Breathe: A Ghost Story

Breathe: A Ghost Story

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87  ·  rating details  ·  1,371 ratings  ·  305 reviews
Jack and his mom Sarah move to a new house after his father's death. Jack starts seeing ghosts that only he can hear or talk to. There is mother ghost and four child ghosts. The children warn him about mother ghost and he starts to worry....
Library Binding, 261 pages
Published October 28th 2006 by Lerner Publishing Group (first published January 1st 2006)
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84-The_enlightment_of_Doctor_Grace_part5_Jesus
Breathe by Cliff McNish is about a boy named Jack. Jack's father just died. His mom moves to an old house because Jack likes those types of houses. But something strange is happening to him. After his dad died, he would run his fingers over everything, sensing his dad. When he first arrives, he sees four faces looking out a window in the house. Those faces belong to Oliver, Ann, Charlie, and Gwyneth. They are ghost. Jack goes into his new room where a lady died. He does not know this, but he sen...more
El Templo de las Mil Puertas
"Jack es un muchacho frágil tanto física como emocionalmente. Por un lado, padece de asma, enfermedad que en alguna ocasión ha estado a punto de costarle la vida. Por otro, Jack siente atracción por todos los objetos viejos y por las personas que los poseyeron. Especialmente si están muertas. Su madre cree que estas tendencias siniestras se deben a la reciente pérdida de su padre; por ello, y pensando que su hijo necesita un buen cambio de aires, se lo lleva a vivir a una vieja casa de campo. Pe...more
Mandy
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jewels Faulkner
First of all, i've never read anything like this. Absolutely nothing horror related. So it kind of freaked me out to read it on a page. You know? It's different when you read it, not see it. Parts of the book, let me rephrase that, the whole book is really seductive. I can't really put a pinger on it but when I was reading it all I could think about is that it sounded a lot like Jaycee Dugard. Even though the children in the house weren't tortured in that way it seemed to sort of resemble that....more
Janelle
"breathe a ghost story"by cliff Mcnish is about a boy named jake and his mom sarah who move to this big old farm house after the recent death of jacks father and the bad asthma attacks that jack had been having.she thinks this will give them a fresh new start and happier life.little does she know that the house their moving into is haunted by 4 children spirits,ann(14,the oldest. Oliver,Gwyneth,charlie and a "ghost mother".After arriving at the house jack can sense that there is someone or somet...more
Airiz C
I can best describe this kid’s horror/paranormal story by McNish as a cross between two of Neil Gaiman’s most popular children's books—Coraline and The Graveyard Book.

Basically this is the gist: asthmatic boy Jack and her mom moves into a big old house where ghost children Gwyneth, Ann, Oliver, and Charlie are incarcerated. Once they realize that Jack can see and talk to them, they start to ask for his help. Supposedly they should be crossing to the other side now, but the devilish Ghost Mother...more
Jason Nachamie
I first came across "Breathe a ghost story" by Cliff McNish at the school book fair last year but didnt get around to reading it to this September. But now that i have i wish i read it sooner! "Breathe" is a heart ache story told by a narrator but covers three sides of the story alternating every paragraph. It covers the story of this new boy and his mother who can talk to the dead and has lost his father. The next side is the point of view of four ghost children who are always on the run of a h...more
Courtney O'pancake
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????...more
Joel N
Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish is one of my favorite books. It is a fictional book with a lot of paranormal or supernatural aspects to it. A boy named Jack, who has asthma moves to a new house with his mother to help the recovery process due to his father dying from a heart attack. The house is filled with ghosts that are able to float around, but Jack does not know of their presence. Jack feels around and is able to make connections to the things he touches and learns that an old lady u...more
Theresa
What a fantastic ghost story! I was faced with so many emotions at time that I was just dumb founded. Not your typical "happy ending' and quite a few "pins and needles" moments. Frightening, suspenseful, and sad, Breathe was a pleasant find on the bookstore bookshelf. I had never heard of this story or the author but I am so impressed with this story that I will likely read another of Cliff McNish's tales soon.

Jack and Sarah have moved to an old farmhouse for a new beginning after Jack's father...more
Avery Riebel
Ann, Oliver, Gwyneth, and Charlie are just like all the other kids. They like to play, joke around, and just have fun. There’s only one thing that sets them apart from everyone else- they’re dead. These ghost children have been trapped in the same house for years, unable to pass on to the Other Side because of the spirit energy sucking Ghost Mother, feeding off the children simply to stay in the living world. Yet after a ghost’s soul is deficient of energy, they are claimed by the Nightmare Pass...more
Emilie Rosson

This was the first book I'd read by Cliff McNish and I must admit it didn't disappoint. Breathe is a ghostly fantasy about a young boy named Jack who is gifted with the curious ability to sense memories by touching objects and who, after the recent death of his father, moves into a new house only to discover that he and his mother might not be alone...

I love ghost stories, but it takes a lot to scare me and - probably because it's a children's book! - sadly this didn't exactly give me goosebumps

...more
Elaina Aragona
Breathe by Cliff McNish is a ghost story. It is about this boy named Jack who moves in with his mom to a farmhouse that is haunted. This book describes places that we don't really know about like the Other Side and the Nightmare Passage. It's clear that the author has put a lot of thought into describing these two places when you read the book.
In the story Jack meets the Ghost Mother who has been in this house since her daughter died and she blames herself for what happened to her. She wants t...more
Jasmine
This book takes place in an old farm house where a mother and her child with tuberculosis(or consumption)previousley lived.The mother has a problem... she is stuck in the house, and can't go to the other side because she choose not to leave. She steals ghost children's souls for her consumption to keep her soul alive and out of the nightmare passage, a place for all ghost souls who did not pass into the other side, all of the ghost children she consumes will eventually find themselves in the nig...more
Matthew
Synopis- 15 yr old Jack Dose has a gift, a 6th sense to be precise. When he and his family move to the quiet and peaceful New England Dose farmhouse , they find it more than a coincedence; they find spirits of the dead, and they want a mediem.

Classification-
Audience- 14 and up, young adults
Purpose- to thrill readers w/ a good ghost story
Mediam- Novel
Genre Setting- Fiction
Genre Style- Fantasy, Tradegy
Genre Plot-Suspense

Critisism- WOW!!! What a macrabre novel! Mcnish has really impressed me with h...more
Chemical_disaster13 000000
Breathe. Such a funny name for a book that is about ghosts. (who DONT breathe) But it is also about Jack. Funny guy he is too. With an odd connection to ghosts. I really enjoyed this book. A few years ago I found it stuffed in my brothers dresser drawer, crumpled, and with the front cover almost ripped off. I call this rescuing, because now it is repaired (as best as possible) and sitting happily on my shelf with my other books. It is only there today, and not back in my brothers drawer because...more
Alyssa Rae
This book really gave me goosebumps it's about this boy who moved into this really old house after his fathers death from his heart attack. The boy himself has asthma and suffers from it getting the title "breathe" when he moves there he finds there is a woman ghost who insists on him calling her ghost mother there are also 4 other ghosts but they are children they are spirits ghost mother ha stolen to keep company and use as replacements for her dead daughter who has moved on. Ghost mother had...more
Haley
Texas Lonestar for the '08-'09 school year.

I'm not all into ghost stories all that much, so this book was just an okay read. It was about a boy that had a special connection with the dead. After moving into an old home with his mother, he soon learns that there are 5 ghosts that live in the house that are trapped and need his help.
Zannah
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Christi
I got so caught up in reading this story that my daughter was an hour late to bedtime last night, I just had to finish it before sleep.

Jack is a young teen with asthma who moves into an old English house with his mother after the recent death of his father. Jack has always had a level of extrasensory perception; being able to touch objects and learn something of their history. But, his father's death seems to have amplified this ability and his mother feels he needs a change of environment to he...more
Marlon
This book is a supernatural story. I thought that it was really good. Its the kind of book that every class should read if there teacher has a sort of ghost theme. It probaly is for readers at least older than 9 or 10. I personnaly would have liked the book more if it had been a little more.... scary. But still it was a great book that if i had a chance i would probaly read again. With the diction and language the author uses you really get the sense of excitment and fear that i think the author...more
Madison Laliberte
In the book Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish, a 261 page book, Jack and his widowed mother Sarah move into an old farm house-but they are not alone. The spirits of four other children who have died in or near the house haunt the house. But even the spirits are not alone; for there is a "Mother Ghost" as she likes to be called. She is quite selfish and rude and has enslaved the ghost children. Now she is after Jack. However, he has a second sight that might save the souls of the dead, abuse...more
Lori
Fans of The Sixth Sense (yep, it's about a boy who "talks to dead people") and general creepiness will like the concept, but the pieces did not make a satisfying whole for me. Too much build up, too convenient a resolution, and the plot was thin in places. Lone Star winner for 2008-09.
Jamie
i love mcnish so much i have everyone of his books i love him and his books.i looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...more
Zoraz
Oct 14, 2012 Zoraz added it
Jack and his mother,Sarah, move to a farmhouse after his father's death, who is on the Other side. Jack's asthma his nearly killed him more than once.One night while Jack was sleeping, a very thin and pale women was approaching him. Jack screamed and tried to run to his mother's room. The women was after him,Jack had an asthma attack.His mother woke up by the sound of his screaming.She got his inhaler, and he took deep breaths.The women Jack saw was the women he saw outside in the field the othe...more
Erin Forson
Do you believe in heaven? In hell? In ghosts? Do ghosts only haunt humans or do they haunt other ghosts? If these questions interest you, so will this spooky tale, Breathe--about ghosts at war, and a vision of what happens "after." When a psychic boy who has just lost his father arrives at the old country house where the ghosts reside, he becomes not only a witness to this war, but a soldier fighting to solve a mystery that may save his own, and his mother's soul. I enjoyed reading this novel be...more
Melissaf6
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Laura (Bookish Belle)
This was another novel I wasn't sure I'd like and ended up really loving it! There was a deep sense of darkness in this novel, and it was almost a whimsical ghost story, if that makes sense. I was reminded of Coraline in this story, such as the ghost children and the evil mother but I really liked it.

The writing was really well done and I liked the ease in which he transitioned into a new chapter or section. The book did make me look around the room a few times I was pleasantly surprised at that...more
Ella♥'s Hugs
This book is a little disappointing, when compared to othr ghost stories. Jack is a 12 year old boy, who has a really bad case of asthma. He can also detect the dead, or in other words, see ghost. When Jack and his mother, Sarah, move to an eerie old house after his father's death, the Ghost Mother appears and wishes him to be his pretend son. But soon enough, Jack discovers the Ghost Children. He learns that the Ghost Mother feeds on the dead children's spirits, to keep her from entering the "...more
Kelsey
This is a good book. Some people say this book is fairly scary, but I say it's not. This is a great book for teens. It may be a little creepy for younger kids.
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Okay 2 32 Nov 28, 2009 09:46am  
Breathe: A Ghost Story (Paperback)
Breathe
Breathe (Hardcover)
Breathe: a ghost story (Paperback)
Espectros (Hardcover)

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According to my Mum, when I was arriving in this world on the night of 24th August 1962 the electricity in the house failed, and all the lights went out. So I was born part in darkness and part in candlelight. I’ve no idea what significance that has, but it sounds impressive somehow…

I was born in Sunderland, a city in the north-east of England. I’d like to say I picked up the local Mackam accent,...more
More about Cliff McNish...
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