The Flip Side

Gr 8 Up–After his best friend dies from cancer, Theo experiences his world turning upside down, literally, in this brooding supernatural tale about surviving loss. Theo wakes up the day following his friend Evan’s funeral to discover that Earth’s gravity has reversed, sending everything that’s not secured to the ground falling through the dark red sky and floating out into space. The only other survivor in this desolate world is Emma, a standoffish girl with self-harm scars on her arms, who reluctantly shows Theo how to survive this topsy-turvy reality she dubs “The Flip Side.” The two main characters are multifaceted and likable, each with a dark sense of humor and emotional vulnerabilities they must share if they are to find solace in one another. Walz’s illustrations are detailed and sometimes surreal, yet the action is always clear. The panels are at their most cinematic when characters traverse the Flip Side, silhouetted against the blazing red sky and falling debris. Taunting, shape-shifting monsters chase the teens and propel the plot forward, but they are a little too bloblike to be truly frightening. Instead, the chills come from the vertigo-inducing action where Theo and Emma are one misstep or snapped rope away from an endless fall into the abyss. Theo is Latinx, Emma is white, and Evan is Black.