Breathless

By Lurlene McDaniel

What is the toughest request anyone can be asked to fulfill?

Travis Morrison is a champion diver and one of the most popular kids at school. On the first day of summer vacation, while boating on the lake with his friends, Travis attempts a silly stunt dive that goes wrong. He fears he has broken his leg. Instead, his trip to the hospital reveals he has a rare form of cancer, and to save him, the doctors tell his parents they must amputate. In an instant, Travis’s life and the lives of everyone around him are forever changed.

Travis is determined that he and only he should decide the course of his life. He has a plan, but he can’t carry it out alone. Will he convince one of his friends to fulfill his most important request?

Lurlene McDaniel tackles a controversial subject, probing the issues of personal choice and quality of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Children's Books
• Release date: May 12, 2009
• ISBN: 9780375890970

Lurlene McDaniel

Everyone loves a good cry, and no one delivers heartwrenching stories better than Lurlene McDaniel. But there's more to her books than that. McDaniel has written over 40 novels about kids who face life-threatening illnesses, who sometimes do not survive. These are powerful, inspirational stories about courage, love, and strength in the face of overwhelming trauma. McDaniel’s books touch the hearts and spirits of the teenagers and adults who read them. Her following is a devoted group of appreciative fans. McDaniel says: "These are books that challenge you and make you think." Some readers—and their parents—have wondered why McDaniel chooses to write about sad situations. "I tell them that sometimes tragedy hits people—kids, too. They want answers. They want to know 'why.' By using novels, I show ordinary kids confronting and overcoming great odds." McDaniel's books are ultimately optimistic and life-affirming. McDaniel began writing about young adults when her son Sean was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 3. His illness changed the lives of everyone in her family forever. "I saw what life was like for someone who was chronically ill, and I experienced how it affected the dynamics of the family," says McDaniel. She says she found that writing about the trauma and its effects was therapeutic. To make certain that her books are medically accurate, McDaniel conducts extensive research. She interviews health care professionals and works with appropriate medical groups and hospice organizations, as well as the Tennessee Organ Donor Services. "I study medicine and traditional grief therapy techniques to give the novels a sense of serious medical reality," she says. "I also study the Bible to instill the human element—the values and ethics often overlooked by the coldness of technology." Growing up, McDaniel lived in different parts of the country because her father was in the Navy. Eventually her family settled in Florida. She attended the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she earned a B.A. in English. She now lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In addition to her popular YA novels, McDaniel has written radio and television scripts, promotional and advertising copy, and a magazine column. She is a frequent speaker at schools, writers’ conferences, and conventions. McDaniel's books have been named to several bestseller lists, including Publishers Weekly. Three of her novels were selected by children as IRA­CBC Children’s Choices: Somewhere Between Life and Death, Too Young to Die, and Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever. Six Months to Live has been placed in a literary time capsule at the Library of Congress, to be opened in the year 2089.

Book preview

COOPER

Travis Morrison became my friend in third grade after two fifth graders beat me up on the school playground. They said I was ugly and weird-looking, took my lunch, and made me cry. Travis shared his lunch with me, and after school when his mom picked him up, he asked me to play at his house. I went home with him every day after that. It’s not as if my mom cared where I hung. She was working two shifts at the carpet mill. She said she was glad I was being cared for by a family with a mama who was a professional nurse, since I was prone to trouble.

Travis’s family is normal—which mine isn’t—and he has a sister, Emily, two years younger than he is. I think she’s pretty, and I made the mistake of saying so one time. Pretty? Travis made a face. Is your brain fried? It took me a while to figure out that he really likes her but just won’t show it. I have no sisters, and Travis is the closest thing to a brother I’ll ever know.

I’ve never looked like any of the other kids at school. My dad was some Hawaiian guy who skipped out before I was born. I’ve seen photos of him. Mom’s part Korean, so I admit I’m weird-looking by southern Alabama standards. Cooper Kulani: misfit. That’s me.

By the time I was in seventh grade, I was a head taller than every other kid in my class. I could kick the crap out of any of them, and no one has ever shoved me around again. Except Emily. All she has to do is look at me and I turn to mush. No one’s ever caught on, though. Not even Travis, who knows me inside and out.

Travis must have been born with the risk-taking gene medical science talks about. There isn’t anything he won’t do, or try to do. I guess that’s why he became such a good diver. He has no fear and no equal in competitions. He’s on track for athletic scholarships all over the country. I joined the team when he did but never liked it, which is why I never medaled, and one reason I quit the team last year. But for the most part, I do what Travis does, not because I have the risk gene, but because I was born crazy, I live hard, and he’s my best friend. There isn’t anything I won’t do for him.

Emily

It isn’t easy being the sister of the most popular non-football-playing athlete in the state of Alabama. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not jealous of all the attention Travis gets. It’s just a fact of life—I get lost in his shadow. I learned early on that girls wanted to be my friend to get to Travis, so I decided not to hang with most of them. Who wants to be used? I love to read, so books are my main friends. They’re always available, always friendly, and always interesting, and they never make me choose sides.

Mom’s a nurse, and she likes working the night shift best, which means she’s home in the mornings when Travis and I get ready for school. She fixes breakfast, gets us all out the door, catches some sleep after we leave, is gone to work by four in the afternoon when we get home from school. Dad’s an accountant and takes over dinner duty. He’s our chauffeur, cheerleader, homework guru, and sometimes room mother. He’s a much better cook than Mom anyway.

I like school. I make good grades; I like rules. No guessing what to do or how to act. God has rules. My parents have rules. Schools and governments and society and Internet sites, they all have rules.

My brother, of course, has never met a rule he could obey. He makes life up as he goes along, and if I ask him why he does something, he smiles and says, Why not?

Travis is a champion diver. Dad calls him focused. I think he’s a fanatic about his sport. He spends a ton of time practicing and competing, and didn’t even have a serious girlfriend until last year, when he hooked up with Darla Gibson. She’s one of the highest-profile girls at Robert E. Lee High, though not necessarily in a good way. She doesn’t have the best reputation, but that doesn’t bother Travis. To me she seems fluffy, like a jar of marshmallow creme or a wad of cotton candy. Pretty to look at, not very deep, will make you sick if you get too much of her. I can’t figure why Travis likes her—except for the obvious—but he really likes her.

Then there’s Cooper, Travis’s lifelong friend. He has an after-school job nowadays, but he used to hang at our house all the time. He has straight black hair, eyes so dark they look black, and a snake tattoo wound around his upper right arm. I’ve never heard him talk about his family and can’t remember ever meeting them. There must be a reason, but I can’t figure it out, so I let it go. Haven’t seen or heard anything in school either, but Cooper keeps to himself. I guess everyone has secrets. Even me! True confession: He makes my insides go hot and squiggly when he comes around, but I’ll never let him or Travis know.

Cooper, Travis, and Darla will be juniors in the fall, and I’ll be a freshman, which means that they’ll graduate in another year and I’ll be left alone, the kid sister who stands outside the spotlight that shines on her brother.

When we went to the lake on the first day of summer vacation, I thought everything was great. It never occurred to me that real life has no set rules.

Darla

T its for brains. That’s how my father talks to me. It’s how he puts me down. And his words hurt sometimes as bad as his fist. Sure, I didn’t get a ton of gray matter at birth—he’s a member of that Mensa society and thinks he’s too smart for the real world. And maybe I didn’t get showered with his smart DNA, but I don’t see why he has to throw that in my face all the time. His mean mouth made my sister Celia leave home the minute she graduated. I’ll be out of here soon as I graduate too. He’s not so mean to Kayla. She’s ten and already showing some of Dad’s brilliance, which makes her more acceptable. Celia and I never were smart enough.

As if he’s made something of himself. Mom’s got the job and brings home the paycheck. Dad sits in his home office and writes books that don’t sell—which of course is the fault of stupid editors who can’t recognize real talent.

I want to be an actress—Darla Gibson, star. Sure, lots of girls say that. They want the fame and fortune, want to see themselves on the big screen with people falling down worshiping them. Nice perks, but I want more than that. I want my work respected. The acting bug bit me in first grade when my teacher cast me as a tomato in a little play she wrote about healthy eating. Mom came to watch me, but Dad couldn’t be bothered. He said, A tomato? It’s because you’re fat. I cried about that one.

I’ve learned to tune him out. Mostly. Lately he says I’ve gotten lippy, and that gets me slapped more often, but better that he hits me than Mom. He wails on her sometimes.

In middle school, I went kind of wild and got a reputation that followed me to high school, where I met Travis. Miraculously, he’s the first guy who likes me for me and not because of my body. A girl knows when a guy’s using her. I’ve had enough experience with that kind of boy. But Travis isn’t that way. We talk about everything.

Reviews for Breathless

[readingbeader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast read, ambiguous ending; that raises moral and ethical questions. Jen B made me read this so we could discuss it. We didn't agree. :)

[innahlovesyou · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is probably the last book I am reading this year, unless I finish another one till midnight. It's a book of choice and not a simple one. It is a choice between life and death, between suffering and peace. It really touched me and it opened my mind.. I thought about all the possibilities in my life and all the bad things that could happen to me. How would I react and what will be my final decision. This is a book that I will never forget and will always keep rereading it again and again, reminding myself that destiny can be cruel sometimes. I recommend it to all people with an open mind, because this book is worth it !

[jenniehicks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

very well wrote book cant wait to give it to my niece she will love it

[msbridgetreads · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very much a sad book...You have to be prepared to have your heart break!

[obridget1-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very much a sad book...You have to be prepared to have your heart break!

[bridgetsbooknook · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very much a sad book...You have to be prepared to have your heart break!

[librarybrandy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Travis, a champion diver and one of the star athletes at school, is hanging out with his best friends on the first day of summer vacation. The cliffs over the lake call to him, and he climbs up to dive from them, only to hear his leg snap when he jumps. Days later, he's still in the hospital, facing amputation due to osteosarcoma, and he knows he'll never get back to the life he had. His parents, sister, best friend, and girlfriend all want what's best for Travis, but Travis' parents' opinion of what's best is the opposite of what Travis wants. Travis' only hope is that his friends will help him with his final wishes.

I read so many of McDaniel's books when I was a kid/teenager, so I was pleased to see this inside the review envelope. It was everything I wanted it to be--a bit predictable, a bit melodramatic, and I don't mean these as negatives. It's been a long time since I've read one of her books, so I don't know how much new ground this one is treading, but she does handle the subject very sensitively, so readers can really understand where Travis' decisions are coming from. There's one spot with a weird jump of almost a year and a half that's just summed up as, basically, "oh, hey, it's a year and a half later and now this this happening," which is a little clunky but serves the plot well--we don't need to know what, specifically, happened in there, just that Travis has been dealing with this for a long time. This is McDaniel's standard mix of bleak but hopeful--there's something empowering here about this 17-year-old making his own decisions about what's best for him. This is a sensitive book on a delicate topic.

[erineell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seventeen year-old Travis Morrison’s life is drastically altered after he breaks his leg cliff jumping. A champion diver, Travis convinces himself he will heal in time for swim season. But, his perspective on healing and life quickly change after he learns that he has an aggressive form of bone cancer that result in his leg being amputated. After coming to terms with the loss of his leg and failed rounds of chemotherapy, Travis’s prognosis for survival is slim. As he finds peace in his inventible death, his closest friends and family struggle to see his desire to die with dignity. Cooper (his outcast best friend), Emily (his God-fearing sister) and Darla (his beautiful girlfriend) learn about having dreams in a small town, themselves, loyalty and each other as they watch Travis deteriorate. McDaniel writes in such way that unveils a variety of emotions, perceptions, opinions and stances surrounding the topic of euthanasia. The alternating points of view of the four main characters add interest to a story that otherwise might be mediocre. With that said, this quick read, will provoke one to think about the ethics and morals behind having the choice to die.

Age Appropriate: 9th Grade and Up

This book deals with a sensitive topic and I would caution readers who have recently lost a close friend and/or family member to terminal illness.

The book would be good for a reluctant reader because of the fast moving storyline and controversial topic.

[euphoria13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wow....I definitely wasn't expecting the way this book ended. Wow. That was just....heartbreaking. Oh Lurlene McDaniel, you sure do know how to get a person on the edge of tears. Of course, as a fan of her writing, you do learn to expect the sad endings, but this book was definitely different then her other books, even if it dealt with the subject of Cancer- which many of her other books deal with characters struggling with the disease.

I think I'm going to be haunted by that ending for a long time.

[ilbooklvr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read this book in about an hour; couldn't put it down. Travis is a champion diver until he gets cancer and his leg is amputated. The disease progresses in spite of treatments and Travis wants his best friend Cooper to help him die on his own terms. Cooper, as well as Travis's sister and girlfriend, struggle with this dilemma until circumstances take the choice away from them. Not much action in this book, but you won't be able to stop turning the pages to see what decision the characters make. Chapters are told in alternating points of view of the 4 main characters. Just when you think you know how the book ends, a last chapter blows your ideas out of the water and still leaves you wondering. Wow!

[dmreilly_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommend for Jr. high or high school. Each chapter is written from one of the character's perspectives. Would be a great source for discussion on values. Does not promote one simple answer, rather gets one thinking.