In Andrew
Daddo’s brilliant novel of youth, its sorrows and its awakenings, the two main
characters stand out like beacons in the dark.
It opens with separate chapters that introduce
Emily and Hendrix - called Drix for short, and a view into their family lives
and backgrounds. The two characters come together and it is around them that
the story is built.
Drix is a sixteen year old boy living with his
father, a control freak who has designed his son’s running career in minute
detail with a goal to win the Nationals.
Every free moment, what he eats, when
he sleeps, how he trains, and every other detail of his life is listed for Drix
to follow. The boy has followed this regime diligently without question until
he meets Emily and everything changes.
Emily leaves Benalla for Melbourne with her mother
to have a benign growth at the base of her skull investigated and monitored. A
six month stay is what the specialist recommends and they are accommodated at
her Aunt Astrid’s house.
When the headaches get worse, there are few options
as the now living tumour is inoperable due to its position. Chemotherapy begins
as Emily starts to seriously think about the fragility of her life.
Emily’s new puppy Lucky becomes a temporary
distraction from the worry and effects of her treatment. This pup literally
brings Drix by accident, into Emily’s life.
A tentative friendship quickly escalates into something
more. A love story begins. Emily’s time is running out. She longs to experience
what she knows she could miss out on if the tumour has its way.
As the two plan a night together, a great deal of
shifty planning takes place while the story builds to a defining and shattering
climax.
The pivotal theme - control in one form or another,
shows how parents often take command of their children’s lives with loving
intent, but goes on to reveal that to listen and ask can be more effective than
emotional manipulation.
Sizzling prose in a well-crafted and beautifully
designed storyline keeps the reader engaged throughout the book. The use of
language here is impressive, with metaphor and allusion giving the reader food
for thought about how the use of language can also be manipulated to create atmosphere
and tension in a story.
Title:
Just Breathe
Author:
Andrew Daddo
Publisher:
Penguin, $17.99
Publication
Date: July 2018
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9780143573623
For
ages: 13+
Type:
Middle Grade Fiction