Module 7: As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth

Citation

Perkins, L.  (2010).  As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth.  New York: Greenwillow.

Summary

On the way to a summer camp, Ry misses his train in the middle of Montana.  His grandfather, taking care of the dogs at home, has fallen into a sinkhole in Wisconsin.  His parents are sailing around the Caribbean.  Ry walks to the nearest town and meets Del, a middle-aged jack-of-all-trades.  Ry and Del embark on a cross-country and international adventure to find Ry's family.  The story culminates when Ry and Del sail to St. Jeroen, Del injures himself riding a windmill, and Ry must make the last leg of the trip to find his parents alone.

Impressions

I had very high expectations for this story after reading Lynne Rae Perkins' Criss Cross.  Despite moments of brilliance, such as when Del and Ry hitch a ride with escaped elderly Carl in an Oldsmobile, this story somehow misses its mark for me.  I would not say that it lacks a plot, but the plot rambles along with "an unusually large number of things going wrong."  I liked the book, but I did not feel a strong kinship with the characters.  In retrospect, they have grown on me.  However, the illustrations of this book, so well-integrated into Criss Cross, seemed to break its flow rather than to enhance it. 

Review

Chipman, I.  (2010).  As easy as falling of the face of the earth [book review].  Booklist, 106(16), 45.  Retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Ry opens a letter en route to a summer program informing him that camp has been canceled because “a statistically improbable number of things have gone wrong.“ He hops off the train in Montana to figure out what to do, and his own series of improbable misfortunes begins—the train moves on without him (but with all his stuff), leaving him alone with a dying cell phone in the precise middle of nowhere. Oh, and one of his shoes just floated off down a river. He befriends a man named Del, who figures there’s nothing he can’t fix (when it comes to other people’s problems, anyway). They set off on a cross-country road trip to get Ry back home and then, due to any number of minor and major catastrophes, to an island in the Caribbean. Ever-placid Del and milquetoast Ry make for affable traveling companions, but the real pleasure is Perkins’ relentlessly entertaining writing. She dabbles just on the clever side of intruding on the narrative, and she infuses her prose with more personality than many could squeeze out of an entire cast. The knock against her Newbery-winning Criss Cross (2006) was a lack of plot, and although a lot of things happen here, it would be a stretch to call this leisurely novel plot-driven. The point is that it doesn’t matter, and wallowing in the wry humor, small but potent truths, and cheerful implausibility is an absolute delight. Grades 8-11

Suggestions for Use

I could see this book as being one part of an interdisciplinary unit.  The travels would be interesting and fun to map out as a class.  This could lead to discussion about traveling, internally and externally.  How do Del and Ry change on their trip?  What trips have students made that changed them or gave them a new perspective?  Why?