Ready to Fall

Title:

Ready to Fall

A Novel

Author:

Pixley, Marcella

Subject:

Emotions & Feelings

Theater & Musicals

Depression

Social Themes

Young Adult Fiction

Performing Arts

Description:

A young adult novel about a teen who finds hope and a fresh start after a terrible loss, and learns that being strong means letting go. When Max Friedman's mother dies of cancer, instead of facing his loss, Max imagines that her tumor has taken up residence in his brain. It's a terrible tenant, isolating him from family, distracting him in school, and taunting him mercilessly about his manhood. With the tumor in charge, Max implodes, slipping farther and farther away from reality. Finally, Max is sent to the artsy, off-beat Baldwin School to regain his footing. He joins a group of theater misfits in a steam-punk production of Hamlet where he becomes friends with Fish, a girl with pink hair and a troubled past, and The Monk, an edgy upperclassman who refuses to let go of the things he loves. For a while, Max almost feels happy. But his tumor is always lurking in the wings-until one night it knocks him down and Max is forced to face the truth, not just about the tumor, but about how hard it is to let go of the past. At turns lyrical, haunting, and triumphant, Ready to Fall is a story of grief, love, rebellion and starting fresh from acclaimed author Marcella Pixley.

Publisher:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Date:

2017-11-28

Digital Format:

HOOPLA E BOOK

Summary

A young adult novel about a teen who finds hope and a fresh start after a terrible loss, and learns that being strong means letting go.

When Max Friedman's mother dies of cancer, instead of facing his loss, Max imagines that her tumor has taken up residence in his brain. It's a terrible tenant--isolating him from family, distracting him in school, and taunting him mercilessly about his manhood. With the tumor in charge, Max implodes, slipping farther and farther away from reality.

Finally, Max is sent to the artsy, off-beat Baldwin School to regain his footing. He joins a group of theater misfits in a steam-punk production of Hamlet where he becomes friends with Fish, a girl with pink hair and a troubled past, and The Monk, an edgy upperclassman who refuses to let go of the things he loves. For a while, Max almost feels happy. But his tumor is always lurking in the wings--until one night it knocks him down and Max is forced to face the truth, not just about the tumor, but about how hard it is to let go of the past. At turns lyrical, haunting, and triumphant, Ready to Fall is a story of grief, love, rebellion and starting fresh from acclaimed author Marcella Pixley.

Author Notes

Marcella Pixley is a teacher and the author of two previous books for teens, Freak , a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and Without Tess , which was described in a starred review in School Library Journal as "[a] lyrical,heartrending novel." She lives in Westford, Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The first time Max Friedman's mother gets cancer, he's five. The second time, he's 16 and it's a fatal brain tumor. Needing to keep something of his mother with him, Max invites her tumor into his own brain; it soon takes over, making it impossible for him to concentrate on anything, and his grades suffer. A progressive private school seems like the answer, and Max gets involved with the theater kids, including the radiantly pink-haired Fish. Pixley (Without Tess) uses the school production of Hamlet and the theater milieu effectively-the book's title refers to trust-fall exercises, a common theater practice. It's an act that takes courage, and over the course of the story, Max moves toward being willing to do it. The process involves his father, grandmother, a supremely cranky writing teacher, Fish, and even her on-again off-again boyfriend. Max's interactions with the tumor are an odd but appropriate metaphor for the sorrow, fear, guilt, and lousy coping strategies of grieving. When Max finds community with others-who are just as damaged but striving to be happy-it's rewarding and touching. Ages 14-up. Agent: Victoria Wells Arms, Wells Arms Literary. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Max Friedman is continually taunted by his dead mother's tumor, which he believes is inside his brian. After transferring to an arts school, he participates with five new eccentric friends in the school's Gothic/steampunk production of Hamlet. This compounds Max's growing existential crisis until he's forced to finally confront his loss and grief. Pixley's poetic prose is full of raw emotions, vivid imagery, and a touch of morbid humor. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Desperate to cling to something of his mother's after her death, 16-year-old Max believes he has invited her tumor into his brain and that it is slowly killing him.Max is increasingly withdrawn, lost, and strange. His father, desperate to help him with his grief, enrolls him in an exclusive school filled with eccentric artists. There, Max meets Fish, a bubbly girl with pink hair, and her band of misfit friends. Max also meets the curmudgeonly creative-writing teacher, who uses unorthodox methods to force Max to talk about his pain. He has a breakthrough during a staging of Hamlet, in which each cast member is forced to confront his or her own ghosts. Max's tightrope walk between sanity and insanity will resonate with anyone suffering from a loss. While he must find a way to live again, it takes the combined efforts of his wild friends, his devoted family, and a few dedicated and eccentric teachers. Lyrical prose, fresh and compelling images, and unforgettable characters create an experience that will stay with readers far past the last page. The principals are white and Jewish, but the school boasts students of many races, religions, and sexual orientations. Grief becomes something oddly beautifuland beautifully odd. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Ever since his mother's death, young graphic artist Max Friedman has obsessed over the tumor that claimed her life. He imagines that it has taken up residence in his brain, plotting his downfall. Meanwhile, his father has enrolled him at an arts high school, where Max might flourish if he allows himself to. Slowly drawn out of his shell, first by Mr. Cage, a food-obsessed creative-writing teacher, and then by the theater-geek crew that adopts him, Max must learn to let go of his mother and her cancer. Only then can he allow himself and his father to grieve and move on. A quirky take on a classic YA narrative of coping with loss, this book delights by showcasing a cast of colorful characters that help Max deal with grief, often via art. While Max's relationship with his peers is fun to read about, Pixley's writing truly shines in Max's relationships with adults his father and maternal grandmother, Mr. Cage and the play director, Ms. Pruitt. Through them, Pixley shows how dealing with loss can be a communal act.--Suarez, Reinhardt Copyright 2017 Booklist