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Overview
Six months have passed since Undine discovered the powerful magic within her and very nearly threw the entire world into chaos. Life has gone back to normal—almost. The magic still swirls relentlessly below her surface, demanding that she break her promise not to use it.
And then there's Trout. Trout, with his messy, unrequited love for Undine. Trout, who can't sleep and who roams the streets at night instead. Trout, so desperate to learn about Undine's magic that he's willing to trust a mysterious young woman who knows an awful lot about him, about Undine, and about chaos theory.
As their lives continue to both unravel and coalesce, Undine and Trout feel drawn back to the Bay, where it all began.
Is Undine stronger than the magic she contains? Is she more girl than magic, or more magic than girl?
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780061975349 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 10/06/2009 |
| Series: | Undine , #2 |
| Sold by: | HARPERCOLLINS |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 368 |
| Lexile: | 710L (what's this?) |
| File size: | 795 KB |
| Age Range: | 14 - 17 Years |
About the Author
Penni Russon's first novel, Undine, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the Children's Book Council of Australia. Ms. Russon grew up in a bush suburb of Hobart, where there was snow in winter and bushfires in summer. She now lives in Melbourne with her young family, and every winter she dreams of snow.
Read an Excerpt
Breathe
By Penni Russon
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2007 Penni RussonAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060793944
Chapter One
From her bedroom window, Undine could see the top of Mount Wellington, iced stingily with a narrow sliver of snow. Down on the street Trout's brother Dan lovingly poured water on his brown Datsun, sealed in a thin veneer of frost. Steam clouded upward into the brittle air.
She bent down and folded, then unfolded, the cuff of her jeans. Year Twelve, and the only difference she could see was that they were allowed to wear what they liked. Well, not the only difference, though school had little to do with her personal transformation.
She stood at the window, watching for Trout.
"Undine!" Lou called up the stairs. "You'll miss the bus."
Downstairs Jasper was wearing his rainbow gumboots and nothing else. He waved his toothbrush.
"Don't you think he looks a little . . . fruity?" Undine asked.
Lou laughed. "Come here, you," she said, but Jasper took off squealing, his boots clomping on the wooden floor.
Undine watched his bare bottom disappear through his bedroom door. "Gotta go!" she said to Lou, heading for the front door.
"Wait!" Lou called. She tossed Undine an apple and a banana from the wooden bowl on the kitchen table.
Undine looked down at the fruit in her hands with faint derision. "Nice parenting, Lou."
"Wait," said Lou again, more seriously this time. "Let me look at you."
Undinerolled her eyes and spread out her arms and tilted her face back. "Go on, then."
Lou came over. She put both hands on Undine's cheeks and scrutinized Undine's face with careful attention. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Fine," said Undine.
"Anything happening?"
"Look, it's under control. I love that you care, but you don't have to do this. I really will miss the bus."
Lou's eyes held Undine's for an extra moment. "Okay, chickadee," she said finally, kissing Undine's forehead. "Is Dominic coming for dinner tonight?"
"I don't know."
The front door banged behind her, and Undine stood for a moment on the other side of it. She hadn't been exactly lying to Lou; she did have it under control, but only just.
Breathe-in-two-three-out-two-three . . . She focused her mind and held it in, that extraordinary power, that darkness: the magic.
Trout woke, wearing last night's clothes. His head ached; his neck was stiff and sore. He rolled over and looked at the clock. He would miss the bus. He closed his eyes again.
For the second time in a week, Trout hadn't done his homework. A year ago, Trout wouldn't have known who he was if he had missed a single assignment. He was diligent with schoolwork, he studied astronomy and read Shakespeare in his own time, he sat in on the occasional university lecture in his free periods . . . he could even recite pi to seventy-two places. He was neither popular nor unpopular; he was liked well enough in a nerdy kind of way.
Yep, a year ago, Trout had known exactly who he was, and by far the most important thing about him, his most distinguishing feature, the thing that dominated his unspectacular universe, was a girl: Undine Louise Connelly, the girl next door. They had been best friends. They still were, he supposed, officially anyway.
She had not loved him, but he had loved her, and for years that had been enough, that unrequited, familiar, slightly excruciating but not especially risky love.
But now it was all different. Oh, he still loved her. But it ate him daily, that love, leaving less and less of him behind. Where he had once been whole, he was now damaged, exposed parts. He loved her, but sometimes he hated her for it.
Someone knocked on his door. He pulled the duvet up to his chin to hide his crumpled clothes.
"I'm up," he called, his voice muffled.
"Yeah, right." It was Dan. He stood in the doorway, jangling his car keys. Trout groaned. "What gave me away?"
"How about seventeen years of undeniable history?"
"Grumble."
"And they say you're the smart one. I suppose you want another lift?"
"Come on, you love it. Any excuse to drive that clapped-out demon of yours."
Dan backed out of the room. "You take that back or you'll be walking to school. That's a lady you're talking about."
Trout rubbed his eyes and forced himself to get up. He drew back his curtain to check the day. Day cold. Big surprise.
Undine was standing outside her front door. A wave of tiredness came over him.
She looked so forlorn, standing there, and he felt suddenly sorry for her, uncomplicated by any other feelings. But then those other feelings intruded; the raw, injured parts of him began to throb, and the moment was gone.
Undine lingered outside the door to Trout's house, but didn't go in.
For the last seven years or so, Undine had met Trout every morning before school at his house, hurrying him along so he wouldn't miss the bus. However, from the beginning of this school year, Trout had been ready and waiting for her at the bottom of the stepped laneway to Undine's house.
Then one day, Trout hadn't been there at all. When Undine had knocked on the side door, Mrs. M. coolly informed her that Trout had left for school. He was at the bus stop already, talking to a couple of Year Eleven boys, and had hardly looked up when she joined them. Now he didn't seem to catch the bus anymore.
Undine had always taken Trout's feelings for her for granted. No, she hadn't; she had wished them away more times than she could count, and with desperate fervor. Well, now it seemed she was getting her wish: Trout was going off her. It didn't feel good, now that it had happened. She modified her wishing, but she feared it was too late. She didn't want his feelings for her to be messy, spilling over into romance. But she . . .
Continues...
Excerpted from Breathe by Penni Russon Copyright © 2007 by Penni Russon. Excerpted by permission.
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