Thin Air [Hardcover]

David Getz (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Sixth-grader Jacob Katz struggles to overcome his asthma and the attentions of his overprotective brother as he tries to find a place among his peers.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-- Jacob Katz, a severe asthmatic, is eager to start sixth grade. His parents want to enroll him in a special class for children with chronic illnesses since he misses a lot of school. He, however, is determined to attend a regular class and pass himself off as completely healthy and normal, although he can't get through a single day without one of his frightening asthma attacks. He manages to enroll in the regular classroom, but, when he finds the teacher has discussed him with the other students, who treat him as if he were a fragile oddity, Jacob goes AWOL. Getz writes with wry insight in a novel that is lightly comic despite Jacob's serious problems. The young teen comes to deal more successfully with his health and self-concept by the end of the book, and his parents wake up to his deeper needs. Along the way are a lot of laughs as Jacob tries wildly and inventively to manipulate his restrictive environment. --Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Spring Hill Middle School, KS
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.; 1st edition (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805013792
• ISBN-13: 978-0805013795
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,013,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a good story. It's something everyone should read., March 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thin Air (Paperback)

In this book, you see through the eyes of Jacob. This sixth grader who's trying his hardest to be just a normal kid, but his asthma keeps him from his goal for most of the time. His brother is really overprotective, he's basically afraid Jacob's going to die. When Jacob goes to a new school, he makes a great new friend, Cynthia, and goes through, some basically, discrimination. Discrimination against kids who are a little different. He escapes from school and makes friends with a newspaper standsman, Theodore. I won't ruin the end, but all I can say is that it is something everyone should read, and that it is not always the best thing to do to feel sorry for someone, or try to make it easier for them. I can really relate to this story because I have asthma too. It's a sad story, but has a happy ending.

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book- for anybody!, March 2, 2008

By 

dominica sanchez (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thin Air (Paperback)

This is a very well written, deeply imagined glimpse into the world of a young teen struggling with his health, his family, school, and urban life. This isn't a cuddly- cute kid story. It is fresh and full of surprises. The frustration, anxiety, and sensitivity expressed by Jacob could have easily been experienced by anyone who has ever felt her/himself to be the 'odd duck'. I think its perfect that Jacob is not always a wholly likable character, or that his mother can be so often quite 'out-to-lunch'. I found it to be daringly honest, irreverent, and full of room to think about the larger, very challenging issues of difference and acceptance. Thank you, Mr. Getz, for giving your readers the benefit of the doubt. Keep writing these!

5.0 out of 5 stars Thin Air, March 29, 2000

By 

Duran Breshears (Wassila, AK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin Air (Paperback)

This is a great book about Jacob, who has very bad asthma. It's about his struggle with his family, friends, and peers. He starts skipping school and activities because at these places people know he's different than them. He starts to make friends with people who don't know about his problem. He also makes friends with a man who has a disability too. This was a book that made me think about people with disabilities.