The Place Between Breaths - Softcover

Na, An

Softcover

ISBN 10: 148142226X ISBN 13: 9781481422260

Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2019

Synopsis

“A searing, shattering, exquisite shard of a book.” —Ally Condie, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Matched Trilogy

“A brilliant, necessary candle in the darkness.” —Brendan Kiely, New York Times bestselling and award-winning coauthor of All American Boys and Tradition

From master storyteller and Printz Award–winning author An Na comes a dark, intensely moving story of a girl desperately determined to find a cure for the illness that swept her mother away, and could possibly destroy her own life as well.

Sixteen-year-old Grace is in a race against time—and in a race for her life—even if she doesn’t realize it yet…

She is smart, responsible, and contending with more than what most teens ever should. Her mother struggled with schizophrenia for years until, one day, she simply disappeared—fleeing in fear that she was going to hurt those she cared about most. Ever since, Grace’s father has worked as a recruiter at one of the leading labs dedicated to studying the disease, trying to lure the world’s top scientists to the faculty to find a cure, hoping against hope it can happen in time to help his wife if she is ever found. But this makes him distant. Consumed.

Grace, in turn, does her part, interning at the lab in the gene sequencing department, daring to believe that one day they might make a breakthrough…and one day they do. Grace stumbles upon a string of code that could be the key. But something inside of Grace has started to unravel. Could her discovery just be a cruel side effect of the disease that might be taking hold of her? And can she even tell the difference?

With unflinching bravery, An Na has created a mesmerizing story with twists and turns that reveal jaw-dropping insights into the mind of someone struggling with schizophrenia.

About this title

About the Author

An Na was born in Korea and grew up in San Diego, California. A former middle school English and history teacher, she is the critically acclaimed author of The Fold, Wait for Me, the National Book Award finalist and Printz Award–winning novel A Step from Heaven, and The Place Between Breaths. She lives in Vermont.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Place Between Breaths Winter
There are many versions of a story. Many sides and lenses that can distort, change, illuminate what is seen and unseen. What is heard and unheard. What is felt and unfelt. In the end, truth is but a facet of a diamond, a spark of ray from the sun, a forget-me-not flower seen from the eyes of a bee. What lives and breathes as reality is a perception, so who is to say what is possible and impossible?

Call it fate or simply coincidence, but the shorter version of how I found you begins like this. There was a dark speck on the side of the barren winter road that grew larger and larger as I drove closer. Expanding from a dot to a stone to a tree stump until I screeched to a halt. A few dozen feet away from a headless coat turtle-shelled on top of the snow. Both of my hands released the steering wheel and coned over my mouth. Was it a body? There was no movement. I slowly opened the door and stepped out. Had someone frozen and died overnight? It wouldn’t have been the first time that something like that happened around here. I took a step forward, and then another, the fragile crack of ice and gravel rippling through me. My breath misted before my face.

A head emerged.

I shouted in fright. “You scared the hell out of me!” A large vapor cloud formed as I exhaled long and slow.

Your disheveled black hair framed your face, petite, round. It was hard to tell how old you were, but something about your eyes told me you were older than you looked.

Slowly unfurling each limb as though in pain, you stood up.

I walked forward in relief.

“You looked like a dead body.”

Your brows gathered as you lifted and dropped your shoulders before bowing your head slightly. “Sorry.”

Then a brief wave of your hand and you started walking down the side of the road.

“Do you need a ride?” I called to your back. You stopped. “I’m on my way to town,” I said.

You gazed back, your eyes roaming my face before you turned and kept walking down the long cold road. Away from me.

• • •

That is the short version of how we met. You didn’t tell me then why you were so tired that you had to rest hiding inside your coat by the side of the road, but since then, after meeting again, you have shared a few of your truths. The longer story of us is like the horizon. We can only know what we see, and all that we wish we could understand is beyond vision.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 148142226X
• ISBN 13: 9781481422260
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208