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Sara Farizan
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Dead Flip Kindle Edition

by Sara Farizan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 77 ratings
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In this “terrifyingly fun” (NYT) horror comedy, two friends must solve the mystery of their long-missing former friend’s supernatural reappearance—perfect for fans of Stranger Things.

Growing up, Cori, Maz, and Sam were inseparable best friends, sharing their love for pop culture, Halloween, and arcade games. Now it’s 1992, Sam has been missing for five years, and Cori and Maz aren’t speaking anymore. How could they be, when Cori is sure Sam is dead, and Maz has good reason to believe he was kidnapped by a supernatural pinball machine?
 
These days, all Maz wants to do is party and run away from his past. Meanwhile, Cori hides her abiding love of horror movies and her queer self under the bubblegum veneer of a high school queen bee. But then Sam returns—still twelve years old, while his best friends are now seventeen. What really happened the night he disappeared? And just because he's back, does that mean he's safe? To find answers, Cori, Maz, and Sam will need to reveal secrets they never told one another, then and now. And Sam’s is the darkest of all . . .
 
Award-winning author Sara Farizan delivers edge-of-your-seat terror, with her insightful characters, witty narration, and trademark referential humor.

* "Well-crafted homage to narratives like It and Stranger Things . . . A great choice for stalwart horror fans and newcomers to the genre." —Booklist, starred review
 
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    269 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Algonquin Young Readers
  5. Publication date
    August 30, 2022
  6. Grade level
    7 - 12
  7. File size
    9446 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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From the Publisher

Edge-of-your-seat YA horror laced with humor, perfect for fans of Stranger Things
Starred review from Booklist, Amazon alt text limit too small to include
"Fast-paced and exhilarating." - Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-Three best friends in 1987 have no idea what is hiding behind the new pinball machine inside their favorite local store where they gather to eat candy and read comics. However, when Sam, the most vulnerable among them, starts hearing voices and having nightmares after playing the game, it is only a matter of time before he disappears. The adults don't believe Cori and Maz when they insist there is something paranormal going on, and no one looks into the creepy store owner. The narrative is told through multiple perspectives, and it jumps between the time line of Sam's disappearance and 1993, when he reappears, still a 12-year-old boy. A lot has changed in those six years, but Maz and Cori are still haunted by the earlier events. Maz is drinking more, as he deals with other kids who misunderstand his Persian heritage, and Cori tries to hide her feelings for a punk girl while dating the popular athlete. The premise of a wealthy old man inventing a machine that helps him live forever is not an original one, though the simple plot is part of the throwback, since this book feels like the novelization of an episode of Friday the 13th: The Series. The plethora of 1980s and 1990s references are spot on, though the young audience reading this will likely not pick up on them all. VERDICT With the 1990s making a cultural comeback, and perennial interest in throwback horror, such as Stranger Things, younger teens will dig into this sinister story.-Carrie Shauretteα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"A terrifyingly fun read."―The New York Times

"In this well-crafted homage to narratives like It and Stranger Things, Farizan nails the uneasiness of shifting adolescent relationships... A fumbling queer romance and the pitch-perfect late-October setting create a bittersweet tone that makes this book a great choice for stalwart horror fans and newcomers to the genre."―Booklist, Starred review

"A thoughtful homage that puts its own fresh spin on these beloved tropes. Entertaining supernatural thrills and an insightful take on growing up."
 ―Kirkus Reviews

"Farizan recalls Jumanji’s eerie atmosphere in this nostalgic, supernatural thriller... Farizan skillfully blends lighthearted comedy with grotesque horror."―Publishers Weekly

"With the 1990s making a cultural comeback, and perennial interest in throwback horror, such as Stranger Things, younger teens will dig into this sinister story."―School Library Journal

"A thoughtful thriller along with some very realistic surprises… If you are a fan [of Stranger Things], you will enjoy Dead Flip."―Locus

"I was expecting just a kind of scary and humorous book that would be a fun read, but it tackled a lot of issues that I was not expecting to come from a book about an evil pinball machine.... This book was extremely fun to read with its many interesting quirks, but what really made it enjoyable to read was the wonderful character development and regrowing friendship."

―Teen Librarian Toolbox, School Library Journal

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09TGQFKXS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Algonquin Young Readers (August 30, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 30, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 9446 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1643754033
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 77 ratings

About the author

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Sara Farizan

Sara Farizan

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Sara Farizan (she/her) is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of the young adult novels Dead Flip, Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, and the Lambda Literary award winning If You Could Be Mine, which was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time. She also had a dream come true in writing a DC Comics middle-grade graphic novel, My Buddy, Killer Croc. She is the author of Opportunity Knocks from Scholastic. She has short stories in the anthologies Fresh Ink, All Out, Come On In, and Fools in Love and more. For more information visit www.sarafarizan.com

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
77 global ratings
Read this if you love:
4 Stars
Read this if you love:
🖤 Stranger Things💜 You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith💀 Not Scary Horror🕵🏻 A lil bit of mystery👻 1990s🌈 wlwThis somewhat falls into my favorite genre of kids face somewhat supernatural trauma then come together again to face it when they're older.We have Maz, Cori, and Sam who are great friends in the 80s until Sam goes missing. Maz swears it's because of a pinball game yet no one believes him.Time goes by and we meet Maz and Cori again as teenagers. It's the 90s, they're about to graduate high school, and trying to live their lives when Sam reappears. He hasn't aged a day and something is off. There's no time for fun and games in their reunion as the two needs to get to the bottom of why Sam is back and what he's become.I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, engaging read where I liked the company of each character. They were a blast to be around reminding me of why I like to read (and write). I'm glad I had the chance to read it and need to chat with people all about it.While this is YA, I'd label it as a YA book on the younger side. At times I thought it was MG and felt like a nice mix of the two. It was refreshing to read such a book.
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Top reviews from the United States

DO
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely part of my Halloween reading stack
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
Sara Farizan's Dead Flip masterfully weaves a tapestry of late 80s to early 90s ambience and nostalgia with a tale that's as horrifying as it is heartwarming. It's as if the genius of Stephen King, Grady Hendrix, and Adam Cesare converged to bring forth a narrative that clings to your soul long after the last page is turned.

The core of this story revolves around the bonds of friendship and the complexities of growing up. Sam's inexplicable disappearance and his even more mystifying return sets the stage for a gripping horror-mystery, drawing readers into a maelstrom of emotion and dread. Every twist and turn is executed to perfection, leaving one on the edge of their seat, desperate for answers.

However, what truly stands out is the beautifully depicted subplot. Cori's journey of self-discovery and acceptance, intertwined with her budding feelings for Janet, provides a poignant contrast to the overarching horror, lending depth and diversity to an already intricate plot. It's rare for a horror story to touch on such sensitive subjects with grace and nuance, but Dead Flip does so effortlessly.

Farizan's vivid descriptions and masterful character development transport readers straight into the heart of the 80s and 90s - a time of VHS tapes, arcade games, and first loves. For many, it's a trip down memory lane, but even those unfamiliar with the era will find themselves entranced by its charm.

This isn't just a horror novel; it's a testament to the resilience of friendship, the struggles of coming of age, and the haunting shadows of the past. This book is a true standout in the YA horror genre, and it's no surprise that it has found its way onto my annual spooky season reading list.

For those seeking a narrative that's as haunting as it is touching, Dead Flip is an absolute must-read. Hats off to Sara Farizan for creating such a mesmerizing masterpiece!
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Janell
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun book about the 1980’s and a haunted pinball machine.
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
“Dead Flip”, by Sara Farizan was well worth the reading. This novel is very fun to read and had characters I actively rooted for and cared about. It seemed like whenever I read this book I was flying off of the pages, trying to figure out what happens next. Over the course of the book there is specifically one character I’ve grown to like.
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openmypages
3.0 out of 5 stars Dead Flip
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2022
What a love letter to the 90's this book is! From page one we are dripping in TGIF, arcade and Huey Lewis references. We get great 2020s rep though, our main character is Iranian and one of his best friends is queer. Maz, Cori and Sam are pre-teen besties until Sam goes missing one Halloween. They aren't sure if he is dead or if he has been kidnapped into the pinball machine at the local convenience store. But over the years they drift apart. When Sam suddenly reappears, they must figure out exactly what happened to him and figure out how to prevent it again.

I really loved the atmosphere and vibe of this one - it was nostalgic while being equally creepy and hilarious. The friends were exactly as teens should be both painfully righteous, achingly supportive of one another and overly confident in the face of evil. Think the Goonies, Stranger Things or It kids. They band together nobly and faithfully to right the wrongs of the world and protect one another. This is definitely a quick, fun read. I wish we got a little more time with Sam and his alternate reality, there was so much to dig into there but we only scratched the surface. Sequel, maybe?

Thanks to Algonquin Young Readers for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
Laughed a few time & was throughly entertained. Perfect spooky October read. Which I’d know before I started that an Amazon review had a mandatory word count.
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Julia
2.0 out of 5 stars This is best for an extremely-specific audience demographic. I don't fit in that demographic.
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2022
Me personally, I really couldn't connect with very much here.

I think what makes a book that contains seventy quadrillion pop culture references less effective is, at least with the comp title Stranger Things being a TV series, if you don't know the name of a specific song that gets referenced, you can still hear the characters listening to it. So you can say, "well, I didn't hear that song the year it came out, but I can literally hear the characters listening to it now." So making references in a multi-sensory piece of literature helps with immersing you in what the characters are experiencing even if you can't feel the nostalgia. But with a book that just name-drops a bajillion song, movie, and game titles, it's way less effective, because I can't actually hear the song, so if I don't know it, I guess... I'm just going to have to read the title as gibberish and play elevator music in my head. What else can I do?

And I'm focused on the pop culture references because there are. so many. pop culture. references. And it's strange -- they're pretty much all just name-dropped, but don't actually do anything. You could replace 100% of the pop culture references here with pop culture references from, I don't know, the 2010s, and the plot would be the same ultimately. And that's frustrating to me -- that there IS a plot here that could happen without the pop culture references (all you really need to know is 'kids used to play generic pinball machines in arcades' in order for the plot to make sense). The book would have have a significantly shorter word count if the characters weren't practically yelling "IT IS THE YEAR NINETEEN NINETY-THREE, AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR IN UTERO TO COME OUT." "NO, CYPRESS HILL IS BETTER." constantly (I was a toddler in 1993. My parents didn't let me listen to Nirvana or Cypress Hill). It feels unnatural so often, and frankly, I feel... not-invited-to-the-party, to be totally honest. This book left me feeling left out.

And that's I think my overall issue here. I was a bit too young to grow up while most of the references made here were actually relevant. I remember a few of these things from my childhood, so a few things trigger that cool nostalgia feeling I guess, but only a few things do.

But, fine, I'm 32 now. Maybe a lighthearted YA book isn't aimed at me for the target audience, so it's natural that I didn't connect with everything. I feel like the dialogue is really juvenile quite often (which makes sense I guess, these characters are in fact kids and teens, but I think this is more middle-grade instead of young-adult. One line literally goes: "'Muahahaha,' he said, breaking out in actual giggles."). Sometimes I found even the scarier parts of the plot to be underplayed, and the characters didn't give things the emotional weight and time that in my opinion they should have. So maybe this book is just a silly MG/YA story that isn't exactly for adults.

But, then -- people who are in their tweens and teens now, people who are the same age as the characters in a MG/YA book, were born even LATER after all the pop culture references made here were popular. So... they're way less likely to have nostalgic feelings for the (TONS AND TONS AND TONS OF) stuff referenced here than even I was, as someone born in the early 90s. So who is this for? Who do I recommend this book to?

Basically, I find myself wishing that about 75% of the pop culture references got cut, and with the probably 50,000 words that'd save, the plot could have more scary tension built up to make it have higher stakes and be more immersive. But, as-is, I really did the best I could to try to think, "oh yeah... 'Push it, push it real good,' I think I know how that song goes..." but doing that multiple times per chapter snapped me out of the experience constantly.
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