Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair (English) Hardcover Book

Description: Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, so theres no way she can tell the truth: her real name is Faith, not Leah. Shes 17, not 19. And the baby isnt hersNFaith kidnapped her. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Can true love be built on lies? A teen on the run seeks relief and redemption in this gripping, romantic read. Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, the only person whos ever made her feel safe. And now that shes found him, theres no way she can tell the truth: Her real name is Faith, not Leah. Shes seventeen, not nineteen. And the baby isnt hers--Faith kidnapped her. Faiths history catches up with her when a cop starts asking questions and Chriss aunt spots her picture in the newspaper. She knows its time to run again, but if Faith leaves, shell lose Chris. If Chris is in love with a lie, though, did Faith ever really have him in the first place? Author Biography Jamie Blair lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, their two kids, and a cat that broke into their house and refused to leave. She won a young authors contest in third grade, but it probably shouldnt count since her mom wrote most of her entry. Leap of Faith is her first novel. She promises her mom didnt write one word of it. Visit Jamie at JamieMBlair.com. Review So what if I was exhausted? So what if I had to be up at dawn? Once I dove into Leap of Faith, nothing could stop me from turning the pages.--Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesnt Know and To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) Review Quote "Well done, Jamie Blair. Youve written a unique, compelling page-turner that managed to break my heart and create a beautiful love story in the process." Excerpt from Book Leap of Faith chapter one The bangbangbanging of Moms headboard against my wall needs to stop before my head explodes. Im exhausted and wish hed just leave so I can sleep. Of course Moms bed has to be shoved right up against the other side of my wall. I roll my eyes and take a deep breath, pulling the covers up higher around my neck. After a few minutes, her door creaks open and he comes out shirtless, his stained T-shirt dangling from his fingers. Shes wearing a dingy terry-cloth robe around her skeleton-thin body. I squeeze my eyes closed and roll over, trying to block out the sound of their voices. Disgusting. Ill be shocked if I ever have a normal sex life. My ex, Jason, says shes scarring me in some kind of sexually repressive way. Hes probably right. Ill be a virgin forever. Sex isnt dirty, Faith, he whispered on our last night together while trying to slide my jeans down over my hips. Youre not your mom, and Im not some random guy. I love you. Didnt matter. I wouldnt do it. The chain on the front door slides, then rattles against the wood frame as it dangles and the door is tugged open. "Bye, hon," Mom says. I hear her lighter flick to life. Her voice is raspy from everything she smokes. "Cross your fingers." She laughs, and I picture his sausage-size fingers crossed. His feet must be back in his boots, because they tromp out onto the stoop. "Tell Angel hi for me, and have her cross her fingers too!" The door closes, and she lets out a whoop of excitement. "Faith, honey, you asleep?" Her bare feet patter to my bedroom door, and she snaps on the light. I flip over and glare at her. "Oddly enough, no." She rubs a thin stack of twenties between her thumb and finger. In the dark hallway, the cherry at the end of her Marlboro Light glows in her other hand. "Its a shame Dave and I had to try again. Knocking me up is getting expensive for him." She laughs and fans herself with the cash. Shes three weeks pregnant but is milking him for all the money she can before telling him. He might be drug-dealing scum, but he and his girlfriend, Angel, dont deserve to be lied to. They just want a baby. They couldnt have picked a worse person to be their egg donor-baby carrier, but Mom comes cheap--well, cheaper than the traditional route. Mom will do anything for money. Throwing my blanket back, I shove off from my mattress on the floor and stand up. The worn, shit brown carpet feels gummy under my bare toes as I walk toward her. "Give me that." My hand darts for her smoke. "Dont be stupid. My mother smoked with me. I smoked with you." She throws her hand behind her back, out of my reach. Her hairs matted and sticks out in all directions. It reminds me of a dogs butt after it scoots across the carpet. I tilt my head and sneer at her. "Its not your baby this time. Lets try to keep it alive, shall we?" "Christ, Faith. Cant you just enjoy the moment with me?" She waves the stack of bills in my face. "Why?" I push past her. "Its not mine." She follows me through the living room, into the kitchen. "No shit its not yours. Youre not the one whos going to be as big as a barn in a few months, have to push this thing out and be left with stretch marks all over your ass. I deserve to be paid for suffering through this, dont I?" I bend and stick my head in the fridge. "You chose to do it." She grabs my arm and yanks me up. Her lips are drawn tight and quiver with anger. "You dont pay the electric bill. You dont put food in the fridge." I laugh, knowing itll piss her off. "You dont put food in the fridge either. Never have. Who do you think youre kidding? Hope and I had ketchup packets for dinner some nights when we were little. . . ." Her blue eyes flame. She clenches her jaw so tightly, her dyed red hair shakes. Her hands grip the belt of her bathrobe, and she yanks it tighter. "Find yourself somewhere else to live. Im done being your mother. Youre nothing but a bitch and have been since the day you were born." "Done being my mother? Thats funny." I roll my eyes. "I didnt know you ever started." She tells me to get the hell out all the time. Shed be screwed if I ever really left--less cash from Uncle Sam for her dependent minors. I turn back to the fridge while she stalks out of the kitchen and into the living room, fishes her cigarettes out of her pocket, then lights another. Her anger cuts a smile into my face. I slam the refrigerator door and stride into the living room for round two. "Give me that cigarette!" I snag it from her fingers, burning my palm in the process. "Shit!" The cigarette falls to the carpet. Mom swoops down and snatches it up. "I hope it hurts like hell. The carpets singed." She shoves me, but I dont budge. Shes not strong enough to hurt me physically, and she knows it. I laugh at her again. "Im going to have the best nine months of my life keeping you from smokes, pills, booze, weed--all the things you love." The only time I remember my mom sober was when she did it for Frank. Frank was a trucker she met when I was eleven. She was a waitress at the all-night truck stop down by the highway exit. Frank had been sober for ten years and wouldnt date a junkie. Mom went to rehab. For him. Not for me and Hope. We had our first and only family vacation ever--plus Frank--in Florida. Under my mattress I still have a picture of me, Mom, and Hope standing in the surf. When Moms trashed, or being Bitch from Hell, sometimes I pull it out and go back to my Happy Place beside the ocean. I try to hear waves instead of her headboard. Mom was sober for three months, then she met Dave. Frank left and never came back, and so did Moms sobriety. Shes such a trashy loser. The front door squeaks as Hope pushes it open. "Is it over?" She comes inside and looks back and forth between Mom and me. "Yeah, you missed quite a performance tonight too," I say, and plod back to me and Hopes room. "Thank God." Hope walks past Mom and follows me. I lie back down on my mattress and pull the blanket over my shoulders. Hope kicks off her running shoes and tugs the elastic band out of her golden blond hair. Ive always wanted her hair. Mines the dirty beige of my moms roots when they grow out. Hope has beautiful blue eyes too, and Im stuck with the same shit brown color of our carpet. Maybe if wed had the same dad, wed look more alike. Tomorrows the first day of school, Hopes first day of her senior year. Shell be graduating a couple months after Mom gives birth to Daves demon spawn. Hope will leave. The baby will leave. Itll just be Mom and me for another year. I have to get out. Hope strips off her sweaty running clothes and heads out of our bedroom in her underwear. "Jumping in the shower." "Whatever. Turn the light off." The thought of Hope moving out makes me nauseous. Its always been the two of us against Mom. Hope joined the track team in eighth grade and hasnt stopped running since. Its not just an immediate way to get the hell out of the house but an escape from this shit life altogether. She has a scholarship to Ohio State. Shell leave and never look back. Im not so fortunate. My grades kind of suck. Im not athletic, since Mom smoked when she was pregnant with me, giving me the lifelong gift of asthma, and Ill need to get student loans if I want to go to college. If theres a college that will even accept me with . . .verage. Working five nights a week in a pizza parlor for the perk of free food doesnt leave a lot of time for studying. I roll over and face the wall. My stomach growls. I shouldve eaten at work. I glance up at the red and white cardboard Leaning Tower of Pisa that I cut out from a pizza box and taped to my wall. I make pizzas at Giovannis at night and on weekends. Pepperoni grease clings to everything and makes my hair slick and my face break out. Thats the only downfall, though. Ive worked there for a year now. Id love to have my own pizza place someday. But thatll never happen, because this is my shitty life. I wont fool myself into thinking it could ever be more. The shower blasts on in the bathroom, making the pipes bang. We get three minutes worth of hot water, so we shower fast. I hear mom shuffle into her bedroom and shut the door. The dragons in its den for the night. I think again about harassing the hell out of her for the next nine months and snicker to myself. This is going to be the best revenge ever. Shell be miserable, and Ill be the one making her that way. I feel like laughing diabolically and drumming my fingers together. Hope opens the door, and a waft of steam floats into our room. I roll back over as she comes in. In the dark, I only see a shadow of her arm rising and tugging a comb through her hair. She plops down on her mattress. Hope has a box spring too. Guess Ill inherit that when she leaves. It doesnt make me feel any better about it, though. "How was your run?" Her shoulders rise and fall. "Fine." "Is Brian in any of your classes this year?" Brian and Hope have dated since they were freshmen. They plan to get married. Hes going to OSU after graduation too, to play football. She spends more time Details ISBN1442447133 Short Title LEAP OF FAITH Publisher Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Language English ISBN-10 1442447133 ISBN-13 9781442447134 Media Book Format Hardcover DEWEY FIC Audience Age 14-17 Year 2013 Publication Date 2013-09-03 Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2013-09-03 NZ Release Date 2013-09-03 US Release Date 2013-09-03 UK Release Date 2013-09-03 Author Jamie Blair Pages 240 Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Audience Teenage / Young adult We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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