Read Learning Not to Drown Online
Authors: Anna Shinoda
Learning Not to Drown (32 page)
As Ms. P wraps her arms around me and says, “I am so incredibly proud of you,” I feel a sudden pang of sadness mix in with the evening's exhilaration. It takes me off guard. Leaving my parents behind, and the fresh start that college promises, also means a physical distance between me and Ms. P . . . and my friends . . . and Peter. I hug her back, extra tight, part of me never wanting to let go.
But a bonfire is waiting, and if my friends have mixed feelings, they aren't showing it. We walk away from the field, from our parents and our past, laughing, speculating about things our futures will bring. With Ryan's arm around me, Peter and my friends at my side, any sadness I have dissipates. I look back, watching my parents becoming more distant. Skeleton stands with them, raising his glass of brandy in a toast to me. Tonight is a celebration, and he knows he's not invited. But he doesn't mind staying behind. He'll wait, knowing I won't try to lock him in a closet. And I know he won't lock me away either.
ANNA SHINODA
was raised in a mountain town so small, it lacked a stoplight. She used to escape into the high branches of trees to read and dream of stories, out of reach from her own family skeleton. Eventually, she climbed down with this, her debut novel. Visit her at
annashinoda.com
.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster, New York
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ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Anna Shinoda
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The text for this book is set in Mrs Eaves.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacket photograph copyright © 2014 by Kelia Anne MacClusky/Getty Images
Shinoda, Anna.
Learning not to drown / Anna Shinoda. â 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Clare, seventeen, has always stood up for her eldest brother, Luke, despite his many jail stints but when her mother takes Clare's hard-earned savings to post bail for Luke, Clare begins to understand truths about her brother and her family.
ISBN 978-1-4169-9393-3 (hardcover)
[1. Self-actualization (Psychology)âFiction. 2. Brothers and sistersâFiction. 3. Family lifeâFiction. 4. SecretsâFiction. 5. CriminalsâFiction.6. Drug abuseâFiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S55722Le 2013
[Fic]âdc23
2012051502
ISBN 978-1-4424-9668-2 (eBook)