caviglia reviewed on
Helpful Score: 2
"Charlotte Sometimes is a beautiful and evocatively written middle reader book about a young girl at boarding school in the 1950s who switches bodies (continuously - every other day) with another girl at the same school during WWI. I think the book is more widely read in the UK than here (The Cure based a song on it), which I think is a shame. The writing is lovely, and though completely appropriate for middle readers, has enough going on to be interesting to adults. The time travel elements are worked out well, and not over explained. The questions raised are ones of identity - as Charlotte becomes Clare she starts to feel as if her identity is suddenly malleable, not fixed. She begins to question what makes Charlotte, Charlotte - common questions for a girl on the verge of adolescence, and the plot forces them to the forefront. The historical aspects are interesting and subtle. I'm really glad I read it, and I think if I had read it when I was 10 or 11 it may have wound up being one of my favorites.
