Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell

(This book was given to us, for review, by Simon & Schuster.)

Description:

Middle-schooler Isabelle Bean follows a mouse's squeak into a closet and falls into a parallel universe where the children believe she is the witch they have feared for years finally come to devour them.

Info:
Middle Grade, Fantasy
Published by Simon & Schuster
In Stores Now

Review (Note this is a discussion we had about the book):
Hey Jess, thanks for doing this with me. I think it’s great when Moms or Dads read with their kids. Let’s tell everyone how we did this.

I think it’s great too when parents spend bonding time with their kids, I was excited to read this with you. We each got a copy of this and read it, although….you took a very long time reading it.

Yeah, well sorry about that, I’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks lol

Uhhhh huhhhhh, ok.

Hey it’s not fair, you get to read at school and after homework and I have to work you know :-) Let’s talk a little about the story. What did you think about it?

I thought it was a really good book, once I started reading it I couldn’t stop reading it. What did you think of it?

Well… to me it was kind of like a modern day fairy tale. A little bit of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretel but with a modern twist and lot edgier. I think it was really good for your age. What about the book made you want to keep reading??

I don’t know really, it was just like I kept feeling like something BIG was going to happen at any moment and I couldn’t stop until I found out.

Well some big stuff did happen; let’s tell everyone a little about the story.

Well we can’t tell them everything…… Isabelle Bean (lol that’s a funny name) is in the 6th grade, but no one really likes her. She had one friend but the other kids took her away from Isabelle.

How does that make you feel? Kids can be so mean; it makes me really sad…and angry.

It makes me feel sad & angry too. I don’t think kids should take friends in the first place just because they think she is weird.

So Isabelle has trouble 'fitting in' she dresses different, she likes different things, she hears a buzzing noise. She always feels like she belongs somewhere else.

Ohhh wait, So Isabelle doesn’t fit in, so she falls in

Oh bad joke Jess. By chance one day Isabelle goes through a door at school that leads her to a different world.

She makes a friend easily there and then they have an adventure together!

Yes, they do. Let’s not give any more of the story away. Isabelle learns about friendship and family in the other world do you think this is going to affect her life when or if she goes back to the real world?

Probably. She realized that she could make friends if she wants to and that she could BE a friend.

Do you think this book teaches any lessons to kids who read it and would you recommend it to your friends to read??

Totally to both. It teaches kids to get to know people before you are mean, wait ...sorry... don’t be mean to people at all. I think some of my friends would really like this book. Oh and I think the illustrations of the plants are really cute.

(Note: Jessica is just about 10 yrs old and this book was very well suited to her age)

In celebration of our first Book review together, Jess & I would like to give away one copy of Falling In. It's definitely a Middle Grade book perfect for your daughter, son, niece, nephew or YOU. Please comment below and be sure to include your email address. We’ll pick a winner at random on Friday, March 19. (Contest open to US only)