by Karen Gravelle & Jennifer Gravelle & illustrated by Debbie Palen ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 20, 1996
Give this straightforward treatment of menstruation a warm welcome. Written by the co-author of Where Are My Birth Parents?, (1993) and her 15-year-old niece, it has a reassuring, matter-of- fact tone lightened throughout by Palen's humorous but appropriate line drawings. Following a brief description of puberty, menstruation is frankly discussed; most helpful is a whole chapter on ``What to Wear?''; another chapter negotiates genuinely embarrassing situations that every female has envisioned, if not experienced. Readers will also find information on uneven breast development, gynecologists, pimples, and more. The book is aimed at readers who are premenstrual or newly menstrual; teenagers seeking detailed information on sexual activity, birth control, or sexually transmitted diseases will have to look elsewhere. However, there is an excellent final chapter that emphasizes continuing communication with parents and suggests readers save sex for ``someone special.'' Four blank pages ``just for you'' should not preclude library purchase. A worthy companion to the more overtly feminist Period (1991) and a fine complement to the inclusive It's Perfectly Normal (1994). (index, not seen) (Nonfiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: March 20, 1996
ISBN: 0-8027-8420-8
Page Count: 115
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
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by Rob Harrell ; illustrated by Rob Harrell ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020
Not your typical kid-with-cancer book.
A rare form of cancer takes its toll in this novel based on the author’s experience.
Seventh grader Ross Maloy wants nothing more than to be an average middle schooler, hanging out with his best friends, Abby and Isaac, avoiding the school bully, and crushing on the popular girl. There’s just one thing keeping Ross from being completely ordinary: the rare form of eye cancer that’s reduced him to the kid with cancer at school. Ross’ eye is closed in a permanent wink, and he constantly wears a cowboy hat to protect his eyes. The doctors are hopeful that Ross will be cancer free after treatment, but his vision will be impaired, and the treatments cause him to lose his hair and require the application of a particularly goopy ointment. This isn’t a cancer book built upon a foundation of prayer, hope, and life lessons. The driving force here is Ross’ justifiable anger. Ross is angry at the anonymous kids making hurtful memes about him and at Isaac for abandoning him when he needs a friend most. Ross funnels his feelings into learning how to play guitar, hoping to make a splash at the school’s talent show. The author balances this anger element well against the typical middle-grade tropes. Misunderstood bully? Check. Well-meaning parents? Check. While some of these elements will feel familiar, the novel’s emotional climax remains effectively earned. Characters are paper-white in Harrell’s accompanying cartoons.
Not your typical kid-with-cancer book. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1514-9
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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by Rob Harrell ; illustrated by Rob Harrell
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by Rob Harrell ; illustrated by Rob Harrell
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by Rob Harrell ; illustrated by Rob Harrell
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by Chad Morris & Shelly Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2017
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean.
A 12-year-old copes with a brain tumor.
Maddie likes potatoes and fake mustaches. Kids at school are nice (except one whom readers will see instantly is a bully); soon they’ll get to perform Shakespeare scenes in a unit they’ve all been looking forward to. But recent dysfunctions in Maddie’s arm and leg mean, stunningly, that she has a brain tumor. She has two surgeries, the first successful, the second taking place after the book’s end, leaving readers hanging. The tumor’s not malignant, but it—or the surgeries—could cause sight loss, personality change, or death. The descriptions of surgery aren’t for the faint of heart. The authors—parents of a real-life Maddie who really had a brain tumor—imbue fictional Maddie’s first-person narration with quirky turns of phrase (“For the love of potatoes!”) and whimsy (she imagines her medical battles as epic fantasy fights and pretends MRI stands for Mustard Rat from Indiana or Mustaches Rock Importantly), but they also portray her as a model sick kid. She’s frightened but never acts out, snaps, or resists. Her most frequent commentary about the tumor, having her skull opened, and the possibility of death is “Boo” or “Super boo.” She even shoulders the bully’s redemption. Maddie and most characters are white; one cringe-inducing hallucinatory surgery dream involves “chanting island natives” and a “witch doctor lady.”
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean. (authors’ note, discussion questions) (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62972-330-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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by Chad Morris & Shelly Brown ; illustrated by Garth Bruner
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by Chad Morris & Shelly Brown
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