The Pull of Gravity Review

Title: The Pull of Gravity
Author: Gae Polisner
Publish Date: Published May 10th 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Synopsis:

While Nick Gardner’s family is falling apart, his best friend, Scooter, is dying from a freak disease. The Scoot’s final wish is that Nick and their quirky classmate, Jaycee Amato, deliver a prized first-edition copy of Of Mice and Men to the Scoot’s father. There’s just one problem: the Scoot’s father walked out years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. So, guided by Steinbeck’s life lessons, and with only the vaguest of plans, Nick and Jaycee set off to find him.
Characters you’ll want to become friends with and a narrative voice that sparkles with wit make this a truly original coming-of-age story.

I was so intrigued to read this story. Just from the synopsis above, I just had to read it to see if Nick and Jaycee find The Scoot’s dad.

The story starts off with Nick telling about is fevers, hallucinations, and family life. His family moved from Manhattan, and it seems since then, things have been falling apart. His best friend, The Scoot, has a serious disease called Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. A very rare disease that makes him age faster than reality. However, as they grow older and reach high school, they become a little distant from each other.

Nick meets Jaycee, who also happens to be friends with The Scoot. Nick finds out from her that The Scoot wanted to find his dad, who walked out on him because he could not handle his illness. Therefore, Nick and Jaycee set off on an adventure, with the only clue they have, to find Scoot’s dad.

Nick and Jaycee are kind of an oddball pair…having nothing in common except for The Scoot and coming from confused families. But as the story progresses, and they start to get to know each other, you can see that they really do get along.

Geesh, it is so hard to do reviews on a story that you loved. There were moments where I was laughing, and others where I cried. Scoot’s illness really makes an impression on you. How someone so young can handle the obstacles he has to deal with is incredible. I find that he is definitely wise beyond his years. Watching Nick and Jaycee’s friendship blossom was a lot of fun…it just shows that you cannot judge a book by its cover. At the end of the story, I gave a big sigh, and thought to myself, THAT was a good book!

My Over All Rating: