Kat's Fall

by Shelley Hrdlitschka

Darcy's mother is getting out of jail. Ten years ago she was convicted of throwing Darcy's baby sister off a fifth floor balcony. Kat survived, but Darcy has spent the last decade raising his sister, giving her the love and support she has been denied by an absent mother and an uncaring father. Now, with their mother about to be released, their father has decided he has had enough of parental responsibility and is determined to return the children to their mother's care. Darcy is horrified, and adamant that he will not subject his sister to the woman who once tried to murder her. Struggling to understand and control the anger and resentment that has consumed him, Darcy is forced to confront his feelings and engage with the outside world. With newfound friendships and the unflagging support of his teacher, Darcy is able to understand some of the pain of the past and accept that he cannot control everything. As he grudgingly re-establishes ties with the mother he thinks he hates, he is accused of a horrific act. It will take incredible strength--his own and others--to fight the charges, but he finds that truth is often an elusive concept and that trust--and love--are powerful allies.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen, Canada, Contemporary

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Shelley discovered her love for children’s literature while teaching school. This inspired her to write her own books, and she is now the author of eleven novels for teens, all published by Orca Book Publishers.

Shelley lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia. When she’s not reading or writing she can be found hiking, snowshoeing, practising yoga, Zumba dancing or hanging out with the grizzly bears at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife.

Reviews

[Ariatna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honesty fell in live with this book. It has a bit of brotherly sister love along with a lot of drama in this book. I would recommend this because Shelley (author) writes a story about Darcy the (main character) and his little sister Kat. Darcy has always been there for Kat when she needed him. They both are neglected of care by their dad but, their mom has been in jail for a century. She dropped Kat off the 5th floor balcony which lead her to having so many seizure attacks she accidentally did this because she didn't realize that Kat was deft. This incident was an accident and a misunderstanding, people thought that she dropped Kat off the balcony. But what really happened was that Darcy at age 4 was watching tv and saw a person drop a cat off a floor and the cat landed on its feet, he tried this with Kat because he thought she would land on her feet. Darcy never remembered doing this. His mom toke the blame for it because she wanted to get better from using drugs, if they took her they would give treatment. Their mom got out of jail the first few chapters, Darcy and Kat started to enjoy having a mom around. After a few weeks everything is okay, until. Darcy is accused of sexually assaulting Sammy a 4 year old girl who Darcy takes care of. The police had a misunderstanding on who Sammy was referring to because she only signed the person who hurt her was a person called D. After a long week Sammy tried to explain that she called Darcy D, but she also calls her uncle that too. Darcy finally going to get his "normal" life back.

[Doc Harley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Review
While this book was very dark, I enjoyed most of it. It is sad that Darcy cut himself, and that Kat was thrown off the balcony at all in the first place. It gets interesting when the plot takes a huge turn as Darcy realizes he has no reason to hate his mother at all. I like that the book ends with a great understanding and I hope that (even while they are fictional characters) there is efficient recovery.
Summary
The main character in ¨Kat´s Fall¨ is a troubled youth named Darcy. Darcy hates almost everything in his life, including his abusive father, his mother (or lack thereof), and the necessary interaction that comes with the school for troubled individuals that he attends. Just when he though it couldn't get any worse, he sees the article in the newspaper stating that his mom will be soon released from prison. While Darcy has trouble loving his mother again, he has flashbacks of him being the one that threw Kat off the balcony. He is also confronted with terrible charges of rape against Kat and the child he has been babysitting. In the end his name is cleared and he admits to the town that he threw Kat off the balcony.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to people who want a quick, sad book. It is slightly emotionally investing but it's nothing special. This book appeals to a teenager audience of lower level literacy.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It was exciting and super unexpected and twisted ending.

[Nick Loehrke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Name: Lick Noehrke

Book title: Kat’s fall

Personal response: I thought the book was good. I liked most of the characters. I didn’t like Darcy’s mom.

Plot summary: Darcy’s mom is getting out of prison. She was convicted of attempted murder when she pushed her infant daughter off a balcony. Darcy’s mom went to prison so Darcy had to take care of his sister. Now Darcy is 15 and his mother is being released from prison. The entire town is upset about her returning and so is Darcy. Darcy’s dad sees this as an opportunity to stop parenting. He plans on taking Kat and Darcy to live with their mom. Darcy is horrified to live with the woman who tried to kill his sister. During all of this, Darcy is accused of sexually assaulting Sammy. Sammy is the 5 year old who Darcy babysits for. After many days of police visits and meetings, it is found out that it was Sammy’s uncle who did it. Darcy’s dad takes Darcy to visit his mom. When Darcy sees Kat waving at him from the fifth floor, he has a flashback to Kat falling and seeing her looking up at him. He realizes he was the one who pushed off the balcony. Darcy’s anger towards his mom fades away and everything else works out.

Characterization: In the beginning Darcy is a normal teenager. When he sees in the paper that his mom is coming back, he becomes very quiet and angry. When he is accused of sexually assaulting Sammy, he feels powerless. Darcy becomes a more understanding person and is happier in the end.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to high school students. Parts of the story and feelings of the characters can be applied to a lot of students. I would also recommend this to someone who needs a goodread in just a few days.

[Stacey DeVries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kat's Fall is a really interesting book that kept me wanting to read more. This book would be good for you if you like adventurous books. The book has so many twisted turns that will make you want to keep reading. This book reminded me of Crabbe. Crabbe went falling over a waterfall and for th rest of the book is still recovering from the fall. Kat falls in the book and is stuck with loss of hearing for the rest of her life. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

[Andrew Navarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the book, I thought it would be boring and not interesting, but I tried reading it anyways. Then as I started to go through the pages, I started liking it. It was a shocking book because I didn’t think that would have happened. Therefore, I read all of it, and found the book interesting.

[Ell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book.

[Ambrose Malles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book through a website that lumped it into the same wheelhouse as an S.E Hinton novel. Although the writing was a great deal clunkier then a Hinton novel, it was sweet, and definitely better than I expected going in. Darcy is unlikeable, he doesn't change, he remains unlikable throughout the novel, and I love that honestly. There's some incredibly dark topics covered during this novel, and I think that for the most part, they are fairly articulately and truthfully written. They don't dramatize or heroize the topics (13 Reasons Why, I'm looking at you) which is most important to me when reading dark media. Give this novel a try, and don't immediately give up on it, and I think you'll find it's quite the hidden Gem (Pun intended).

Read Primarily Because: Found through https://www.meetnewbooks.com/.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book back in 2005 when I was in grade 5.It was on the shelves at my elementary school library. Looking back as an adult, this book was not suitable for a K-6 school library 😅

However, this book resonated with me because I was also a self-harmer and related to why Darcy hurt himself. This was the first piece of literature that I had ever come across that resonated with me in that sense. So I am nostalgic and attached to it for those reasons.

I will say though that the book itself feels short and could have a bit more to it.

[On My SlOw FlOw NaMeAn · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thnk this book is good because it keeps you in suspense also it can show you how badly a mother can treat her child she through her baby out the window on the 5th floor!! i think thats insane

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. That's about all I can say.

[Cristal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had me at the edge of my seat.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great young adult book, interesting twist to end.

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 3 out of 5]

good becoming-of-age book, read it as MYRCA