Breathless

by Jessica Warman

Book Overview

When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school, it doesn't take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She's smart, she's cute, and she's a swimming prodigy who has a first-class ticket to any... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802798497
• ISBN13: 9780802798497
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Walker & Company
• Length: 311 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Skeptic Adult Reader Turned Fan - Breathless is GREAT!

While I thought it was impossible that I would enjoy young adult fiction, it ends up that I couldn't put this book down. Jessica Warman's first novel took me back to what it was like to be a teenager, when all was felt with such intensity. The story is gripping and the prose refreshing. You'll learn to love these characters and find a bit of yourself in each of them - Katie, Mazzie, Will, Drew. Warman covers topics that we all know are out there, but that we aren't always comfortable talking about. This book could possibly help facilitate some tough conversations between parents and their teens. But most of all, it's so much fun to read!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Katie and her older brother, Will, were like two peas in a pod growing up. At first, their family is poor as their father struggles through medical school and their mother tries to become a successful artist. As their fortune changes, the family finds themselves the richest in their southwestern Pennsylvania town of Hillsburg. The rich are usually the elite of a community, but in Hillsburg, they never quite fit in. To make matters worse, as time goes by, Will begins to change. He's not quite right and begins short stays in a mental hospital. It isn't until the start of her sophomore year in high school that Will physically hurts himself. To remove Katie from the situation, her parents ship her off to boarding school in West Virginia. Katie is far from boarding school material, but soon, Woodsdale Academy becomes more of a home to her than the house in Hillsburg. She is befriended by Estella and Lindsey almost from the first moment she arrives. Estella is the most popular girl on campus and is intrigued by Katie. What Katie starts as a small omission about her family soon turns into a lie she feels is too great to reveal. She's told her fellow students that her brother is dead. She can't confess the fact that he is absolutely crazy. Estella already jokingly calls Katie white trash. She'd never live it down if the full impact of the truth was revealed. As the story progresses, Katie develops a strange bond with her mysterious roommate, Mazzie Moon. And the gorgeous boy that hangs out with Estella's boyfriend, Stetson, is soon paired up with Katie for swimming practice. Swimming is all Katie is good at, and the only time the jumbled thoughts in her head are quieted. Drew becomes her boyfriend, and all is right at Woodsdale. But as time goes by, Katie questions things around her and wants more for herself. BREATHLESS is the kind of story that I had hoped Curtis Sittenfeld's PREP was going to be. The main character actually evolves and grows as the story unfolds. Katie is far more likeable than Lee ever becomes in PREP. By the end of the novel, the reader can actually close the story, satisfied that a proper ending was achieved. Katie starts off as one of the crowd, going with the flow, but she eventually learns to be her own person and do what she needs to for herself, not what is expected of her by others. Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Fabulous Read, Thought-Provoking Content

This is a gripping novel that is fitting for Young Adult readers and Adult readers alike. I read this for a recent book club, and we were all enthralled with the novel... it is true, fresh, and honest. Jessica Warman does an excellent job at capturing a teen through the struggles of high school while dealing with the dramas of family life. Our book club of about 15 women, ages 27-32, loved this book and we discussed and raved about it all night. I highly recommend.

Sparking prose for all ages

It's the details that make this story shine. When Katie feels second-class at boarding school because she's the only one whose name tag doesn't have three or four names like the well-pedigreed girls, her teenage self-consciousness will make any reader squirm. As she muddles her way through the last years of high school, you'll find yourself rooting for her to make it safely through her heartache and confusion. The the characters and relationships in this story are so well-developed and complex, it's easy to forget that they're not people you once knew. Ms. Warman is clearly not just a good study of human nature, but someone who remembers acutely the pressures of being a teenager. It's stories like this that let teenagers--and the teenage remnants in all of us--know that we're not alone. Ms. Warman dared to tell the truth about the lives many teens are leading, and I can't wait to read her next book.

Mainstream at its best!

Katie Kitrell is your average fifteen-year-old girl--with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Nothing is about her, or for her. She lives to keep safe (and stay loyal to) her older brother, whose (in)sanity challenges him at every turn and threatens the safety of the entire family. In addition, she is the product of, in Warman's words, "an apparition" of a father and a "semiconscious" mother. However, Katie is talented in the water. She's bound to swim places. When her parents gift her with a position at a private boarding school, which isn't really given in her best interests, as much as for a half-solution to family's biggest problem, she grasps at a chance to live a better life. Filled with poignant, real-life situations, and characters that practically breathe, Warman's debut novel will grasp you by the heart and squeeze you so tightly, you won't be free of it, even after you read the last word. This is an amazing study of teen years, hitting on all pertinent problems in teenaged society...and the world. While BREATHLESS is marketed toward the latter spectrum of young adult readers, this is mainstream at its best. Men and women of all ages, and teens of both genders, will identify with this profound masterpiece. I will be pre-ordering Warman's next book (reportedly entitled NOBODY'S BABIES,) and can hardly wait for its release. What an enthralling read, Ms. Warman!