This is a book about teenagers with cancer. This somber topic made me avoid it for years, but I finally picked it up, and I’m so glad that I did.
That’s because it’s not a book about cancer, but about people. In fact, there’s some irony to me treating the book differently and avoiding it just because it’s about sick people. One of the key messages in the story is to not treat people who are sick like they are “other”; as if they are vastly different from the rest of us. They aren’t. They are human. They live, they laugh, they go through ups and downs, and they want to belong, just like everyone else.
This book is full of just such deep, entertaining, delightful characters. They feel alive, and you care about what happens to them. It’s a beautifully-written story, which includes humor (including, admittedly, a lot of dark humor), a coming-of-age tale, a romance, and more. It’s one of those books that will actually make you laugh—and cry. That’s a rare and wonderful thing.
It’s a sad book, and at times, hard to read. But it’s absolutely worth it.
