From the Publisher
"Cancer creates a lifetime of fallout. Gardner writes compellingly not only about the romance between these two teens, but also about the nuances in their navigation of survival. Recommended for YA collections." —School Library Journal
"Plenty of heartbreak and joy shape this compelling story, as well as reminders to find balance in our own lives." —Booklist, starred review
"Gardner, an amputee and cancer survivor, realistically tackles such tough issues as the massive costs of health care, the fear of relapse, and pressure to appear nondisabled." —Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
05/01/2020
Gr 8 Up—After spending a week together at Camp Chemo each summer for many years, Mari Manos and Jase Ellison are great friends whose serious flirtation indicates both might be interested in something more. During the school year, however, their paths don't really cross, as they go to different schools and live in different neighborhoods. Jase, who had leukemia when he was three, is actively trying to put his cancer experience behind him; no one at his private school knows he ever had it. However, Mari's experience with cancer is ever-present and very public: she navigates the world with one leg, following an amputation that saved her life. She can never just blend in. When Mari receives a scholarship and transfers into Jase's school, their worlds clash and Jase is forced to deal with the fact that he, too, is defined by being a cancer survivor. In addition to providing readers with a page-turning romance, Gardner deftly introduces many other topics, e.g., issues of class, access to healthcare, and the importance of Medicaid as a social net for people with complicated medical histories. VERDICT Cancer creates a lifetime of fallout. Gardner writes compellingly not only about the romance between these two teens, but also about the nuances in their navigation of survival. Recommended for YA collections.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn
Kirkus Reviews
2020-02-26
Two high schoolers are simultaneously united and divided by their cancer diagnoses, threatening their tentative romance.
Jase Ellison’s friends at Atlanta West Prep don’t know he had leukemia at age 3; he’s safe from the intrusive questions and taunts he endured in middle school. However, last summer at Camp Chemo, his past didn’t prevent a “flirtationship” with Mari Manos. Mari, who “rocked the one-legged look” on pink forearm crutches thanks to osteogenic sarcoma at 10, can’t hide her history. But when Mari transfers to his school and students gawk and gossip, Jase fears that his secret’s in danger and pushes her away. In alternating third-person chapters, the teens navigate medical and academic problems while wrestling with their fear, anger, and attraction. Gardner, an amputee and cancer survivor, realistically tackles such tough issues as the massive costs of health care, the fear of relapse, and pressure to appear nondisabled. However, expository narration, some stilted dialogue, and one-dimensional secondary characters occasionally diminish the emotional impact. The teens’ classmates’ absolute ignorance of cancer particularly strains credulity. Pop-culture references—from Hamilton to “Baby Shark”—feel somewhat forced, as does the use of such disability rights terms as “super crip” and “inspiration porn.” However, Mari’s supportive family is heartening. Most characters are affluent and white; olive-skinned Mari and her family are working-class and cued as Greek American.
An awkwardly written but unusually in-depth portrayal of cancer and disability. (Romance. 13-16)
