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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780064472579
ISBN number: 0064472574
Label: HarperTeen
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: October 01, 2002
Publishing house: HarperTeen
Age index: Young Adult
Release Date: October 15, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 61790
Studio: HarperTeen
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
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 purple eyes and money.
Amazon.com Review:
It was only a slap. Well, maybe more than one. And maybe Nick used his fist at the end when the anger got out of control. But his girlfriend Caitlin deserved it--hadn't she defied him by singing in the school talent show when he had forbidden her to display herself like that? Even though he'd told her that everybody would laugh at her because she couldn't sing and was a fat slob? Both were lies. Because Caitlin was so beautiful, the only person who understood him. Out of his desperate need for her came all the mean words and the hitting. But now Caitlin's family has procured a restraining order to keep Nick away, and the judge has sentenced him to Mario Ortega's Family Violence class, to sit around every week with six other angry guys who hit their girlfriends. And to write a journal explaining how he got into this mess.
Other teen novels--most strikingly Dreamland by Sarah Dessen--have shown dating violence from the point of view of a young girl trapped in an abusive relationship, but in Breathing Underwater, first-time novelist Alex Flinn tackles the difficult task of making us understand, if not sympathize with, the motivation of a violent young man. The story, like Rob Thomas's stylistically similar Rats Saw God, proceeds in two different time frames: the journal in which Nick relives the course of his tender but stormy love affair with Caitlin and the time after the restraining order, in which a desperate and friendless Nick struggles to understand and overcome his anger. This extraordinarily moving novel is highly relevant reading for all young men in our violence-prone society. (Ages 13 and older) --Patty Campbell
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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A difficult topic, a difficult read! Nick is not a likable protagonist and his abuse of Caitlin is hard to take. Her acceptance of the blame for provoking Nick's anger may be realistic, but it is still very unsettling.
The thought-provoking nature of both Nick's behavior and Caitlin's response to Nick's behavior make it a powerful read for young women as well as young men.
Rated by buyers 
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This novel is an amazing story of an abusive relationship between two teens. What really sets it apart is it's in the perspective of the guy and not the girl, which really makes you see that there are two sides to every story
Rated by buyers -
Nick's life seems to be perfect. He drives everyone's dream car and his father is rich. But that's not really how it is. Nick's father is abusive, both mentally and physically, and so is Nick. Like father like son, right? Except that unlike when Nick's father hits him, Nick's girlfriend doesn't let Nick get away with hurting her. When he goes to far one day, he loses not only Caitlin, but his friends and the life he came to know.
Breathing Underwater starts out with Nick in the courtroom, denying that he ever put a hand on Caitlin, and being ordered to keep a journal, at least 500 words a week, and attending anger managment classes. As Nick's story comes out, both in the anger classes and through his journal, I begin to loathe him, but also understand him.
Breathing Underwater is a brilliant story of a misunderstood but violent teen boy, who learns that sometimes, when you screw up, you just have to let go and move on.
Rated by buyers -
Nick's life seems to be perfect. He drives everyone's dream car and his father is rich. But that's not really how it is. Nick's father is abusive, both mentally and physically, and so is Nick. Like father like son, right? Except that unlike when Nick's father hits him, Nick's girlfriend doesn't let Nick get away with hurting her. When he goes to far one day, he loses not only Caitlin, but his friends and the life he came to know.
Breathing Underwater starts out with Nick in the courtroom, denying that he ever put a hand on Caitlin, and being ordered to keep a journal, at least 500 words a week, and attending anger managment classes. As Nick's story comes out, both in the anger classes and through his journal, I begin to loathe him, but also understand him.
Breathing Underwater is a brilliant story of a misunderstood but violent teen boy, who learns that sometimes, when you screw up, you just have to let go and move on.
Rated by buyers -
I think that this was a really great book. First of all I thought Nick as character was very interesting considering how he thought and what he said. Also I liked how they potrayed Caitlin and how I pictured her. The whole book I sort of felt for the characters and that is what I liked about this book so much. For example, Nick's dad wasn't exactely the best father with how he dealt with everything and being Nick's only parent. Then there was Caitlin who had a mom that called her fat and had an abusive boyfriend. I guess that is what made this such a great book. In the end I gave this book 4 stars for one reason and that was because I personally just didn't like how the book ended.
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