Wyoming, 1907. The winters are always harsh in the Rockies but, this year, the cold is the least of Ryder Tibbs' worries. He's seventeen when he watches his mother finally pack her things and march out of his life, never to return.


An avid reader, all Ryder's ever wanted is to go to college-but now, with his father's cruel eyes fixed solely on him, that dream is slipping out of reach. "No man makes a decent wage from a pile of books," Joby insists. Ryder wants to argue, to fight-but defying his father, even over the right to choose his own future, is something he's never even considered, let alone tried.


It's only when he meets Montana, an eccentric and rough mountain woman with a fierce streak a mile long, that hope begins to sprout. If Ryder's going to make it in this grim world, she says, he's got to find the courage to stand up for himself-and she knows just how to go about it.


Free to Breathe is the latest novel by Kirkus Star-winning author Constance Bierkan. In this tender and atmospheric tale, Bierkan leads the reader into the wild heart of Wyoming, but also into the heart of every boy who yearns to be free.