If you had to choose a favorite kind of pie, what would it be?
Pecan.
JESSICA WARMAN has an MA in creative writing and studied at prep school and Yale. Her poetry and short stories have been published in Stirring: A Literary Collection, The Stickman Review, Penguin Political, and Redivider. Breathless is her first novel. She is a marathon runner and a mother of two young girls. Jessica lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
www.jessicawarman.com
Praise for
breathless
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Texas Tayshas Reading List selection
“Katie Kitrell’s journey through her high school years at an exclusive
private academy is at once profound and petty, savage and gentle,
predictable and utterly unexpected. The story exudes authenticity
and is told with depth, intelligence, humor, and affection.”
—Todd Strasser, New York Times–bestselling author of Give a Boy a Gun
“Warman’s achingly realistic scenes and characters transcend cliché,
and with rare, refreshing honesty and flashes of wry humor, she writes
about the intimacy of boarding school, the anguish of family illness,
finding a sense of self in sports and in life, and the small, mysterious,
imperfect moments that add up to love in all its forms.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Warman treats Will’s schizophrenia with stark honesty as seen
through his sister’s eyes. . . . This novel provides an important look at
an extremely difficult illness and its effects on a family.”
—SLJ, starred review
“[Readers will] find the boarding-school experience enviable,
the family situation poignant, and Katie a protagonist they’ll
understand, support, and forgive.”
—BCCB, starred review
For Colin
Copyright © 2010 by Jessica Warman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in the United States of America in September 2009
by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
E-book edition published in September 2010
www.bloomsburyteens.com
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Walker BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Warman, Jessica.
Breathless / Jessica Warman.
p. cm.
Summary: At boarding school, Katie tries to focus on swimming and becoming popular instead of the
painful memories of her institutionalized schizophrenic older brother.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8027-9849-7 • ISBN-10: 0-8027-9849-7 (hardcover)
[1. Schizophrenia—Fiction. 2. Mental illness—Fiction. 3. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 4. Boarding
schools—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction. 6. Peer pressure—Fiction. 7. Swimming—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.W2374Br 2009 [Fic]—dc22 2008042555
ISBN 978-0-8027-2243-0 (e-book)
Breathless Page 27
