Day: August 9, 2020

A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending)

A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending)
Author: India Desjardins
Illustrator: Marianne Ferrer
Translator: Solange Ouellet
Published: January 29, 2019
96 Pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: August 2, 2020
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

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 fall, 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. This is a story about cancer with a happy ending. It’s about life, love, and especially, hope.

Jessica’s Review:

Our unnamed female narrator is 15 and has been on her leukemia journey for five years. She tells us her story first hand of growing up and dealing with cancer, from losing a friend to the disease, to even falling in love for the first time.  This is another story with the **spoiler alert*  in the title, but that was actually what brought me to want to read A Story About Cancer.  

This graphic novel comes off more as a children’s book with the watercolor type illustrations and simplistic dialog, yet I was entranced in the story and even though I knew it would have a happy ending, I was intensely reading it. The book gives us the variety of emotions and experiences that a child and her family goes through as she is becoming a teenager and  faces this journey.  The illustrations are perfect for the story and help to complete it. 

I would say the best age group for this graphic novel would be preteens.  The story and words don’t talk down to a reader of that age and help one understand what goes on with someone dealing with cancer.  And yes, there is a happy ending.

There is a real life story behind the novel, which is mentioned at the end and makes the book even more wonderful. I applaud the author, illustrator, and translator for working to give us this story about cancer, but with a happy ending! 

I received a copy from the publisher Frances Lincoln Children’s Books via Amazon Vine.  Many thanks for allowing me to read and review it! 

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK