Dornstein, Ken. The boy who fell out of the sky.

DORNSTEIN, Ken. The boy who fell out of the sky. Random House, Vintage. 340p. notes. c2006. 978-0-375-70769-8. $13.95. SA

David Dornstein, the brother of the author of this book, died in the plane crash over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Ken was a college sophomore at the time of the crash; first he couldn't deal with David's death and then he became obsessed with reading David's voluminous papers, notebooks and writing attempts, trying to understand his life and his death. Ken is meticulous in following up on the people David knew and trying to understand his brother, who was handsome, charismatic and talented but had not been able to find a place for himself in the world and achieve his goals by the time of his death. The author also documents his own struggles to get out from under the shadow of his brother's death and life. The morass of his brother's life threatens to swallow up his own life at times. Seventeen years later, when he has finally finished writing his book, he is happily married (to his brother's first love), a father and a successful documentary producer. Readers will wonder what would have happened to David if he had lived and how the author's life would have been different if the tragedy had not occurred. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.