Breathing Underwater

Description

Olivia is on the cross-country road trip of her dreams, complete with her favorite aunt and uncle, National Geographic magazines, and her big sister, Ruth. Once they reach San Diego, they have a plan to uncover a time capsule they buried when they moved away three years ago. Olivia can't wait to take pictures of the sights, adventures, and memories-but what she wants most is to make her sister happy again. Ruth has depression, and it seems to Olivia, who knows Ruth's signs, that things are getting worse. But as the road winds on and they get closer to their old home, she'll realize that love, not fixing, is all she can give. Breathing Underwater is the second novel from Sarah Allen, a big-hearted exploration of sisterhood, dreams, and what it means to be there for someone you love.

Sarah Allen is the author of What Stars are Made Of. She has been published in the Evansville Review, Allegory, and on WritersDigest.com. She has an MFA from Brigham Young University and lives in Seattle. Find her at sarahallenbooks.com.

In Breathing Underwater, Sarah Allen has created characters so alive and compelling that readers will root for them every mile of this moving, heartfelt journey." --Dan Gemeinhart, author of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise "Breathing Underwater takes you by surprise again and again: You think it's a road trip story, then a search for treasure story, then that it's a story about the darkness of depression, then that it's a story about sisters. Finally, you realize it's all of these--and more. It's really, in the end, a love story, filled with joy and hurt and hope--and all the complexity that love brings with it." --Gary Schmidt, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Wednesday Wars "Olivia is an earnest narrator who effortlessly moves back and forth between the plotline and revealing and processing her emotions. . .This is an honest portrayal of a child gradually internalizing what she knows intellectually about her fragile sister. Tween readers--especially girls with older sisters--will appreciate the depth of feeling on display. A heartfelt, multifaceted treasure hunt." --Kirkus Reviews "Olivia's eager narrative voice makes her sound approachably younger than her years, and her account believably blends a fairly advanced understanding of Ruth's depression, a legitimate frustration with Ruth's self-absorption, and also an unquenchable hope. Ruth is credible in her occasional softening toward Olivia, and it's also authentic that even Ruth's normal teenage rebellions (she gets a tattoo in New Orleans) are magnified through the lens of the situation. It's heartening to see a book that acknowledges the strain on a disability-shadowed sibling, and readers familiar with the experience will be glad to see Olivia firmly centered in the picture." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books