Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Falling In

O'Roark Dowell, F. (2010). Falling In. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Plot: Isabelle Bean is different from the other children at her middle school and from her mom. She doesn't have any friends, either. She likes to talk in riddles and dress different, like wearing these red, pointy-toed boots. One day she notices buzzing in her ears and starts listening to it rather than her teacher, who isn't amused and sends her to the principal's office.

Isabelle falls through a door at the school nurse's office into a different world where everyone is afraid of a witch, so parents have their children moved around differnt camps so the witch won't find them and kill them. When she wanders into one of these camps the children there think she is a witch. So she goes in the direction where she can find the witch because she's curious and likes adventure. She meets Hen, who has lost her siblings on their way to camp.

Isabelle and Hen are found by an old woman named Grete, an herbal healer. Isabelle has hurt her ankle and Grete nurses her back to health. While staying with Grete because it is safe, Isabelle finds some very interesting things about herself, Grete and her mother, as well as the tale of the wicked witch supposedly terrorizing this other world.

Suggested reading level: Grades 5-8.

Genre: Fantasy

Character description:

Isabelle Bean- Always knew there was something different about herself, finds out what it is while in another world.

Hen- Scared of the evil witch, has to take care of her siblings, has a knack for herbal medicine.

Grete- Once married and had a family, child taken by fairies, knows herbal medicine, lives in the woods.

Jacob- Hen's brother, thinks Grete is a witch and almost kills her, by accident.

Other Books by this author:
  •  Shooting the Moon
  • Chicken Boy
  • Where I'd like to be
  • Dovey Coe
Annotation: What would you do if you fell into another world that is being terrorized by a witch? Would you go looking for that witch? Isabelle Bean plans to do just that, and her lifelong feelings of knowing that she is different and wanting to know why will be answered during her adventure.

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