Flipped

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2001

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-12

Chapters 13-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 11-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary: “The Serious Willies”

Friday afternoon, Mrs. Loski busily prepares for the dinner. She requires the family members to put on nicer clothes than usual. Bryce thinks his mother acts “hyper” and overly concerned about the food, table settings, and their appearance. After all, it is just the Bakers; however, he cannot decide what to wear, and finally just pulls on a shirt when the doorbell rings.

When the Bakers arrive, Juli is angry and reveals that she heard Bryce’s rude comments with Garrett in the school library. She storms off to talk with Granddad and Mr. Baker. Bryce is upset, worried, and more nervous than he was while choosing a shirt for their arrival. His father’s comments about the Bakers are still bothering Bryce, and he realizes that his father, who looks small next to Mr. Baker, is putting on a “phony show” (149) of friendliness. When his mother requests it, Bryce fetches his sister and Juli’s brothers from Lynetta’s room, where they are listening to music. He attempts to stand near Juli’s conversation with Granddad and Mr. Baker about perpetual motion but has nothing to say. He tries to apologize when his mother calls everyone to the table, but Juli will not have it.

They sit to eat. Mr. Loski begins to question Matt and Mike about graduation and future plans. His derisive attitude becomes quickly apparent when the boys say they want to try a music career before committing to college. Matt and Mike are polite, and they answer his questions respectfully. Lynetta responds by getting the boys’ demo CD and loudly playing a song on the stereo. Mr. Loski then questions how the boys could afford the recording of the demo CD. He reveals that he was in a country band once, which shocks Bryce and Lynetta. Mike and Matt politely explain how they purchased used recording equipment from their savings. They offer to record Mr. Loski playing guitar if he ever wants to. He snorts and says he does not ascribe to that image any longer. After dinner, Juli relents and apologizes to Bryce for her standoffishness. Bryce is tongue-tied and only nods.

The Bakers leave. Mrs. Loski comments on how nice a family they are, but Mr. Loski immediately comments that Matt and Mike are dealing drugs. He insists that it must be true for them to afford such excellent recording equipment. Lynetta is furious and tells her father off, calling him “condescending” and a “weasel” (157). Mr. Loski slaps her on the face. Granddad pulls Bryce away before he can enter the fray in Lynetta’s defense. Lynetta screams angry comments and leaves the house. Mr. and Mrs. Loski argue. Bryce realizes the Bakers are kind and caring compared to his own family, whom he always considered normal before but now thinks is “spinning wickedly out of control” (158).

Chapter 12 Summary: “The Dinner”

Juli realizes by Thursday evening that refusing to go to the dinner party will only hurt her parents. She makes pies with her mother and convinces herself that she will get through it. School on Friday leaves her aggravated with Bryce, though, and she tells him exactly why she is angry when she arrives at the Loskis. He insists he was mad at Garrett regarding the library incident but could not confront him there. She decides Bryce is as weak as Chet suggests and walks away. She talks with Chet and her father until Mrs. Loski calls everyone to dinner. Bryce tries to apologize again. She reminds him he is full of apologies recently, then regrets it: “I should have let him apologize and then simply continued to ignore him. But I’d snapped at him in the middle of an apology, which somehow made me the rude one” (164).

At dinner, Juli is distracted by this thought until Lynetta plays Matt’s and Mike’s song. Juli sees that her parents are slightly concerned about the gritty sounds and lyrics but happy and proud of their artistic sons. It occurs to Juli how little they know about the Loskis despite their proximity as neighbors. As her family prepares to leave, she apologizes to Bryce for her earlier behavior. Back in the Bakers’ kitchen, Mr. Baker compliments Mike and Matt for their willingness to field Mr. Loski’s questions. They say they appreciate having a father like Mr. Baker, and the whole family enjoys leftover pie together.

Mrs. Stueby greets Juli the next morning as Juli cleans the chickens’ yard, asking if Juli might be getting a rooster to prompt more egg production. She promises to pay Juli what she owes soon and compliments the front yard work. Juli thanks her; she never thought much about a rooster or the consequential future plans for her egg business, but she enjoys having the power to make the decision.

Chapters 11-12 Analysis

Neither Juli nor Bryce goes into the dinner party with anything akin to relaxed or happy anticipation. Juli is angry after overhearing Garrett and Bryce deride her Uncle David and family, and Bryce feels trepidatious and uncomfortable with his distracted feelings for Juli that continue to surface. When Juli bluntly tells Bryce why she is upset as soon as they have a moment alone in the entryway, she means what she says about never wanting to talk again; he is astounded that she overheard his comments and amazed that his standing with Juli actually worsened as a result of his trying to explain away his feelings to Garrett.

Bryce tries to get Juli to see his side, and when that has no effect, he tries to apologize a few minutes later. This apology is laced with loneliness and a little desperation, as Bryce is in the middle of several epiphanies. Besides beginning to understand that he has feelings for Juli, he is quickly realizing that his father is not the hero he always emulated. Moreover, he feels increasingly like a stranger in his own home: In Lynetta’s room, the boys call him “baby brother”; in the conversation with Mr. Baker, Juli, and his grandfather, he has nothing to contribute. Bryce is not a part of any group in his own house, which causes him to feel alone in general:

[…] it really bugged me. Like all of a sudden I didn’t fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home…and every time I turn around, another person I’d known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me (150).

This passage and set of revelations are reminiscent of Julie’s odd feelings of being watched after conversing with Bryce in their first dialogue since learning about the thrown-away eggs. That conversation, built on a foundation of heavy emotions like anger, humiliation, betrayal, and shock but left to settle and cool for days, leaves Juli feeling strange and spooked; she actually checks windows and the dark corners of her room to see who is spying on her—only to realize it is her conscience watching and waiting to see what she does next. After her first real adult conversation with Bryce, she is left feeling uneasy and out of sorts. Now that Bryce is experiencing the “stranger in a strange land” feeling as well (156), the two can finally begin to communicate on levels of maturity that are close, if not wholly together.

The dinner party brings to a head some of the best and worst about individuals in both families and leaves the reader with the irony that the seemingly close-to-perfect Loskis are more dysfunctional than the loving, supportive, and genuine Bakers. Both Bryce and Juli sense this truth before the night is over, and though they do not discuss their conclusions with one another, there is a sense between them of inherent, shared revelation. Now on more even terms than ever, the stage is set for final coming-of-age discoveries and a renewed, more mature relationship between the two.