A Step Toward Falling

A Step Toward Falling

YA fiction
"At our first meeting with the director of the Lifelong Learning
Center, Lucas doesn't speak to me once. Elaine, the director, thanks
us for 'volunteering our time' even though she knows we aren't here
voluntarily. We all know this."
Cammie McGovern's A Step Toward Falling is a slightly older
book. But I decided to post my review of it right away instead of
relegating it to the end of my one and a half notebook backlog. It's
so timely now when more people with mental and psychological
challenges are living out in a world where many people can't or won't
perceive their worth and full humanity. I'll get back to this in my
purrrsonal note.
Emily, quoted above, is a high school student who is all about
battling unfairness in society. She's cofounder of Youth Action
Coalition, a group that every year has people pledge to report acts of
violence they see. Ironically when, during a football game half time,
she sees a developmentally delayed peer being sexually assaulted she
freezes up. She and Lucas, another student who saw and said nothing,
are assigned to volunteer at an organization that offers
developmentally delayed adults support, skills training, and social
opportunities, assisting with their class on relationships.
"Now everything is different. Now Nan is trying to help me
forget. Instead of going to school, she lets me stay home every day
and watch Pride and Prejudice. If Mom asks her when I'm going to go
back to school, Nan says, 'For God's sake, Lauren, let her be. At
least we know she's safe here.'"
Belinda is the girl who was the terrified victim of attempted
rape. Although there were plenty of people who could have come to her
aid, she had to rescue herself. She's about to age out of her special
education high school program. After her assault she is afraid to
return to it.
Narrated in Emily and Belinda's alternating voices, A Step
Toward Falling avoids all the cliches. Emily is no savior figure.
She has plenty of confusing issues in her own life. Belinda is a
complex character with family issues, an ardent suitor, and hopes and
ambitions.
When Belinda returns to school Emily and Lucas want to apologize
to her and make restitution. The authorities want them just to stay
away from her. But what if the adults are wrong and the kids are spot
on? This premise makes for a deeply engaging story.
The seed for A Step Toward Falling began to germinate when
McGovern was part of Whole Children, an organization parents started
so their children with disabilities could work together on skill
deficits. They didn't think it would last more than a few years.
"Then, slowly but surely, we watched our children surprise us on
a regular basis--with the skills they were learning, the odds they
were defying, and the friendships they were making. This book was
written as Whole Children celebrated its amazing tenth anniversary
with the over seven hundred children, young adults, and families we've
served."
On a purrrsonal note, my sibling, Harriet, suffered severe brain
damage at a very early age, becoming more and more different and more
and more isolated. That's when brain damaged people were being
released from large institutions into an indifferent and negligent
world. Most special education, conducted out of sight, out of mind in
school basements, was little more than custodial. Special Olympics
was just coming into being. I wanted Harriet to have a chance to
experience success and make friends facing similar challenges. Mom,
like Belinda's Nan, refused to let her, seeing her as not like
(somehow better than) "them". I wonder what his life could have been
like if there had been a center like the one portrayed in the book.
Kids and adults with disabilities need to have opportunities to
socialize together and learn skills that can help them attain agency
and happiness. People who more closely fit the societal gold standard
of "normal" need to learn to understand and appreciate
neurodivergency. We all have something to gain from this evolution.
(Jules)
TOO MUCH SNOW!!! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to all who advocate for people like
Harriet.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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