Hayles, Marsha. Breathing Room. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2012

This sensitive PA Readers’ Choice novel tells the story of Evvy who at age 13 is dropped off at the Loon Lake Sanitarium by her father for the treatment of her tuberculosis. The attitudes and approaches to treatment of 1940 are brought to vivid life by Hayles.

Taken to a room that she will share with three other girls by the harsh Nurse Marshall, she soon learns that for a while she has forfeited the right to sit up in bed, to sleep in a warm comfortable room with the windows closed, to have visits or even mail from her parents and her brother Abe. The treatment will seem harsh to a modern student, but they will also be delighted by the relationships that Evvy builds with her roommates, a more compassionate night nurse, and a doctor willing to bend the rules in the name of healing.

Interesting side stories abound in this work. Hayles explores the relationship of Evvy to her parents; she worries that her mom doesn’t understand her, maybe doesn’t even love her. Her little brother Abe, who doesn’t love letter writing, works to engage and entertain his sister through the mail anyhow. Evvy is Jewish in a world where the Jewish are treated very badly, and nods to the war are present. She rooms with a girl who is essentially an orphan, and she has to break down her hostile walls to forge any kind of friendship. I told the kids, that while certainly sadness exists in this work, the hopeful moments certainly outweigh the sorrow. Ultimately, Evvy’s story is one of triumph. A story that is highlighted in a lovely way with period line drawings.

When I was pondering how to sell this historical work, I considered trying to connect it to The Fault in Our Stars because, well, you know, they already love it. I had to be honest about the lack of a love story, but talked about the thematic connections of enduring illness. Oddly enough in one of the classes today, one of the 7th graders made the connection to Hazel for me – a cool moment to be sure! Many of the kids had also watched The Waltons with their moms and had seen the episodes where Olivia suffered from TB. We also had an interesting student generated discussion about how the treatment of TB would differ today.