Even with help and insight from such varied and wise sources, any mistakes that I have made in this novel about the treatment and care of patients at tuberculosis sanatoriums are entirely mine.
I could not have made this long journey without the support of fellow writers. My critique partner Linda Sue Park was the first to read a draft of this novel. Her excitement then and through all the many revisions thereafter kept me going when I sometimes found myself running out of breath. So did the wisdom and support of my other critique partners—Vivian Vande Velde, Alice DeLaCroix, MJ Auch, and Jennifer Meagher, as well as Robin Pulver—who stuck with me as the novel slowly took shape. They listened and advised and cheered me on every step of the way. Other writer and illustrator friends—Judy Bradbury, Pam Levine, Cynthia DeFelice, Ellen Stoll Walsh, Donna Farrell, Joan Baier, Dori Chaconas, Lisa Wheeler, Stacy DeKeyser, Shirley Neitzel, and Kelly DiPucchio—as well as everyone in RACWI (Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators) provided support and were all kind enough over the years not to ask, “Haven’t you finished that book about girls with TB yet?”
My agent, Tracey Adams (Adams Literary), understands the ups and downs of a writer’s life and has been a steady adviser and friend through my good days and bad. She and her husband, Josh, believe in children’s literature and care about children’s authors—the perfect couple to have in your corner, and they have certainly been in mine.
Many people at Henry Holt and Company have helped with this novel—and I thank them all—but only one person has been at my side from the very start: my editor, Christy Ottaviano. She called to buy my first picture book manuscript many years ago and later bought this, my first novel. She read the original draft, then many other versions, always guiding and nudging me to make big and small changes, to develop my characters, to sort out my story, to find the right word, to revise, revise, and revise. When the manuscript was finally done, we celebrated with another joyful phone call. From that first call to this latest one, Christy has been a valued editor and friend. I will always thank her for believing in me as a writer.
My entire extended family, but especially Marc, Hannah, Lily, Nate, Gretchen, Mary, and Sue, have said the right things at the right times to keep me working on this story. And so have my friends, among them Robin, Risa, Lauren, Susan, Patty, Marsha, Sybille, Kathee, Suzy, Lynne, Sarah, and Judy. I also know that Mayme, Marj, Mrs. Karlson, and Michelle are smiling down with pride to see my finished book. I have learned—along with my characters—how family and friends can ease your sorrow and guide you forward to a new chapter in life. Thanks to all for encouraging me to keep writing the next page.
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2012 by Marsha Hayles
All rights reserved.
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
Designed by April Ward
eISBN 9781466816039
First eBook Edition : May 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hayles, Marsha.
Breathing room / Marsha Hayles.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“Christy Ottaviano books.”
Summary: In 1940, thirteen-year-old Evvy Hoffmeister and her newfound friends struggle to get well at Loon Lake Sanatorium, where they are being treated for tuberculosis.
ISBN 978-0-8050-8961-5 (hc)
[1. Coming of age—Fiction. 2. Tuberculosis—Fiction. 3. Sick—Fiction. 4. Hospitals—Fiction. 5. Minnesota—History—20th century—
Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H3148895Br 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011034055
First Edition—2012
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