In this post, we feature author Jordan Sonnenblick, whose previous, acclaimed titles include Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, and its companion, After Ever After, which was named a Best Fiction for Young Adults title, as well as a Booklist Editors’ Choice selection. You can hear him speak about his new novel, Stepping Off, and try his “invitation to imagine” activity. You’ll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Stepping Off
- Written by Jordan Sonnenblick
- Published by Scholastic Press, Scholastic, Inc.
- Release date: May 7, 2024
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—are in Pennsylvania, and all the stresses and pressures of his daily life and school are in New York. But when his parents stop talking to each other, it gets harder and harder for Jesse to maintain his dream life in Pennsylvania. And when Covid shuts New York City down in March 2020 just days after Jesse’s mother leaves his father, Jesse’s worlds collide. Set during the singular challenges of the Covid-19 epidemic, Jordan Sonnenblick’s absorbing novel follows a teen’s believable growth through family challenges, friendship, romance, and self-discovery.
From Stepping Off, written by Jordan Sonnenblick.
“Have you ever wished that life came with a pause button?”
Click here to view a longer preview of Stepping Off, written by Jordan Sonnenblick.
Explore Stepping Off
Listen to Jordan Sonnenblick talking with TeachingBooks about creating Stepping Off. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to Jordan Sonnenblick pronounce his name.
- Sample the ebook of Stepping Off on OverDrive.com.
- Sample the audiobook of Stepping Off on OverDrive.com.
- Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for Stepping Off.
Invitation to Imagine
TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Jordan Sonnenblick.
Imagination Activity with Jordan Sonnenblick
Stepping Off begins with a very visual scene: three teenagers jump off a high bridge into a lake. This is very closely based on something my friends and I actually did during my summers at sleepaway camp. Because making the scene visual is so important to the plot of the book, I actually drew the moment of the jump (using my very basic stick-figure artistic abilities) before I wrote it.
Picture an important moment in your own life story. Draw that moment in as much detail as you can remember. Then, try to write the scene of what actually happened, making sure to use as many of the important visual details from your drawing as you can. Hey, it worked for me!
Finish This Sentence . . . with Jordan Sonnenblick
As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Jordan Sonnenblick’s response.
“An odd subject I had to research for my book is…”
A weird topic I had to research for my books is how to ruin a kid’s elbow so he can never throw a baseball again. I called up my son’s pediatrician, and I got the feeling the doctor was getting suspicious. Quite an awkward phone call!
“I knew I would be a writer when…”
To tell you the truth, I’m still kind of shocked I get to be a writer! I always wanted to do this, but I never quite believed it would come true, so I feel very lucky.
“My favorite books as a kid were…”
My favorite books as a kid were almost all fantasy, science fiction, and comic books. Which is weird, because those aren’t the things I generally like to write as an adult.
“My protagonist can’t live without..”
My protagonist can’t live without his bass guitar.
“A surprising thing that helps me work is…”
I guess, considering how much music I often weave into my books, this isn’t shocking, but I always make a playlist before I start writing a book. The pieces of music in the playlist always somehow relate to the mood I want to feel when I’m writing that story, and I listen to the playlist over and over while writing. This is extra helpful if I’m trying to send my mind back to a different year; the songs really bring that time back. As an example, Stepping Off is set in 2019–2020, just before and during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. I made a playlist of songs that the main character would give to his best friend’s younger sister to cheer her up as she’s facing major life challenges. I only let myself use songs that a real 12-year-old girl would have listened to and liked at that time, and this helped me to feel closer to both characters, and to the vibe of that year. Beyoncé, Lizzo, and Hailee Steinfeld for the win!
Thank you!
To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Jordan Sonnenblick for signing a book for all of us.
More Connections to Jordan Sonnenblick and Stepping Off
- Discover books like Stepping Off on TeachingBooks.
- Scholastic’s page about Stepping Off, written by Jordan Sonnenblick
- Buy Stepping Off, written by Jordan Sonnenblick.
All text and images are courtesy of Jordan Sonnenblick and Scholastic, Inc. and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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