New Releases by Norman Ollestad

“Sole Survivor is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride right from page one. A real-life Hatchet for a new generation. You gotta read it to believe it!” —Alan Gratz, New York Times–bestselling author of Refugee and Heroes “Inspirational, propulsive, and unforgettable. This one leaves a mark.” —Lamar Giles, author of The Getaway and Ruin Road This riveting true story from two New York Times–bestselling authors chronicles how a California sixth grader survived a deadly mountainside plane crash during a snowstorm. Eleven-year-old Norman Ollestad is no stranger to extreme situations. Whether it’s surfing big swells off Topanga Beach or skiing in a blizzard, he has braved one adrenaline-rush adventure after another, pushed by his thrill-seeking father to realize that “anything’s possible.” And with Dad by his side, sometimes Norman believes him. That motto is put to the ultimate test when the small plane Norman and his dad are aboard is engulfed by a snowstorm and crashes in the San Gabriel Mountains—with deadly consequences. Struggling in and out of lucidity, haunted by the voices and memories from difficult moments in his past, Norman must decide what to do while trapped eight thousand feet above sea level, facing dangers unlike any he has encountered before. Inspired by the harrowing true childhood experience of author Norman Ollestad, this astonishing, action-packed story, co-written with Brendan Kiely, is about fear, survival, and the complicated forces—and people—that shape us. Fast-paced and unputdownable, Sole Survivor is the perfect read for fans of Dusti Bowling’s The Canyon’s Edge, Megan E. Freeman’s Alone, and the I Survived series.

"Finely wrought; Ollestad builds a delicate tension between the characters, exposing their raw desire and exploring the concept of artistic inspiration...A quietly tense and absorbing read." —Kirkus French Girl with Mother is a provocative, propulsive thriller that marries the spirit of James Salter with a hint of Patricia Highsmith and the velocity of The Art Forger. Nathan is a young artist traveling across Europe in search of the emotional fire that has been missing from his work. He's been deemed by his mentors and critics as technically skillful but uninspired —criticisms he fears to be true. On a Paris street, he witnesses the volatile breakup of a young French woman and her beau. Nathan pursues a meeting with the woman and it very quickly becomes evident that her provocative charisma and scathing beauty just may conjure the electricity he has been seeking for his work. So when the woman invites him to her parents' crumbling, centuries–old chateau in the country to allow him to sketch her, he accepts, knowing that this proposition is both ill advised and thrilling. Once enveloped by this isolated estate, a door opens to a world Nathan is not prepared for. The arrival of the young woman's family—her mother, a volatile, voracious former ballerina, her father, a mysterious businessman with secrets of his own, and her uncle, who might be trafficking in art forgeries.

El accidente tuvo lugar en las montañas de San Gabriel, a unos 2.600 metros de altitud. En medio de una fuerte tormenta de nieve, la avioneta Cessna que transportaba al autor de estas memorias, a su padre y a la novia de éste se estrelló y quedó suspendida en la ladera helada del monte. Nueve horas más tarde, Norman Ollestad, de once años de edad, fue hallado vivo, único superviviente de la tragedia. ¿Cómo es posible que un niño fuera capaz de sobreponerse al dolor, la conmoción y las brutales inclemencias atmosféricas y lograra salvarse?Bajo la tutela de un padre incansable y carismático, que llevaba un estilo de vida alternativo, a contracorriente del orden establecido, el pequeño Norman se crió en el mundo del surf y el esquí de alta montaña. Mientras sus amigos montaban en bicicleta e iban a fiestas de cumpleaños, Norman se enfrentaba a aventuras cada vez más extremas. Exigido por su padre hasta límites intolerables, aquellos tiempos de difícil aprendizaje forjaron un carácter tenaz y entrenado en la superación que resultó crucial cuando el destino lo puso a prueba.Elegido por los editores de Amazon como uno de los diez mejores títulos de 2009, y aupado a la lista de más vendidos del New York Times durante once semanas, Pasión por el peligro es uno de esos libros que no se ajustan a las categorías existentes. Los hechos narrados son reales, pero tan extraordinarios que mantienen al lector en vilo como si leyera una novela de suspense. El afectuoso retrato del padre, combinado con la pasión por la naturaleza y las adictivas emociones que procura el deporte de riesgo, conforman una historia de unión espiritual que conmueve por su proximidad y autenticidad.

"As much about a father-son relationship as it is a survival story . . . his father's life philosophy . . . got him down the mountain and through life." — USA Today Norman Olstead's New York Times–bestselling memoir Crazy for the Storm is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survived at age eleven, framed by the moving tale of his complicated relationship with his charismatic, adrenaline-addicted father. Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature— Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm—it is a literary triumph that novelist Russell Banks ( Affliction) calls, "A heart-stopping story beautifully told . . . Norman Olstead has written a book that may well be read for generations." "A heart-stopping adventure that ends in tragedy and in triumph, a love story that fearlessly explores the bond between a father and son and what it means to lead a life without limits." —Susan Cheever, award-winning author of American Bloomsbury "An elegant memoir as well as a transformative coming-of-age tale. When he leaves his father's limp body behind on the icy plateau—giving it a final kiss and caress as it's claimed by the snow—Ollestad takes his first perilous steps not just into survival, but into adulthood." — New York Post "Cinematic and personal . . . Ollestad's insights into growing up in a broken home and adolescence in southern California are as engrossing as the story of his trip down the mountain." — Chicago Tribune "Riveting." — Entertainment Weekly

Can a man live and love intensely without being crushed under the weight of his feelings? Like Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, debut author Norman Ollestad's Driftwood plumbs the agony and ecstasy of pursuing romantic love. Abandoned by his wife after quitting his job as an attorney, Woody lives in a beach shack with his Labrador retriever Coltrane–his spiritual advisor and the colorful narrator of Driftwood. WoodyÂ's carefree life of riding the transcendent California waves turns tumultuous when he investigates a mysterious theft on the beach and soon finds himself entangled with two different women–effervescent Anna, and the artfully seductive Ingrid. Through ColtraneÂ's witty voice, we are taken on a spiritual and psychological journey across mythic, sun-soaked Malibu. Can Woody solve the crime and satisfy his heart? Insightful and profound, Driftwood is a California classic for anyone who has ever lost love and hopes to find it again.