Don't Breathe a Word
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Joy delamere is suffocating.
From asthma, from her parents, and from her boyfriend, Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out. She can take his cruel words, his tender words . . . until the night they go too far.
To escape, Joy sacrifices her suburban life to find the one who offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. He introduces her to a world of fierce loyalty, to its rules of survival, and to love—a world she won’t easily let go.
Set against the backdrop of the streets of Seattle, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the secrets we keep, and the ways to redemption. But above all, it is an unflinching story about the extraordinary lengths one girl will go to discover her own strength.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cupala (Tell Me a Secret) plunges readers into the traumatized interior life of asthmatic high school junior Joy Delamere. Faking her own kidnapping, Joy cuts and dyes her hair and runs away from her suburban Seattle home and her abusive and controlling boyfriend, Asher. She heads for the notorious homeless haven of Capitol Hill, seeking freedom and an enigmatic musician named Creed, who once told her to find him if she needed help. Creed invites her into his makeshift home and family, which consists of fiery May and the more welcoming Santos, who teach Joy to steal and to survive. "Part of becoming a family was finding your place in it," Joy thinks. "And despite the terrible air, I hoped there would be room to breathe in this one." The tense, riveting story flashes between Joy's past and present, illuminating the brutal extent of Asher's efforts to control her and Joy's slow process of rebuilding her self-worth with the help of her new friends. Though the hopeful ending is overly tidy, the characters and setting are tangibly and impressively rendered. Ages 14 up.