Breathless by Jennifer Niven

BREATHLESS by Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places) is a very personal story of an 18-year-old girl, Claudine (Claude) Henry learning to deal with some life challenges. She writes at the very beginning of this novel, “You were my first. Not just sex, although that was part of it, but the first to look past everything else into me. … I don’t want to forget what I went through, what I thought, what I felt, who I was. I don’t want to forget you. But most of all, I don’t want to forget me.” This coming of age novel reflects the teen’s self-absorption – after all, it begins about a week before her high school graduation in Ohio when she is already thinking about the transition to college and planning a celebratory road trip with her best friend. That is all up-ended when her father announces that he and her mom are separating. Claude ends up spending the summer on an island (no wi-fi) near Georgia with her Mom as they try to come to terms with the new family structure. There, Claude meets Jeremiah (Miah). He is a kid with a troubled past, but he helps her to cope and truly cares for her (similar to the rebellious daughter’s boyfriend in Netflix’s Away with Hilary Swank). Throughout, Niven deftly conveys Claude’s range of emotions (confusion, heartbreak, anger, caring) as she struggles (sabotaging and nurturing) in relationships with her best friend (Saz), with her parents, and with Miah.  BREATHLESS received a starred review from School Library Journal.