"When the World Tips Over" by Jandy Nelson

Every now and then, I read a book that leaves me wishing that someone would make it into a movie. I know, rarely does a book-ish film live up to the book itself. But this week, I have one for you that is written so beautifully that I want to see it played out on the screen. "When the World Tips Over" by Jandy Nelson is an almost ethereal bit of magical realism that will have you in a chokehold from beginning to end.

In the hot, sun-drenched hills of Northern California's wine country, the Fall siblings are haunted by the mysterious disappearance of their father years ago. This event fractured their once-tight family. Dizzy Fall, twelve years old, is a quirky, cake-baking dreamer who sees spirits and wishes for a more dramatic life, one like the heroines in romance novels. Her older brother, seventeen-year-old Miles, is a brilliant athlete with a secret yearning for the kind of love he reads about but can't seem to find. Then there's nineteen-year-old Wynton, a violin prodigy whose presence lights up a room, but whose wild ambition and inner demons may lead him down a path of destruction.

The siblings are further shaken when a strange rainbow-haired girl appears in their lives. Mysterious and otherworldly, she seems to be the missing link each sibling desperately needs to heal. To Dizzy, she might be an angel; to Miles, a chance for the connection he's been seeking; to Wynton, possibly the key to unlocking his future—or unraveling it. But just as they start to unravel the meaning behind her presence, catastrophe strikes, setting the family's already fragile bonds on an even more destructive path. The once-hopeful journey to heal their wounds now feels like an impossible dream.

What follows is a deeply moving, intricately woven tale about a family grappling with loss, love, and the weight of their shared history. With rivalries, heartaches, and long-buried secrets coming to the surface, the Falls find themselves on a winding road to rediscovering one another. Along the way, there are road trips, love stories within love stories, and generational sorrows and joys that bind the family together. As they face their complicated past, the Falls come to realize that telling their stories—no matter how painful—may be the only way to rewrite their futures.

This is a story about how families, despite their flaws and mistakes, are the ones who can help us heal and find our way again. It's a journey of self-discovery, redemption, and learning to move forward—together. 

What books do you wish would be made into a movie? Pop over to my Instagram @allison.the.reader, and let's chat about it.