"A master class in how to be a person." --Joanna Rakoff, bestselling author of My Salinger Year

"Astonishing...one of the most moving memoirs I've read." --Caroline Leavitt, best-selling author of With or Without You and the forthcoming Days of Wonder.

At the age of five Jessica Fein’s daughter Dalia was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that would claim her life at 17. Before that moment came, and inspired by Dalia’s own insuppressible zest for life, Fein and her family would discover how to live in the present when the future can’t be fixed. In this heartfelt yet clear-eyed memoir, Fein maps both her journey to becoming an adoptive mom and the roller coaster ride of loving and caring for a terminally ill child, persevering when the simple act of taking a breath can become an act of courage. Through it all, she discovers the need to be both relentless advocate and calm presence, to show vulnerability as well as strength, and to allow joy to be louder than sorrow.

"More than an honest and humorous memoir, Breath Taking can be the guide star so many seek when life hands them more than they ever imagined they could endure." --Daniel DeFabio, rare disease filmmaker and Co-founder of The Disorder Channel

“A story of relentless heartbreak met with wit, strength, and resilience.” –Jennifer Weisel Bailey, ELLE Magazine