For fans of Girl in Pieces , All the Bright Places , and Girl, Interrupted comes a haunting and breathtaking YA contemporary debut novel that packs a powerful message: hope can be found in the darkness. "Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." -- New York Times -bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow A Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Best Book of the Year! Seventeen-year-old Ellie had no hope left. Yet the day after she dies by suicide, she finds herself in the midst of an out-of-body experience. She is a spectator, swaying between past and present, retracing the events that unfolded prior to her death. But there are gaps in her memory, fractured pieces Ellie is desperate to re-assemble. There's her mother, a songbird who wanted to break free from her oppressive cage. The boy made of brushstrokes and goofy smiles who brought color into a gray world.

Her brooding father, with his sad puppy eyes and clenched fists. And Ellie's determined to find out why a piece of her was left behind. Told in epistolary-like style, Rocky Callen's deeply moving A Breath Too Late sensitively examines the beautiful and terrible moments that make up a life and the possibilities that live in even the darkest of places. Perfect for fans of the critically-acclaimed Speak , I'll Give You the Sun, and If I Stay . "An exquisitely played love song to life , in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." -Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days "A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story . A necessary story .

Callen's writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." --National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author An Na.