When the World Tips Over is a family saga for teens, with a strong dose of magical realism. Our main characters are the three siblings Wynton, Miles, and Dizzy Fall, all named after their missing father's favorite trumpet players, as well as a mysterious rainbow-haired girl who joins the story later along the way.

As the story opens, 12-year-old Dizzy has had a terrible day, with a disgusting boy farting in her face and her former best friend joining in the laughter about it. So she climbed over the fence and walked blindly away from the school, but she wasn't paying attention when she stepped into the street, and that was her first encounter with the rainbow-haired girl, who pushed her out of the way of the truck barreling down upon her. But she didn't see the girl afterward, so Dizzy is convinced she's an angel.

Miles is the next sibling to see the rainbow-haired girl. His siblings call him "Perfect Miles," but not fondly. What they don't know is that he's quit track, the math club, academic decathlon, volunteering at the animal refuge, and even going to school altogether. He's been intercepting notes to his mother. On top of that, he's gay but hasn't dared to come out to anyone. Oh, and he can have conversations with dogs. The next-door neighbor's dog is his best friend.

And then he meets the rainbow-haired girl, when he should be in school. They drive around in her vintage orange truck, and he can open up to her like nobody he's ever met before. He can feel hope returning.

Then there's Wynton, the oldest brother. He's been kicked out of the house after driving under the influence and knocking the head off the statue of their ancestor in the town square, and after stealing their mother's wedding band to pawn for money to buy a new bow for his violin. Wynton has his big chance coming up - he's going to perform in front of a scout that could bring him into the big time. But his mother has heard it before, and nobody's paying attention. And he runs into the rainbow-haired girl after the concert, when he's again under the influence. But she's not able to get him out of the road in time.

That's all just the beginning. As the story winds on, we learn more about the rainbow-haired girl, and how she grew up driving around northern California with her mother in an RV named Sadie May. We also learn about the history of the Fall family and their ancestors who came to Paradise Springs from Europe, bringing magical vines. We learn the identity of those ghosts Dizzy's always been able to see, where their mother got her gift for baking food so good it makes you fall in love, why their father left and never came back, and how that rainbow-haired girl turns out to be connected to them.

There are lots of coincidences in this book, but they're explained by magic and destiny - which ended up being a little weak for me, but that's the grinchy part of me, and it makes a nice story.

But there's also lots of abandonment and betrayal in the back stories, and that's where it was just a little too harsh for me, along with the Cain-and-Abel curse on the family. I've been abandoned and betrayed myself, so that hit me a little too hard to be completely outweighed. And this covers not only romantic partners, but children as well - so it's not quite a feel-good story for me.

Though I do completely love the explanation at the end for the title:

I do believe now that when the world tips over, joy spills out with all the sorrow.

But you have to look for it.

That's a message I can get behind.