A Step Toward Falling

"A beautiful, big-hearted book with important lessons embedded in compelling stories of two irresistible girls. Expertly executed and movingly realized.” —New York Times Book Review

Cammie McGovern follows up her breakout young adult debut, Say What You Will, with this powerful and unforgettable novel about learning from your mistakes and learning to forgive.

Emily has always been the kind of girl who tries to do the right thing—until one night when she does the worst thing possible. She sees Belinda, a classmate with developmental disabilities, being attacked. Inexplicably, she does nothing at all.

Belinda, however, manages to save herself. When their high school finds out what happened, Emily and Lucas, a football player who was also there that night, are required to perform community service at a center for disabled people.

Soon Lucas and Emily begin to feel like maybe they’re starting to make a real difference. Like they would be able to do the right thing, if they could do that night all over again. But can they do anything that will actually help the one person they hurt the most?

Told in alternating points of view, A Step Toward Falling is a poignant, hopeful, and altogether stunning work that will appeal to fans of books by Jennifer Niven, Robyn Schneider, and Jandy Nelson.

• A Story of Guilt and Redemption: Emily and Lucas witnessed something terrible and did nothing. Now, their community service is a chance to face their mistake, but true forgiveness—from Belinda and from themselves—is harder to earn.
• Forced Proximity: Assigned to the same community center, Emily, a quiet over-thinker, and Lucas, a popular football player, are forced to rely on each other, sparking an unexpected connection over their shared secret.
• Dual POV Narrative: Experience the story from two sides—Emily, who is haunted by her inaction, and Belinda, the girl with developmental disabilities who must navigate the aftermath of an attack she survived on her own.
• Authentic Disability Representation: Step into the rich inner world of Belinda, a young woman whose love for Pride and Prejudice and unique perspective offer a powerful, poignant look at life with a developmental disability.