Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

First published: 1972

Subjects: Family and the supernatural

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Fantasy

Time of work: The early 1970’s

Recommended Ages: 10-15

Locale: New York City

Principal Characters:

• Annabel Andrews, a thirteen-year-old girl who spends a day in her mother’s body
• Ben Andrews (“Ape Face”), Annabel’s despised younger brother
• Ellen Andrews, Annabel’s mother, who spends the day in Annabel’s body
• Bill Andrews, Annabel’s father, an account executive for an advertising agency
• Boris Harris, the son of the upstairs neighbor, the object of Annabel’s teenage crush
• Mrs. Schmauss, the Andrews’ housekeeper and baby-sitter
• Mr. Dilk, the school principal
• Dr. Artunian, the school psychologist
• Miss McGuirk, Annabel’s homeroom teacher
• Mr. Frampton, and
• Mrs. Frampton, clients of Annabel’s father

Form and Content

Freaky Friday is told as the first-person narrative of thirteen-year-old Annabel Andrews. The story opens as Annabel suddenly wakes to find that she inhabits the body of her thirty-five-year-old mother, Ellen. After Annabel’s father (Ellen’s husband) and her little brother (Ellen’s son) leave for work and school, Annabel can freely explore the possibilities of her strange situation. She is delighted with her mother’s body, especially with her teeth, which are white and straight—and without Annabel’s braces. She is also delighted that she does not have to go to school, since she has not even begun her overdue English assignment.

Because she now lives in her mother’s body, Annabel decides to do “motherly” chores. First, she tries laundry, overfills the machine, and puts in too much detergent; the washing machine promptly overflows and stops. After the repairman whom she calls promises to be there next week, Mrs. Schmauss, the housekeeper, arrives. Because Annabel has disliked Mrs. Schmauss for years, she and Annabel “have words,” and Annabel fires her. Annabel then brushes her mother’s beautiful straight teeth, dresses in one of her mother’s slinky black outfits better suited to evening wear, experiments at her mother’s makeup table, and generally has a good time playing grownup.

After lunch, Annabel goes to the liquor store to restock the liquor cabinet. On her way home, still wearing the slinky black outfit, she encounters a police officer and a crowd of onlookers gathered around a wailing child. The little boy is her brother, Ben—Annabel has forgotten to meet the school bus. Noting Annabel’s outfit and the shopping bag full of liquor, the officer draws the obvious conclusion, but Ben defends Annabel, whom he believes to be his mother. The crowd disperses, the police officer leaves, and Annabel and Ben go home.

Later, Annabel’s father calls to remind his wife of her parent-teacher conference about Annabel that afternoon. Since Annabel has fired Mrs. Schmauss, who usually does the baby-sitting, no one is available to watch Ben while Annabel goes to the conference. She calls Boris, the son of their upstairs neighbor and the object of Annabel’s crush, to ask him to baby-sit Ben.

As her mother, Annabel attends the parent-teacher conference, during which she alternately defends and criticizes herself as a student. After the meeting, Annabel returns home to find Ben missing. When she asks Boris what happened, he says that a beautiful young girl came to the door and took Ben out for ice cream. Annabel immediately assumes that the girl has kidnapped Ben, and she calls the police.

Totally overwhelmed by the stresses of living in an adult body and meeting adult expectations, Annabel collapses on her bed, crying and calling for her mother. Suddenly, Annabel’s mind transfers to her own body and Annabel’s mother, in mind and body, appears there beside her. Ellen explains that Ben is not missing: He has been out with Annabel, the beautiful young girl whom Boris described. Annabel is disbelieving and claims that Boris considers her an ugly girl with a mouth full of metal. Ellen explains that she has spent the day in Annabel’s body and that she went to the orthodontist to have Annabel’s braces removed. Looking in the mirror, Annabel sees herself as a lovely girl with beautiful, white, straight teeth.

After Annabel and her mother recount the day’s events to each other. Boris comes downstairs to see what has happened. He and Annabel, minus her mouth full of metal, get reacquainted.

Critical Context

Although not usually taught as part of the educational curriculum, Freaky Friday appears frequently on summer reading lists and lists of extra-credit book review choices. Critics find that beneath what seems to be fanciful fluff is a sturdy foundation of good behavior modeling for young adolescent girls. In the novel, every problem has a solution; every conflict, a resolution. Annabel’s newly acquired genuine appreciation for her parents, her little brother, her teachers, and her schoolwork strains credibility only if the reader expects literal truth.

Mary Rodgers is the daughter of Richard Rodgers, the renowned composer of Broadway musicals, and is a well-known screenwriter, composer, and lyricist in her own right. Outside of the field of children’s literature, she is probably best known for having written the score for the Broadway musical Once upon a Mattress (1959). Her other children’s books include The Rotten Book (1969), about a naughty little boy named Simon. In addition, she has written two sequels to Freaky Friday: A Billion for Boris (1974), describing Boris’ acquisition of a television set that broadcasts tomorrow’s programs, and Summer Switch (1982), which describes a switch between Annabel’s brother, Ben, and their father, Bill. In 1977, Rodgers wrote the screenplay for the Walt Disney Studios film version of Freaky Friday.

Mary Rodgers’ books for both children and young adults fall into the entertainment category: While providing a pleasurable reading experience, they also offer to the thoughtful reader the opportunity to “walk a mile in another’s shoes.”