Drawing Breath
Drawing Breath
Laurie Boris (author)
Product Description
Students often fall in love with their teachers. Despite warnings from her mother, that's exactly what 16-year-old Caitlin Kelly does. But Daniel Benedetto isn't just any art teacher. Not only is he more than twice Caitlin's age, he rents the Kellys' upstairs apartment and suffers from cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disease. Caitlin watches in torment as other people, especially women, treat Daniel like a freak because of his condition. To Caitlin, Daniel is not a disease, not someone to pity or take care of but someone to care for, a friend, her first love. He, however, seems oblivious to her adoration. In a well-meaning yet naive gesture, Caitlin crosses the line and interferes with his private life, sparking a chain of events with devastating consequences. Neither of them will ever be the same again.
Product Details
Ebook
File Size: 314 KB
Print Length: 137 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1475270232
Publisher: Laurie Boris (April 25, 2012)
Language: English
ASIN: B007XYOKV6
Available at Amazon.com and Amazon.uk.
Paperback
142 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (May 4, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1475270232
ISBN-13: 978-1475270235
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
Available at Amazon.com.
Reviews
"All human beings like to believe that they are in control of their fates. However, everyone is born into certain facts that can't be altered: their natural family, their genetic heritage, their birthdate. Drawing Breath, Laurie Boris's second novel, is a rich, character-driven story about those fixed details.
Caitlin, a sixteen-year-old budding artist, is taken under the wing of the talented Daniel, who happens to live on the second floor of the home where Caitlin grew up. Daniel, who supports himself as an art teacher, has cystic fibrosis. He has already survived longer than many people with this genetic disease. Not surprisingly, Caitlin develops a crush on him that eventually leads her to make one very bad decision.
This is one of the most beautifully written novels I've read this year. The prose flows along smoothly, and Boris's understanding of the subtlety of language shines through. Her main characters are lovingly drawn and perfectly fleshed out, as is to be expected. But the brushstrokes with which she paints the lesser characters is even more impressive. There are no cardboard cutouts in this book.
If you want to remember what your first crush felt like, read this book immediately. Even if you don't, read it anyway. Laurie Boris is a writer to remember." - Susan Wells Bennett, novelist
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"Teenage love is never easy, but Caitlin Kelly’s obsessive crush is a triple whammy: Her art teacher Daniel is 34, he lives upstairs, and he has cystic fibrosis. Convincing herself she’s protecting him, she meddles in his personal life, with devastating consequences for all of Boris’ s well-drawn, dimensional characters. This empathetic novel covers local turf from the Poughkeepsie station to Albany Med, and deserves a far wider audience." - Chronogram Magazine, Short Takes, July 2012
