Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
March 5, 2015/in Fiction 14+ Secondary/Adult /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 211 March 2015
Reviewer: Rebecca Butler
ISBN: 978-1908195920
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Little Island
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 14+ Secondary/Adult
Length: 256pp
Buy the Book

Still Falling

Author: Sheena Wilkinson

Two teenagers meet on the first day of sixth form. Luke Bressan is intelligent and good-looking, but he has two problems: having spent six years in foster care he is wary of physical contact, and he has epilepsy. Esther Wilson also has two problems, maybe more serious than Luke’s: her family is highly religious (though her own faith is beginning to waver) and her father is headmaster of the school.

The meeting of Luke and Esther is a spectacular event. Luke takes his place at the very first lesson of the new school year and the stress of the situation leads him to have a seizure. Esther has worked as a volunteer on a special needs summer scheme at the school where her mother teaches, and she knows what to do. Embarrassingly for Luke, in the seizure he loses control of his bladder.

The two become close, but then a popular girl named Jasmine invites them to one of her parties. At the party Esther and Luke kiss. While Esther is willing to go further, Luke is reluctant, his response conditioned in part by his medical condition and in part by the wariness he acquired from being in care. When Esther has departed, Luke and Jasmine kiss.

Luke then convinces himself that he has committed a serious crime. The narrative explores what he has or hasn’t done and how Esther helps him unveil the truth.

The strength of this remarkable book derives from the credibility of its characters. It is a daunting task to depict in fiction a character with a serious medical problem who nevertheless commands the reader’s absolute attention, but Wilkinson succeeds. Esther is quiet and sensible, far removed from the ditsy-if-pretty heroine of teen fiction, and she walks through these pages with memorable resolution and perceptiveness.

Girls like Esther rarely get the boy in teen fiction; boys like Luke are usually the victims. These two stereotypes are smashed to pieces in this book.

 

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2015-03-05 15:30:222021-08-14 15:36:54Still Falling

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

BfK 254 May 2022 Download BfK Issue BfK 254 May 2022
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Peter Bently and Steven Lenton named winners of The Children’s Book Award 2022

June 27, 2022

Shortlist for the 2022 SLA Information Book Award

June 23, 2022

2022 Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Winners Announced

June 16, 2022

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2022 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks Can’t Look Away
Scroll to top