Freefall Summer

Clancy, 16, lives alone with her very protective father who owns and teaches at a skydiving school, the Drop Zone. Her mother died in a freak skydiving accident 10 years ago while practicing with her exhibition team. Clancy is very focused on school, but when she is not studying archaeological digs or packing parachutes at the DZ, she spends her free time with best friend Julia and her boyfriend, Theo. He is the classic “overbearing boyfriend” who thinks Clancy is a wilting flower. When Theo unexpectedly goes away for the summer and a very interesting college boy starts frequenting the DZ, Clancy is torn between her current, comfortable, life and a future of freedom that seems closer than ever. Clancy feels constrained by her present situation but has to confront her past before she can move forward in her life. The plot is greatly influenced by the personal and political landscape brought to light by the Gamergate controversy and the #MeToo movement. There is personal hardship, adventure and adrenaline, as well as romance (there is a heavy petting scene, but it is tame enough for an older middle schoolers). This classic coming-of-age story begs to be advertised for summer reading. VERDICT Hand it to fans of Cecil Castellucci’s Don’t Cosplay with My Heart and anything written by Sarah Dessen.–School Library Journal