Once the reader believes that a fifteen-year old girl could be as wise as Savannah Brown, he is treated to a touching story about a girl who has asthma and is stuck in a town that has little to offer her in Cheryl Renee Herbsman’s book for young adults, Breathing.

Despite all that is going against Savannah, she gets a break when she meets and instantly falls in love with Jackson.  However, this love relationship comes with many rules and heartaches for Savannah.  She must deal with her strict mother and her rules, and her annoying brother.

Young adults (especially the girls) will sympathize with Savanna as she deals with her friends who are the same age as she is.  The situations ring true for this age group.  It takes a while to accept the fact that Savannah can be that sure of her love, but once she proves her faithfulness, the reader is treated to a story with tenderness and a high standard of honesty and caring.

Maybe the author pulled all the complications together a little too neatly, to the extent that the book has that and-everyone-lived-happily-after feel, but that is the kind of ending many young adults want (and probably need).

Even though it has passionate love scenes, they are handled so delicately that even the most squeamish reader will not be offended.  In fact, they could serve as role models for how teens should approach these situations in their lives.  This is a good read and should be showing up on junior high reading lists.