Ithaca, N.Y. — Local author Megan Shull’s “The Swap” has been named the bestselling book of 2014 at Buffalo Street Books.
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The Ithaca bookstore announced the news on social media Monday morning.
“It’s official! Our bestselling book of 2014 was #TheSwap,” Buffalo Street Books said on Twitter. “#ByLocal #BuyLocal.”
The popular young adult novel traces two middle school students who suddenly “swap” places in a Freaky Friday-esque twist. Shull, the author, was born and raised in Ithaca, graduated from Cornell and continues to work locally.
Here’s the description of the book’s plot, courtesy of Harper Collins:
With one random wish, Jack and Ellie are living life in each other’s shoes. He’s her. And she’s him. ELLIE assumed popular guys didn’t worry about body image, being perfect, or talking to girls, but acting like you’re cool with everything is tougher than it looks.JACK thought girls had it easy—no fights with bullies, no demanding dads, no power plays—but facing mean girls at sleepovers and getting grilled about your period is way harder than taking a hit to the face at sports practice.
Now they’re dealing with each other’s middle school dramas—locker room teasing, cliques, video game battles, bra shopping, and a slew of hilariously awkward moments—until they hopefully switch back! Told in both Jack’s and Ellie’s voices, The Swap offers a fresh and honest take on tween friendship, all while exploring more serious themes of family, loss, empathy, and what it really means to be yourself. And as Jon Scieszka says, it’s “seriously, truly, fearlessly funny!”