Falling

by Katherine Cobb

No one said growing up was gonna be easy.
Anna begins high school with a longing to experience her first true love. It seems likely after she falls for fellow sophomore Pete, but when a popular senior aggressively pursues her, she finds herself forced to choose...until Pete does it for her and she winds up in the arms of the upperclassman. Alec's attention is thrilling and dizzying, but she's conflicted when he pressures her to go all the way. When the unthinkable happens, Anna is left numb and lost.
As she works through her confusion and fear, a second chance with Pete-and true love for real-emerges. Anna plunges in but pressures to fit in, combined with her own emotional fragility, lead her down turbulent paths-and increasing non-parent-approved choices.
Boy troubles. Friend fallouts. Peer pressures. Unreasonable parents. Heartbreaking betrayals. Will Anna overcome...or spiral into the abyss?

310 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2014

About the author

Katherine Briganti Cobb writes books about love, relationships and our shared, often messy humanity. She writes fiction, nonfiction and picture books and is also writing romance with heart and heat under the pen name K.C. Lake.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my gosh!! Couldn't stop my mom voice and my high school counselor voice from screaming, "NNNOOOOOO!" The afterword is especially important and powerful, but should not be read first. As a reminder for my work at school with some parents, no, your child is not grown at 15. For myself and friends, a reminder that no matter what is going on in your adult lives, you must pay attention to your children!! Talk to them, be a busybody, wait for them to get home and greet them, ask open ended questions, wait for an answer, and then listen! You cannot be too tired, too busy, too angry; our children deserve better. This book was a very brave undertaking by Ms. Cobb.

[Katherine Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I ended high school, I left with the tangible thought I wanted to write about it. The experiences were so heady between the boys, first love, friendships that formed and changed, struggles with parents and siblings, and more. It's a fine line we walk in our adolescence between innocence and full-on adult situations we aren't always prepared to navigate. And that makes it a rollercoaster ride, full of angst and sweetness. The book was inspired by my own experiences and others I witnessed happen to my friends, making it a more realistic young adult read. Because of the subject matter, I added a personal letter at the end of the book to address those topics from a hindsight view. I've been heartened by hearing from hundreds of readers about what they faced in high school and how they both related and felt less alone as a result. I hope you enjoy.

[Violet VanTichelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading this book I surprised to see how many peer pressures Anne had to go through for just being a girl in high school. I am in high myself right now and don't have as many the peer pressures that Anne had .I was taught at a young age to think for myself.This book is good for any girl wondering what it is like to have all the pressures on your back and making the "right" decision so you can be thought of as cool. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would read again for the first time

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teen angst!

Ok, well this one was much better written than another I read by this author. I enjoyed the authenticity of the characters and laughed, sighed, and groaned right along with them. The ending was quite abrupt and wholly unsatisfying, but overall it was a good read.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This book brought back many memories of high school and going to Skyline. It reminds me of good and not so good times growing up in Oakland. I highly recommend this book. Go Titans!