Chasing Windmills

Two people trapped by life's circumstances break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless. ... (more)

Two people trapped by life's circumstances break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless. By the author of Pay It Forward. ... Both Sebastian and Maria live in a world ruled by fear. Sebastian, a lonely seventeen-year-old, is suffocating under his dominant father's control. In the ten years since his mother passed away, his father has kept him "safe" by barely allowing him out of their apartment. Sebastian's secret late-night subway rides are rare acts of rebellion. another is a concealed friendship with his neighbor Delilah, who encourages him to question his father's version of reality. Soon it becomes unclear whether even his mother's death was a lie. Maria, a young mother of two, is trying to keep peace at home despite her boyfriend's abuse. When she loses her job, she avoids telling him by riding the subways during her usual late-night shift. She knows her sister, Stella, is right: She needs to "live in the truth" and let the chips fall where they may. But she still hasn't been able to bring herself to do it. And soon he will expect her paycheck to arrive. (less)

Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay it forward, returns with a provocative tour de force on first love--a mod... (more)

Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay it forward, returns with a provocative tour de force on first love--a modern-day rendering of West Side Story born on a New York City subway car and nurtured under the windmills of the Mojave Desert. The subway doors open and close, and in one moment Sebastian's and Maria's lives are changed forever. Rendered in Catherine Ryan Hyde's stirring and evocative prose, Chasing windmills is a poignant love story that will leave you yearning for a subway ride that is a fraction as enchanting. Both Sebastian and Maria live in a world ruled by fear. Sebastian, a lonely seventeen-year-old, is suffocating under his dominant father's control. In the ten years since his mother passed away, his father has kept him "safe" by barely allowing him out of their apartment. Sebastian's secret late-night subway rides are rare acts of rebellion. Another is a concealed friendship with his neighbor Delilah, who encourages him to question his father's version of reality. Soon it becomes unclear whether even his mother's death was a lie. (less)