Falling in

B z z z z z z z

The buzzing sound?

Do you hear that?

There it is again.

B z z z z z z z

No? Well, I really shouldn''t have asked. Most people can''t hear it, anyway. But, if you could, you''d think it sounds like you''re teetering on the edge of the universe. That''s what Isabelle Bean thinks...and she''s not that far from the truth.

B z z z z z z z

You really don''t hear that?

Well, it''s actually not that great to have a buzzing in your ear. It''s distracting for one thing. And when Isabelle starts listening to the buzz instead of, say, her boring teacher, strange things happen. She gets sent to the principal''s office (that''s not so strange), but then while awaiting her punishment, she tumbles into an adventure--into another world that''s a little bit different, a little bit Hansel & Gretel-y, a little bit like a fairy tale, which would be great, but...did I mention that Isabelle is an unusual dresser? When she shows up in fairy-tale land wearing her favorite high, pointy boots, the fairy-tale people start thinking that Isabelle is a witch -- and not just any witch, but the witch

From Edgar Award-winning author Frances O''Roark Dowell comes the unlikely story of Isabelle Bean--an ultimate misfit, an outsider extraordinaire, and not a witch

Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I’d Like to Be; The Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away; Chicken Boy; Shooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Award; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling In; The Second Life of Abigail Walker, which received three starred reviews; Anybody Shining;Ten Miles Past Normal; Trouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; The Class; How to Build a Story; and, most recently, Hazard. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.