Claireβs life is a jokeΒ .Β .Β . but sheβs not laughing. While her friends seem to be leaping forward, she's dancing in the same place. The mean girls at school are living up to their mean name, and thereβs a boy, Ryder, whoβs just as bad, if not worse. And at home, nobodyβs really listening to herβif anything, they seem to be more in on the joke than she is.
Then into all of this (not-very-funny-to-Claire) comedy comes something intense and tragicβwhile her dad is talking to her at the kitchen table, he falls over with a medical emergency. Suddenly the joke has become very seriousβand the only way Claire, her family, and her friends are going to get through it is if they can find a way to make it funny again.
Praise for Falling Over Sideways
βItβs a powerful and profound look at a family coping with unexpected change.β βPublishers Weekly, starred review
βAuthentic, funny, dramatic, fantastic.β βKirkus Reviews
Β β[Sonnenblick]does an exceedingly good job developing his adolescent charactersΒ .Β .Β . I would highly recommend this novel for any collection serving a middle school audience.β βSchool Library Journal