I bought the book because I am from Niagara Falls. I told my parents about it and my dad already read it because my aunt who lives in Texas also read it and sent it to him. He loved it. It is one of those books that lingers for awhile. I cannot say enough about how incredible this read was. Not just because I am from Niagara Falls but because of how Catherine writes. It's a beautiful story. She uses fictional history but you there is a lot of non fiction in it. She really makes you appreciate the beauty of Niagara Falls and the land along with so much more. The era and the description of the area and life and times are so true to life. This woman has an amazing ability to do her homework because there are many techncial terms involved in the making of the generation stations and height of the flow of the river etc. Truly put together to make a warm, memorable love story not just about people but about land. She also mentions that she is trying to conserve skyline above the Falls and she is on the committee to help save Loretto Academy from destruction. This book wowed me. I am in love with this couple and will always be a river girl and proud of it no matter where I live in Canada.

One of my favorite books. This book is full of humor and wisdom. I found myself laughing out loud. I didn't want it to end.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very interesting childhood memories. Excellently written - keeps you wanting more. I would read this author again.

This is an amazing book. The writing is wonderful, the characters seem so real you feel you know them and you get a real feel for the place and time. I highly recommend this book.

This is a humourous recollection of a young Catherine Gildiners life. It was written incredibly well and is full of the innocence only a little girl can possess. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves to read.

"Too Close To The Falls" is a wonderful, humerous and touching memoir about a young girl growing up in a small town in the 50's. I would recommend giving this book as a gift as it does not include any distasteful content and is just a great read. I was hooked from the first few pages and could not put it down!

The constricted eye of childhood is widely expanded in Catherine Gildiner's delightful account of a precocious young girl's growing up years in the 1950's. Although set in Lewiston, New York, anyone who grew up anywhere in North American and recalls or experienced the repression of that decade will easily relate to Gildiner's well crafted insights. Who is "seen" and who is "not seen" by the mainstream community delineates in detail the implications of bias, marginalization and prejudice. Cathy McClure's never fully discloses the depths of her insights about the colourful local characters to her eccentric mother and benevolent father; nor does the school system help her understand life around her. Rather, she learns far more about the truth of world from her adventures outside of classroom than she would ever have learned within the hallowed walls of school. Moreover, the curriculum becomes one of her own design, often humourous and always provocative, augmented by her own interpr

Dr. Catherine Gildiner's book is a magical, hilarious and very touching memoir of a most unusual childhood in 1950s America. Her understanding of American life from the perspective of a very bright and highly energetic Lewiston child is refreshing. This is one book that should be on everyone's gift list for the laughter we all need so much at this time in history.

This is an excellent book. I found myself remembering events from my childhood. I am a recently retired special education teacher and I feel for sure that I would have been diagnosed ADD or ADHD.

Catherine Gildiner's "Too Close to the Falls" is much more than a memoir. Instead, it is a series of stories meant as much for the reader to identify with as it is for the author to share. <BR> From tales of meeting Marilyn Munroe, to stories of sledding down the Hill from Hell, Gildiner uses quick and clever writing to reveal, then analyze the adventures of her youth. Interesting characters remembered with grace and clarity, challenge the reader to recant, then refocus on those who shaped their own lives. It is a book that is both thought provoking as well as enlightening, guaranteed to put a wistful smile on the reader's face, as forgotten memories resurface. Highly recommended.