Twins Ashleigh and Aiden Delatour promised their mum when they were very small, to look out for one another. And they have. Aiden more so than Ashleigh, but he’s not bothered by that.

Ashleigh is a little self-centered and spoilt and takes her family’s wealth and lifestyle for granted. They have three self-driven cars, when they hardly use one. Their school is expensive and exclusive, and their home controlled by a touch of a button. Mum is a computing and engineering genius, running her extremely successful company while Dad runs their children’s busy and privileged lives.

A school camp changes everything. Even after a pile of paperwork and risk assessments, a bullet proof bus, and guards surrounding the pupils, there is still an accident. Aiden does as he promised and looks out for Ashleigh – saving her life.

But Aiden is injured and when he returns from hospital, he’s not the same boy. He’s asking questions he never asked before. How can they have so much, and others so little? He’s suddenly breaking rules and wanting to know more about the people outside their safe ‘bubble’ of life.

Mum and Dad are worried, and then Mum drops a bombshell that Ashleigh can hardly comprehend.

Set in a future Australia where 20 million people were displaced by rising sea levels, millions more were lost in climate change famines and natural disasters, and population laws are now in place. Only one child is allowed per couple (unless twins or triplets). Instant sterilisation follows. There are huge gaps between the mega-rich and the country’s poor, society now on a tiered system.

I never saw the twist in this story coming. Catch me if I fall begins with Ashleigh’s view of her safe and ordered world, and I was cocooned along with her as I read.  Although she takes all they have for granted, she isn’t completely horrible, just oblivious to the world beyond her own. When this changes, she wakes up fast – she has to in order to save her brother. Eye opening and excellent. Barry Jonsberg has done it again. Fantastic read!

Author – Barry Jonsberg

Age – 11+

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(Betrayal, Family, Future, Grief, Poverty, School, Secret, Artificial Intelligence, Computers, School Camp, Wealth, Secret, Hospital, Australia, Tiered Society)