We All Fall Down [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Cormier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1993

They entered the house at 9:02 P.M. and trashed their way through the Cape Cod cottage. At 9:46 P.M. Karen Jerome made the mistake of arriving home early. Thrown down the basement stairs, Karen slips into a coma. The trashers slip away.



But The Avenger has seen it all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In an unapologetically severe story about four boys who victimize Karen Jerome and her family, Cormier once again explores the potential for malice in all of us. The teenagers leave the Jeromes' home in ruin; Karen is assaulted and subsequently hospitalized in a coma. Not for the squeamish, Cormier's novel doesn't mince words: "The vandals shit on the floors and pissed on the walls and trashed their way through the seven-room Cape Cod cottage." Like Robert Westall ( The Machine Gunners ; Blitzcat ), Cormier surpasses most other writers by the sheer force of his words. Much more than a pulp thriller, this compelling, richly textured novel is told from several points of view, including that of the vandals themselves. Cormier illuminates even the darkest characters with humanity, so that in the end, readers see the complicated fabric of life itself. Motives, thoughts and feelings are set forth--not without hope, but irrevocably tragic as well. Ages 13-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-- After the benignities of his last novel, Other Bells for Us To Ring (Delacorte, 1990), Cormier returns to the gritty form that made him famous. His new novel is sure, accordingly, to inflame the same parental passions and excite the same critical controversies that visited the publication of The Chocolate War (1974) and After the First Death (1979, both Pantheon). It is also sure--like those books--to find a devoted following among the kids themselves, who will recognize and embrace the authenticity of the achingly awful adolescent world that Cormier has created. It is a world in which emotions are raw, evil exists, and violence--both studied and offhand--is an everyday occurrence. The book begins, in fact, with overt violence--the trashing of a suburban house by a group of teenage boys--and ends with a more subtle kind of violence--the trashing of love and the destruction of hope. If this looks like familiar territory, look again. Cormier is gingerly exploring some new terrain here, both literally (by moving his setting from the familiar confines of Monument to the neighboring community of Burnside) and figuratively (by counterbalancing the emotional aridity of evil with a genuinely moving and nurturing love story). More familiar territory is a suspenseful subplot involving a character called "The Avenger," whose goal is to exact revenge for the trashing. Although it certainly will keep readers turning the pages, this may be the weaker part of the novel, particularly its resolution, which seems somewhat glib. Other considerations, however, of character, setting, and the complexity of family interrelationships are richly realized. And the overriding thematic treatment of the dialectics between good and evil and free will vs. predestination is sure to stimulate discussion and vigorous dialectic of its own. --Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Laurel-Leaf Books (August 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440215560
• ISBN-13: 978-0440215561
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.6 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Drugs
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Fiction
  • #41 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > Marriage & Divorce

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, November 20, 2001

By 

Lauren Houghton (College Park, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We All Fall Down (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (School & Library Binding)

I really enjoyed this book by Robert Cormier. The characters and the plot display the evil in our everyday life. However, I thought that some of the events seemed rather unrealistic. Cormier took many different plots and brought them together in unexpected and surprising ways. The book teaches lessons about regret, love, and loyalty. I think this is a book for mature readers. It taught one major lesson: every action recieves a consequence. This message was bold and understandable for all readers. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book by Robert Cormier because it contained all the elements of a good, suspenseful, yet tragic novel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cormier does it again, May 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: We All Fall Down (Mass Market Paperback)

Much like the Chocolate War, We All Fall Down deals with everyday problems teens' face in school, home, and in their personal lives. I loved how Cormier made this book accessible to teens but to adults as well. Abuse of alcohol, lies, the thought of death, and the deconstructing of family are issues that this book deals with. Cormier lets the reader see how Jane and other characters deal with these issues by writing from more than one point of view. For example, the reader can see how Jane copes with the fact her sister Karen is in a coma and might not wake up. Not only does this allow teenagers to relate to these feelings and emotions; it also connects to adults as well. They were once teenagers and have gone through the same situations as Jane, Karen, and Buddy. By reading this, adults can get a sense of what life is like for teens today and understand the reasons why teens do the things they do. It is the issues the book discusses and how the characters cope with their problems that makes this book so important to society today.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST BOOK EVER!!!, September 10, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: We All Fall Down (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is one of the most emotional and real book I have ever read. It explains why we have to be careful and extremely catiuous at times. I love this author and the books he writes. I have already read I Am The Cheese, and liked the storyline. I hope other kids get to experience it also because it's magical in it's own way.