Teen Fiction

Breathing Underwater

Name: Breathing Underwater
Author: Alex Flinn
ISBN: 9780064472579

by Alex Flinn

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Overview

To his friends, popular and handsome sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas has led a charmed life. But the guys in Nick's anger management class know differently. So does his ex-girlfriend Caitlin. Now it looks like the only person who doesn't realize how far from perfect Nick's life has become is Nick himself.

Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.

Synopsis

Like father,
like son

Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas is pretty much perfect — on the outside, at least. What no one knows — not even his best friend — is the terror that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father. Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person who he can confide in. But when things start to spiral out of control, Nick must face the fact that he's gotten more from his father than green eyes and money.

AudioFile

Jon Cryer brilliantly captures the surly, sullen tone of 16-year-old Nick Andreas's first-person narration, which begins the day he arrives at court, charged with physical violence against his girlfriend. Ordered to attend Mario Ortega's Family Violence class and to keep a journal, Nick resists the former, but finds increasing solace -- and a vehicle for telling his backstory -- in his journal. Anger burns beneath the surface of Nick's memories, his daily life, his relationship with his brutal father, and his longing for love. Cryer's pacing is spot-on as he rides the roller coaster of Nick's fury, passion, lust, and yearning. He is equally successful with the voices of the mixed ethnic/racial group in Mario's class and with Mr. Andreas's Greek accent. Flinn's popular YA novel gains added depth and power through this superb audio production.

About the Author, Alex Flinn

Alex Flinn loves fairy tales and is also the author of a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast titled Beastly, which was named a VOYA Editor's Choice for 2007, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age for 2008, and a 2008 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her other books include Breathing Underwater, an ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva. She lives in Miami with her husband, two kids, a cat, and a dog.

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Editorials

AudioFile

Publishers Weekly

In what PW called "a gripping tale," a 16-year-old, who is considered perfect by his classmates, suffers a turbulent home life with an abusive father, and he himself follows the pattern of violence. Ages 13-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ever feel like you're breathing underwater, and you have to stop because you're gulping in too much fluid?" For 16-year-old Nick Andreas, these words from his violence counselor ring true. While his classmates think of him as rich, popular and perfect, they don't know the truth about his turbulent home life with an abusive father. As Flinn's first novel opens, Nick finds himself in court, facing a restraining order by his girlfriend, Caitlin. He is sentenced to six months of counseling and to write 500 words per week in a journal, explaining what happened from the day he met Caitlin to the present. Set in Miami and told in a split narrative, the novel juxtaposes Nick's journal entries about his past relationship with Caitlin alongside the current challenges of going back to school with his friends turned against him, his counseling sessions and life with his father. Gradually, he begins to recognize his own responsibility in how events played out ("Somehow, when I see it on paper, it becomes more real than when it's just in my head"). The correlation between Nick's controlling behavior and his father's abuse is subtle but effective. Caitlin's insecurity, borne of self-image problems due to a previous weight problem and her beautiful mother's badgering, is also credibly rendered. The ending scene with Nick's best friend rings a bit hollow, but as Nick's past comes to light, both the circumstances and his owning up to his actions carry heavy emotional weight in this gripping tale. Ages 13-up.

VOYA

Sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas—handsome, popular, athletic—is in big trouble and deep denial. Barely sidestepping jail time, Nick is sentenced by a tough, wise judge to anger-management classes and to keeping a journal to force him to face the consequences of his violent behavior toward his lovely girlfriend, Caitlin. Nick's life is a recipe for disaster. Abandoned by his mother at five, raised by his shockingly cruel and physically punishing wealthy father, Nick thinks his luck is changing when the formerly obese, now slim Caitlin responds to his love. Their sweet romance gradually unravels, however, as Nick, threatened by Caitlin's beauty and interest in singing and in her friends, employs increasingly savage tactics to control and isolate her, all in the name of his great love for her. Flinn spares nothing in this wrenchingly realistic account of the devastating cause-and-effect, downward spiral of knee-jerk patterns learned at the fist of a brutal father, behaviors that surface despite Nick's resolve to the contrary. Caitlin's own response, born of poor body image, is to try harder to "do better" so Nick will love her. The cycle plays out to its awful conclusion when he beats her bloody. Enter the anger-management therapy sessions, run by a gifted counselor who has "been there" himself, and the growing self-knowledge that ever so slowly is revealed in Nick's journal. Thus the seeds of healing are formed. The messages in this unsparing novel of teenage love turned dangerous are powerful, on target, and almost too painful to read—exactly why this highly recommended book should be required reading for all teenagers. It is a road map to warning signs, consequences, and thevery real hope of redemption if the cycle of abuse is to be caught and treated in time. PLB . VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, HarperCollins, 272p, . Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Beth E. Andersen SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)

Children's Literature

This finely crafted first novel is a realistic and poignant portrayal of a young man seemingly destined to perpetuate the cycle of domestic violence. To the outside world, Nick Andreas is a sixteen-year-old rich kid. An athlete as well as honor student, Nick is one of the coolest guys in school. And he has a one-in-million girlfriend in Caitlin. One would never think that he is a victim of his father's violent attacks. When Nick's controlling behavior causes him to slap Caitlin, Nick finds himself ostracized by his fellow students, and he has a restraining order against him. As part of his sentence, Nick is required to attend counseling and to keep a personal journal. Between the counseling sessions, the reflective journal entries and the narrative, Ms. Finn comes as close to getting inside her character's head as novelists of greater experience can hope to achieve. She pulls no punches here; the ugliness and brutality of domestic violence, as well as the sheer mountainous task of breaking the cycle, are depicted with unusual candor. In the end, Nick's self-examination provides some reason for hope, but refreshingly, there is no sugarcoated happy ending. 2001, HarperCollins, $15.95 and $15.89. Ages 13 up. Reviewer: Christopher Moning

KLIATT

The eye-catching cover of this outstanding first novel offers a helpful clue to its contents: a grotesque, rage-filled face is scrawled over the features of a handsome young man, with words scribbled on the side; the word "anger" is prominent. We first meet Nick, 16-year-old "rich kid, honor student, coolest guy around," at a Florida courthouse where he is accused of hitting his girlfriend. The judge decides on a restraining order, counseling, and classes on dealing with violence and anger. She also requires Nick to write a journal, explaining what happened between him and Caitlin. The novel consists of this journal detailing the history of their relationship, interspersed with Nick's narration of life in the present. We learn how he met his "dream girl" and gradually grew more controlling, jealous, and abusive; how his father always puts him down and uses him as a punching bag, and how his mother ran away when he was little; and how he envies his friend Tom and his happy family. We also learn about what happens in the classes on violence and anger management, and see Nick's realistically difficult journey to understanding and controlling his behavior. He finally comes to accept that he can't have Caitlin back, and that he must come to grips with his loneliness, his insecurity, and the hard-won recognition that being a man means taking responsibility for his actions. Flinn, a lawyer, based this powerful and convincing story on her experience trying domestic violence cases at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, according to the jacket flap. It's beautifully told, with believable and well-rounded characters, and it manages to make us feel for Nick without sympathizing with hisreprehensible actions. An important book for both young men and young women to read. Some profanities. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, HarperCollins, 264p. 00-044933., $15.95. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; KLIATT , July 2001 (Vol. 35, No. 4)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Nick, an upper-income, popular, straight-A high school student, not only copes with his father's verbal and physical abuse, but his own abusive behavior toward his girlfriend, Caitlin, in this novel by Alex Flinn (HarperCollins, 2001). After a court appearance, he must regularly attend group therapy sessions with members across the social strata, and keep a daily journal in order to stay out of jail. Through these experiences, his barriers and prejudices break down and he is able to begin his road to recovery on many levels. Narrator Jon Cryer brings Nick to life with his restrained anger, pain, and confusion. Listeners begin to understand the insidious logic Nick uses to justify the "slap" Caitlin "deserves," and how easily it can spiral out of control. Cryer's subtle vocal inflections with sarcasm and sense of timing, especially pauses, are superb; he allows us to hear the cruelty in a simple statement by virtue of its tone. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and one of the Hughes Brat Pack (Pretty in Pink), his acting skills span a wide range of roles. The voices of other characters, while integral to the story, are not memorable. This may have to do more with the story itself than the narrator's abilities to perform this task. The story never lets up; anger permeates it from beginning to end. Suitable for high school students, this could be a powerful tool when integrated with the curriculum.-Tina Hudak, St. Bernard's School, Riverdale, MD Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Nick Andreas—16, rich, smart, popular—seems to have a perfect life, and when beautiful, talented Caitlin becomes his girlfriend, it looks to outsiders as though it can't get any better. After beating up Caitlin, however, Nick receives a restraining order to stay away from her and is sentenced to complete a family violence program, as well as to keep a journal that describes his relationship with her. First-novelist Flinn combines Nick's present-day life—attempts to win back his former girlfriend, anger-management meetings, and struggles to maintain self-control—with diary entries that reveal his controlling and abusive relationship with Caitlin, his own verbal and physical abuse by his father, and low self-esteem. With such important subject matter, particularly for young males, and research by the author, there's potential here; however, it fails to meet readers' expectations. Characters, stereotypical at times, are not fully developed, and the language is often contrived. Nick's anger appears out of nowhere when he begins to date Caitlin and subsides too quickly by the end. Although it shouldn't be used for bibliotherapy, it offers a lot to think about, and many teens will probably overlook its major flaws because of the format and real-world content. (Fiction. YA)