Description:
Hurricanes are awful.
Leaving your home and friends is awful.
But making new friends and finding new ways to cope ... maybe not so bad.
When a hurricane destroys 14-year-old Louisa's home, she must move into her grandmother's trailer with only her mom and the few belongings they were able to salvage from the wreckage. Her smart glasses-kinda like smart phones from the early 2000s but, you know, glasses-can tell her how to get around her new school and who people are, but what they can't tell her is how she fits into this strange new town. And that, as some things fall apart, others will fall into place.
Set in the year 2050, Falling Lessons is a story about a girl and her changing dreams. It's a time when eating grasshoppers is the norm and grandparents enjoy moshing-sorry, what is that?-at their assisted-living facility. Louisa stumbles upon hapkido, a Korean martial art, and Ruby, who makes her heart flutter like the tailfin of a goldfish.
As she practices her kicks and learns how to safely fall at the dojang, Louisa realizes that her new home has way more in store for her than she could have possibly imagined. Her life may not resemble the plot of any comic book in her collection, but that doesn't mean it can't be filled with picture-perfect moments and page-turning surprises.
Will Louisa master her kicks and open her heart?
Heartwarming and fun, Falling Lessons is for young adult readers who love unique, realistic characters overcoming challenges in their personal lives, family, and school, just as they are.
"Gentle, honest, and vulnerable, Falling Lessons is a compelling futuristic coming-of-age story about Louisa, a teenage girl facing the challenges of family, love, technology, and growing up."
-A.K. Downing, The Air Series
"Falling Lessons is about hanging on and letting go, falling in love and letting yourself be loved back. And because it's told in Louisa's remarkable voice, it's a story that offers unexpected moments of wonder on every page and reminds you to find and savor such moments in your own life."
-Ann Claycomb, Silenced and The Mermaid's Daughter
Brief description: A West Virginia native, Stacey Elza earned her B.A. in English from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., and her M.F.A. in creative writing from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va. Her writing has appeared in The Lion and the Unicorn, Iron Horse Literary eview, the Unitarian Universalist WorshipWeb Library, and ADDitude Magazine. She has a second-degree black belt in hapkido-a Korean martial art-which she earned at the American Judo-Hapkido Institute. She lives in Morgantown with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
Review Quotes: "Falling Lessons is wonderful from the very first sentence. It reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia, Seventeenth Summer, and several Laurie Halse Anderson novels, all of which I personally count as setting a gold standard for YA fiction.
"The protagonist and narrator of Falling Lessons, Louisa, is not just a teenage girl whose life has suddenly been turned upside-down. She's also smart, funny, self-aware, and possessed of a dazzling-and sometimes uncomfortable-capacity for experiencing the world around her with her whole body. Her story is about fish, frogs, hapkido, and hurricanes. It's also about hanging on and letting go, falling in love and letting yourself be loved back. And because it's told in Louisa's remarkable voice, it's a story that offers unexpected moments of wonder on every page and reminds you to find and savor such moments in your own life." -Ann Claycomb, Silenced and The Mermaid's Daughter___"Stacey Elza's Falling Lessons takes readers on a wild ride into the future-when the world as we know it seems quaint and technological advancement rules the day. Louisa, new to town and trying to fit in even with Tourette's, must traverse a sick grandmother, a burgeoning crush, and a boyfriend left behind as she tries to build a new life for herself. Elza manages to create a sense of nostalgia for our current world and an excitement for what's to come." -Laura Leigh Morris, Jaws of Life___"Gentle, honest, and vulnerable, Falling Lessons is a compelling futuristic coming-of-age story about Louisa, a teenage girl facing the challenges of family, love, technology, and growing up." -A.K. Downing, The Air Series, akdowning.com ___"It was interesting to see the future through the eyes of Louisa, who battles life's obstacles beyond her control. Seeing her use the martial art of hapkido to turn those obstacles into opportunities shows how someone can overcome negativity by seeking positivity around them and by always looking for the good in themselves and others."-Master Laura Beluschak, 7th Degree Black Belt, Hapkido___"Falling Lessons by Stacey Elza is a coming-of-age story that instantly brought me in from the first page. Although set in the future, the dialogue is carefully crafted and will take the reader back to a time of their innocent, honest, funny, and most intimate thoughts."Leaving you feeling as if you're a part of the conversations and events, this book reveals questions and answers about love and life. Whether familial moments that many of us will experience and the emotions that go with them, or love and the rollercoaster of emotions that come along for the ride, each interaction between the characters in Falling Lessons is real and deeply felt. Bringing a wonderful mix of nostalgia and reality for older readers and a sense of normalcy and excitement to the younger, Falling Lessons is a must-read for those who want to feel like they are right there in the action."-Jess Branas, Founder/CEO of Branas Enterprises, Podcast Host of Drinks with Jess, Author of Seeking Her, Knowing You and Zero to Ninety