Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Misery poker is a terrible idea. Big problems may need more attention, but their existance does not make little problems go away. Likewise, people who suffer greatly may need help or patience, but they are still responsible for their own actions to some degree. Today's book addresses this problem, as well as one other. This is After Ever After.
Citation: Sonnenblick, J. (2010). After ever after. New York: Scholastic Press.
Plot: When he was five, Jeffery Alper managed to live through cancer, but at a price. He has mobility problems and he has additional problems with math, problems that are about to lead to his being held back a grade. As the date of the state test gets closer, he tries his darndest to pass, as well as navigate a world in which he is something almost no-one knows what to do with. Furthermore, Tad, a friend of his and fellow young cancer survivor, has something that he isn't telling.
Impressions: It's useful for displays about cancer, and very heartbreakingly insightful, but it can be hard to read. These characters are people, and they can be jerks at times. Tad can be a royal *#%!, even given everything wrong with his life, although it's the kind that other people might find entertaining (I'm not really able to tell), and he does get called on it in the course of the book. However, the book is excellent at conveying its theme with the right mix of sympathy and condemnation, even if I felt like it took a long time before the book made the flip. In short, it has its flaws, but bear with it.
Second opinion: "Sonnenblick’s writing style is vivid, humorous, and authentically reflects the conversations and thoughts of most teens... Both entertaining and thought-provoking, After Ever After is a must-read for both early teens and adults."
Source: Kennedy, M. (2010). [After Ever After]. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(4), 299-301.
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