Sidekick Short Review: When the World Tips Over (2024) by Jandy Nelson

cover image of When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson, published by Dial Books, 2024.

The Basics

Page Length: 528

Audiobook Length: ~17 hours

Grade Reading Level: 9+ (Lexile: 830L)

Target Audience Age: 14-young adult

Goodreads Score: 4.19 out of 5

Buy it HERE

Setting: Paradise Springs, a contemporary, fictional small town in Northern California wine country

Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism

Topics: Music, Literature, Ghosts/Spirits, Magic, LGBTQ+, RVs, Family Secrets, Romance, Grief, Mental Health, Trauma

Plot: Welcome to Paradise Springs—a small, whimsical, and somewhat magical town tucked into the heart of California wine country, best known for the Fall family winery. But the winery has been crumbling, largely due to Theo Fall’s disappearance twelve years ago. And it’s not the only thing falling apart. Much of the Fall family’s life no longer makes sense.

Theo Fall, the father of the Fall children, vanished years ago, and his disappearance remains the town’s greatest mystery. Bernadette, their mother, is a locally famous chef, haunted by the loss of her husband. Wynton, the oldest sibling, is haunted too—his dream of becoming a successful musician is derailed by a serious accident that leaves his hand unable to play the violin. Miles, the middle sibling, appears to have it all together. He’s popular, handsome, and well-loved around town—but he’s harboring the biggest secret of all. He’s gay, and he doesn’t know how to tell anyone--besides his dog. Dizzy, the youngest, is a precocious twelve-year-old, endlessly curious about everything—especially existence, ghosts and spirits, religion, and, of course, her missing father.

Everything changes after Wynton’s accident, and after a mysterious rainbow-haired girl named Cassidy arrives in Paradise Springs. Each of the siblings seems to have a strange, almost magical encounter with her. Slowly, their world begins to tip over, and long-buried family secrets spill out. The rainbow-haired girl appears to connect the missing pieces of the Fall family’s story.

This book is told from the perspectives of each of the siblings, as well as Cassidy. Their voices are interwoven with fairy tales, fables, ghosts, and spirits. As readers uncover each tiny fragment of the Fall family mystery, the pieces fall together in a magical and beautifully layered way. What really happened to Theo? Can the siblings repair their relationships with one another—and with their parents? Or will the family’s secrets damage them all beyond repair?

Themes: Healing and Forgiveness, Sibling/Parental Relationships, Grief/Loss, Family Secrets/Legacy, Embracing Identity

You might like this book if you like:

• books like The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, When the Moon was Ours, The Serpent King, The Astonishing Color of After, History is All You Left Me

• shows like: Euphoria, This is Us, Looking for Alaska, Heartstopper

• movies like: Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Dead Poets Society

  
  

Other books written by this author: I'll Give You the Sun, The Sky is Everywhere

Content: This book has a lot of trigger warnings

• Language: lots of mature language

• Sex/Romance: All the characters have a romantic interest/pursuit at some point in the book. There are some descriptions of sexual encounters between teen characters. One teen character's point of view mentions more sexual content than the others, particularly mentioning a possible pornography addiction.

• Violence/Scariness:  a fourteen-year-old is sexually assaulted, mention of physical child abuse, also emotional abuse with two young brothers forced to fight each other. There are also instances of self-harm, and it is mentioned that a character's grandparent committed suicide. There's some bullying, and an intense transcript of a 911 call with an injured victim

• Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: teen AND adult characters drink, smoke, and take prescription pills. One instance even led to a car crash and an arrest.

Book Talk Read Aloud Section

*What is a book talk? (Watch a how to video here. Read my blog post here)

If you have the physical book, and if you have time, read pages 1- the top of page 8 through the phrase, "The End." (warning: you will probably need to skip paragraph 5 at the bottom of page 1/top of page 2) I know this is a long read-aloud section, but it is SO good.

If you don't, read the same pages in the Kindle reading sample here.