If It Breathes

Another spooky middle-grade novel (suitable for ages 8-12) is coming soon.

Twelve-year-old Gina Calabara takes a shortcut through the woods and is scared senseless when an odd flash of lightning followed by a pulsating purple cloud, hovers inches from her face, stopping her in her tracks. She’s sure it’s breathing. She’s also sure it’s not human or animal.

Confident she’s encountered an otherworldly being, Gina enlists her best friend Saf to help search for answers. Of course, Dad was the ultimate authority on all things supernatural but, unfortunately, due to a mishap at the dig site, he is no longer available for consultation. Searching through his files, which have been sitting in the attic since his disappearance last year, the girls discover his notes on ancient Mesopotamian ghost stories. In particular, a document, partially decoded from a cuneiform tablet, with a cryptic warning: If it breathes, it’s too late.

Gina and Saf return to the woods to collect a sample of the purple substance and decide to visit the lab where Dad worked, to determine its origin. After spying the lead scientist, tossing Dad’s research notebooks into the incinerator, Gina suspects Dad’s accident wasn’t an accident at all and sets out to prove his innocence and uncover the mystery of the purple cloud.