Chasing Windmills - by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Paperback)

About the Book

The 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.

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a provocative and unlikely love story that starts on a New York subway car and blossoms under the windmills of the Mojave Desert.Both Sebastian and Maria live in worlds ruled by fear. Sebastian, a lonely seventeen-year-old, is suffocating under his dominant father's control; Maria, a young mother of two, is trying to keep peace at home despite her boyfriend's abuse. When their eyes meet across a subway car one night, these two strangers find a connection that neither can explain or ignore. They dream of a new future and agree to run away together, only to find that each has kept a major secret from the other. In this tremendously moving novel, Catherine Ryan Hyde shows us how two people trapped by life's circumstances can break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless.

Review Quotes

"Simple and captivating. It is [the characters'] voices--at once utterly credible and heartbreakingly naïve--that make the book." --Publishers Weekly "A sweet tale openly modeled on West Side Story . . . centering on how people come to grip with their pasts." --Kirkus Reviews"A reimagining of the classic tale of star-crossed lovers . . . but fresh and new. . . . A page-turning read. . . . The distinct voices are sweet, soul-baring, and honest. Hyde writes evocatively of the visceral nature of first love." --School Library Journal

About the Author

Catherine Ryan Hyde, an acclaimed novelist and award-winning short-story writer, is the author of the story collection Earthquake Weather and of the novels Love in the Present Tense, Walter's Purple Heart, Funerals for Horses, Electric God, and Pay It Forward, which was named an ALA Book of the Year and made into a feature film. She lives in Cambria, California. Her website is www.cryanhyde.com.