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Cancer in the Family

Being a teenager can already be a time of growing pains and social challenges. Enter in a cancer diagnosis, and life becomes all that more complicated. Browse the list below for books that can help your teen cope.

Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir

Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir

Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir by Robert K. Brown
3/3 Press 2019, 273 Pages, Paperback or Kindle
ISBN: 9781733159005

Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir is a raw and realistic memoir about a young college student who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 1990 while he was studying abroad in Lancaster, England – halfway across the world from his home in Seattle.  From battling life-threatening symptoms during a rushed, emergency departure from England, through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and complications over the next eight months, this moving, page-turning story will remind you to make the most of every day.

No Match For Her

No Match For Her

No Match For Her By Travis Lee Hicks
Publisher: Travis Lee Hicks
ISBN: 9781734251708
November 2019, Hardcover 420 pages (also available in paperback and as an e-book)

When his 12-year-old daughter Lilli was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia two weeks before Christmas, Travis Hicks was in the worst shape of his life. Overweight and overworked, Hicks watched his daughter Lilli fight for her life against an aggressive blood cancer. Hicks ultimately became a long distance runner, shed over 40 pounds, and restored his health in time to help his daughter through the fight of her life. Read this father’s story of life, health, family, faith, and community.

For more information click here

Kelsey and the Yellow Kite: A Book for Children About Myeloma

Suggested Reading-Kelsey and the Yellow Kite

Kelsey and the Yellow Kite: A Book for Children About Myeloma by Myeloma UK
Online PDF, 2013, pages 46

This book has been written to help explain what myeloma is to children and teenagers. Kelsey and the Yellow Kite tells the story of a little girl called Kelsey whose dad gets myeloma. It explains what myeloma is in very simple terms and is beautifully illustrated by illustrator Christine Battuz.

More information/PDF click here

My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks

My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks

My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks by Maya Silver and Marc Silver
Sourcebooks Fire, 2013
ISBN-10: 140227307X ISBN-13: 978-1402273070
Age Range: 12 and up

Currently one million American teenagers live with a parent who is fighting cancer. It's a hard blow for those already navigating high school, preparing for college, and becoming increasingly independent. My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks is the first book written especially for teens to help during this tough time. Author Maya Silver was 15 when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001. She and her dad, Marc, have combined their family's personal experience with advice from dozens of medical professionals and real stories from 100 teens--all going through the same thing Maya did. In a highly designed, engaging style, this book gives practical guidance that includes: How to talk about the diagnosis (and what does diagnosis even mean, anyway?) The best outlets for stress (punching a wall is not a great one, but should it happen, there are instructions for a patch job) How to deal with friends (especially one the ones with 'pity eyes') Whether to tell the teachers and guidance counselors and what they should know (how not to get embarrassed in class) What happens in a therapy session and how to find a support group if you want one A special section for parents also gives tips on strategies for sharing the news, making sure your child doesn't become the parent, what to do if the outlook is grim, and tips for how to live life after cancer. My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks allows teens to see that they are not alone. That no matter how rough things get, they will get through this difficult time. That everything they're feeling is ok. Essays from Gilda Radner's "Gilda's Club" annual contest are an especially poignant and moving testimony of how other teens dealt with their family's situation.

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie By Jordan Sonnenblick
Scholastic, 2005, 208 pages
ISBN: 0439755190

This is a touching novel about the relationship between two brothers and how their family dynamics change as the younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia. Told firsthand from the older brother's perspective, this book is honest and raw - much the way children and teens are when coping with cancer. And yet, the realistic portrayal is gently softened by a backdrop of humor and wit. This book will bring a smile to the faces of families coping with cancer.