THE Ultimate Rom-com list.

Flipped by Rob Reiner

In 1957, when second-graders Bryce Loski and Julianna "Juli" Baker first meet, Juli knows it's love, but Bryce isn't so sure. Girl-phobic and easily embarrassed, young Bryce does everything he can to keep away as much as possible from Juli for the next six years, which isn't easy since they go to the same school and live across the street from each other. When they start the sixth grade, Bryce hopes that he can get rid of Juli so he asks the girl Juli hates the most, Sherry Stalls, out on a date. This plan of Bryce's works for a while up until his best friend, Garrett, takes an interest in Sherry and tells her the truth about Bryce asking her out, she doesn't take it well and angrily slaps Bryce (which Juli watches with amusement from the door). Juli finds out Bryce and Sherry break up; she goes back to her regular Bryce-obsessed self.

From Juli's point of view, when she and Bryce first met, he returned her feelings but was just shy and embarrassed. When he "held her hand" she thought she would get her first kiss from him in the second grade. Juli knew that she was flipped from then on. After finding out that Bryce and Sherry broke up, she thought she could have her old Bryce back. She spends the whole year sniffing his watermelon-scented hair and wondering if she'd ever get his kiss.

In 1963, now in seventh grade, Bryce's grandfather Chet Duncan moves in with the family. Chet finds Juli different, special, and a rare kind of girl who's hard to come across. He continues to tell Bryce this with hope. There's a large, old that Juli loves which no one understands. One day, it's cut down by a group of landscapers, who were given permission to do so by the owner so he could build a house there. Juli attempts to stand up to them and protect the tree, to no avail. The police and her father soon show up and urge her to come down from the tree so the landscapers can do their job. Juli becomes very depressed afterwards. Her voice narrates her love for the tree that let her see the world in a much more enlightened way. Her father gives her a painting of the tree as a memento.

Chet and Juli form a strong friendship over time while he helps her work on her messy lawn. Bryce begins to develop feelings for Juli just as Juli begins to question her feelings about Bryce. When Juli finds out that Bryce has been throwing away the eggs she offered him and his family, out of fear of salmonella, she feels hurt and angry that Bryce threw away her eggs right under her nose. Juli starts avoiding him after that, but he ultimately apologizes for doing it, and Juli asks him why he didn't simply tell her. After visiting her disabled uncle Daniel, Juli overhears Bryce and Garrett badmouthing him, which causes Juli to stop having any interest in Bryce whatsoever. When the Bakers are invited to the Loskis' for a sit-down dinner she confronts Bryce about what he said about her uncle and tells him she doesn't want to speak to him again, not ever. During dinner, they sit opposite each other, she never talks or makes eye contact with him. After dinner she apologizes for the way she acted. Bryce is upset that she apologizes, because that means that she doesn't care enough to hold a grudge.

She continues to have mixed feelings when the basket boy auction is just around the corner. She hears that Sherry is planning to bid on Bryce against another one of the school's "finest" girls. Bryce thinks that Juli is planning on bidding for him because he hears she walked in with a wad of cash (which she wasn't planning on having with her). Bryce begins to worry about what would happen if she does bid for him just when she bids all her cash on basket boy number eight, the boy before Bryce.

Later, during the basket boy bidding lunch, Bryce and Sherry sit at a table across from Juli and basket boy number 8, Eddie Trulock. She's facing Bryce and he can't help but stare at Juli the whole time. He sees she's having a good time with her date and gets jealous. He grabs her to talk to her and attempts to kiss her in front of everyone, publicly humiliating her. He chases her after she dodges his kiss. Juli gets on her bike and cycles home as fast as she can. Garrett chases after him, and the two break off their friendship after a confrontation.

Juli bikes home crying. Bryce continuously tries to talk to her, ringing the doorbell, calling her house, coming to her bedroom window, even though she makes it clear she wants to be left alone. After 2 days, Juli sees Bryce digging a hole in her front lawn which infuriates her. Her father said he gave him permission and she watches Bryce continue to dig. After he digs the hole, he leaves. Juli is confused but Bryce comes back carrying a baby Sycamore tree and places it in the hole. She goes outside to help him. Knowing that he redeemed himself, Bryce covers Juli's hands with his, they share smiles and then continue planting the sycamore tree.

I give it 4.1/5 stars