Emma: Wants Jeff Matthews to notice her. Hates sexist boys. Wonders when she’ll get her period. Tom: Must avoid looking like a wuss. Must deal with his blended family. Must get a chance with Kelly A. Then something freaky happens: Emma and Tom switch bodies. And until they can find a remedy: Emma: Can’t believe she has a . . . thingie. Hates mean girls. Finds out secondhand that her period has arrived. Tom: Must learn to put on a bra. Must deal with an overachieving family. Must not be alone with Jeff Matthews. Grade 5-7-Tom and Emma played together when they were in fourth grade, but now that they are sixth graders, they don't get along. Both are unhappy when they are teamed up for a gender-differences project for their health class. Then, a collision on a trampoline results in a body switch. As Tom and Emma frantically try to impersonate one another, each gains insight into the other's life. Just as they decide they'll have to remain switched forever, another blow to the head switches them back. Their health teacher is impressed with their reports, and Emma and Tom make tentative steps toward friendship. Physical development and differences are the focus here. The terms perv, crotch, boner, thong, and masturbation all make an appearance, with repeated references to naked pictures, and breasts. Tom, in Emma's body, gets her first period, and Emma, in Tom's body, wakes up with an erection. There are some humorous situations-Emma thinks the erection is a small animal under the covers with her-but the epiphanies reached by the characters-Emma: Being a boy was lonely, and Tom: -¦people expect more of [girls]-are mundane. The text contains plenty of cultural references and slang that will quickly become outdated. Though middle schoolers might be intrigued by the story's frankness, most readers will be disappointed by the lack of substance. -Laurie Slagenwhite, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Gr. 5-8. Sell this goofball body-switching fantasy as Mary Rodgers' Freaky Friday (1972) with a gender-bending twist. Former pals Emma and Tom have grown apart, and neither sixth-grader can stand the thought of pairing up for their health teacher's consciousness-raising assignment about gender roles. It's a stalemate until a cursed arrowhead causes the two archenemies to swap bodies. Speaking in alternating chapters, the shell-shocked preteens hilariously navigate (and gain insights from) their differing hobbies, social situations, academic reputations, and, in scenes by turns frank and slapstick, their experiences of puberty; Emma initially thinks her morning "boner" is "a chipmunk or something" hiding under the sheets, and Tom has Emma's first period. The ending is a bit of a jumble, and it's too bad that one episode features Tom's remarks about the distasteful bodies, including one "fat butt" that he sees in the girls' locker room. But there's a lot to be said for a contemporary middle-grade comedy that both genders will find irresistible, and that will encourage a little deep thinking along with the laughs and gasps. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved " Hilarious." - Publishers Weekly, Starred From the Trade Paperback edition. BASEBALL IN THE RAIN It was a wet, drizzly morning in Seattle, Washington. Tom Witherspoon stood on the pitcher's mound at George Wilson Middle School, where he and some other people were playing a pickup baseball game before class. Tom had just struck out Zach Leland, who was throwing his usual tantrum. "That wasn't fair!" Zach complained. "I wasn't ready!" "Yes, you were, you wuss!" yelled the first baseman. "You're the wuss!" Zach said, throwing down his bat. "Sit down and let someone else have a turn!" the third baseman shouted. Tom tugged on the bill of his perfectly worn Mariners cap. Across the field, several girls, including his neighbor Emma Baker, sat on a bench behind third base. That was where they spent their mornings, whispering, giggling, and doing whatever it was sixth-grade girls did. He and Emma had hung out when they were little kids. But now she was a member of Courtney Hall's clique, the Grrlzillas. Tom wasn't sure what the point of Grrlzillas was, except to be incredibly annoying. Maybe they had no point. Either way, Tom wished they would sit somewhere else--they were making him nervous. Thwack. Tom slapped the ball in his glove. Still no batter. He watched Emma chattering away. The summer before fourth grade, the two of them had built a tree fort and spent countless hours in it. They would wake up early and ride their bikes around the neighborhood. Hike on the scrubby path alongside the stream next to the park and collect bugs and cool rocks. That was ancient history now. Finally, a new batter appeared. Great. It was Jane Hennessey. Tom was not happy to see her. Jane was a tall, athletic seventh grad