IF I WERE YOU © 2015 by Leslie Margolis. All rights reserved. Chapter One of IF I WERE YOU is reprinted by permission of Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers.
Katie’s reasons why it’s better to be Melody:
• She’s a boy magnet. I’m more like a boy repellent.
• Her parents never make her do any chores. Meanwhile, I get stuck babysitting almost every day.
• Melody’s parents are still married. Mine are, too . . . to other people.
Why Melody thinks Katie has the ideal life:
• Her house is fun and lively. My house is empty and lonely.
• They have family dinners practically every single night. My dad almost never comes home.
• Everyone always talks about how pretty I am, like that’s the most important thing, like that’s all I am…
Twelve-year-old Katie is insanely jealous of her best friend, Melody. Turns out Melody is jealous of Katie, too. When they both wish for the exact same thing at the exact same time, to redo summer as each other, their wishes come true. Katie is Melody and Melody is Katie and neither one has the experience she expected. In this be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale, two best friends learn that the grass is not always greener on the other side.