A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen, Hardcover, 9781250238795 | Buy online at The Nile
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A Breath Too Late

Author: Rocky Callen  

After committing suicide just before high school graduation, Ellie Walker haunts her home and school, reflecting on her life of domestic violence, friendship with August, and dreams of a writing career. Includes list of resources for people in crisis.

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Summary

After committing suicide just before high school graduation, Ellie Walker haunts her home and school, reflecting on her life of domestic violence, friendship with August, and dreams of a writing career. Includes list of resources for people in crisis.

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Description

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.

"Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." --New York Times-bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

A Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Best Book of the Year!

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

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Critic Reviews

“"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 ." -- New York Times -bestselling author 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, 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 for so many countless people who need to know they are not alone in their pain. Callen's writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." --National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author An Na "Absolutely devastating and yet hauntingly beautiful , A Breath Too Late is a poignant and timely debut from an incredibly gifted author." --Isabella Ogbolumani, Buffalo Street Books”

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year, Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, and Texas Library Association 2022 TAYSHAS Pick

"Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." --New York Times-bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

"Achingly poignant . . . 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." --New York Times-bestselling author 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, 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 for so many countless people who need to know they are not alone in their pain. Callen's writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." --National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author An Na

"Absolutely devastating and yet hauntingly beautiful, A Breath Too Late is a poignant and timely debut from an incredibly gifted author." --Isabella Ogbolumani, Buffalo Street Books

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About the Author

Rocky Callen, the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant, has long lived a life of service ever since she was a 13-year-old advocating for the undocumented immigrants in her community. She interned at NASA at 12 years old, started lobbying congress at 13, and wrote and produced student radio stories at NPR at 14.

A behavioral therapist for over ten years, she received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband, daughter, and baby boy. Rocky founded the Bleed Ink Foundation, a creative hub and resource center for writers, and the HoldOn2Hope Project, which unites creatives in suicide prevention and mental health awareness. A Breath Too Late is her debut novel.

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Product Details

Publisher
Henry Holt & Company
Published
28th April 2020
Pages
272
ISBN
9781250238795

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