Flipping Forward Twisting Backward

Alma Fullerton’s verse novel, Flipping Forward Twisting Backward, takes readers into the world of a talented kid who lands in a heap of trouble when the self-protective moves she’s practiced her whole school life are flipped inside-out and she is exposed. A verse novel with its need to make every word count and to keep the word-count fairly low is the perfect medium to tell the story the author has chosen to tell.

Claire Cardin is in grade five and in training to compete at the state gymnastics championships. One of the moves she must master is a giant pirouette, full twist, full away on the uneven parallel bars. Over and over she tries it. Over and over she lands flat on her face on the mat. It’s hard and sometimes painful work. But the difficulties she faces in the gym fade next to the troubles she has in school. She can’t read. No one knows. Not her big sister, Bethany, or her teachers, or her best friend and fellow gymnast Emma Lea Donovan, or her dad — who lives on a farm halfway across the country with his new wife — or her mother, who is a surgeon. All through her school years, Claire’s managed to fool them all. And therein lies her biggest problem.

Mrs. Rose told me

to take my time.

So when I write

my poem

I take my time.

…

After a billion tries
and a mountain of

crumpled paper

I do it

without eraser marks.

I carefully slide

my perfect poem

into my binder

so it doesn’t get too crinkled.

…

I smooth my poem

out on my desk

and wait for Mrs. Rose to say

“Good job, Claire.”

Which isn’t what happens. Instead, Mrs. Rose frowns.

…

“Claire, apparently you didn’t

pay attention

to our chat,” she says.

It’s obvious you didn’t

understand

when I told you to

take your time.”

And yet again Claire’s best efforts are downgraded to failure and anger fills the emptiness that is defeat and erupts. Yet again she is sent to the vice principal’s office.

Judith rolls her eyes

and presses her button.

“Mr. McKay, Claire is here

to see you.”

There are twelve Claires

in our school.

But he knows

it’s me.

Claire has always been afraid of being called ‘stupid’, and now she is. Worse, in the playground at school, there is no safety net and no soft mat to land on. Teased and bullied by some of her classmates, she explodes, and a physical altercation with the biggest bully in her class gets her suspended from school. Step one to Claire’s losing what she loves best.

Mr. McKay is a patient man. Eventually, he gets to the core of Claire’s problems. He suggests she should be tested for dyslexia. Her mother, though, has secrets of her own. Stigma about disabilities can permeate life in many different ways, and, unbeknownst to Claire, her mother suffers from her own fears concerning it. So, when Claire tells her she can’t read, her mother doesn’t believe her. She will not allow Claire to be tested. The confrontation finally results in her mother forbidding Claire to continue with gymnastics. She will not be allowed to compete in the state finals.

With clear, concise and sometimes beautifully poetic language, the author has written a book that is full of twists. Family relationships, friendship, stigma, and school dynamics are woven throughout Claire’s story of becoming.

I look away because

I just handed my sad

to my little cousins.

“I was joking.

It’s an awesome book!” I say.

“Your mom told me you

two were reading

and I want to hear you read.”

I hand them the book

and take back my sad

so they don’t feel it

anymore.

Though she is knocked down, Claire isn’t a kid who gives up. Her innate courage; the years she’s spent training in the gym — falling and getting up to try again, and her independence give her the strength she needs to fight for the things she wants, and the things she needs.

Flipping Forward Twisting Backward is about courage. Facing adversity. Learning to look at things a different way. Perhaps more importantly, it is also about stigma and how blinding fear of the unknown and the need to be considered ‘normal’ can be. Perhaps ‘normal’ is the most destructive word in the English language.

Claire Cardin is a fully realized character, and, throughout the book, the reader will cheer for her. This reader both cheered and cried.

Sarah Mensinga’s black and white illustrations which are full of expression and attitude add to the reader’s experience.