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As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth
Audiobook7 hours

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth

Written by Lynne Rae Perkins

Narrated by Chris Sorensen

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Train.

Car.

Plane.

Boat.

Feet.

He'll get there.

Won't he?

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 27, 2010
ISBN9780061991523
Author

Lynne Rae Perkins

Lynne Rae Perkins was awarded the Newbery Medal for Criss Cross. She is the author of four other novels—All Alone in the Universe, As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth, Nuts to You, and Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea. Lynne Rae Perkins has also written and illustrated several acclaimed picture books, including Frank and Lucky Get Schooled; The Broken Cat; Snow Music: Pictures from Our Vacation; and The Cardboard Piano. The author lives with her family in northern Michigan. www.lynnerae.com

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Reviews for As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth

Rating: 3.9615384615384617 out of 5 stars
4/5

26 ratings25 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Camp was canceled for Ry and while calling his grandfather the train left without him. After missing the train he tries calling his grandfather again, no luck, and his parents who are on a cruse, no luck. He decides to follow the train track and went into a town. A guy gives him clothes and food. Ry's grandfather has suffered a concussion while walking the dogs. His parents cell phone was lost on their trip. The guy, Del, decides to drive Ry home to Wisconsin from Montana, where problem after problem happens.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The writing is well done and polished but I couldn't get over the choices Ryan was making. He's old enoughmature enough for his parents to send him a camp across the country by himself on a train but he's not smart enough to just go to the police station and ask for assistance getting home? I would have enjoyed the story and the adventures except that it all rested on that premise. I started skimming after his second day in Montana so maybe I missed something vital but I read the author's note that she was inspired by Don Quiotix, which seemed just right- lots of meandering needless ly into adventures. I didn't like that book either. But if you did like out, you will probably like this book too.

    About Amtrak going through Montana- her description was pretty spot on except ask the seats have outlets to charge your phone. Yes, my plug often falls out but I can still keep my phone charged. I've traveled that route many times. A small detail that bugged me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story has some enjoyable moments but I never found myself deeply drawn into the story or to the characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Think "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" the John Candy movie and you have Ry's adventurous travels in a nutshell.The delightful fun series of Ry's misadventures starts off with a train ride to camp in Montana and connects back to home to his Grandfather's misadventures in Wisconsin and then connects to his parent's vacation.Did get confused while reading about the plane portion of the book, the printer must of left out that section because Emmett was never really introduced to us as a character, Surprised that happened.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry is supposed to be headed to summer camp. His grandfather is supposed to be at the new house, watching the dogs. His parents are supposed to be following their itinerary on their sailing adventure through the Caribbean. Our story starts when Ryan ventures off from a stalled train to get a cell phone signal and can't make it back in time as the train pulls away. On the way, he meets Del and various other characters, and tries to get home and find out where everyone else is. Nothing happens as planned, but every step and connection Ry makes moves him along on this journey.A great read, suitable for boys or girls, middle or high school
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The writing is well done and polished but I couldn't get over the choices Ryan was making. He's old enoughmature enough for his parents to send him a camp across the country by himself on a train but he's not smart enough to just go to the police station and ask for assistance getting home? I would have enjoyed the story and the adventures except that it all rested on that premise. I started skimming after his second day in Montana so maybe I missed something vital but I read the author's note that she was inspired by Don Quiotix, which seemed just right- lots of meandering needless ly into adventures. I didn't like that book either. But if you did like out, you will probably like this book too.

    About Amtrak going through Montana- her description was pretty spot on except ask the seats have outlets to charge your phone. Yes, my plug often falls out but I can still keep my phone charged. I've traveled that route many times. A small detail that bugged me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    How many things can go wrong? After Ry gets lost on his way to camp, nobody knows he is missing and he can't seem to reach anyone. He needs to get to his parents and find out what happened to his grandfather.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyed the writing, but did not agree with the choices Ry made, at all. I would have definitely stayed and looked for my grandfather in WI instead of ending up in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, one is interested in finding out how it all unravels, cute vignettes including the family dogs.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My usual read is YA, but I will read some good Middle Grade novels too. I didn't know much about this book. The description doesn't give much away. What I found in the book was a fun read about a summer gone wrong for one highly entertaining family.Ry is supposed to be off to summer camp. He gets a note telling him not to come to camp, camp no longer exists. When he jumps off his train real quick to try to find a cell connection, the train takes off without him. His parents are no help. They are off on a Caribbean trip dealing with problems of their own. His Grandpa is back at home house sitting with the two dogs. But he has fallen and hit his head, and is now suffering from short-term amnesia. Oh yea, and the dogs ran away. So Ry is all on his own with no one to know he is missing. Luckily he meets Del. A different but nice man that helps Ry through all the craziness.The story is mainly in Ry's perspective, but we also see the other three stories throughout. The dogs story was told with short illustrations, which I found amusing. Ry was a solid main character. He made you want to follow along on his crazy journey. Del was a very important character. Without him, Ry on his own would have felt more scary. But the comfort and kindness he brought kept the story fun and humorous. The best part of the story by far was the writing style. It's wry and witty and moving all at the same time. I loved the way she puts her sentences together. Perkins made every character lovable and realistic to me. Even the dogs!My only complaint would be getting to the ending, I grew impatient waiting for everything to come together. I wanted to see all the separate stories tie together, and that seemed to drag a bit. But that could just be me being the impatient person I am. :)As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth was an easy and enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud. A perfect lazy summer read. This is my first book from Perkins, and I will be reading more from her for sure. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good Middle Grade fiction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I think this is my favorite LRP book ever! Ry's summer vacation was supposed to be a train trip across the country to camp, while Mom and Dad sailed off to the Caribbean to "revitalize their marriage" and Grandpa Lloyd stayed home to take care of the house and the dogs. Except that nothing -- and I mean nothing-- goes the way it should. The train stops in the middle of nowhere to fix something, and Ry gets off to climb a nearby hill to find some cell reception and call Grandpa because he finally opened the letter from the camp director, which says there is no camp, and don't come. The train takes off without him, and he's stuck walking, with only railroad tracks to guide him. When he makes it to a town, he meets Del, who takes him in, and offers him a job when the Amtrak agent at the train station refuses to help him get a ticket home. Del decides to drive Ry home to Wisconsin because Grandpa hasn't answered the phone in a few days (since he went out to walk the dogs and fell and whacked his head in a brand new sinkhole), and neither have Mom and Dad (since their cell phone got stolen by a greenish monkey). Thus begins a road trip filled with an impossible number of mishaps, wrong turns, bizarre events, friends both new and old, one Willys jeep, a homemade airplane held together with duct tape, an exploding methane digester, and a sailboat named Peachy Pie. It's an adventure of epic proportions, and you never know what's coming next! Realistic fiction with lots of humor and plot twists. Even the dogs get to have a few quick chapters about their adventures off-leash! 7th grade and up.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the second book I've read by this author and I really like her style. In this one, Ry is a teenager heading to camp on a train when he gets out to stretch his legs and the train moves on without him but with pretty much everything he brought. Concurrently, his parents are on a vacation in the Caribbean and they lose their cell phone and his grandfather, who is home watching the house, falls and hits his head and becomes disoriented and lost. Ry wanders into a small town and meets a man named Del who takes him in and decides to help him find his family. Since they can't reach the grandfather on the phone, they hop in a car and drive through several states to his home. When it's clear the grandfather isn't there, they drive even further to Florida, get a friend to fly them in his homemade plane to an island and get another friend to loan them her boat so they can sail to the island where Ry's parents last were. Somehow the author makes it all make sense. Ry's reactions to his circumstances feel like an authentic glimpse into how a teen's mind works.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was like one of those Fortunately, Unfortunately games. Ry is headed to camp when the train leaves without him. Fortunately, he's got a cell phone; unfortunately, his grandpa's not answering. Fortunately, he finds an adventure-seeking friend who'll drive him back home; unfortunately, the car breaks down on the way. And so on... It is quite the story, but one that reads more like a creative writing exercise than a novel, despite its length. Interesting and completely different.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry is off to summer camp while his parents sail around the Caribbean and his grandfather stays home to watch the house and the dogs. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. Ry's summer camp gets cancelled, his parents have a series of mishaps, and his poor grandfather has a really terrible time of it. No one is where they are supposed to be. Ry makes a new friend who helps him bring his family back together.This story is full of adventure, friendship, and mishaps that are all woven together with humor. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun read that isn't too fluffy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry is on his way to summer camp when he realizes its been cancelled. He gets off at the next stop and tries to contact someone at home. But no one is there. But the train pulls away with out him and with his luggage still on board. Thus begins a crazy adventure to get back home that includes planes, trains, and automobiles (and a boat or two). Although the events that set this book in motion are quite contrived, it is still a fun adventure book that will have readers rooting for Ry to make his way safely back home again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ry is on the train to summer camp when he reads the final letter from the camp director. The letter reads, in its entirety:Dear Roy,Do not come to camp. There is no camp. Camp is a concept that no longer exists in a real place or time.We are so sorry. The Summer ArcheoTrails Program will not take place. A statistically improbable number of things have gone wrong and the camel’s back is broken. Your money will be fully refunded as soon as I sell my car and remortgage my house.We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, blahblahblah. We hope to regroup and put together a bombproof program by next summer. Live and learn!With deepest apologies, believe me,(illegible scrawl)Wally Osfeld (pgs 6-7. All quotes taken from ARC and are subject to change.)This is not the last statistically improbable thing that will happen to Ry during his summer vacation – not by a long shot. Who ever would have guessed, for example, that shortly after reading this strange letter Ry would hop off the stopped train – just for a moment – to try to get cell phone reception so he can call his family, only to have the train suddenly pull away and leave him stranded in the hills with not so much as a house in sight? By the time Ry reaches civilization he has only the travel cash from his pocket, a black eye, a pocketknife, a single shoe, and a useless cell phone with very little charge and no reception. Not that the cell phone would have done him much good – his parents, who are on a vacation somewhere in the Caribbean, have lost their cell phone to a curious monkey. And his grandpa, who is house-sitting and taking care of Ry’s dogs, has hit his head during a fall and developed short-term amnesia. No one in the world knows that Ry is wandering by himself – and it might not seem like it at this moment in time, but a totally unplanned, detour-filled, almost-catastrophic road trip might be exactly what Ry needed this summer.Some books have a charm that is just so easy. It takes a light hand and a keen sense of humor to make the reader stay invested and, well, somewhere within the realm of belief, in a book where literally everything goes wrong. And I do mean everything – Ry is in the above situation within 30 pages, and things don’t get any simpler for him. Luckily, Lynne Rae Perkins has both of those qualities in spades. Despite Ry tripping from one unbelievable situation to the next, the wry, conversational style of the narrative keeps the verging-on-silly plot from running off the rails. A notable example (and please know that I am doing my very best not to make this review just a string of random quotations – it’s a serious temptation with a book that’s so expertly narrated!): “Ry looked at his feet and legs in one of those little shoe mirrors that sat on the floor. The shoes were a metaphor for the decline of western civilization: crappy and glitzy and barely useful, but pretty comfortable. This is the narrator’s opinion. Ry didn’t think that thought specifically, but he felt as dispirited as if he had.” (Pg. 68. All quotes taken from ARC and are subject to change.) You want to crawl inside the narrator’s head right now, don’t you? I sure do.And in the end, no matter what the plot threw my way, the absurdly delightful characters that people this novel could hold my attention in any situation. Ry is funny, sweet, and a little bit dumbfounded – as anyone would be in the situations he finds himself in. He is charming from the very beginning, and is capable of keeping his affable nature even in the worst of circumstances. And then he finally stumbles into a town, finds a stranger, and tries his best to act like this is all something that happens to ordinary people. But in what might be the single stroke of good luck that finds Ry in his journey, this total stranger is Del.Oh, Del Del wonderful Del! Del lives, breathes, and thrives on people in unusual situations who are in need of his help. Especially if that help involves unexpected road trips, fixing things in unusual ways, danger, or unlikely odds – and Ry’s story will have all of these. Del’s the kind of guy who listens to Ry’s improbable story and says, well, since you can’t get a hold of your family I guess I’ll drive you from Montana to Wisconsin. And when that doesn’t work out as they planned, he says well, I guess I’ll just take you down to the Caribbean to find your parents. And when they end up in a car driven by a man with very little eyesight and no feeling below his knees, or in a small plane that requires some midair repairs over the ocean, Ry is able to stave off panic by looking at Del, who “seemed, as he was in any situation that required physical strength and agility plus mechanical aptitude and that also included unlikely odds, perfectly at ease” (pg. 259, All quotes taken from ARC and are subject to change.) Del is, without question, my new favorite grown-up in a YA novel, and he is the perfect companion for Ry’s bizarre summer. It is Del’s reassuring presence that makes the novel still feel comfortable and safe enough to be truly funny, even in situations that should, by all rights, be terrifying.Now, Ry and Del’s adventure is interwoven with a few others – Ry’s parents, his grandpa, and even his dogs each have their own tale to tell. And in Perkins’ hands, their tales are also funny and sweet and worth reading. In any other context, I think I would have been delighted by these little sidestories. But I fell so completely in love with Ry and Del that I got easily annoyed by anything that took me away from them. Please don’t think of this as a genuine quibble with the book – when I make myself think of it in an objective way and not as a crazy reader with an agenda of her own, I think these detours were the best way to tell the stories of Ry’s family, and those stories are important to Ry’s journey and do a nice job of further illuminating the themes of luck and chance that the book centers around. And I think many readers will love their addition, especially the story of the dogs, which is told in short illustrated episodes.I have not yet read anything else by Lynne Rae Perkins. I feel like an idiot now. Are her other books this wise and wonderful? Somebody get me a copy of Criss Cross, stat!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fun! Far-fetched, but laugh-out-loud funny. A story of whatever could go wrong will. Did I mention this was fun?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed the way this novel was written. There are so many various stories that are intertwined and you really begin to love Ry and his precarious situation along with seeing there are good people in the world who will help those in need. Also, the dogs are great! :)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5 stars. A fun read. It took a bit to get into the story, but then I was interested in seeing how it all came about. I probably would have liked the dogs story to be written out as well instead of in graphic format. A good travel story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry is on a train on his way tout west to summer camp when he gets a message that the camp has been canceled, due to "a statistically improbable number of things that have gone wrong." This is the perfect set-up as Ry gets off the train when it stops in the middle of nowhere for better cellphone reception to try to call home to find out what to do... and the train leaves without him. When he finally reaches the nearest town, a stranger named Del who can fix almost anything except his own life befriends him and tries to get him home. One thing after another goes wrong, but Ry makes it home finally, only to find that his grandfather and dogs have disappeared and his parents are unreachable for help as they free-sail around the Carribean without any intinerary in action. Del continues the journey down to Florida and then on to the islands in the improbable hopes they will find Ry's parents. For teens in grades 7 & up who are willing to go along for an unbelieveable but fun ride, this 368 page book may fit the bill.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    How many things can go wrong? After Ry gets lost on his way to camp, nobody knows he is missing and he can't seem to reach anyone. He needs to get to his parents and find out what happened to his grandfather.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Lynne Rae Perkins’ book As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth begins with a catastrophe and keeps on going. Here are the three main ones (although there are many more):1. Ry is on his way from Wisconsin to a hiking camp. The train he is on suddenly stops in the middle of nowhere. He gets off the train (against the conductor’s warning) to make a call but his cell phone has no reception, so he starts moving further away from the train. Of course, at that point the train starts moving and he is left in the middle of nowhere.2.Ry’s grandfather, Lloyd, is staying at Ry’s house to take care of the dogs while Ry and his parents (see item 3 below) are away. While walking the dogs, he trips and hits his head. He’s unconscious for a while and when he awakens, he has amnesia. In addition, the dogs have wandered off.3.Ry’s parents are cruising the Caribbean on a dream vacation. They lose their cell phone and are basically incommunicado and know nothing of Ry’s and Lloyd’s predicaments. They also have their own problems to contend with.The main story concerns Ry, who wanders into a nearby town and meets the town’s do-gooder, Del. Del decides to drive Ry home to Wisconsin (from Montana) and when they arrive, Lloyd is still nowhere to be found. So they then decide to find Ry’s parents in whatever island they happen to be on—an implausible strategy, in my mind.My personal feeling is that the story of Ry and Del and the adventures they have on their road trip would have been an excellent story. The addition of Lloyd’s and Ry’s parents’ trials and tribulations just muddle the works. As I mentioned earlier, there is catastrophe after catastrophe.If Perkins was trying to be humorous, the humor was lost on me. If she was trying to be serious, it was just too much. Having said all that, I do like the way Perkins writes. Her use of language is excellent. You can visualize every location and every event. I like the main characters, Ry, Del and his friends, Yulia who is Del’s love interest. I like the adventures they experience, especially with Carl, the driver with alzheimers disease and cataracts, who can barely see the road, and who picks them up as they are hitchhiking. As a road trip book, without the catastrophes that Perkins uses as catalysts for the action, this could be a 4 or even 5 star book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There's no adequate description of this book that will convey it's awesomeness. Ry's got his head in the clouds a little bit, which ends up causing him to jump off his train when it stops (mechanical issues), in order to call his grandfather. The train leaves without Ry and he's left to try and find his way home. The novel is basically Ry's journey, and while it's not quite based in reality, it's fun, funny and sweet.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry's on his way to archaeology camp camp when a series of accidents leaves him in the middle of nowhere - with no one expecting him. Camp is cancelled, his grandfather is missing, and his parents are uncontactable. The kindness of a stranger starts him on a quest to reach his family - a road trip full of mistakes, misadventures, and missed connections. This was a fun read, and I enjoyed Ry and Del and the dog's version of events. But I never entirely bought into the series of events that led to Del's being in the middle of nowhere with no one caring. And it was hard to swallow that Del's crew wouldn't intervene a little more. But once I started thinking of the story as a fantasy, I was able to suspend the disbelief enough to keep going. The zany road trip events reminded me a little of Going Bovine.II'd give this to kids looking for a road trip story, or funny stories. I'd sell it with 'What if you were lost, and there was no one to notice and come looking for you?'
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ry's summer takes an unexpected turn when camp is cancelled, and he is left behind by his train. He ends up in unfamiliar territory. In fact all the members of his family have misadventures where they are unable to contact each other. Ry is taken in by Del, a grown up adventurer and mr. fixit, who drives him across states to find his grandparents and later his parents on an island vacation. Good storytelling and interesting characters fill the pages of this read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Meh. I liked Criss-Cross, but found this one self-consciously quirky to the point of eye-roll-inducing.