A Step Toward Falling

by Cammie McGovern

• ISBN10: 0606394834
• ISBN13: 9780606394833
• Publish Date: 20 December 2016 (first published 6 October 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 April 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I thought this was a lovely story about friendship and not being afraid to stand up when necessary. I was really glad McGovern gave Belinda, who is developmentally delayed, a point of view, because her perspective was really important for this story. It was great to see her character take shape and for Belinda to be, and be seen, as more than her disability. I thought Emily's journey was one worth taking too. I went through a lot of emotions as I read this book, but the lasting impression was one that was warm and fuzzy.

Note: I know a lot of people were frustrated that the assault happened, and we didn't get to see everything that happened to the perpetrator, but it didn't seem like this book was about the assault. It was about learning to understand people who are different from you, learning from your mistakes, not making assumptions about people with out getting to know them, and standing up for what's right. Because of that, I was one with how McGovern handled the assault.

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[lindsey]

A Step Toward Falling is a YA novel about learning to be brave enough to speak up when you know something is wrong or you see someone in trouble, instead of taking the easy way out by ignoring it.

Emily witnesses an assault on Belinda, a student with special needs, at a football game. She panics, and instead of yelling to try to stop the attack, she walks back to the bleachers. Before walking away, she sees a football player walking by, and she assumes he will help. Before returning to her friends, Emily does try to tell a teacher about what she just witnessed, but the teacher is unable to hear her over the roar of the crowd, and Emily doesn't make much of an attempt to be heard. When she sees the football player rejoin his teammates on the field a few minutes later, she still assumes he got help for Belinda. When she hears the sirens, she figures everything will be taken care of now that the police have arrived, without much harm done. That knowledge, however, doesn't ease her guilty conscience.

She soon learns that Lucas, the football player she spotted approaching the scene, also failed to help Belinda. As punishment for failing to at least attempt to help, Emily and Lucas must do community service by volunteering at a center for people with disabilities. While volunteering there, they begin to learn things about themselves.

Belinda is a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice, and the author uses that as a clever way to get her point across. A Step Toward Falling is all about first impressions, and how an initial judgement of a person may not always reveal the truth.

This is an extremely well-written book, with wonderful character development. I enjoyed the author's last novel, Say What You Will, but I loved this one even more. She takes delicate subjects and handles them so well. Hours after finishing this book, I was still thinking about the characters. This is a story of bravery, standing up for others, and learning to do the right thing.

I would highly recommend this, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.