Simple Gifts

by Gail Chehab

Thirteen-year-old Leo Ampudia is convinced that he and everything he touches is going to die-including his twin sister who has bone cancer. Diagnosed with a 'severe anxiety disorder caused by parents abandoning him to save a dying child, ' Leo is scared to come out of his closet and is angry at the world. Through a turn of events and unexpected friendships, he learns to find his courage and faith that heal a life marred by the tragedy of pain and suffering. Simple Gifts captures the simplicity in our complex lives and lets us learn that you cannot live until you've learned how to die

266 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2012

About the author

Chehab's first novel, The Echo of Sand, was published in November 2009 by Mid-List Press after she won the First Series Award. Her writing has been recognized by Joyce Carol Oates as Honorable Mention for the Zeotrope: All-Story Fiction Contest and chosen as runner-up for the San Diego Book Award. Chehab's second novel, The Tunnel, was published in July 2015 by MediaAria CDM. The Tunnel was a top finalist for The Arthur Edelstein Prize, a semifinalist for William Faulkner-William Wisdom Competition, Salem College's International Literary Prize, and for the Ruth Hindman Foundation and University of Alabama Short Story Contest. The novel also received a fellowship from the Summer Literary Seminars in Lithuania and Kenya, and was awarded second place in The Roanoke Review Fiction Contest of which the first chapter was published. In addition to these awards, she has been featured and honored by numerous publications to include Ohio State University's The Journal, The Briar Cliff Review, Carve Magazine, Cutthroat Magazine, South West Writers, Santa Fe Writers Project, Chautauqua Literary Journal, New Millennium, New York Stories, and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association's awards.