The Sound of Falling is a novel of love, loss, betrayal, and heartbreak. Welcome to Bayard Bitter's life. Welcome to high-school. This novel is Bayard's tale of his ninth grade year. He starts out the year with his two best friends: The newly rebellious Lee and the child-like Abbott. It isn't long before the little group is tugged apart by the currents of high-school life. Lee, who over the summer, has morphed into a "hottie," leaves Bayard behind to run with a wild crowd. And Abbott, the great "Invisible Boy," now becomes a target for bullies. Throughout this year from hell, Bayard gets into several fights; he becomes indoctrinated into the school's goth enclave (two members and counting); he stalks his favorite teacher's "girlfriend"; he befriends a clerk from an adult bookstore; and he has begun to see Lee's formerly imaginary friend skulking around his bedroom. By the end of this year, Abbott will hatch a most tragic plan to exact revenge on his tormentors and he wants Bayard's help.