There are two things Jane Johnson dislikes passionately--tomato stew and her new teacher, Miss Eldora Coffin, the meanest teacher in Lowry School. An unhappy fifth-grader sentenced to serve out her school year in a mixed class of fifth and sixth graders, Jane is befriended by Richard Whitcomb (Dick to his friends), the most popular boy in Lowry School. But Dick has a flip side and he unexpectedly turns on Jane, harassing her at every opportunity and making her life a nightmare. Jane thinks his bullying is her fault and endures it until he finally goes too far. Help comes from two unexpected sources--one human; the other vegetable--exposing Dick for the bully he is and revealing his dark family secret.Set against the backdrop of wartime America in the waning days of World War II, The Flip-flop Year deals with such themes as bullying and integrity; rationing and the war effort, while chronicling the flip-flop relationships of ten year-old Jane Johnson with her teacher and Richard.