From the first, The Switch has exciting momentum, evoking the Paris that Lily, a teenage exchange student from England, experiences. The infrequent switches to the French language are explained well in dialogue while the setting and characters emit the flavor of France.
That’s in fast flow because Lily is caught up in a drug bust that involves the brother of her exchange friend, Pascale. Lily’s tourist camera catches some of the events, and while she suspects the boy’s step-father, a policeman. But an ex-policeman is implicated and he follows Lily to the Eiffel Tower after a second confrontation.
Later, Lily’s mother says that she thought a policeman’s family might be a safe one for her exchange. While adults in this book calm Lily, her witnessing of the boys’ injuries keep this book at breakneck pace. Yet while Lily grasps each development, the Parisian scenes and her emotions are told in poignant detail.
Switch is a stunning book. I’d expect that teens would be even more compelled to read it.