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Falling Boy
"Did you really rescue your mother from a fate worse than death on a cliff overlooking the sea?"
After a mysterious accident left him paralyzed, sixteen-year-old Joseph finds himself living with his father in Minneapolis and working hot summer days in a bakery. What happened to the life he used to live? How did he come to be here? Although they approach the mystery in different ways, two people in Joseph's new life--seventeen-year-old Zap, who also works in the bakery, and Enzo, a fierce and funny nine-year-old girl--both want to find out.
"Are you really a superhero?" whispers Enzo, who secretly longs for her world to be transformed. "Please be a superhero."
Stoically quiet, Joseph has never thought of himself as a superhero, especially now that he is in a wheelchair and can't feel his legs. But others disagree. Who is the hero? Who is the enemy? Is redemption possible, and if so, where is it to be found? In Alison McGhee's strange and powerful Falling Boy, a small band of tough kids turn the myth of the superhero inside out as they face down the shadows of childhood.
After a mysterious accident left him paralyzed, sixteen-year-old Joseph finds himself living with his father in Minneapolis and working hot summer days in a bakery. What happened to the life he used to live? How did he come to be here? Although they approach the mystery in different ways, two people in Joseph's new life--seventeen-year-old Zap, who also works in the bakery, and Enzo, a fierce and funny nine-year-old girl--both want to find out.
"Are you really a superhero?" whispers Enzo, who secretly longs for her world to be transformed. "Please be a superhero."
Stoically quiet, Joseph has never thought of himself as a superhero, especially now that he is in a wheelchair and can't feel his legs. But others disagree. Who is the hero? Who is the enemy? Is redemption possible, and if so, where is it to be found? In Alison McGhee's strange and powerful Falling Boy, a small band of tough kids turn the myth of the superhero inside out as they face down the shadows of childhood.
- GenresYoung AdultFiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
2 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Alison McGhee
67Ìýbooks396ÌýfollowersAlison 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 3, 2009
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.
The characters were so eclectic that it was almost unbelievable that they all came together each day at same bakery.
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August 17, 2009Can't get into this one. Stopped after 4 chapters and don't intend on picking it up again.
March 7, 2014
I read this book in one weekend. Kept my attention. A must read.
July 20, 2019
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.
August 14, 2019
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.
May 15, 2019
Excellent contemporary novel about coming to terms with a new disability status and difficult family dynamics.
February 20, 2021
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.
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October 13, 2022pretty good - boys in a bakery in minneapolis
August 17, 2013
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 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)
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 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)
September 27, 2011
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.
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.
August 3, 2011
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.
January 10, 2008
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.
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.
June 15, 2007
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.
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.
April 24, 2007
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.
February 25, 2008
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.
August 28, 2007
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.
December 23, 2007
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.
September 3, 2009
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.
August 31, 2009
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.
August 20, 2009
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.
October 22, 2015
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.
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.
February 25, 2008
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.
July 30, 2008
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.
September 9, 2008
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.
December 3, 2008
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.
June 22, 2007
The book was okay and the mystery was interesting at times. Mostly I found myself bored with these young characters.
March 21, 2009
I liked the idea of the book, but I felt it didn't really go anywhere...at least as far as I read.
January 29, 2008
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.
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April 14, 2008I tried to read this, but just couldn't get into it.
September 19, 2008
A story of the adventures of a boy, his friend, and a young girl who ponder the meaning of the term "superhero". They find what is truly amazing about the path we all travel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
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