Short Book Reviews: A Powerful Life-Swapping YA Novel

Not Myself Today, by Muriel Ellis Pritchett (Black Rose Writing)

I picked up this book, knowing little more about it than it partakes of the character-wakes-up-in-the-body-of-a-stranger-who-died-at-the-same-time story trope. Fine, I thought. I’m a fan of Drop Dead Diva. I’m game.

Our viewpoint character is Lindsey, college-bound high school soccer star, articulate, self-confident, with an awesome father and super best friend. In other words, a golden girl with a golden future. After collapsing at the end of a crucial soccer game, she wakes up in the hospital in a much younger body, beaten to a pulp. As the story unfolds, Lindsey goes through the expected motions of trying to convince her father that this bruised, unwanted fourteen year old is really her, while fending off a smelly, repulsively dependent girl who claims to be her roommate.

The story flows seamlessly from “Freaky Friday” to darker themes. It doesn’t take long for Lindsey to realize that her new body is that of a teenage runaway sex worker and the man who assaulted her was the pimp she’d been desperate to get away from. As Lindsey comes to understand the realities of her new identity, she also finds the courage to speak up for exploited girls like her. What begins as a light-hearted identity-swap story grows, as its narrator grows, into a mature, challenging, and transformative novel. One of the things I liked most about Lindsey’s growth was her acceptance that her new life will be different: she’ll have to repeat high school, albeit from a more mature perspective; soccer will be out of the physical capabilities of her new body, but not track and field or perhaps something else. And the geeky younger boy who idolized her infuriatingly might just turn out to be her new romance.

Although the body-swapping is technically a fantasy element, the story itself has a mainstream sensibility; nevertheless, fans of Young Adult fantasy will find the character development and meaty topics rewarding. Highly recommended.