A Soft Place to Fall

by Tanya Christenson

When he was five years old, Creighton's mother left. He and his father know she has started a career as a singer but not much more than that. Dad's work with a carnival means they have not set down roots anywhere for long and as a result Creighton does not have a formal education. When they finally settle in a small town, Creighton is 14 years old. When he starts school there he is placed in an alternate school -- which it turns out is a place for "losers" -- kids who struggle with learning.

Gradually Creighton meets other kids in his new school -- like Schooner who can't read but has his own kind of wisdom and Carin who was a victim of sexual assault when she was thirteen. There is one teacher at the school who truly cares about the students and who encourages their hopes for the future. But when she announces she is leaving at the end of the year, the students feel abandoned. School becomes irrelevant and the students are left to fend for themselves. How will they manage to survive in spite of all the personal disasters that challenge them.

424 pages, Paperback

Published October 27, 2021

About the author

Returning to her hometown of Creston BC after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre (1993) and a Bachelor of Education (1996) from the University of Victoria, Tanya has spent nineteen years teaching alternate education, grade 7, kindergarten, and special education. She also completed a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology in 2013.

Tanya is a mom and stepmom to five children and most recently loves being Nanny to two grandchildren. She and her husband enjoy life in their home on the mountain with two yellow labs and many chickens. When she is not working or writing, she loves walking her dogs on the mountain trails, camping, travelling, and spending time with her family, especially around a bonfire.

A Soft Place to Fall is her first novel.

Reviews

[Lynn Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

damn this book was something...

[Tesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right from the beginning this book draws you into the heartbreak of a young boy who just lost his mom. As a result of this loss, Creighton grows up a deeply empathetic and caring boy. Through the lens of Creighton, you meet many diverse characters who leave you feeling deep compassion in your heart. I have never read a book that oozes such love and passion for the characters. I would definitely recommend this book for teenagers, however, adults will enjoy this read as well. As a teacher reading it, I learned so much about the importance of perseverance and giving that deep love and respect to those challenging students who need that “soft place” the most.

[Sharen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book showing how a good teacher can make a world of difference for children struggling with fitting into traditional school 'boxes'. I think young people would get a lot out of this book as there is a variety of students with a variety of 'traumas' that will resonate with readers.

[Hyaa]

The counsellor at my old school wrote this lol

[Jean Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story caught me from the start with the voice of the narrator, Creighton, who navigates his own journey of loss and searching, all the while observing and sometimes participating in the journeys of the people around him. I appreciated that the author showed young people dealing with such challenges but kept a tone of hope. Gritty and at times dark, yes. But so much hope and goodness. I can see teachers and school librarians sharing this book in their schools because it will resonate with so many kids - and adults, too.

[Harriet Zaidman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creighton has been bounced around all his life, and now he's falling off the edge. In his new school, he discovers support he never expected, in ways he never expected. His journey isn't easy, but he finds resiliency and maturity he couldn't have imagined.

[Pam Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tackles some heavy topics: rape, violence, teen pregnancy and family dysfunction. Its theme is resilience, and it’s a gripping read. The characters are distinctive and memorable, and most exhibit solid character growth by the end. The dialogue is authentic, even if the book is more description than conversation-infused.

Ratchet shook his head to the beat, singing along. Schooner stood on the bed and joined in. He grabbed the pillow and pretended he was dancing with a girl, smiling as he belted out each word. Carina and I had never seen this side of Schooner. Out of the blue, Carin reached for my hand and pulled me up from the chair, singing.

Sometimes the description tells rather than shows what’s happening:

Dad rarely asked me questions about my life. When I offered information, hoping for some kind of conversation, he seemed uninterested. He’d go back to reading his paper or watching TV. I was used to dealing with things on my own.

But more often than not, the writing shines:

Carlos had dark greasy hair that stuck out the sides of his black hoodie. His skin was white and pasty, with unhealed sores all around his mouth. Acne scars signaled a battle he had lost all too often, and his Guns N’ Roses hoodie pressed tightly against the rolls of skin that hung over his ripped jeans.

There’s one drawback. Although told from the first-person point of view of Creighton, the anointed teen protagonist, the story is somewhat hijacked. Creighton is heavily overshadowed by an adult character: the teacher who seems to “save” all the misfits who end up in her alternative school.
Heavily admired by her teen students, seemingly perfect, and the penultimate role model of what teachers everywhere should be, Ms. Hays dominates about two-thirds of the book.

I thought about my other schools, the many classrooms and teachers. But I had never had a teacher like Ms. Hay. No one before had made me feel so cared for… No one was as kind as her. No one had ever welcomed me like she did. No one loved their students the way she loved us… Ms. Hay knew how to make us feel good, when nothing else in our lives was working.

It’s almost as if the teen characters are her supporting cast, the better with which to shine the spotlight on her. And of all those teens, Creighton is the least interesting because he has suffered the least childhood trauma.
Young-adult novels need young-adult protagonists and heroes. And those heroes need to be flawed to be believable. When an adult elbows their way into the story – an adult who is portrayed as virtually saint-like – the book begins to lose its young-adult credentials.
It doesn’t help that Creighton is less a protagonist than a narrator throughout, and has no particular flaws himself. The story is filtered through his eyes and ears. His far more interesting classmates’ lives, personalities and antics are related through his senses and presence, yet very little happens to him until near the end, and even there he does not feel like a central character. Nor is he riddled with violent tendencies, overriding sadness or a need to run and hide, like his classmates. He’s not as perfect as Ms. Hays, but he’s bland and steady. It allows him to serve as a counterfoil to the teens suffering around him, but doesn’t quite justify his credentials as the lead character.
Curiously, too, the book begins as Creighton turns five, and it takes several chapters for him to reach his teens. That makes the book read initially like an elementary or middle-grade novel, with the obvious risk that teens will abandon it. Perhaps revealing Creighton’s early life in back-flashes farther into the story would have been wiser.
All that being said, however, the edgy issues are well and bravely handled, and the students are fully drawn and fascinating characters (perhaps with the exception of Creighton). Readers willing to overlook the teacher’s sainthood and Creighton’s low profile will find a compelling read in their hands. This debut author (a teacher and elementary school counsellor) is definitely a writer to watch.
This review also appears at www.YAdudebooks.ca

[Heather Kidd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rate 3.5 stars

The book begins with a young teenager who is misunderstood by all the adults in his life. His mom abruptly left him when he was five and he never knew why. His dad was aloof and emotionally disengaged even though he did stick around to raise his son on his own. Eventually Creighton is sent to a school for kids who can’t make it in the regular school. He is welcomed by the teacher who makes him feel seen and valued. In fact she makes all the students feel that way despite their challenging personalities.

I found the story started out simple and grew in complexity. At first I thought it would be a good story for younger teens but changed my mind as I reached the middle of the book.
Warning: There are scenes where the characters deal with the after effects of sexual assault, abuse, fighting, death, pregnancy, kidnapping, etc… Just about every character deals with trauma or abuse in some form and it might be triggering.

The story is meant to show how we need to look past surface behaviours of difficult kids. That there are reasons they act the way they do. To find ways to connect with them on their terms.

It was a very readable story and for the most part I enjoyed it. Not every problem for the characters is fixed but most found ways to resolve or redeem their past and move forward into their future and break free of the generational cycles holding them down.

I enjoyed the quotes Mrs. Hayward gave her students. She truly is the type of teacher every kid would love to have and I could appreciate her methods and her patience.

One part that bothered me is when one of the characters was given a puppy to care for after a pretty traumatic experience and was in no condition to care for a dog. This character couldn’t even care for himself. In the book it worked out but I think it sets a naive precedent. I know the thought was the puppy would bring comfort and give him something to care for. It’s a nice scene, unfortunately I’ve seen far too many people bring animals into similar situations but have completely failed the animal and made things worse. An animal can be incredibly comforting for people who’ve experienced trauma but shouldn’t become the responsibility of that person until they they’ve healed and are responsible enough to care for themselves first. (I’ve also seen people have children for this same reason… and it so very rarely makes a person grow up and become responsible as this book showed so well. That sentiment should have been extended to the puppy.) Anyway, that’s pretty much was my one beef.

Otherwise it’s a thoughtful and hopeful story. One that I think will especially appeal to middle school and high school teachers and inspire them to keep looking for the good in their students.

[Alyssa Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cursory glance at the YA section reveals a lot of faeries/witches/dystopian planets so a story with normalish human kids has my attention. But hang on, this novel has all the elements of a Stephen King novel: slightly creepy town, marginalized kids, multigenerational trauma, and--as the plot develops--some pretty high stakes. At the start it feels like anything could happen. Maybe a body in the woods? Or teen vampires? Poltergeist pets?

Not this book. In fact it was a retro-pleasure to read a book with plausible characters and a plot driven by the kind of anxiety you used to find in 1980s Scholastic teen novels. It's competently written and has a lot of compassion for teens, and the ways they try so desperately to control their lives.

[Denne Lepage-Ahlefeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so very good! I cannot recommend it enough. It is a YA adult about kids in the annex education program in a small town in BC. Written by a local teacher/counseller. Wonderfully written with very relatable and likeable characters!

[Pat Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such poignant characterisation and descriptions; I could see and hear them all.
A must read for parents and teachers let alone teenagers.
Should be a school text book.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read, interesting characters that pull you in and make you want to know their story.