Only a Breath Apart

Gr 9 Up–Scarlett and Jesse were best friends as children. Unbeknownst to them, they were each other's refuge from their turbulent and violent families. In their freshman year, Jesse abruptly ends their friendship and makes a spectacle of Scarlett. For the next three years they are enemies, so it is surprising when Jesse suddenly approaches her to rekindle their friendship. He is up-front with Scarlett about his intentions; he needs a relationship with her to ensure that he can keep the land he loves rather than having it sold off. Jesse's grandmother has died, leaving the fate of the farm in the hands of a three-person tribunal, who will vote on Jesse's ability to manage the land for a year. In return for Scarlett's vote, Jesse arranges for her to get a job, so she can pay to attend the University of Kentucky, a plan her father does not approve of. As Jesse and Scarlett become closer, they slowly begin to reveal the personal struggles they've experienced since childhood. Told in Scarlett and Jesse's alternating voices, the plot moves along at a compulsively readable pace. What makes this romance different from many others is that readers are equally, if not more invested in Scarlett and Jesse's individual transformations rather than the survival of their romantic relationship.