SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

October 3, 2016 by Robin Willis

Middle School Monday: Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick (Book Review)

October 3, 2016 by Robin Willis   1 comments

MSM1

From the publisher:

Claire’s life is a joke . . . but she’s not laughing. While her friends seem to be leaping forward, she’s dancing in the same place. The mean girls at school are living up to their mean name, and there’s a boy, Ryder, who’s just as bad, if not worse. And at home, nobody’s really listening to her — if anything, they seem to be more in on the joke than she is.
Then into all of this (not-very-funny-to-Claire) comedy comes something intense and tragic — while her dad is talking to her at the kitchen table, he falls over with a medical emergency. Suddenly the joke has become very serious — and the only way Claire, her family, and her friends are going to get through it is if they can find a way to make it funny again.

Sonnenblick has written a story that is, in some ways, very similar to his previous Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. The main character is dealing with a devastating illness in the family (her father has a stroke), plays an instrument, and is in a bit of denial. But it is a very loose framework on which to hang a new story. It is also similar to all of his other novels in that he does an exceedingly good job developing his adolescent characters.

9780545863247_xlgIn Falling Over Sideways, Claire is a fully realized and richly detailed 8th grade girl. She is a dancer, a saxophone player, a sister, a daughter, a friend, an enemy, a victim. Sonnenblick has done an amazing job bringing Claire to life, although I’m not the least surprised given his track record. He shows us both her internal and external struggles as she deals with everything the world throws at the average 8th grade girl, including the struggle of having your period.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Claire’s relationships, especially those with her family, are well imagined. Her father, upon waking after his stroke, calls her ‘Piggie’ from a game they played when she was younger. He calls her brother by his name. This bothers Claire because she views her brother as being perfect, so of course her father would remember his name. She’s startled when confronted by her brother that he views it as just another sign of how much closer she is to their father than him, that he has a nickname for her. The novel is full of small details like these that add together to provide a detailed view of a young girl’s life.

I would highly recommend this novel for any collection serving a middle school audience.

Filed under: Middle School Monday

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Robin Willis

After working in middle school libraries for over 20 years, Robin Willis now works in a public library system in Maryland.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

May 2017

(Not so) Middle School Monday: In Which I Attend a State Library Conference

by Robin Willis

May 2017

Middle School Monday: Teens, Body Image and Wonder Woman

by Robin Willis

April 2017

Middle School Monday: Fangirling from Afar

by Robin Willis

March 2017

Middle School Monday: Jumpstart Creative Writing with Storybird Poetry

by Robin Willis

February 2017

Middle School Monday: Mondays that Don’t Sparkle

by Robin Willis

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Global Read Aloud Books Announced

"Hip-Hop Isn’t Just Music, It’s a Culture" | An Interview with Tiffany D. Jackson

“It’s Not Nancy Drew Out There": Writing Tough Topics for Teens

Teen Screams: YA Horror for Every Kind of Reader

Truth Teller, A. S. King | The Year in SLJ Covers

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kenzie delinski says

    April 30, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    i dont really understand this book because it doesnt really have a resolution or a start- maybe not even a main point

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023