A Breath of Eyre

Gr 8 Up—Emma Townsend feels like an outsider. She doesn't fit in as a scholarship student at her exclusive prep school, her stepmother doesn't fill the shoes left by her mother's death, she doesn't have any girl friends, and her only romantic prospect (besides her crush on her English teacher) is her longtime friend, Gray. Emma finds refuge in a copy of Jane Eyre. In a bizarre accident, she is struck by lightning and wakes up and finds herself as a governess at Thornfield where she experiences a sense of belonging and a strange attraction to Mr. Rochester. Several weeks later, Emma wakes to realize that she has been hit by lightning and had a paranormal experience. A Breath of Eyre moves between Emma's real life and her life as Jane Eyre. She becomes Jane again further into the book in a strange sequence of events involving a fire. In the end, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of a book or in her own real life. Fans of Jane Eyre might enjoy this book and its connections to the classic. However, most readers will get tired of the over-the-top subplots (every character has some extreme drama) and the number of strange accidents Emma has within a short period of time.—Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA