Thin Air

About the Book

Since childhood, Ethan Valentine Smith has experienced a connection to the past through his “mind trips,” where his imagination seems to transport him to other times and places. When the sixteen-year-old goes on vacation to Blue Mountain Lake in upstate New York, he will begin a journey spanning more than a hundred years. His adventures take him to the Erie and Black River canals, from Boonville to Old Forge, through the Fulton Chain of Lakes, and to a lumber camp in the heart of the Adirondack wilderness. It is here that Ethan learns the true meaning of bravery.

About the Author

For three years, Jerilyn DePete wrote a weekly commentary column for a New Jersey newspaper. Her feature articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She worked as a copy editor for New Jersey Monthly magazine and now does copyediting for a New York publisher. She has written two books for young adults, and has won two awards for short-story writing. Thin Air is her first published novel. Jerilyn lives with her husband, Don, and their cat, Willoughby, in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.