Frances Robinson is in high school now. She lives a quiet, suburban life, far from her horrifying past. When she was a child, her birthmother smothered her three sisters. Through pure luck, Frances survived. Now her mother has just been released from prison . . . and she wants to see Frances.
A new boy at school called Nix charms Frances. Together, Nix and Frances embark on a clandestine journey to visit Frances mother: to confront the monster in its lair. This trip will help Frances at last find peaceor die trying. But no matter what, Frances will discover just what it means to finish.
Frances Robinson's story has a lot in common with several news stories in recent years. Eleven years ago, her biological mother smothered her three younger sisters, and if it hadn't been for the arrival of a total stranger, Frances might have been next.
BREATHE MY NAME picks up when Frances is eighteen and a junior in high school. She lives with her loving adoptive parents in a nice home in a nice town. She is relatively happy, but things are about to change.
First, Frances meets Nix, a new student who just moved from New Orleans. He's a bit different but strangely fascinating. As lab partners, they begin to get to know each other and share stories. But there's a story Frances can't seem to share - the story of her mother and her sisters. How do you tell someone you care about something like that?
The other change for Frances comes in the form of a letter delivered by a special messenger. It appears to be from her mother, who has been locked up for the past eleven years. She is about to be released to a group home and seems to be requesting to meet with Frances.
R. A. Nelson's BREATHE MY NAME tells the amazing story of a young girl trying to come to grips with her past and decide how to move on with the future. Readers will find themselves pulled into the lives on the pages and carried along the sometimes frightening and bumpy ride as Frances takes control of her own destiny. This book is well worth reading.
After falling in love with R.A. Nelson's writing in TEACH ME, I couldn't wait to read BREATHE MY NAME. The cover alone is enough to intrigue, but it's the words and story that captivate and thrill and make you see the world in a whole new way. Nelson takes a horrific event and not only entertains, but he shows us that things are not as black and white as the newspapers might claim. At the heart of the book is the love story between Frances and Nix, and once again Nelson takes us deep into the interior world of his main character in such a compelling way that you'd swear the author is a teenage girl. These characters are so rich and complex, if you can't BE them, you'd at least like the chance to know and love them. I was enchanted by the chapters set in the imaginary world of Fireless, and loved how they played against the current happenings in Frances' life. I was so eager for the climax of this book that I absolutely could not put it down. There is something so REAL about how this story unfolds, it's like getting a rare peek into the depths of people's hearts and minds. Ultimately this book is one of love and trust and forgiveness, and it shows us how complicated people can be, how good and evil exists in all of us.
