Falling Like Leaves

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this "delightfully autumnal small-town romance" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

Ellis has a plan: spend her senior fall prepping her application for Columbia, get into their journalism program, and set the foundation for a respectable career. So when her parents announce that not only are they separating, but Ellis has to move with her mom from New York City to Bramble Falls, Connecticut, to live with her aunt and cousin, it couldn't come at a worse time.

From past summers spent in Connecticut, Ellis knows Bramble Falls is idyllic and charming. But it also seems to be full of distractions. There's local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis's one-time best friend and first kiss who now wants nothing to do with Ellis. And then there's the Falling Leaves Festival, a local autumnal celebration run by Ellis's aunt where people from all over come to see Bramble Falls's beautiful foliage. The house is stuffed with decorations, and every conversation seems to center around the festival.

Dragged to every oh-so-charming event from apple picking to pumpkin carving, Ellis can't stop bumping into Cooper...or falling for the quaint town and its quirky residents. As her return to Manhattan gets repeatedly delayed, Ellis finds herself caught between two very different places--and the futures they represent.

Author: Misty Wilson
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 09/02/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781665975209
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2025
School Library Journal 08/01/2025 pg. 82
Booklist 09/01/2025

About the Author
Misty Wilson is the author of Falling Like Leaves and Play Like a Girl, her award-winning debut middle grade graphic memoir. Misty is a teacher, registered nurse, and a voracious reader. She loves binge-watching television series and adores rom-coms. She lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband and their two daughters.