What is the pull of gravity?

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (May 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10:
• ISBN-13: 9937

Ah, at last a book with many of my favorite things all mixed up. But, what do you get when you mix troll dolls, Slinkies, John Steinbeck, and Yoda? From past experience, I can tell you some of my best laid culinary plans have gone wildly astray. Take for example, the peach, date, banana ice cream my Aunt Jeanne and I whipped

Ah, at last a book with many of my favorite things all mixed up. But, what do you get when you mix troll dolls, Slinkies, John Steinbeck, and Yoda? From past experience, I can tell you some of my best laid culinary plans have gone wildly astray. Take for example, the peach, date, banana ice cream my Aunt Jeanne and I whipped up one summer. She and I loved the sweet caramel colored confection, but we were the only ones. The rest of the family wanted vanilla.

Gae Polisner, on the other hand, has created a winning combination in The Pull of Gravity. She’s blended a tasty mix of timeless classic literature, pop culture, and kitschy fun that’s not only readable, but highly memorable and instructional as well.

Nick Gardner’s fifteen, which is really bad enough for anyone. Add to that, his Dad’s suffering extreme depression since the family moved from Manhattan to the suburbs and has spent most of his time lying on the couch gaining a massive amount of weight. Abruptly, his Dad decides to get off that couch and walk the 170 miles back to Manhattan in order to regain his physique and self esteem. His older brother’s changing fast, too—getting interested in girls and other related activities that are just TMI for Nick.

Add to that, his best friend’s dying. This isn’t news, exactly. Reginald Reyland, aka The Scoot, was born with progeria, a genetic defect which results in babies being born with an eighty year old’s system and a vastly shortened lifespan. Scoot handles his impending demise with far more grace and aplomb than the adults in his life. His RN Mom works double shifts at the hospital and leaves the kid mostly on his own and Scoot’s Dad left shortly after he was born unable to cope with the emotional crisis having a handicapped kid creates.