Better You Than Me

by Jessica Brody

Overview

It's Freaky Friday meets Hannah Montana when two twelve-year-old girls—one a famous TV star, the other an obsessive fan—switch bodies with hilarious and disastrous results.

It began with a wish. . . .

Ruby Rivera is a twelve-year-old superstar with millions of followers. Skylar Welshman is a seventh grader who wants to be cool—and she's Ruby's biggest fan. When Skylar and Ruby meet on the set of Ruby's hit show, Ruby of the Lamp, and wish they could switch places . . . it happens!

Now Ruby is living Skylar's life—going to a normal school, eating fro-yo, sleeping in, texting boys . . . it's amazing. And being Ruby is even better than Skylar imagined—her fancy closet is huge, everyone wants to be her friend, and she gets to spend every day with Ryder Vance, her dreamy costar. Life is a blast!

But when Ruby finds herself dealing with mean girls and Skylar discovers that being a celebrity isn't all red-carpet glamour, the girls start to wonder if being yourself isn't so bad after all. Can they swap bodies again? Or are they stuck being each other forever?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524769710
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	11/13/2018
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	1,250,378
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Jessica Brody is the author of Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up and many other books, including the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie Descendants. She splits her time between California and Colorado, living with her husband and three dogs. If Jessica could swap lives with anyone, she would be Taylor Swift.

Visit Jessica online at JessicaBrody.com and follow @JessicaBrody on Instagram and Twitter.

Read an Excerpt

Blah, Blah, Blah . . . Genie
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Better You Than Me"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Jessica Brody.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Children's Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

09/01/2018
Gr 4–7—Two 12-years-old girls, Disney-esque star Ruby Rivera and her biggest fan Skyler Welshman, meet on the set of Ruby's hit television show and improbably switch bodies by accident. At first thrilled with the situation, each tween believes the other has the better life in this Freaky Friday-like storyline. Due to various scheduling constraints, the girls plan to meet several days later to switch back. Meanwhile, each girl's assumptions about one another are put to the test as they struggle to cope with scenarios they never expected and to make the best of their new lives. Brody takes a common trope and freshens it up with realistic details. What starts out as a formulaic plot device evolves into a strong story about appreciating friends and family and making good choices. The alternating chapters from each girl's perspective give each character a distinct voice. VERDICT A feel-good story with a few life lessons. A solid purchase for most middle school collections.—Nancy McKay, Ella Johnson Memorial Library, Hampshire, IL

School Library Journal

2018-08-14

The familiar body-swap scenario gets a further magic twist in this comedic middle school fantasy.

Skylar Welshman is an outsider—the new kid in her seventh-grade class. When she tries out for the school play, a mortifying onstage incident earns her the nickname Belchman. If only Skylar could have her idol's perfect life. Ruby Rivera is the star of the Disney-esque genie comedy series Ruby in the Lamp. Although Ruby has everything superstardom brings, however, she wants to trade in her designer wardrobe and millions of social media followers for textbooks and sleepovers. A fantastic turn of events leads to accidental body-switching courtesy of a real magic lamp. Initially, each girl thinks she's hit the jackpot. Skylar can have the life of a beloved star, and Ruby gets to be a regular kid. But then reality creeps in. Skylar has to get used to public scrutiny of her every move, and Ruby must navigate the pitfalls of middle school. Is the grass really greener on the other side? While the premise isn't exactly earthshakingly original, it's still an appealing one, though Brody misses an opportunity by not interrogating the girls' experiences as members of different races: Ruby is a brown-skinned, bicultural Latina (Mexican and Salvadoran), and Skylar is white. The narrative's on the long side for a middle-grade novel, but each girl narrates in alternating chapters, maintaining a brisk pace.

Clichés and superficiality aside, a fun read for anyone who might wish they could be someone else for a little while. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews

“A fun, fast-paced read for tweens . . . they’ll have a blast!” —Booklist

"Brody takes a common trope and freshens it up . . . . a strong story about appreciating friends and family and making good choices." —School Library Journal

"The familiar body-swap scenario gets a further magic twist in this comedic middle school fantasy. . . . a fun read for anyone who might wish they could be someone else for a little while." —Kirkus Reviews


Praise for ADDIE BELL'S SHORTCUT TO GROWING UP:

"This lightweight, fun romp points out that big changes (some of them unfortunate) can come from small choices thoughtlessly made, and that being yourself with your equally uncool best friend is a lot better than being popular all by yourself. . . . Hand to readers looking for best-friend stories with a hint of romance." —School Library Journal

"Plenty of funny moments . . . a fresh take on the age-old theme of being careful what you wish for." —Publishers Weekly

"Reminiscent of 13 Going on 30 . . . readers will be satisfied." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

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