It's a typical coming of age story about two girls from opposite sides of the tracks, but Snyder manages to make it fresh, compelling, and not a little sad.

This is the story of Martha, a shy somewhat overlooked child from a well-to-do family, and Ivy, a wild creative girl from a clan of people always down on their luck. Together or apart, the two grow up and change each other as they play in worlds both real and of their own making.

It's hard to explain why it works so well. It's hard to describe it without using stereotypical and cliche language, but it feels like nothing of the sort. It's vivid and not a little mournful, and it feels like it could break out into a fantasy tale at any moment. I think maybe its because both Martha and Ivy avoid being mere types and instead become fully realized characters. Martha grows up over time, and Ivy loses some of her wildness.

I found it more enjoyable than I thought. It's an interesting comparison book to Bridge to Terabithia, and a superior one in my opinion. If you don't mind what might be a bit cliched concept, you'll be rewarded by a well-done tale of two best friends.

My name is Martha, and my best, and only, friend Ivy says she's a changeling. She said she replaced the Carson baby when she was two years old. My parents don't like her as my friend, since I tend to get in more trouble with her. Dumping purple paint on the Girl Scout leader was an accident, but I guess stealing a horse could have been a bigger problem. I feel comfortable around Ivy and get to use more of my imagination. We invented a world in the trees called The Land of the Green Sky, and Ivy just announced she doesn't plan on getting any older. We like to act out our creative lives, and Ivy says I'm really good at pretending to be the evil queen. The only problem is we always need to leave the tree and return to the real world. I never would have imagined the problems between Ivy and my neighbor Kelly Peters would result in such dramatic consequences.

I was puzzled as I read the book, since the big conflict wasn't clear and I wasn't sure if it was actually a speculative fiction book. Ivy called herself a changeling and said she had abilities, but she didn't seem that different. She was confident and free-spirited but didn't do anything fantastic. The magic in the book was found in the girls' imaginations. The time span of the plot began with them in elementary school and ended with them in tenth grade. The girls grew from fun-loving little kids into more mature young ladies. The aging process was a bit confusing, as they continued to enjoy their imaginary world. I was surprised they didn't get hassled more by their classmates, as they entered middle school. Strangely, Ivy entered and left the story several times due to her family's shady history. My biggest issue with the book, as mentioned, was that I wasn't sure where the plot was headed. It seemed like a collection of stories until the book neared its end. At that point, a big problem arose and was solved. Overall, it was a good book, but didn't wow me.

A re-read. Snyder's sure hand at the wheel gives this story a ring of truth and an immediacy flavored with the not-quite-supernatural. When I read it as a kid, I identified so closely with Ivy that I fancied myself a changeling too. Reading it as an adult, I have much more insight into both Ivy and me, and I still identify with her. I want to know what happened to her, where she's dancing now. A lovely, transcendent book.

"Know all the questions, but not the answers
Look for the Different, instead of the Same
Never Walk when there's room for Running
Don't do anything that can't be a Game."

Reading Victor LaValle's terrific book, also called The Changeling, kept reminding me of this, my favorite childhood book. Happily it has aged well and is still the wonderful story I remember, about friendship and being true to yourself, and finding out who you are.

Martha Abbott is a shy, introverted girl afraid of everything. Her life changes dramatically when she meets Ivy Carson, of the infamous, notorious Carson family that is always getting into trouble. Ivy claims to be a changeling, switched at birth with the real Ivy, which makes her different from the rest of the Carsons. How Martha and Ivy's friendship stays true over the course of many years and adventures is glorious, and will serve as a reminder to anyone who had a playmate like Ivy or grew up playing imaginary games. The ending is both heartbreaking and perfect. I love this book.

This was one of my favourite books as a child.  So happy to find it so my son can read it.

Book cover looks nothing like the Amazon photo and everything like I remember from my own book back in the early 90's.

Now I know why my childhood best friend was my best friend. She was a changeling--an Ivy to my Martha.

By definition, a changeling is a child switched at birth, with fairies, trolls and the like usually doing the switching. Ivy comes from a family of n'e'er-do-wells, petty thieves and con artists, who simply disappear just before they are caught. It is said that if a child has at least one strong person in her childhood, she can overcome abuse, lack of love or the shame of a notoriously disreputable family. Sometimes Ivy would get to stay with her highly imaginative great-aunt when the family committed another flight out of town to evade arrest. It is from her that Ivy learns to use her imagination.

Martha, the youngest child in her family, doesn't quite fit in with its very structured members. Martha is not time-conscious or activity-bound, whereas all the others live by their schedules.  Martha is overweight, shy, and cries too much.

However, when the two girls are together, they--initiated by Ivy-- create the most wondrous worlds where they play and play and play. Sometimes it is a year or two before Ivy disappears again and Martha must cope without her.

The novel, of course, is the story of an enduring friendship that picks up exactly where it leaves off the days Ivy had to disappear with her family. Since the story is narrated through Martha, the reader is not privy to Ivy's secret thoughts, but we learn what kind of child she is--free-spirited, creative, imaginative.

Any time one reads a changeling story, one must be prepared for surprises. Plot complications are introduced by an antagonist who represents Ivy's and Martha's opposite qualities: peer influence, devious behavior, and disrespect. It comes from Martha's neighbor, a girl their age who dominates their social scene. She tells lies about the two that irreversibly change their lives.

Things end well for Ivy, although the process is painful. Things end well for Martha because of Ivy's friendship as catalyst. It is a story well worth reading, not only for Ivy and Martha, but for your own memories if you knew a changeling.

My best friend was a "changeling" through imagination. She was free-spirited, imaginative, and the only one with a sense of humor among a cast of serious people who lived in drudgery.

Zilpha Keatley Snyder é um nome relativamente desconhecido. Mas esta autora formou toda uma nova geração de novos escritores nos Estados Unidos. Realmente são livros envolventes. Foi uma ótima terem sido republicados. Uma edição em Português faria muito sucesso.

"Changeling" é uma criança trocada pelas fadas. Segundo a lenda, as fadas, no caso de pais desatentos, furtam o bebê e o substituem por um dos deles. É um sinônimo de "diabinha".

Para quem não sabe, este livro foi o precursor de "Below the Root", da série "Green Sky". A inspiração foi uma brincadeira de infância da própria autora, que junto com uma amiga, idealizaram (e passaram a viver um pouco isso) a ficção de uma sociedade ideal, um planeta onde as pessoas habitavam árvores gigantes. Leitura recomendada, apesar dos meus 45, curti absurdamente esta linda história!

I first read The Changeling when I was 12, and its impact on my life has been so pervasive that I barely know how to begin to talk about it. It's still my favorite book, all these years later; I re-read it about once a year, and every time I notice new things about the characters and their dynamic and the magical ways they transform each other's lives. Martha is the "ordinary" one, quietly suffocating in a relentlessly narcissistic family until her friendship with Ivy transforms her and gives her the strength to become her own individual. Ivy is the "out of this world" one, determined to transcend her family's darkness and chaos; she's the spokesperson for the possibility of magic and beauty in the world, even as the ugliness of her family situation threatens to pull her down. Any capsule description can only fail to do justice to the mystery and beauty of this book, though; the story just glows with magic and wonder, in the many memorable moments and adventures the girls have, and the way they grow and change through their friendship and manage to become strong, creative people who transcend their screwed-up families. And the way that Ms. Snyder explores these themes in such a powerful and magical way that one comes away buoyed with hope and feeling transformed. It's not at all a typical exploration of childhood or adolescent angst; rather it shows the girls' journey toward adulthood and individuality as a mysterious and captivating journey, suffused with wonder.

I love reading these reviews and seeing how others have related to the characters, and how the story is complex enough that people's experiences of it change over the years. When I was a kid, I utterly identified with Ivy. Some time in my twenties I was surprised to realize how much I'm like Martha. I think this may be one of the things that makes the book so powerful -- Ivy and Martha are distinct individuals and yet they're also two halves of a whole, and their twin journeys are intricately interwoven; I imagine many readers may identify with both, and with the life journeys of the two girls as two sides of their own journey.

I also want to echo what other reviewers have said: This book deserves to be re-issued immediately; it's unbelievable that it's not currently in print. I hope the publishers will come to their senses and bring it back.