Great Book. The story and the writing are both the kind that stick with you long after you put the book the down. ( )

Delores is a gifted thirteen-year old who wants to be an astronaut like Judith Resnik, who she admires greatly. Her father, who works on the Shuttle's solid rocket boosters out at the Cape, has taken her to several launches and she records the details of each mission in her journal. When Delores' home life implodes and the Shuttle Challenger explodes, it changes her whole world.

Last year I read Leaving Orbit and really felt a kinship with Margaret Lazarus Dean. I knew I had to read The Time it Takes to Fall. I was born and raised in Central Florida and one of my parents worked out at the Cape. I attended a flight readiness meeting once and although I never wanted to be an astronaut, I have always had an abiding affection and fascination for the space program. I have seen many shuttle launches and I saw the shuttle Challenger explode that day. I remember how all-consuming the aftermath was and so it was so easy for me to fall into this story.

I did identify with Delores quite a bit. My parents went through a rough patch when I was about her age and Delores and I even share a birthday (which gave me chills). However, there did come a point where the story lost something for me. I felt that some of the things she did were only in service to the story and not necessarily authentic to her character. But then again, young teenagers are all about exploring and finding themselves. I wouldn't classify this one as a must-read but I did enjoy my time with it.

"It seemed there was no end to the things that could have gone wrong. Already, I looked back with contempt at my younger self, when I had believed the space shuttle to be indestructible, when I had dreamt of flying on it and assumed that everything would work when I flipped the switch. Now it seemed like one big mechanical flaw, barely held together by explosive bolts. Now I knew they'd just gotten lucky all along." ( )

I really enjoyed this novel. Once I was into the story, I found myself staying up late to read “just one more chapter” (or two or three). Nothing extraordinarily exciting happens in these pages, but I was pulled in as if a great reveal awaited me in the next chapter. Craft-wise, The Time It Takes to Fall is more of a four-star novel, but I think the fact it kept me so captivated should count for something.

The Time It Takes to Fall is the story of a girl, Dolores, who yearns to be an astronaut. Her father is a technician at NASA and her mother is slowly unraveling. Against a backdrop of a budding shuttle program and the Challenger disaster, Dolores comes of age in ways that are achingly familiar at times, unrealistically extreme at others. I liked her character and her relationship with others. She is intelligent and insightful, and though she's not always personable, her attitude seems age appropriate and does not make her any less enjoyable to be around. Some of Dolores actions may have gone further than I imagine a thirteen-year-old in her position would go, but given her family situation, her aspirations, and the current events, these actions are not completely outside possibility.

For the most part, The Time It Takes to Fall is written in the voice of a normal thirteen-year-old girl. Her view can at times be juvenile. But Dolores isn't your average thirteen-year-old. She has her childish moments, but she is often rather insightful in a believable way. Her love of physics and the space program really come out in these pages and highlight the novel's strongest moments. Of the many historical world-changing events (e.g. revolutions, genocides, natural disasters), the Challenger explosion of 1986 is, in hindsight, fairly insignificant. Yet, for whatever reason, it shook the nation in a way that rivaled presidential assassinations and surprise attacks. And it seemed to resonate most strongly with those who were children in the 1980s. By giving us this brilliant yet formative protagonist, Dean has really captured the sentiment of the event. Further, Dean has really stepped out and shown her bravery. It is not easy to tackle such a significant event that is dear to many people. And it's certainly not easy to portray the inner-workings of the massive organization at its heart, finger-pointing and all.

Five stars: for bravery, significant research, well-crafted characters, and a story that kept me up at night and taught me a few things. ( )

This is parallel coming-of-age stories of Dolores and NASA's space shuttle program. Dolores's father works for NASA. He is a technician on the solid rocket boosters. Dolores's mother is a housewife who has to dive into the workforce during a time when her husband is laid off. Dolores is 13, brilliant but doesn't know it, and wants to be an astronaut and carefully documents every shuttle launch. Becaus she is 13, Dolores also wants to be popular, and between puberty and the upheaval her parents create in their home, she makes some cringe-worthy choices. Everything culminates with the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Well-written book with a very original and unique premise. ( )

Margaret Lazarus Dean did an excellent job in this book. The title has multiple meanings: the fall of the Challenger, the fall of America's space race pride, the fall of the girl's father's job, the fall of the girl's parent's marriage, etc. She did a god job at getting the scientific information down and mixing it with the melancholy life of a teenage girl. ( )