Book Tour " Learning to fall" by Sally Engelfried

 Hi Readers ! Welcome to my stop for " Learning to fall" by Sally Engelfried. An huge thanks to Little, Brown Books and for the earc !

TITLE: Learning to fall

AUTHOR : Sally Engelfried

PUBLISHER : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

GENRE : Middle grade

PUBLISHING DATE : September 6, 2022

BOOK LINKS:   Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop  | Target| IndieBound 

Twelve-year-old Daphne reconciles with her father, who left her stranded three years ago, and learns forgiveness one fall at a time in this heartwarming debut by Sally Engelfried. For fans of The ​First Rule of Punk.

Daphne doesn't want to be stuck in Oakland with her dad. She wants to get on the first plane to Prague, where her mom is shooting a movie. Armed with her grandparents’ phone number and strict instructions from her mom to call them if her dad starts drinking again, Daphne has no problem being cold to him. But there's one thing Daphne can't keep herself from doing: joining her dad and her new friend Arlo at a weekly skate session. 

When her dad promises to teach her how to ollie and she lands the trick, Daphne starts to believe in him again. He starts to show up for her, and Daphne learns things are not as black and white with her dad as she used to think. The way Daphne’s dad tells it, skating is all about accepting failure and moving on. But can Daphne really let go of her dad’s past mistakes? Either way life is a lot like skating: it’s all about getting back up after you fall. 

When her mother gets an important role in a film that will be shot in Prague, Daphne is forced to leave Los Angeles to spend the whole summer in Oakland at the home of her father, with whom she has not had a relationship for some time due to his alcoholism. Despite her father's every attempt to reconnect with her so as to reduce the distance that now separates them, Daphne has no intention of letting herself go and forgetting all the suffering she suffered from her absence. However, things change when Daphne, convinced by her new friend Arlo, will decide to get involved by challenging her fears and to start going on the skateboard with her father. Lesson after lesson Daphne and her father will learn to know and love each other again, but only if they are totally honest with each other will they be able to put the past aside so they can rebuild a true father / daughter bond. For Daphne, it was supposed to be the worst summer of her life, instead it will turn out to be a summer of change and rebirth.

I found this reading very enjoyable and exciting, especially in the final chapters. With this story, the author has managed to deal with the right intensity and delicacy a fairly complex topic such as alcohol addiction, but also the difficult dynamics that can be created between parents and children.

The protagonist Daphne is a character that came straight to my heart, in several moments I saw me at her age. Since her parents divorced due to her father's alcohol problems, Daphne has always and only been able to rely on her mother with whom she has an almost symbiotic relationship. Little by little the contacts with the father have been fading, being reduced to some sporadic telephone contact. When her mother leaves for a job in Prague, Daphne reluctantly finds herself having to spend the summer with him, whom she has not heard and seen since her ninth birthday, one of the saddest and most painful days of her life. That day her father had promised to take her to the park to teach her how to skateboard but despite Daphne waiting for him there all day he didn't show up, also during her attempt to try a trick on her own she broke in her arms. But what really hurt Daphne was the fact that her father never apologized for forgetting his promise, so from that moment she started thinking that she wasn't important enough to him and didn't deserve his affection.

When she arrives at her father's house, Daphne forces herself to be cold and aloof towards him, despite being in front of a father who has been sober for several years and who is trying in every way to rebuild a bond with her. But what will succeed and make them find again will be their common passion for skateboarding. Although she still doesn't trust him, Daphne eventually agrees to receive lessons from her father, who will teach her all the tricks of the trade. The more time they spend together, the more Daphne will get closer to him, learning about him again thanks to the help of her grandparents. But above all for the first time in a while both will be able to totally open up to each other, and Daphne will finally be able to find the courage to talk about her true feelings with him thus taking off a big weight from her heart. 

 In the course of her vacation, however, Daphne will also find a new friend, Arlo, the son of her father's best friend. Arlo is a frank and nice guy who will manage without too much difficulty to breach Daphne's defenses, helping her to face her fears and supporting her step by step without ever judging her. 

Through the Skateboard lessons between Daphne and her father, the author wants to convey a really important message. Sometimes in life you fall, but this does not mean you have failed, what really matters is never to break down but always get up and face every obstacle with your head held high. 

"Learning to fall" is an enchanting middle grade, which speaks of forgiveness, courage, trust and redemption.