Every year the 8th graders at Edmunds, parents and teachers have a book bunch early one morning to discuss good books that talk about the transition to high school. This year they all read Falling and invited the author, Doug Wilhelm, to speak.
Here Doug read from a section where Matt and Katie take a walk and the point of view switches back and forth so that the reader can get inside both of their heads (and see how nervous they both are)!
Doug talked about how the book was written with the help of local middle school students, who fleshed out the characters like Matt, Katie, Tamra, Sam, and KJ during class and writing workshops. Students came up with the baking cookies idea and even the title of the book!
Doug answered questions about whether the parents were realistic and also about whether the characters (especially Katie) were too mature. He described reading students religion papers to get in the heads of his 9th-grade characters!
He also talked about getting information on drug use from local police, detectives, and rehabilitation counselors.
Many students got their copies of Falling signed, which they get to keep for their personal libraries. Bagels and treats capped off the event.
Both Doug and the students said they really enjoyed meeting each other and connecting over some important issues. Falling started through conversations with young people, and the book bunch continued those conversations! They are definitely not over yet... keep talking!
There is a request for reactions and comments on the Falling blog, located at http://crenca.edublogs.org.
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