Stepping Off

by Jordan Sonnenblick

Jesse Dienstag's favorite sweatshirt says, "The real world isn't real." That's the slogan of the vacation-home community in Pennsylvania where his family has always spent every vacation and weekend for as long as he can remember. In the summer of 2019, as Jesse is about to enter his junior year of high school in New York City, he desperately wants to believe the slogan is true. For one thing, the two girls he loves -- equally and desperately --...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1339023172
• ISBN13: 9781339023175
• Release Date: June 2024
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Amazing book

Jesse is living his best summer life with his two best friends Ava and Chloe in Pennsylvania. He's just not too eager to go back to school in New York and face real life. But it seems like his happiness might stop in the Summer of 2019 when he notices his parents are not talking anymore, his best friends are blurring the lines of friendship, and there's more to come as the world shuts down. Jordan Sonmenblick has done it again! I started reading his books when I was a teen, and my adult self got so excited when he released another YA book. I read this book not knowing what it's about and I might have been more patient if I have read the book description because this book was so slow in the beginning. It picked up for me a third of the way. But now that I finished the book, I think that was intentional. The way that Jesse was written, I think he's the type of guy who would savor the joy that he has. Like his other books, this book was full of the realities of life, and heapings of jazz music and bass playing. It's like the author's signature now. And as a long time reader, it's like a welcome back to his books. Truly. this book touched on so much emotions and feelings and the way it was written was so real. Gentle but would also smack you in the face. Just a side note: it was a bit funny for me that I wanted to know more about Jesse's parents. LOL! This just shows that I'm an adult myself. But also maybe, I'm more conscious now that parents are people too with problems and feelings that you never thought of as a kid. Again. an amazing book. I'm happy I got to read another Jordan Sonnenblick YA novel and I'm pretty sure I'll be in line to read the next one (if he ever decides to write another one). * I received an eARC of this book