If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Kirsten, whose parents are fighting all the time, is also having other troubles. She's put on 40 pounds in 6 months, and her best friend now has a new best friend who isn't very nice. Kirsten befriends Walk, a black student who is new to her private school. One day, while hiding in her garage so

Show More

her parents don't discover her sneaking some food, she overhears their conversation and discovers that Walker is actually her half brother from an affair her father had. How she deals with that, and the ramifications the discovery has, makes for an exciting conclusion.

Show Less

Kirsten is overweight and is struggling with friend issues, specifically her best friend seems to be more interested in the popular, superficial, bullying type. Kirsten befriends the new boy and discovers a family secret. Well written, but the plot was somewhat far fetched.

I was a big fan of Choldenko's "Al Capone Does My Shirts," so I had high hopes for this follow-up novel. "If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period" unfortunately does not quite hit the same note. Meet Kirsten, who has gained thirty pounds in the summer between sixth and seventh grades as an emotional

Show More

response to her parent's endless fighting. Kirsten's mom doesn't help, telling her that thin girls are more well-liked. To further complicate matters, Mom makes sure she's in the in-crowd herself, made up of the over-involved moms of popular girls at school. Kirsten's dad is largely absent, and her only refuge is in her little sister, Kippy, who is especially bright.
At school, Kirsten's long time best friend Rory is pulling away, leaning toward Brianna, leader of the mean girls. Kirsten's weight gain makes her self-conscious, and the popular girls capitalize on that. Luckily, Kirsten finds better friends in boys Matteo and Walk who help her out in a few sticky situations. Matteo and Walk happen to be other races, which the in-crowd also exploits as a way to further their sense of self-entitlement.
While this novel touches on a lot of real issues with a subtle hand, it left me feeling in the lurch. I wanted more resolution, or for more things to happen that would later need to be resolved.

Show Less

This book is about two kids who are racially seperated and they both have secrets to reveal. Her mom hates his mom and is always yelling at each other. The boy absolutly can't stand her but she likes him. It turns out her dad is also his dad and he got his mom pregnant when they got in a fight.

Show More

When they become really good friends all of the secrets are revealed and it about how they have to make the big transition into a normal life to a crazy mixed up life.

Show Less

This sort of feels like a less well-written The Earth, My Butt, and Other Bit Round Things. Girl struggles with her weight as her family works through big issues stemming around her brother. Yep... very similar. The snobby girls were pretty realistic and I liked Matteo, but Walk and the main

Show More

character Kirsten were just sort of there. And that's how I feel about this book... it's just sort of there.

Show Less

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period is told from the alternating viewpoints of seventh graders Kristen and Walk. Both Kristen and Walk are late to school on the first day of classes; they feel out of place for different reasons. Kristen has gained thirty pounds over the last few months, her

Show More

relationship with Rory (her best friend since kindergarten) has changed dramatically, and it seems that her parents are on the verge of divorce. Walk is the new kid at the prestigious private school in Northern California on a scholarship; he also stands out because he is African American. This book does a great job at portraying the complicated dynamics of junior high. The story examines how wealth, weight, race, identity, honesty, prejudice, and the true nature of friendship shape Kristen and Walk, their friends, and their families.

Show Less

Everyone knows how tough Middle School can be. This is a time when we start to discover who we are and the harsh realities that the world around us forms in terms of how we should look, act, talk and walk. If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period is a great book that deals with all of the complications that

Show More

middle school brings. The book is told from alternating points of view. Some chapters are told in first person by a girl named Kristen who is a 7th grader dealing with many issues such as a recent falling out with her boyfriend, not to mention her parents are in the middle of a divorce, and she has managed to gain 30 pounds in the past four months. None of these issues make junior high any easier. The rest of the story is told in third person about another 7th grader named Walk. Walk is a very smart young man who is currently enrolled at the school on a scholarship. He too is facing many issues as he is an African American and finds himself struggling to fit in. The two characters find peace and friendship as they understand each other’s thoughts and views of many topics such as race, weight, wealth, honesty and so on...

Show Less

This book tackles a culturally diverse student who is sent into a "white" school.

I'm not one for soap-stories. I turn down most realistic fiction books because I don't prefer to read of the misery and cat fights of girls at school. But, like everything, this genre has exceptions. This was a wonderfully crafted novel that explained the realities of Junior High-- and left nothing

Show More

out. I would STRONGLY recommend this book and hope that people who read it love it too!

Show Less

Some of the best depictions of middle-school social dynamics I've ever seen in a YA novel (and I used to be a Teen librarian). I had problems with the ultimate resolution of the parents' conflict, but really enjoyed reading this one.

Kirsten enters middle school to realize that her best friend has abandoned her for the popular girls, her parents are fighting and may get divorced, and her mom is on her case about her weight. But she manages to make friends with the new boy, Walker, an African-American attending the exclusive

Show More

private school on a scholarship, and Mateo, his best friend. Little does she know that Walk is the reason her parents have been fighting lately - he's her father's son from before her parents were together.

Show Less

Slow start to this book made me feel lethargic, but finally kicked into gear after halfway. Kirsten a rich white girl is struggling a t school due to her inabilty to meet her mothers high expectations and do well in subjects as well as fit in with the clique groups. Her mother (a socialite) has a

Show More

secret that sheis fearful will get out. Her husband has a love child to a African American and this child is 2 months older than her own daughter Kirsten. Her husband has offered to pay his son's (Walker) schooling at the same school that Kirsten attends. This decision has thrown turmoil into Kirsten and Walkers homes. A few chapters deal with the issues and bitchiness and then like most fairytales they all live happily ever after. The cover is enticing, but the book is a bit of a let down

Show Less

If a Tree Falls is told in alternating voices, Kirsten and Walk. Walk's chapters tend to be shorter, which is a shame since he's the more interesting (or at least, less annoying) character. Ordinarily this alternating-voice thing wouldn't bother me--but Kirsten's chapters are first-person and

Show More

Walk's third-person, making it sound like Kirsten has a strange omniscience. The budding friendship between these two was more interesting before the Big Discovery That Changes Everything, the repercussions of which felt rushed and insincere.

After Al Capone Does My Shorts, I guess I'd expected something better. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't really great, either--it's just another addition to the long list of mediocre books I've read.

Show Less

Great read-- realistic characters, and I liked that the parents didn't end up divorced. Their situation was a little more nuanced.

Kirsten has issues. She's gained weight and worries about the size of
her butt. Her best friend Rory is cozying up to the school queen bees
who make Kirsten feel bad about herself. And her parents have been
arguing and fighting a lot lately. Walk is new to Kirsten's private school. Previously he

Show More

attended City, not the best school for a smart boy like himself. It is not easy being one of the few black students in school; a lot of comments and looks make him feel suspect. His mother Sylvia drills into him the importance of working twice as hard as anyone else to prove himself. Kirsten's and Walk's lives collide when they find out Kirsten's dad is also Walk's biological father and he has funded Walk's attendance at the private school. This revelation and discussions about adult relationships and being pregnant and single may not be appropriate for certain families, but it certainly happens and some kids are savvy to it.

Show Less