When visiting a hospital in Montreal, Quebec, a few years ago,
best-selling author India Desjardins met a 10-year-old girl with
leukemia. The girl told her she that she was fed up. All the stories
about children like her who had cancer had sad endings, so she didn't
want to read them. She asked India to write a story about cancer with a
happy ending instead, one with laughter and romance. India did, and the
story became this book.
I think about everything I'll miss if they tell me I'm going to
die...my mom, my dad, my sister, cookies, TV shows I'll never get to see
the end of, walking outside when it's really nice, the smell of autumn,
the starry sky on a full moon, my grandparents, my grandpa's lasagna,
kissing Victor, Victor's eyes, Victor's voice, Victor's smell, Victor's
hands...Victor.
A teenage girl heads towards the hospital waiting room where the
doctors are going to tell her how much time she's got to live. As she
walks, she thinks about her journey up to this point...the terrible
decor in the hospital, wearing a headscarf, the horrible treatments, but
also being with her friends, family, and her new boyfriend Victor.
While this story has a happy ending, the girl offers an honest account
of what it feels like to be a teenager with cancer. Like how she just
wants everyone to treat her like a normal person and stop telling her
how strong she is--especially her mom. And how, even though everyone is
telling her to stay positive, she sometimes loses hope and even wants to
die to make the pain go away. Dreamlike illustrations elegantly
convey the emotional complexities.
Like the girl in this story, the girl that India met at the hospital is
now cured. She also fell in love during her illness. Today, around eight
out of ten children who are diagnosed with cancer are cured. This
story was written to give any child who has cancer hope.
