfactory manner the two African Dance attendees that got picked on in the locker room every day have no resolution. However, thats pretty true to life. Theres some things that just are the way they are in high school.

Recommended for readers aged 12 and up, especially girls looking for some insights into that peculiar thing we call the male psyche.