For fans of Girl in Pieces, All the Bright Places, and Girl, Interrupted comes a haunting and breathtaking YA contemporary debut novel that packs a powerful message: hope can be found in the darkness.
“Achingly poignant . . . a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted.” –New York Times bestselling author Alison McGhee
Seventeen-year-old Ellie had no hope left. Yet the day after she dies by suicide, she finds herself in the midst of an out-of-body experience. She is a spectator, swaying between past and present, retracing the events that unfolded prior to her death.
But there are gaps in her memory, fractured pieces Ellie is desperate to re-assemble. There's her mother, a songbird who wanted to break free from her oppressive cage. The boy made of brushstrokes and goofy smiles who brought color into a gray world. Her brooding father, with his sad puppy eyes and clenched fists. And Ellie's determined to find out why a piece of her was left behind.
Told in epistolary-like style, Rocky Callen's deeply moving A Breath Too Late sensitively examines the beautiful and terrible moments that make up a life and the possibilities that live in even the darkest of places. Perfect for fans of the critically-acclaimed Speak, I’ll Give You the Sun, and If I Stay.
"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." –Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
"A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story. A necessary story . . . Callen’s writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." —National Book Award finalist and Printz Award–winning author An Na
Genre: Young Adult Romance
“Achingly poignant . . . a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted.” –New York Times bestselling author Alison McGhee
Seventeen-year-old Ellie had no hope left. Yet the day after she dies by suicide, she finds herself in the midst of an out-of-body experience. She is a spectator, swaying between past and present, retracing the events that unfolded prior to her death.
But there are gaps in her memory, fractured pieces Ellie is desperate to re-assemble. There's her mother, a songbird who wanted to break free from her oppressive cage. The boy made of brushstrokes and goofy smiles who brought color into a gray world. Her brooding father, with his sad puppy eyes and clenched fists. And Ellie's determined to find out why a piece of her was left behind.
Told in epistolary-like style, Rocky Callen's deeply moving A Breath Too Late sensitively examines the beautiful and terrible moments that make up a life and the possibilities that live in even the darkest of places. Perfect for fans of the critically-acclaimed Speak, I’ll Give You the Sun, and If I Stay.
"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." –Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
"A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story. A necessary story . . . Callen’s writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." —National Book Award finalist and Printz Award–winning author An Na
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Praise for this book
"Rocky Callen's achingly poignant debut novel is narrated by Ellie, whose suicide has turned her into a literal ghost in her own life. The suffering of her mother and boyfriend mirror Ellie's own overwhelming regret at having left the world too soon. Dreamy, funny, fierce-hearted Ellie made me want to put my arms around all the hurting teens in the world and tell them to hold on, that there is hope, there is love, there is life to come. A Breath Too Late is both a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted." - Alison McGhee
"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves. This book will remind you that you are needed, in this big and often messy world." - Jeff Zentner
"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves. This book will remind you that you are needed, in this big and often messy world." - Jeff Zentner
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Rocky Callen's A Breath Too Late