Falling Over Sideways

Claire’s father is a writer of young adult fiction who loves to tell jokes and diffuse even serious situations with laughter and humor. One morning, he has a stroke and his life changes forever. Mr. Goldsmith survives his stroke, but it leaves his communicative functions impaired, a particularly hard outcome for a novelist. Mr. Goldsmith must relearn how to use/say certain words, eat, walk, and use the right side of his body. He loses weight and gets sick after choking on food, and the family fears that doctors might place him in a home to better help him. Eventually, Mr. Goldsmith pulls through. With Claire’s persistent help, he regains mobility and speech—and is able to dance with Claire by the end of the narrative.

Mrs. Goldsmith is a loving mother who, to Claire’s annoyance, cherishes facts over assumptions. When Claire tells her that Mr. Goldsmith had a stroke, Mrs. Goldsmith won’t believe it until the doctor himself confirms this. Mrs. Goldsmith also sends her kids to school despite them feeling sad and confused about what’s happening. Claire dictates the story, so her mother’s decisions sometimes seem harsh and comical, but the reader can see that in reality, Mrs. Goldsmith is being strong and supportive for her family by not showing signs of stress, anxiety, or fear. Mrs. Goldsmith must care for the family—including her rehabilitating husband—while trying not to crack under pressure.

Claire’s older brother Matthew is a perfectionist who excels at everything he does. He plays soccer and has perfect grades. When his father has a stroke, however, Matthew drops all his extracurricular activities and breaks up with his girlfriend. Soon, his grades begin to slip as well. Though Claire enviously sees him as someone who has it all together, Matthew reveals that he feels guilt for being mean to their father on the morning of the stroke. Matthew helps his mother care for his father while Claire initially avoids helping. Matthew comes to the rescue by agreeing to be Claire’s dance partner for the Dad’s Dance.

Fellow student Ryder is Claire’s arch nemesis through most of the novel, though he used to be her good friend when they were younger. Ryder torments Claire by calling her Storky for her long legs. He is also a better alto sax player than her and torments her in band. Ryder changes his behavior when he learns about Claire’s father’s stroke, defending Claire when Mrs. Selinsky is mean to her.

Towards the end of the novel, Ryder reveals that he stopped being Claire’s friend because she laughed at his weight along with other students instead of sticking up for him. Claire doesn’t remember this, but feels badly about hurting him. Ryder has a crush on Regina, and when he and Claire finally make up and she apologizes for laughing, he learns from Claire that Regina likes him too.

Regina is a brusque and mean girl at school, who calls Claire “Starbuck” because Claire is white. She also demands Claire’s Skittles all the time, in an act of subtle bullying. Regina eventually shows her humanity by sticking up for Claire after she learns about Claire’s family life, confronting Mrs. Selinsky and Leigh Monahan on Claire’s behalf. Regina admits that she has partly been treating Claire badly because Regina believes Ryder likes Claire, while Regina has a crush on him. Regina and Claire eventually become friends.

Leigh is a stereotypical popular girl at school, whose power comes from her fashion sense: She rules through terror (whatever she says about someone’s clothing determines how others view that person). Leigh shows a smart, calculating side when she casually mentions to the principal that her lawyer father wouldn’t take kindly to a teacher hitting a student—information that changes the principal’s mind about punishing Claire. Leigh also breaks character a few times: Claire sees her crying briefly in the bathroom.

Alanna and Katherine are Claire’s dance school best friends. They both move up to high school-level classes while Claire remains in the lower levels. Though they share many experiences that Claire isn’t aware of, they continually promise Claire that they will always remain best friends regardless of their placement in dance school.

Roshni is Claire’s best friend in middle school. Roshni is very smart yet shy. She constantly wants to stick up for Claire, but doesn’t. During the lockdown, however, Roshni finally confronts Mrs. Selinsky about her unprofessional behavior, shocking everyone.

Mrs. Selinsky is a tough-as-nails science teacher who wants her students to do everything like her “perfect” daughter Meredith. Mrs. Selinsky slaps Claire’s hand while taking away her phone during a school lockdown, demonstrating her extremely old-fashioned understanding of educational mores. Mrs. Selinsky avoids punishment when the students learn from the principal that part of Mrs. Selinsky’s attitude stems from the fact that Meredith died from liver cancer before Mrs. Selinsky could say goodbye. Though this doesn’t excuse her actions, the students realize that Mrs. Selinsky is human.