Nick's life is in a bit of a rut. His older brother irritates him relentlessly, his father is a morbidly obese couch potato, his mother works all the time, and his best friend, the guy next door, Scooter, has the ultra-rare disease, Hutchinson-Guilford progeria syndrome... he will die of old age before he's out of his teens.
Nick's father suddenly decides to walk to New York City to lose weight, and he packs up and leaves. Nick thinks he'll return, but his brother is confident they've seen the last of him. And Scooter is getting worse. He is going to die soon.
And into Nick's life walks Jaycee Amato, a strange, confident, determined girl, who it turns out, is also friends with Scooter. And she has promised him that she will find his father, who walked out on the family when he was a toddler. And she is determined that Nick is going with her on this mission.
Scooter dies before they leave for their hunt, but the rest of the book is the quest to find Guy Reyland, Scooter's dad. Jaycee and Nick have slipped out of town to spend several days hunting for Scooter's father. We read about the mission, but also about the growing friendship between the two teens. And in the end, we learn that Scooter had some secret plans of his own in the works. And Scooter's plans are about the only plans in the book that don't go awry. ( )

This book is one that makes you think, laugh, and cry, and that's all a good thing. Nick is a typical 15 yr old boy in a small town. Life is same old same old, until you keep reading his story. Gae does a wonderful job pulling the reader in, keeping them reading, and wanting more. The shorter chapter length makes you feel like you are flying through the book. Before you know it, you are at the end of the story and wishing there was more. ( )

This nifty little tale tells the story of Nick, a teenager with an obese father, an insensitive older brother, and a next-door neighbor named Scooter, who’s dying of progeria. Not exactly your typical teen. He also has a new friend/crush named Jaycee, whose stepfather is a cardboard cut-out of a TV newsman. Unbeknownst to Nick, Scooter and Jaycee become friends, and Scooter entrusts her with a mission or—as the book jacket calls it—a “dying wish” involving a signed first-edition of Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” and Scooter’s estranged father.

Nick’s adventure with Jaycee becomes a turning point in his life—it encompasses many “firsts” for the likeable protagonist (including his first kiss). Polisner’s charming prose will probably appeal to teens and tweens (this novel’s true audience) more than it will to adults, but adults will also enjoy this sweet, touching story despite some narrative loose ends. ( )

The Pull Of Gravity may not sound too extraordinary, but the characters definitely make this story come to life with their Slinky bracelets, feverish dreams of evil cherry cola monsters, and wise Yoda-isms. Nick’s “nice guy” personality keeps Jaycee’s larger-than-life eccentricities at bay, and together they make the journey to find Scoot’s dad as memorable and one-of-a-kind as the destination. Every time they seemed to get a hold of a sticky situation, there always seemed to be another one on the ready to cause more hijinks. I would have liked to see the story go on a little longer if only to have more loose ends resolved, but a more charming and heartfelt book I do not think you will find. A perfect bedtime snack of a read or quick road trip – and MORE perfect if you are in dire need of a good book to keep your reading morale up. ( )

Polisner, G. (2011). The pull of gravity. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/Frances Foster Books. 202 pp. ISBN 978-0-374-37193-7. (Hardcover); $16.99.*
I love a great opening: “A fever was what started everything. That, and the water tower, and the cherry cola. Well, also, Dad and his condition, and Mom being in Philadelphia and all.” Nick knows how to spike a fever. Febrile seizures are no stranger. And Nick has it far better than his friend The Scoot who is dying of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a horrible disease that accelerates the aging process. The Scoot’s father left him when Scooter was a baby, yet The Scoot has a dying wish to communicate with him at least one last time. Nick can relate to this because his own seriously overweight father has set out on a walking tour to lose weight. Nick’s father is a former well-known news guy who instilled a love of words in Nick. Nick feels abandoned and refuses to read any of the correspondence. When the local television station comes over to interview Nick’s Dad, Jaycee Amato comes with the team. Her father is the vapid on-air talent. She is obsessed with Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and she is taken with The Scoot. She begins to usurp some of The Scoot’s attention and horn in on Nick’s life, much to Nick’s delightful dismay. However, when The Scoot dies, Jaycee and Nick set off to Rochester, New York in search of The Scoot’s father as a way of honoring The Scoot’s memory. When these two young high school kids reach Rochester, they find much more than they bargained for, both good and bad. Polisner has a nice mix of humor and sentiment in this book that is, at once, sad, funny, hopeful, and upbeat. Purchase this one for middle school libraries especially, with the understanding that it also belongs in high school libraries.