Falling Boy

by Alison McGhee

Joseph ist 16 und sitzt im Rollstuhl. Neuerdings jobbt er in einer Bäckerei in Minneapolis und versteht sich phantastisch mit seinem Kollegen Zap. Wenn nur die 9-jährige Enzo nicht wäre - ständig hängt sie in der Bäckerei herum und nervt ihn mit ihren Fragen: Warum kann Joseph die Beine nicht mehr bewegen? Und warum hat er seine Mutter verlassen? Für Enzo ist Joseph ein Superheld, aber der will das gar nicht sein. Irgendwann wird er ihr erzählen, was wirklich geschah. Vorher aber wird er sich in die hübsche Mai verlieben ...

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Alison McGhee writes novels, picture books, poems, and essays for all ages, including the just-published THE OPPOSITE OF FATE, a novel, and the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller SOMEDAY, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages. She lives in Minneapolis and California.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a short book, it was a chore. It almost felt like somebody's creative writing assignment from college. It just never got to the point where it got "deeper". Things never are really delved into, rather most of the time I felt it was alluded to.

The characters were so eclectic that it was almost unbelievable that they all came together each day at same bakery.

[Kristine]

Can't get into this one. Stopped after 4 chapters and don't intend on picking it up again.

[Susan Melchiori-ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one weekend. Kept my attention. A must read.

[krdito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read all of Alison McGhee's books and found this one to be a bit different from her usual, upstate New York-based family dramas. This was a bit challenging to get in to, only because none of the characters except Joseph had a "normal" name and one had more than one (Big was also referred to as the beer guy), plus a lot of fantasy-based themes. Initially, I didn't think I would like it....all of the kids talking about superheroes, but I came to really like this book, loved and respected Joseph for his struggles and bravery, and felt such compassion for Enzo once her issues were revealed. Not exactly sure why Big told everyone that Joseph was a superhero, but all in all, was a really good read with themes of sadness, loneliness, and the impact of good friends.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually see the term 'quirky' as an insult, but this book has that style in a good way. Hovering between literary fiction and Young Adult, its characters each have their own eccentricities. I also enjoyed reading the author's choices about how to depict a main disabled character (since I wrote two novels with a main character who becomes a paraplegic), which worked fine, including the fantasy sequences.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a lot because I really liked Shadow Baby - but this story plods along waiting for the "big reveal(s)" which are mostly not all that surprising when they arrive. People should definitely read Shadow Baby, though.

[Alisha White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent contemporary novel about coming to terms with a new disability status and difficult family dynamics.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites. But kept reading to see if it would improve. Very bag and I would have liked more information about the characters.

[Sue Kaiser]

pretty good - boys in a bakery in minneapolis

[Buchdoktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph und Zap haben einen Job in einer Bäckerei mit angeschlossenem Café. Zap, der sich Aluringe von Getränkedosen in die Zöpfe flechtet, scheint sich nicht daran zu stören, dass Joseph Rollstuhlfahrer ist. Einzige das kleine Mädchen Enzo, das sich für die Chefin des Ganzen hält, löchert Joseph mit der Frage, ob seine Beine schmerzen und ob er wohl ein Superheld sein könnte. Die Neunjährige schleppt ein Insulin-Pen mit sich herum, dem sie die magischen Fähigkeiten einer Geheimwaffe angedichtet hat. Da in dieser Geschichte keine nicht bizarren Figuren auftreten, trifft Joseph beim Schwimmen einen alten Mann, der als Erinnerung an seine Frau eine Badekappe trägt, obwohl er längst keine Haare mehr hat. Alle Figuren wirken durch ihre höchst sonderbaren Ideen, als würden sie einen geheimnisvollen Dialekt sprechen, der sich dem Leser nicht sofort erschließt. Alison McGhee löst die Rätsel um diese Kinder, die sich nur schwer selbst fühlen können, im Laufe der Handlung auf und verrät am Schluss, wie es dazu gekommen ist, das Joseph im Rollstuhl sitzt.

Sprachlich finde ich den Jugendroman bemerkenswert, frage mich jedoch, ob die Autorin darin nicht ein paar Sonderlinge zu viel versammelt. Die Reaktion einiger erwachsener Leser auf McGhees Ich lebe, lebe, lebe war Befremdung über eine (!) sonderbare vierzehnjährige Hauptfigur, die - in ihrer psychischen Verfassung durchaus nachvollziehbar - Sex mit wechselnden Partnern hatte. In Josephs superheldenfreier Geschichte kommt man aus dem Wundern gar nicht mehr heraus.

^^^^^^^^
Zitat
"Die Kinder sahen den beiden nach, dann wandten sie sich wieder dem Piratenschiff zu. Sie eroberten es zurück von dem Jungen, der sie nicht ansah, nicht mit ihnen sprach, der so groß wie sie und doch keiner von ihnen war. Joseph konnte Chas Gehirn in sich selbst spüren, sein Labyrinth, seine Wände und Türen. Beide waren sie Wesen ohne Sprache, ohne die Möglichkeit, in Worte zu fassen, was es bedeutete, ein Bienenhüter zu sein oder ein Käpt'n auf großer Fahrt auf einem Binnenmeer ohne Gezeiten." [Cha ist ein Kind mit einer Wachstumsstörung.] (S. 120)

[Rebo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, told in an interesting way.

This book takes place almost exclusively in a Minneapolis bakery during the summer. The primary focus of the story is on the lives of the two teenaged boys who work there, Zap ( the son of the bakery owner) and Joseph (the main character), plus a young girl named Enzo who likes to hang around.

The premise of the tale is based on the mysterious Joseph, a fairly recent paraplegic new to this part of the country. Enzo, who likes to call herself The Mighty Thor, is determined to find out how Joseph "hurt his legs"; all Joseph will reveal at first is that he fell. Zap, meanwhile, has spun the tale that Joseph is, in fact, a superhero from the island of bees, who saved his mother from falling off a cliff. Enzo desperately wants to believe the tale, but can't understand why, if Joseph were really a superhero, he didn't fix his legs or why he left his mother behind in New York.

The story has a fairly slow, meditative pace, and bit by bit, we begin to piece together what really happened to Joseph, why Zap and Enzo fight constantly, and why the girl always seems to hang around the bakery.

Although the characters could have been developed more, and this feels more like it should have been a short story rather than a novella, it's an interesting character study and light exploration of the obligation of being responsible for someone else. Each character has failed in this responsibility in some way, and they must come to terms with it in their own ways.

What really works well is the excellent sense of place McGee creates through her prose. I would recommend writers read this book, as you will definitely find lessons to take away.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was a perfect summer read. It could even be assigned summer reading for students going into high school or eighth grade, as it deals with coming of age and the idea of heroes. I know that the heroe's journey was a theme with my ninth grade cirriculum. This book deals with two boys, Zap and Joseph, who work in a bakery in Minneapolis. Joseph recently moved there, after having an accident that bound him to a wheelchair for life. While Joseph deals with his new surrounding and circumstances, he learns some life lessons. Zap becomes his friend, whose dad owns the bakery. They deal with many eccentric characters who come to the bakery on a daily basis, including a little nine year old girl named Enzo. Enzo is full of anger and rage; she holds a 'clickster' all the time and pretends to interview Joseph in order to find out if he really lived on a island filled with bees and can fly. This book examines the woes of being a kid/teenager and dealing with circumstances of reality that are often out of your control. Characters are very life-like, and the description in this book is very cinematic. You can see everything happening before your eyes as if you're watching a movie.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Falling Boy is the story of a group of young people who gather at a local coffee shop and develop relationships both real and imaginary. The main character, Joseph, has been in a tragic accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. A large portion of the plot deals with discovering the details of this accident and how the characters choose to react to it.

After reading Falling Boy, I think it would be a great thing to recommend to a precocious high-school reader. It deals with some heavy themes - disabilities, tragedy, alcoholism - while keeping the overall tone light and refreshing. All in all, one of the better novels I’ve read recently.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but in the end it just didn't hold up. It's a young adult novel about a 16 year old teenager, paralyzed from the waist down. He ends up living in Minneapolis, with his alcoholic father, and working at a bakery.

What is enjoyable about this book is that adults (for the most part) are not present in the world that revolves around the three main young characters. The language is pretty, but I felt that so much is repeated, that maybe this would have been best as a short story.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim last week because the cover is pretty and the book has a superhero theme. It's about a paralyzed 16-year-old and the kids he works with at a bakery, most of them living inside their own minds in a sort of fantasy world of superheroes and superfeats. The book has an air of sadness consistently, as we gradually learn how Joseph came to be paralyzed and the hard life he's led, but the writing is superb and the ending is uplifting.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was . . . okay. Easy and quick to read, but a bit odd and not that interesting . . . the story was just so random, and though the author tried to keep secrets from the reader and build anticipation by revealing little bits at a time the characters weren't well built enough for me to actually care. I felt like the writing was pretentious in that "im-trying-really-hard-to-be-deep" kind of way. The book got better as I read it . . . sort of. Actually pretty stupid.

[Veronika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didnt enjoy this nearly much as I thought I would. I couldnt really relate to any of the people, not having experience with that sort of thing. I might be missing something, but I felt it was rushed and tended to present a different aspect of everyones life and then never explained it. I dont know, I'm thinking I missed something, it was just ok for me.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet novel about a teenage boy in a wheelchair; he spends his summer working in a bakery with an eccentric boy boss and with a troubled little girl hanging around. Gradually the story of his injury comes out, though his boss has half-convinced everyone that he is a superhero. Anyway, I really liked this, and give it an A- because it drags a little.

[Lisa Hickman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think McGhee had the potential to tell a good story, but I didn't like her writing style. I thought some of the characters were annoying, and by the time I got to the end of the book, it was too late to reveal redeeming circumstances for their behavior. The only thing that kept me going was wanting to find out the true nature of Joseph's accident.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not love this book. Didn't hate it, but I just had no feelings about it. I didn't care what happened to the characters, didn't care about their feelings, their past, their future, anything. And the conversation style seemed very disjointed to me. For a YA book I had a hard time following in certain places.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read about a partially paralyzed boy and the people he interacts with daily while working in a bakery. It's a slow unfolding of what happened to him and why, as well as the relationships between him and the people around him. I loved the use of make-believe in this. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Well written.

This is the story of three kids, essentially without supervision, helping each other grow up in Minneapolis. Most of the story plays out in a bakery where two of them work on Hennepin Avenue near Lake Calhoun. A big part of the dialog is about the mystery of why Joseph is in a wheel chair and whether, as his friend declares, he is a superhero.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I liked this book. It starts out strange, but I loved the characters and that the reader slowly figures out bits and pieces of what we learn at the end. It's a good story and a short read. I recommend it.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the characters in this book and that it was completely visual. I just felt the conversations and action (rather, nonaction) were repetitious in a way that made this short little book feel drawn out.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit I bought this book because of the paper stock it was printed on. Lots of "quirky" characters and a little bit of mystery. Sort of another "young adult" novel, but pretty good. Good for reading on a plane.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The colorful, realistic chracters each struggle with pain and disappointment in their own ways. Some create imaginary superheros, while others swallow the pain and struggle internally. While the story is a little sad, it offers a hopeful ending.

[Monica Copeland · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay and the mystery was interesting at times. Mostly I found myself bored with these young characters.

[Nikku · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the book, but I felt it didn't really go anywhere...at least as far as I read.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun original story about a boy who is in a wheelchair without being about his being in a wheelchair. Has quirky characters who have strange bonds. And the ending is marvelous.

[Deanna]

I tried to read this, but just couldn't get into it.