Breathe My Name

by R.A. Nelson

Overview

Frances can forgive. She can even forget. But she can never escape her past. . . .

In this compelling psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Teach Me, Frances Robinson has the perfect life: loving adoptive parents, a great best friend, and a cute new boyfriend. But Frances has a secret.

Once upon a time she wasn’t Frances Robinson. She was Shine, and she lived with her three sisters and her birth mother, Afton Jelks, far out in the country. But the loneliness overtook Afton’s fragile mind, and one day she smothered her daughters, one after another. Only Frances escaped.

Now Afton is out of prison. And she wants to finish what she started. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440678530
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/08/2007
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	341 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

R.A. Nelson is the author of the novels Teach Me, Breathe My Name, Days of Little Texas, and Throat. His work was selected as a finalist for National Public Radio's list of the "Best Young Adult Fiction Ever Written." Nelson was chosen a Horn Book Newcomer and his books have been nominated to the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults list and recognized by the Parents' Choice Awards, the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list, Booksense Kid Picks, the Miami Herald Best Books of the Year, teenreads.com Best Books of the year, and others. Nelson is also published in Germany and Hungary. He lives with his family in Alabama and is a recipient of NASA's prestigious Silver Snoopy Award for "outstanding support provided to the Space Shuttle program." Teach Me has been optioned by Protagonist Films for a feature film. Follow him on Twitter @ranelsonya.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Nelson's incandescent writing...transfixes the reader." -Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Frances left Fireless, her mother's dark imaginary world, years ago and found comfort in an adoptive family, but when she receives a letter from a psychiatric hospital saying "finish it," horrific memories surface. Two small sisters lie lifeless on a bed; sick games turn giggles into shrieks; and a mother's saucer eyes terrify. To end these nightmarish visitations, Frances embarks on a secret road trip to face her mother. Her boyfriend, Nix, drives, offering empathy and humor. Nelson's teen characters emerge as unique, fully realized people with accents, physical features and emotional dimensions that distinguish them from familiar young-adult caricatures. Vivid, unnerving scenes from Fireless break up Frances's present-day journey, jolting readers and placing them inside her psyche. With sensationalized news everywhere, teens will be fascinated by Frances's childhood at the center of a media-crazed tragedy. Readers also see what happens to the tragic players after cameras stop clicking. An unlikely final twist does not dilute Nelson's incandescent writing. Its shimmering clarity transfixes the reader, candling both damaging and redemptive familial forces. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews