Never Too Far
by Thomas Christopher
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publication Date: May 10, 2013
A harrowing story of love and survival.
In a future of scarce resources, where the possession of gas and diesel is punishable by death, a teenage boy and a pregnant girl must save their impoverished family. They risk their lives on a terrifying journey to sell stolen fuel on the black market.
EXCERPT
Mary surprised Joe by knocking his arms away. She was stronger than she looked. Then she swept her legs off the bed and sprang to her feet. She took two steps and turned to face him as if to prove there was nothing wrong with her. But there was definitely something wrong.
She wavered a moment. Her already white face turned ghostly. Her eyelids trembled. She seemed to realize she was becoming faint, and what that meant.
“I’m fine,” she said. “You don’t have to go.”
Joe got ready to catch her in case she fell, but somehow she held herself steady.
“It’s okay,” Joe said. “Just sit down. I will go find some food.”
Joe inched toward her. He was afraid to grab her again because she might try to wrench free once more and really fall. When she coughed, her little shoulders jerked and her round stomach jumped. Her head was drooped low and her hair hung down so he couldn’t see her face at all.
“Come on, lay down,” Joe said.
She didn’t move. Joe stepped toward her, but before he could put his arms around her, she tilted forward and rested the crown of her head against his chest. He slid his arms along the sides of her hard belly and around her waist. Then he shifted her toward the bed again. She moved like a bundle of empty sacks in his arms. He set her gently on the bed before he bent down to lift her feet onto the sheets.
After he sat in the chair, Mary asked him, “What if you don’t come back?”
“That’s not going to happen,” Joe said.
“How do you know?”
“I just know. You have to trust me.”
AUTHOR BIO
Thomas Christopher grew up in Iowa.
He received his MFA from Western Michigan University. His short
stories have appeared in The Louisville Review, The MacGuffin,
Redivider, and Cooweescoowee.
Grand Prize giveaway: One $20 Amazon gift card and one kindle ebook copy of Never Too Far.
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Book Blitz organized by Xpresso Book Tours
Dooood he's from Iowa. I wonder where abouts....anyway this automatically gets him on the TBR list, bonus the book sounds great too!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Grinnell and most of my family lives in Cedar Rapids. But I live in Madison, WI now. Cheers! Hope you like the book.
DeleteYour poor family has to smell the quaker oats factory. :( I attended the University of Iowa, and grew up in Knoxville. So in the great land of Iowa that means we were practically neighbors. Since you know most towns are at least 20 minutes apart. LOL.
DeleteThanks for hosting my book!
ReplyDelete