Fear of Falling by Hannah R. Goodman

I read a sample chapter of this book on the author's website and thought it was very well written and intriguing, so I asked the author if I could have my wife and daughter read it for the review.

The book stands alone well, but is part of a series about the main character.  A junior in high-school, she is a writer for the student paper and faces a dilemma when an anonymous gay student asks her to write an article about the homophobia in the school.  She writes it, but then is blocked by her principal and teacher from publishing.  Should she go against their wishes?

My wife and daughter (age 10) found the story to be well written and the character enjoyable.  However, it was not an outstanding book.  My precocious 10 year old described the book as feeling a lot like one episode of a TV show.
My wife had a few issues with the references to 80s pop culture.  She understood them obviously, because she grew up in the 80s.  But the teens in this book's target audience likely wouldn't have much familiarity with Terms of Endearment or the Princess Bride (my daughter got that one because it's one of Mom's favorite movies :o).  She also questioned whether these issues would really be the kind kids deal with in 11th grade, or if it might be more like 9th grade.  But we don't really know what high-school's like now as our kids are young and we're a decade and half removed from that time in our lives.  She found herself intrigued by elements of the main character's background - her family and tragic past, and may read some of the earlier novels about the character.

warning this book has some mild foul language and deals with sexuality - reader discretion is advised

3 out of 5 stars

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