Book clubs, take note: it's not every day you find a story as moving, thoughtful and discussion-provoking as Kathryn Craft's The Art of Falling.
After falling from the 14th story of an apartment building, Penelope Sparrow wakes up in a hospital bed, unable to move and with no memory of the accident. Recently squeezed out of the modern dance company that had once looked like her big break, Penny isn't sure if she fell or if she jumped. While recuperating, she makes an odd pair of new friends: Marty Kandelbaum, the baker who saw her land, and Angela Reed, a 29-year-old cystic fibrosis patient with a zest for life but little time left to live it. Marty and Angela become Penny's lifeline to the world beyond the artistic community that rejected her because her talent came with a body too tall and powerful to fit expectations.
As Penny progresses from regaining a full range of motion to wondering if she might one day dance again, she must finally face older problems, such as the fear of becoming as overweight as her mother, a fear that's kept her from fully assuaging her hunger for years. Penny also has to contend with a persistent journalist who wants to write an exposé of the prejudice against diverse body types in dance.
Craft's experience as both a dancer and a critic help her tell Penny's story without damning either the artistic community or Penny's actions. Her ability to capture the glory of human motion exemplified in modern dance imbues Penny's voice with a joy that keeps the reader cheering her on. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager at Latah County Library District and blogger at Infinite Reads