Turnabout

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

In the year 2000 Melly and Anny Beth had reached the peak of old age and were ready to die. But when offered the chance to be young again by participating in a top-secret experiment called Project Turnabout, they agreed. Miraculously, the experiment worked -- Melly and Anny Beth were actually growing younger every year. But when they learned that the final treatment would be deadly, they ran for their lives.

Now it is 2085. Melly and Anny Beth are teenagers. They have no idea what will happen when they hit age zero, but they do know they will soon be too young to take care of themselves. They need to find someone to help them before time runs out, once and for all....

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Teen, Middle Grade, Childrens

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University (of Ohio) with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing and history. Before her first book was published, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois.

She has since written more than 25 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey; Leaving Fishers; Just Ella; Turnabout; Takeoffs and Landings; The Girl with 500 Middle Names; Because of Anya; Escape from Memory; Say What?; The House on the Gulf; Double Identity; Dexter the Tough; Uprising; Palace of Mirrors; Claim to Fame; the Shadow Children series; and the Missing series. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and more than a dozen state reader’s choice awards.


Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, with their two children.

Reviews

[Trin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s a long afterword at the back of this book about the Real Science™ Haddix used as the basis for the story. Even if there’s a kernel of truth in the premise—preventing certain chromosomes from shrinking could stop and even reverse aging—the way science is dealt with in this novel makes the ideas seem less plausible than exploding tumors. Amelia and Annabeth are two senior citizens who are injected, sort of without their consent, with a new anti-aging formula, developed by a scientist who’s only tested the formula on one group of rats. When the formula has some unforeseen side effects, the scientist’s partner is furious that she was lied to about how many other studies were done. Then two scenes later, she marries him. Amelia and Annabeth have no hard feelings and happily attend the wedding. Okay then!

All of this happens within the first 50 pages or so, but it sets the tone for the book, which is full of nonsensical, bizarre things happening and people reacting to them in bizarre, nonsensical ways. And for all that, almost nothing actually occurs in the whole book. Amelia and Annabeth spend most of the narrative thinking that a) they are being hunted by sinister forces and that b) they might be able to find some answer to their predicament. By the end, it turns out that a) they haven’t been and b) they won’t so they should just chill and hope for the best. Most of the story takes place in Kentucky, but Alaska may have been a more appropriate setting: it’s the book to nowhere.

This isn’t the worst novel I’ve ever read—far from. But it’s just dumb, and I find myself having less and less patience for dumb books.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just re-read a book called Turn About. In this story, two people come up with an experiment that can turn back people's ages, stopping the people from growing any older. Then, the scientists, after testing it millions of times on rats and other animals, they decide it's time to test it on humans. The most known scientists in the book are Dr. Reed and Dr. Jimson. These two scientists go out todifferent nursing homes and ask these 100 year old or almost 100, to sign a contract of selling their bodies to science. The story focouses on two women, Melly and Anny Beth. They have to go into their past which is now their future. As they become younger, they find that they will have to find someone to take care of them when they're too young. One day, as Melly checks her talkative computer, she finds a message that asks whether Melly is related to the sender. The people who had been in the experiment were supposedly dead about 89 years ago to their families, as they were used to test the experiment. They were not suppose to tell anyone that they were even alive. But as Melly and Anny Beth grow younger, they find that this relative of Melly's may be the only person who could take care of them when they are younger. What do yuo think will happen in the end of this story???

[Weina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This may be due to the fact that I'm taking so many biology classes so that entire concept of "unaging" is completely ridiculous, especially the fact that it is now known that telomeres does NOT cause aging. The only thing the two have in common is that as you age, telomeres shorten but whether or not it does cause aging is completely "untrue." Not only that, but I find that entire point of the story, pointless. Finding someone to take yourself is hardly a reason/purpose to live. Telling the world about how you "unaged," essentially getting a second life is also hardly a purpose to live as well.

Not only was the plot mediocre at best, but the style and syntax was mere child's play. It seemed to have been written by a middle schooler, even I could have written something like this.

What's worse is that the author actually thought the book was thought-provoking, hoping to cause readers to think about whether or not they would want to "unage" and get a second chance at life. But this book was hardly close to her goal. I'm pretty sure most people have already thought of the answer to that question and even if they hadn't. This book hardly inspires argumentation and discussion.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more! MORE! One of Haddix's clever twists on the future, where a pair of very old ladies agree to an experiment that will make them young again . . . the catch being that it won't stop! As they grow younger and younger: fourteen, thirteen, twelve, who will take care of them?

I love the concept of this book, but Haddix didn't explore as much of it as I wanted her to.

[Jaina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

I'm named after my great-grandmother, who was born in 1900. I'm actually named after two of my great-grandmothers (Marie, my middle name, was my dad's grandmother's name), but it's the woman whose first name I share that really captures my fascination. She grew up in a completely different time, on a farm in rural Missouri. She lived a fascinating life full of ups and downs, and died an old woman living on the same farm she'd spent her entire adult life working.

In some ways, Melly is just like my great-grandmother: she grew up in a rural village in the twentieth century, and she was one hundred and one in 2000 so she must have born around the same time as my great-grandmother. The big different between the two women, however, is that my great-grandmother died long before 2015; Melly, on the other hand, made it much farther than that. She made it much farther than even my grandparents are going to get: to the year 2085. Rereading Turnabout for the first time in a few years, just as I'm becoming interested in researching my family history, I can't help but obsess over how awesome it would be if I could meet my great-grandmother. Meeting her when she'd unaged so far that she was biologically my own age? Even cooler. Just think of all the stories she could tell, all of the precious anecdotes and family stories. She could help me decipher my sometimes-confusing family tree, putting stories to all of the different faces. She could humanize the past with her own personal experience.

Sitting here typing this, I'm thinking that would be pretty cool for me. But would my great-grandmother have wanted to participate in Project Turnabout? I have no way of knowing - it wouldn't be as simple a choice as you'd think. Getting to live for twice your allotted time is great, but what sort of life would you have? You'd either be an anomaly to the world, living your life under a scientific microscope, or you'd spend your whole life running away from anyone and anything that could make you lose your secret. This second choice is the one that Melly and her friend Anny Beth make: to run, to hide, and to lie. They've spent the last eighty-five years completely on their own, with only the agency that initiated Project Turnabout to help them, and they haven't seen hide nor hair of their descendants in all that time because they're afraid it would be too hard to resist telling them who they really were.

I am a huge fan of Haddix's, and it's books like Turnabout that are perfect examples of why I love her writing so much. She takes an amazing story idea ( here it's an unaging scenario with so much potential), adds compelling characters with complex backstories and convincing motives, and sprinkles in some profound thoughts for the reader to chew on (in this case it's aging and death, and what exactly the consequence of avoiding them would be). She often also includes a really interesting setting (here it's her early-2000s view of what the world will be like in the future - including a scary-good prediction of voice recognition software), as the icing in the proverbial cake. So do I recommend Turnabout? That's a silly question, of course I do. The only real question is one that's been haunting me since I first read it years ago: could Project Turnabout ever happen in real life? And if it did, would I want to participate in it?

[Kaylie]

This book was a blast when I was a kid in the year 2000. The concept and its creativity holds up, especially with the way it pokes at the developing ethics of a younger reader. It definitely doesn’t hold up as an adult, other than conceptually; the execution and believability of the characters, the dialogue and the basic movement of the plot, are below MPH’s usual level. It’s charming to see how she imagined 2085, the things she predicted accurately and the things that seem laughable (but who knows, maybe 2085 will reveal me to be the laughably wrong one!). I’m not using stars because the book isn’t for me, and I do think it’s thought-provoking for a young reader. It just isn’t nearly as well-developed or interesting as some of her other children’s novels.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turnabout tells a story of two very old women (one is 100 years old and the other a few months away from being 100) that take a type of injection that makes them unage. The scientists expected to inject another medicine into them to make them stop unaging so they could be whatever age they wanted to be forever. But something goes wrong. They tried it on one man who wanted to stay around 70 and he disintegrated within seconds! So now, the two main characters have to deal with unaging. But what will happen when they hit zero??

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting concept that grabbed me from the first page. I feel like it could have been at least twice as long of a book as it was (only 223 pages), because my imagination was running farther with this idea. It was, of course, strange to ponder, and a little dismaying.

[Janelle Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

a futuristic twist on unaging (if that is a word). this tale was more about what wasn't said. GOOD! it you liked the curious case of benjamin button you might like this.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025

2019
What if you were old? But not just old, on-your-death-bed old? And, what if someone offered you a Fountain of Youth cure? Would you take it? Melly and Anny Beth did.

Melly and Anny Beth are teenagers. For the second time. They were roughly 100 years old when they took the "Fountain of Youth" cure (PT-1) which caused them to age in reverse. Now, Melly is 15 again. She can no longer legally drive. Anny Beth is only a few years older than her, which means soon they won't even be able to legally live on their own. Melly even loses her babysitting job because the parent gets concerned that she is too young to watch her child.

Then someone, a reporter, starts looking for Melly. They call her neighbors, they call the agency, eventually they even manage to leave a voicemail for Melly herself.

It's a race against time and technology. Melly and Anny Beth are determined to not be caught but it's a difficult thing when everything is being broadcast.

It's a really fun book. I liked how simultaneously Melly and Anny Beth seemed both young and old. On one hand, they had the determination and tenacity of a teenager. They believed that they were in the right when they ran away from their impending futures of being caught as too young teenagers on their own. But they were unbelievable old when they got to Kentucky and kept seeing their lives and their children's lives and their children's children's lives in memory. They could see the neighbor's kid (100 years removed) chin on the face of a child. They could see a friend's nose on the face of a baby. The memories of their previous lives were predominant in their heads, even making them forget how connected the world was with the current technology.

2016

[karianna roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably would’ve rated this 5 stars if I had read it 10-15 years ago but it’s just a little too unrealistic to me now. Not the unaging part, it’s a fantasy book, I could get on board with that, but just the way people react and think are very unrealistic. Also, the main character, melly, seemed to always be thinking and acting like a teenager despite being 100-185 years old... but overall it was entertaining and a fun concept.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, it was awesome... it was about how a old woman became younger and younger each year. when she and her friend was about 15, they are afraid of what will happened when they are 1 years old. but then a doctor found out what to do with them. so they stayed 15, and continue to 16,17...

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but the novel never really went anywhere. It just sputtered its way through, eventually fizzling out in an insignificant conclusion.

[Jenny Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

needed a refresh after that last book so decided to reread one of my favorite books from middle school. enjoyed it, but a few of the ‘future’ predictions did not come true

[max theodore]

i read this book when i was like 10 and it scared and upset me so so severely. so. props to MPH for that?

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Turnabout! This is a science-fiction novel about two women, Melly (Amelia) and Anny Beth, who lived normally throughout the 1900s and participate in Project Turnabout in 2000 when they are near their deaths. Project Turnabout is a scientific experiment where participants are injected so that they un-age until a certain point in their lives and then receive another injection to stop the process (so that they'd stay the same age forever). But the second injection doesn't work like it's supposed to and kills those who take it, leading Melly and Anny Beth to live on their own as they grow younger. But when they hit 15 and 18 respectively, they need to find a caretaker for when they un-age to a point where they can't take care of themselves. And then the question remains: What would happen when Melly and Anny Beth turn zero?

Turnabout is very thought-provoking– it made me wonder about life, death, human advances, and the purpose of living (so deep, I know). Once we no longer have a purpose in life, do we slowly lose the will to live? At some point in the distant future, would humans have to stop advancing and developing technology/medicine/etc. in order to stay sane and not become obsessed? Would everything become public as media develops and privacy no longer exists? Is there such a thing as a society being over-developed? These questions probably won't make as much sense in the context of Turnabout as if you've read the book, so READ IT NOW! (Unless you have. Then great!)

So yes, very thought-provoking. Even if the un-aging process is impossible at this point in time (and the scientific process used in Turnabout is not very realistic), the dangers of simply having too much intelligence (and not just IQ-wise) are still plentiful.

Thank you, Margaret Peterson Haddix, for this fascinating story!

[Rachel B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was an enjoyable read, but I wanted it to be a little longer, to be able to hear more details about each lifetime the characters lived through. I especially wanted an epilogue to wrap everything up nicely. The ending was a little abrupt for my taste.

This had a couple references to sex that seemed to put it squarely into young adult territory, but most of the story seemed written in a middle grade style, with the lack of detail.

There was at least one instance of God's name used as an exclamation.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Only problem is you still don’t know what will happen when they hit zero.

[Courtney]

Ok I actually read this book years ago and rediscovered it thanks to r/whatsthatbook. Thank you Reddit, kinda wanna read it again 👀

[Histrio · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at how humans might react to inverse ageing. Scientifically accurate? Probably not. But it makes you think - in the best traditions of SciFi.

Some of it felt a bit contrived and the ending was too open-ended for me. It was still a fun read though.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Turnabout... An interesting book, really. Had to read it in English class, so it was forced. Didn't really like it, even though the idea is really thought provoking. Which, I guess, is the point, because I had to do all of these PROJECTS and ESSAYS about it. Huh. And speaking of telomeres, I also had to research all about it and discovered quite a few head-scratching facts about it. Really interesting.

But I didn't say it was good, did I?

Amelia Hazelwood is a 100 year old woman living peacefully in a nursing home, waiting for her death day. On a seemingly average day, her life changes forever. She unknowingly signs some papers that shows that she agrees to be in Project Turnabout, a top secret experiment. After receiving the injections that made her grow younger, she befriends another Project participant, Anny Beth, and they became fast friends. Everything is going along just fine when they realize the second dose to freeze the unaging process doesn't work and they flee for their lives. Decades later, Anny Beth and Melly (she changed her name) are teenagers. Soon, they'll no longer be able to care for themselves once they are toddlers. They need to find someone to care for them when they become babies before time truly runs out, once and for all...

From here on out, my rant truly begins:

Pretty interesting right? The summary? Yes, I agree. But the conflict? Very weak, VERY weak. Why? After a very deep, thought-inducing story, the conflict emerges and it's like first-grade level. Very, very basic. Extremely basic.

The emotions in this book are also quite jumbled up. Melly (it's from her point of view) has very deep thoughts and speculations, yet her actions and emotions are very obvious. No drama, no intensifying adjectives, no nothing. I think that's the reason why I didn't really connect with Melly when I read this book. Very major disappointment after seeing the book. Her actions are... How should I state it... Bland. Not rich and delicious, overwhelming with different tastes here and there. It was straight out bland-- like when you eat a sandwich, but just the bread. It's just there.

Everything else about this book was very good and I loved it! Melly's dialogue and speculations were very realistic and believable, with her great wisdom. Anny Beth's character was amazing, and it counterbalanced Melly's personality perfectly, in which you get the best of both worlds. A. J.'s character was okay I guess, but I think she needed a bit more development. The resolution was okay and it was partly obvious, with the very weak conflict. But the thing I love the most was the science behind the telomeres. Unbelievably, what the scientist said are TRUE. You can live longer if you have longer telomeres!! Isn't that amazing?!?! That was definitely one of the only things that really provoked me to continue reading this story.

Final statement:

3.5 stars is the maximum I can give. The conflict was a massive sad face, the resolution was very predictable, and the Melly's emotions were all over the place. Everything else I either liked, or was okay with it ("Meh"). To sum this all up, this book was fairly enjoyable and I would only recommend it to people with a large interest in books and science. But everyone else? NOPE. Shouldn't read. Unless you're really very desperate and it's the very last book in the world...

[Elizbette Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like books that take place in the future ? Then is this the book for you! Turnabout is a science-fiction book by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
I was very pleased by this book. Margaret Peterson Haddix is one of my favorite authors so any of her books I would enjoy. Turnabout is one of those books where once you picked up the book, it seemed like you can never place it down!

Turnabout is a book about two girls named Melly and Anny Beth. In 2000, they had both reached the peak of old age and were ready to die. The one day they were offered the chance to young again. This was a top-secret experiment called Project Turnabout, and they agreed to it. This top-secret experiment actually worked on them and they were getting younger every year! Slowly everyday , they realized that the final treatment can kill them.
After they heard this from the doctors, they ran away from the agency. They wanted to relive their lives that they barely remember but have them written on pieces of paper. Finally in 2085, they found a family member that can take them in and take care of them once they turn into infants. They were fifteen and found a girl named A. J. She agreed to take care of them no matter what happened. Melly and Anny Beth didn't know what would happen once they hit zero. So , they had the funnest time of their lives. Until in the last passage of the book, it states, " Then, " Race you down the hill?" Anny Beth asked. For an answer Melly took off running, wind in her hair, pulse pounding in her ears, a clear path ahead of her. Clear, at least, until the next bend in the road."
I infer that maybe a car passed and they didn't notice. They could've been in an accident . It leaves off in a cliffhanger. So, you have to guess what happens. I somewhat personally don't like those types of books but I like a little change.
The conflict in this book is person vs person because they are trying to run away from the agency. They want to cut off all contact with them and live how they want to.

I really liked how the author put amazing quotes into this book. For example, " I take no pleasure from my life anymore. I forget to eat. I can't sleep. What's the point ? " I liked this quote because it made me think more that people actually feel this way.
The theme of this book is to live your life when you're young because once you're old you're just going to be waiting for the day you die. In the book they actually said something like that multiple times.
Turnabout is a good title for this book because they were growing younger each year and started loosing memories. Also, their life turned around a whole lot with the Project Turnabout and they didn't realize it.
The ending of this book was a cliffhanger so you guess what happened next. I kinda wished that the author actually put what happened next so it can end in a tragic accident.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because Margaret Haddix is one of my favorite authors and I was really pleased by this book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Margaret Peterson's books. Also, anyone who likes science- fiction books .
Remember to live your life now because you never know when it's going to be your last day here.

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book. It was definitely an interesting concept to read about (although I don’t know that I’d want to have deal with living in reverse), it was just a little bit confusing sometimes.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

After four years of sitting on my (physical) to-read shelf, I've finally finished it! All in all, Turnabout was a pretty decent read about immortality, second chances, finding purpose and family--mostly immortality though. The latter three are just minor elements. Melly and Anny Beth are two interesting protagonists (both of them have been "selected" for Project Turnabout, an experiment about the elongation of the human lifespan) and it was fun reading about their childhood and their first lives. I actually thought that their memories more compelling compared to what was happening to them in the past (2001) and present (2085).

Anny Beth is the outgoing, impulsive one while Melly is more subdued. Apart from some awkward slang (exported from the early 20th century, when both protagonists were children) and a tendency on the narrator's part to over-explain, their thoughts and actions seemed realistic to me. I thought the world-building could use a bit of help though; it seemed like Haddix had crafted an interesting world (completely relevant to the barrage of the me-mentality and social networking we see today) but we would see glimpses of it mentioned in passing. While I wasn't left completely confused at the end of the book, I did wish to have a more detailed introduction to the world of 2085. The pseudo-science seemed okay to me; I don't really stay updated with the latest developments in that field, so I can't say if it was truly genius.

I would say that Turnabout is a great choice to consider for elementary class discussions. The vocabulary isn't too challenging, but the ethical and social implications in the novel would make for some great questions. Did I wish I read it sooner? No; if it were my choice, I would have kept delaying. But considering that I borrowed the book on my elementary school graduation and am now in my final year of high school, I thought it was important to get this out of the way (and back into the hands of my disgruntled friend). Did I regret reading it? Not at all. It was an interesting journey, albeit a bit lacklustre.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first page captivated me:

"April 21, 2085

My sixteenth birthday. Sad, sad day. What I mind most--what I've been dreading most--is losing my license. I could still pass for being older for at least another year or two, but the agency won't let me. Against the rules, they say. We know best, they say. How can they be so sure when this is all new territory. At least Anny Beth can still drive, since she's only eighteen. I don't know what I'd do without Anny Beth. I don't know what we'll do when she hits sixteen. And beyond that...

My body feels good. Healthy. Teeming with life and possibility. I remember this feeling from the last time. I had such hope for the future then. It's not the same when my body feels hopeful and my mind knows that the future is only sixteen more years of loss."

Amelia Hazelwood and others in her convalescent center are approached by two scientists to participate in an experiment that will make them younger. Most of them, Amelia thinks, are too fuzzy-headed to even respond but they give their signatures and they're in.

At the same time we watch the beginnings of the experiment, we see Melly and Anny Beth, two teenagers in 2085 who are steadily growing younger, looking for someone to adopt them since they refuse to resign themselves to be cared for by the agency.

Margaret Haddix infuses the story with tremendous urgency and we care for the characters, young and old, even the doctors whose choices lead to tragedy for many of their patients. But Anny Beth and Melly long ago stopped relying on the agency to help them through this experience. What they do with their second chance at life...well, anyone who reads this, I recommend this book highly.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science Fiction is the genre of this book. It has to do with scientists that give these old people a drug that makes them younger. Melly and Anny Beth are the main characters in the story, and they take the drug that makes them older. However they do not like the things that are happening in the agency so they leave the agency hoping to find some peace, and to find a cure for the drug. They suddenly realize that the drug has no cure and they are becoming years younger very fast. They encounter an A.J that is a reporter and she is looking for the girls, but not for the reason they think.
My favorite character in the book would have to be Melly ( Amelia ) because she is very honest in what she does and she doesn't let other people walk all over her. She also has a different outlook on what she does now that shes older... or younger? when she becomes a teenager again she definitely enjoys the freedom and the carelessness of that life. The characters felt real to me in a way that i read, i read a book and become the main character. I feel their heart break, or their pain, or their desperation. I feel their emotions when im reading and i relate to the characters a lot of the time.
I would recommend this story to people who like a guessing book and a fiction fanatic. Someone who like a book that will keep them reading. This book kept me up all night trying to finish it, you will too.

[Rachel Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another one of my old books that I grabbed the last time I was home. I think I only read it once, as a kid, even though it was written by one of my favorite YA authors, Margaret Peterson Haddix (who also wrote Running Out of Time, my favorite book for most of my adolescence). This woman really has a thing about time, I guess.

I remember not really loving this book as a kid (too much science), but I found it fascinating this time around. The concept is very interesting, and the plot definitely moves. I didn’t think that there was a ton to the characters, and the development was limited, but it’s a short YA book, so I can’t complain too much.

My biggest issue with the book was a plot hole having to do with the idea that the characters lost a year of their memories as they un-aged. This book focuses so much on memory and age, it seems a shame to add that detail. I understand it was needed for a minor plot device, but I feel like the same thing could have been accomplished another way. It also didn’t work. I didn’t believe that all of the memories that the women recounted from their childhoods came from the memory books. They were too vivid and emotional to just have come from written words. It felt like they were genuinely remembered.

I enjoy ambiguous endings, but this is one of the few times I wish I knew what happened next! What happens when they reach zero?

[. · Rating 2 out of 5]

TURNABOUT is a tough one for me to rate.. this book fell victim to bad timing for me. I started reading it just as my life got hectic (planning my twin boys 4th birthday party) and although I found the idea of un-ageing intriguing, the story it's self wasn't interesting enough to hold my attention over all the other craziness in my own life. Evidence shown in that it took me like a week to get through such a short book, that I would normally breeze through in one sitting before bed.

Anyhow to be fair to the author, this was a good read, not an exciting, fantastic, edge of your seat read, but a good comfortable easy read. Basically its about group of nursing home patients in Kentucky, that at the end of their life are given a trial drug that will reverse the aging process.. essentially they will stop ageing and start growing younger. The story follows two of the patients through their second life as they "un-age" into the year 2085.

TURNABOUT is a cool idea and a good book, but for me, Haddix missed out on the potential for a fantastic read. I wish the story had gone further into the actual second lives of the two main characters, instead of just hinting at bits and pieces.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"IT ISN'T NATURAL FOR YOU TO BE YOUNGER THAN YOUR GREAT-CHILDREN. WE MESSED AROUND WITH NATURE, AND WE SHOULDN'T HAVE." MELLY AND ANNY BETH BOTH LIVED NORMAL LIVES THROUGHOUT THE 20TH CENTURY. BUT IN 2000, WHEN THEY ARE OLD AND READY TO DIE, THEY ARE SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN PROJECT TURNABOUT AND ARE GIVEN AN INJECTION TO MAKE THEM GROW YOUNGER.

AS USUAL, HADDIX HAS COME UP WITH AN INTRIGUING CONCEPT. NEVER AGING SOUNDS GREAT, BUT MELLY AND ANNY BETH PROVE THAT THERE IS A DOWNSIDE AS WELL. WILL TEENS RELATE TO THIS? SOME WILL, BECAUSE HADDIX MANAGES TO KEEP READERS GUESSING RIGHT UP TO THE END. GREAT TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION.

[Conrad]

The book Turnabout, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, has a very interesting plot that you don't see too often in books or movies. However, despite this, this book just doesn't wow me and it just doesn't give me enough of that sweet, sweet character development that I love so much. The book also just seems to lack explanation; at the beginning it just troughs right you into the madness of it all. I don't like, though, the crazy switches between time periods. But, I have to say, for how unique it is I'd recommend it; especially for the fans of Sci-fi/mystery.