Review Detail

Mary Rodgers' story is a classic tale of a parent and child switching places. The book was also made into a movie recently starring Jamie Lee Curtis as the mom turned teenager.

Warning...the movie may have been based on the book and the cover of the book may have the movie's actors on the cover...but the book and the movie only bear a slight resemblance to each other.

I don't want someone to get the wrong idea and buy the book because they've seen the movie and expect it to be the same. Even if you have seen the movie, buy the book because it is interesting by itself and has some elements that the movie was lacking.

In the book, Annabel wakes up to find herself in her mother's body. Contrary to the movie, she's actually kind of excited by the thought, though she is confused as to where her mother's mind is (since daughter Annabel still seems to be herself). She jumps right into role playing and even manages to make breakfast for her husband/father (Ms Rodgers thankfully avoids any potential complications with Annabel and her father, quickly sending him off to work).

Things start to go downhill from there, as Annabel quickly comes to realize she doesn't quite have as good a handle on things as she thought she did. She also finds herself in the unenviable spot of having to hear her teachers criticize her in a parent-teacher conference.

She learns a lot of lessons about herself (and that cleaning her room might not be such a bad thing) and nearly has a breakdown when things get too much for her. Mom saves the day and things all work out for everyone in the end.

The book is copyright 1972, which makes perfect sense, as there are quite a few plot elements that don't ring "modern" (unlike the movie). In a lot of ways, I rather like the old fashioned feel of the book and I'm glad they didn't try to overhaul it to make it fit the movie.

I recommend this book for girls of any age, and perhaps for a few moms out there as well.