The YA Book Log

TRY NOT TO BREATHE by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Sixteen year old Ryan was just released from the hospital after treatment for a suicide attempt. He has few friends, except for the friends he made while hospitalized. Along comes Nicki, a local girl who talks to him about his depression and suicide attempt as a friend rather than viewing him as the “local loser” like most of the other neighborhood kids. Nicki’s father killed himself too, a fact Ryan finds out while accompanying Nicki to local psychics in an attempt to contact her father. What are Nicki’s motives in befriending Ryan? Is she being honest with him?
Ryan spends a lot of time standing under the local waterfall in order to feel alive. Others think it is strange and his mother would probably never let him out of her sight again if she knew about it. Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard is a well written story about a teen’s mental illness and his struggle to fit back in to the world he tried to escape from.
I recommend Try Not to Breathe to teens grade 9 and up.
Mrs. Rosenberg
YA Librarian