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Jan 28, 2011

Doug rated it:

Wow. There are so many things I love about this book. There's careful prose like this:

Ry's grandfather, Lloyd, took his first cup of coffee out onto the screened porch, sat down on a glider, and waited in the dark for the birds to start chirping. Between him and the sun, there was a thin bit of earth and a thick wall of trees, still black with night. As he sipped, the first rays of the sun found tiny gaps to poke through. Tomorrow he would pour the pot of coffee into a thermos to bring out

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Ms.P rated it:

I checked this out from the library a long time ago, and it had been sitting in my pile. For some reason, I was reluctant to start it. Something about it didn't really appeal to me. I finally got around to reading it, and I see that my gut instinct was right.

This is one of those coincidental stories with lots of action and travel all over the US and parts of the Caribbean. The main character is a boy who loses his cell phone and therefore, all contact with his parents (who happen to More...

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May 27, 2011

khcpl teen rated it:

When Ry gets off the train during an unscheduled mechanical stop in hopes of getting better cell phone reception he thought he would have more time, but when the train pulls off without him leaving him in the middle of nowhere Montana he realizes he may be in over his head. Thus begins a journey of thousands of miles, and many many unforeseen circumstances.

I will start out by saying this is the perfect book for summer. Ry was supposed to go to archeology camp for the summer, but when More...

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Feb 16, 2011

Nate added it

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth:

Searching for the Ones We Love

Have you ever gone great lengths to find someone you love? This is exactly what Ry and others do in As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth, which is a fabulous realistic fiction novel by Lynne Rae Perkins. The book starts when the main character Ry is going off to camp. His parents are away on a trip, and his grandfather is watching his house in Wisconsin. While on the train to camp, Ry opens a More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 13, 2011

Karen rated it:

I think this is my favorite LRP book ever! Ry's summer vacation was supposed to be a train trip across the country to camp, while Mom and Dad sailed off to the Caribbean to "revitalize their marriage" and Grandpa Lloyd stayed home to take care of the house and the dogs. Except that nothing -- and I mean nothing-- goes the way it should. The train stops in the middle of nowhere to fix something, and Ry gets off to climb a nearby hill to find some cell reception and call Grandpa becau More...

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Jan 06, 2011

Jeffrey rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 29, 2010

Janet rated it:

15-year-old Ry suffers (or is that "endures"?, or is that "enjoys"?) an astonishing, off-the-wall summer, a relentless barrage of calamities and adventures that starts - only just starts - when he disembarks from a passenger train en route from Wisconsin to a summer camp somewhere west of Montana (where he disembarks, in the middle of nowhere, to try to find some cell phone reception, because he has just, belatedly, read a letter informing him the camp has been canceled...) a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2010

Chris rated it:

This is a fun book, in the best sense of the word. Unexpected adventure based on ridiculous happenstance and coincidences piled higher and higher, colorful characters, a light-hearted yet lyrical and effective narrator, and underneath it all a bit of wisdom. I really liked it.

The adventure starts when teenager Ry, on his way across the country to the camp where he is to be a counselor for the summer, opens a neglected letter to find the camp has been cancelled. Within minutes, his More...

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Sep 24, 2010

Eva rated it:

15-year-old Ry is on a train heading to summer camp. The train stops in the middle of Nowhere, Montana for no apparent reason. Ry gets off to stretch his legs and try for better cell phone reception, leaving his backpack on the train. Train leaves. Oops!

This book could be called Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (and Small Boats), because these are the various transportation methods Ry uses to try to get home again. Like all great road stories, this isn't about home itself but ab More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 04, 2010

Pam rated it:

The Newbery Group has been referencing this book for a couple of months now, so I thought I should read it. Since it is a road trip book about a teenage boy I was thinking it would have some Kerouac inspiration/feel to it. To the author's credit, she does know how to create characters that are warm, interesting, and provide depth to make them seem realistic. I wish the same could be said of her plot.
The story as one reviewer described it seems like a Rube Goldberg machine and unfortuna More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 12, 2010

Angela rated it:

Part of Adventures in Reading post on Bewitched Bookworms.
I read five books. In five days. This was one of them. =)

http://www.bewitchedbookworms.com/2010/0...

As Ry stood and watched the train pull off into the distance leaving him in the middle of nowhere, he pondered how he could have possibly gotten there. How had things gone wrong? Little did he know that being left behind by a train was merely the beginning of an incredible summer odyssey.

I adore, *h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 13, 2010

Leslie rated it:

It took me three tries to get into Criss Cross, and I wasn't sure I would ever love this author. It took me about four seconds to get into this book, and I loved it! Quirky, funny, and tender. Ry's way of dealing with his ever-increasingly desperate situation is cute and sweet, while at the same time being totally believable. Love the other characters that weave in and out of the story as well.

Mostly I love the narrator's voice and style. SO much fun.

This book is a seri More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 21, 2010

Cornmaven rated it:

I loved this book. It's a sort of road trip/journey combined with a look at coincidence and letting things happen as they happen. The narrator injects herself into the story, and you feel as if the characters are watching themselves move through the story just as you are watching them.

There's action but it just flows along like a river and you are caught up in it. Three improbably stories going on at the same time, plus a side story about dogs who are also included in the other st More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 26, 2010

Caren rated it:

Oh my goodness, I do like this author! The question is, how can I describe this book and do it justice? The plot could be likened to a Rube Goldberg machine, with one thing leading to another until it is all flowing along, quite out-of-control. Or perhaps it brings to mind the saying that life is what happens while you are making other plans. Ry, the teenage protagonist is on a train in Montana, on his way to summer camp, when the train stops in the middle of nowhere while experiencing a problem More...

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Jun 16, 2010

Carol rated it:

Lynn Rae Perkins is becoming one of my favorite authors, right up there with Sharon Creech and Patricia MacLachlan. This story follows the escapades of Ry, a teenage guy whose life this particular summer includes a series of unlikely but-what-if's, all of which befall him and his family. Thus, Ry's summer camp having been cancelled, he throws his lot in with Del, a taciturn, self-admittedly stubborn, chronic let-me-help-you-out-er, and they make their way East (and eventually to the Caribbean) i More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2010

Sandy rated it:

I have a strange relationship with this book. I adore Lynne Rae Perkins and her prose is soothing and lovely, interspersed with a few funny comments from the omniscient narrator. This is a gentle read, full of a lot of internal thoughts and observations and character development rather than action. I kind of like that. I would pick up the book and read 100 pages before putting it down, becoming happily absorbed in Ry's bizarre adventure and the interesting characters that he meets. But then More...

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Jun 08, 2010

Mary rated it:

Right off the bat, let me say that I liked this novel so much better than Criss Cross, Perkins's Newbery Medal winning effort. It succeeds where Criss Cross failed, namely in conveying the serendipitous nature of self-discovery, largely through the power of adventure story. The main character, a likable teenager named Ry, has incredibly bad luck from page one, when he steps off a train trying to find cell reception and ends up stranded in the middle of Montana. He has just read a letter from the More...

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May 28, 2010

Jami rated it:

I didn't know much about this book. The description doesn't give much away. What I found in the book was a fun read about a summer gone wrong for one highly entertaining family.

Ry is supposed to be off to summer camp. He gets a note telling him not to come to camp, camp no longer exists. When he jumps off his train real quick to try to find a cell connection, the train takes off without him. His parents are no help. They are off on a Caribbean trip dealing with problems of their own More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2011

Sherrie rated it:

Ry is 15 years old and on a train that will take him from his home in Wisconson to a summer camp out West. He finally gets around to reading his mail on the train, only to discover that the summer camp has closed. At a brief stop for minor repairs, he exits the train looking for better cell phone reception...and the train leaves without him. Thus begins a road trip/quest story as Ry seeks (first) to get home and eventually (after he discovers that things at home are clearly amiss) to the Carr More...

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Apr 09, 2011

Josiah rated it:

Lynne Rae Perkins is one of the most amazing writers whose work I've ever known. Her ability to turn the ordinary pieces of everyday life—such as a leaf falling from a high tree brach to whatever bed of shrubbery on which it may ultimately land, or each section of asphalt passing beneath the hungry wheels of a car, lit up in unrecognized importance to the car's passengers for just that one brief moment in time—is utterly magnificent. Her writing is cut from the same noble cloth as that of Dic More...

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Dec 02, 2011

Erin rated it:

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth
by Lynn Rae Perkins
It would be easier to fall of the face of the Earth than it would be for most people to swallow this long and far-fetched tale. Ry is a kid with terrible, terrible timing. His odyssey begins when he steps off the train he is supposed to be riding to summer camp. The train is stopped for less time than it was supposed to be, and Ry is left behind. He wanders from town to town, collecting colorful friends and getting into e More...

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May 27, 2011

Melissa rated it:

When Ry gets off the train during an unscheduled mechanical stop in hopes of getting better cell phone reception he thought he would have more time, but when the train pulls off without him leaving him in the middle of nowhere Montana he realizes he may be in over his head. Thus begins a journey of thousands of miles, and many many unforeseen circumstances.

I will start out by saying this is the perfect book for summer. Ry was supposed to go to archeology camp for the summer, but when the More...

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Aug 01, 2010

June rated it:

Ry was looking forward to his weeks at camp. His parents were going on a sailing trip and Grandpa, who seems to suffer a little from dementia, was going to watch the house and the dogs. His original transportation was the train. But, while the train was stopped in the middle of nowhere, Ry decided to explore while he was waiting. But, to his surprise, the train pulled away without him. His next excursion brings him into a small town where he meets a man, Del, who decides that he needs a vacation More...

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Jun 02, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

What a wonderful book! It's so rare that a book makes me laugh out loud, and I did a lot with this book. Ry, our hero who can't seem to catch a break, is so endearing and charming. You can see him soaking up all his new experiences like a sponge, and growing as a person. So many mishaps and yet he soldiers on, making the best of each situation, meeting new people, learning new things, and generally being an awesome and brave individual. I wish I were a little more like Ry... he is kind of my he More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2011

Beverly rated it:

Through a series of misadventures, 15-year-old Ry ends up having an off the wall summer adventure. Ry embarks on this series of calamities by disembarking from a train bound for his summer camp. The train leaves without him and he is stranded in the middle of nowhere. With no cell reception (and the battery on its last legs) Ry sets off on foot to find civilization. At the first town he arrives at he encounters Del who offers to drive Ry back to his home in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Ry’s More...

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Mar 27, 2010

Kris rated it:

I'd like to hear what other readers thought. The structure of the novel is a bit similar to Criss Cross, but it's messier than Criss Cross. Messier in the plotting and messier in the telling--just felt like it could have been a tighter novel.

On the plus side (because I did like it)--Ry and all of the characters are likeable. Perkins' narrative voice is charming and supportive, so everything feels safe, even though bad things keep happening to the characters. And that message/the More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Rachel rated it:

This book went a different direction than I thought it would go, but it wasn't a bad direction. Just different.

I like the writer's style, in any case. A strong voice which really does sound like a regular ol' teen with it's cut off sentences and quips. This book isn't anything revolutionary, by any means, but it does the job in entertaining you. Sweet, but with a pinch of suspense and "will they be okay?"-ishy-ness.

Ry was a wonderful character to read about, a More...

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Jun 04, 2011

Tracy rated it:

Umm, if I were a teenager I would probably love this. As a parent...totally appalled. 15 year old Ry is on his way to summer camp, via train while his parents take an island vacation and his grandfather stays home to watch the dogs. The train has a slight mechanical problem and Ry steps off to try to get a signal on his cell to make some phone calls. Train leaves without him. Cue mishaps.

Ry hooks up with Del, who decides it would be best to drive him across the country to get him bac More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 10, 2010

Mary Ann rated it:

Sixteen-year old Ry is stranded in the middle of Montana when he steps off his train as it pauses for mechanical checks. In stunned disbelief, he watches the train pull away, with all his belongings. His cell phone has little battery power left and poor reception. His grandfather doesn’t answer the phone and his parents are on their own vacation in the Caribbean. As Perkins (Criss Cross, 2006) writes in the post script, “then, one little thing went wrong – or okay, a half dozen, a dozen, an unus More...

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Jun 23, 2010

mitchell rated it:

Ry is on a train, rolling toward summer camp somewhere near Montana. His parents are on a boat, relaxing in the Caribbean. His grandfather is in Wisconsin, taking care of the house and dogs. They are all (Ry, parents, grandfather, and dogs) this far-flung at the beginning of As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth, but a combination of bad luck, bad decision-making, bad circumstances, and even bad geology flings them further and further apart as the novel progresses. In her first novel More...

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