Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Flipping For Him
AUTHOR: Jeff Adams
PUBLISHER: J&W Books
LENGTH: 95 Pages
BLURB:
Kevin McCollum is a high school junior with the usual things on his mind: getting good grades, having fun, and finding a boyfriend. The last one always eluded him until he noticed the “parkour guy.” After several days of pretending to study while watching the attractive teen jump on rocks, run up trees, and do flips, Shin finally comes over to introduce himself. As they start dating, Kevin should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.
Shin’s parents only want their son to date Japanese boys. When cultures clash and pressures mount, Kevin has no idea how to subvert traditions and Shin’s parents to keep the boy he cares about.
Kevin will need to clear some tricky obstacles to make his modern love story a reality.
Flipping for Him is a gay YA multicultural romance that features fast-paced scenes, young teen love, and a sweet story. If you’ve ever been in love, then Jeff Adams’ latest will warm your heart all over again.
REVIEW:
Kevin first spots Shin, aka the “parkour guy”, while sprawled on a rock, catching some sun in Central Park. Shin is jumping, flipping and actually running up trees, and even before Kevin notices how absolutely gorgeous the other teen is, Shin has completely snared his attention. Kevin returns to the same spot again and again, hoping to catch Shin practicing, until Shin eventually makes a move and asks Kevin on a date. The two boys quickly develop feelings for each other, but neither imagined that Shin’s parents might have a problem with their son dating non-Japanese boys.
Firstly, I had never heard of parkour before but from the description in the blurb I kind of figured out what it was. But still, understanding what it is and actually seeing it are two completely different things. It’s basically humans doing things that only Spiderman should be able to manage. If you’re going to read this story you should watch some of the parkour clips on YouTube (including some of the epic fails). I guarantee it will enhance your reading experience. This element of the story was novel and very well done.
The two main characters themselves felt a little underdeveloped. We know quite a few things about them, such as Kevin’s love of architecture and running and his relationship with his ex boyfriend. Shin is crazy smart, wants to study math and prefers healthier pizza. But all of that feels unimportant. I felt like I needed to hear more from Kevin’s family, how were they reacting to the fact that Shin’s family disapproved of their son? And I definitely needed more from Shin’s parents. They explained their reasoning to Kevin but that was after much of the problem was resolved. I feel as though I missed an important part of the story by not actually witnessing Shin’s struggle to change his parent’s discriminatory beliefs.
What I did appreciate though was the fact that no one had an issue with either of these boys being gay. Not even Shin’s more traditional parents. While it’s obviously still something that some parents refuse to understand, more and more people are coming to accept that gay doesn’t equal wrong. It was great to see these teens face issues other than homophobia.
Flipping for Him was engaging and sweet, filled with just enough teenage angst to keep a reader interested without leaving you rolling your eyes over any adolescent dramatics.
This story has recently been released as an audio book, narrated by Jason Frazier.
RATING: 
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