FALLING IN by Frances O'Roark Dowell (2010)
About the book
Do you hear that? The buzzing sound? There it is again. Bzzzzzz. No? Well, I really shouldn't have asked. Most people can't hear it, anyway. But, if you could, you'd think it sounds like you're teetering on the edge of the universe. That's what Isabelle Bean thinks...and she's not that far from the truth.
Bzzzzzz.
You really don't hear that?
Well, it's actually not that great to have a buzzing in your ear. It's distracting for one thing. And when Isabelle starts listening to the buzz instead of, say, her boring teacher, strange things happen. She gets sent to the principal's office (that's not so strange), but then, while awaiting her punishment, she tumbles into an adventure -- into another world that's a little bit different, a little bit Hansel and Gretel-y, a little bit like a fairy tale, which would be great, but...did I mention that Isabelle is an unusual dresser? When she shows up in fairy-tale land wearing her favorite high, pointy boots, the fairy-tale people start thinking that Isabelle is a witch -- and not just any witch, but the witch!
From Edgar Award-winning author Frances O'Roark Dowell comes the unlikely story of Isabelle Bean -- an ultimate misfit, an outsider extraordinaire and not a witch!
My thoughts
This looked interesting, so I got it out of the library. It took me awhile to get around to reading it and my enthusiasm for it had waned. But I got my courage together and started in. I didn't like it. It was strange. One of the weirdest books I had ever read and I just couldn't get into it. I was at work, however, and lunch to boot. I didn't want to leave the table to look for something else. So I continued on. About five chapters in I started to enjoy it more. By the end of the book I was glad I had read it. It's still one of the strangest books ever, but the story was intriguing. I don't think it would be a book I would read again though. I'm not even going to look for her other books.
