Falling In

Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell

Ages:9-12

On a scale of 1-5 this book is a 5

Eleven-year-old thrift-store-loving, dumpster-diving Isabelle Bean is different. The kind of different that makes other children avoid her and teachers suspect her of always being up to something. So, when she is again sent to the principal's office for inattention, she goes quite happily. Perhaps she will find the source of the mysterious buzzing coming through the floor of her classroom and up her feet, legs, and body to her ears. Reaching the principal's office she hears a squeak coming from the closet and upon opening the door falls in...to another world; a world of frightened villagers, dense, scary woods, and a child-eating witch. A world where Isabelle, in her favorite dumpster-rescued, pointy-toed, red boots is mistaken for the witch.

A fairy tale adventure that addresses universal themes of acceptance, fear of those who are different, and the destructive power of gossip and rumor.