breath
by
Donna Jo Napoli
Salz is a boy afflicted with a
strange disease -- he coughs and coughs
and cannot catch his breath. The only
way he can stay alive is by doing things
that make him an outcast: joining a
coven, throwing himself into a handstand
when the fits overtake him, avoiding the
ale that his brothers and all the
townspeople drink.
Salz lives in a time of superstition
and fear, in the medieval town of
Hameln. This summer his bare-bones
existence has been more fearsome than
ever. Salz's father and brothers are
affected by horrifying fits. The rest of
the townspeople are gripped by a plague
of madness. And the entire town is
visited by a pestilence of rats -- rats
that crawl in their soup bowls, swarm in
their sick beds, jump into their babies'
cradles. Only Salz remains unaffected.
But is that because he is innocent? Or
is he the devil himself?
Only Donna Jo Napoli can conjure a
world like this -- so real that readers
will fill their lungs with the fetid air
of Hameln with every breath they take.
Reviews:
“An elegantly sensual retelling
of Beauty and the Beast.”
-School Library
Journal, starred review
"A winning version for genre fans."
-Booklist
About the Author
Donna jo napoli
is both a linguist and a writer of
children's fiction.
She received her BA in mathematics in
1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages
and Literatures in 1973, both from
Harvard University, then did a
postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT.
She has five children. She loves to
garden and bake bread. And she takes
modern dance and Yoga courses. BREATH
has won the
ALA Best
Books For Young Adults, the Georgia
Peach Book Award Master List, the
Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and
was a Riverbank Review Books of
Distinction Finalist.
Visit Donna Jo's Website
