Summary
Witnessing her mother's battle with breast cancer, a teenage daughter finds her own strength. Liza's mother has just completed an exhausting, but promising, treatment for breast cancer and her future looks bright. Liza takes the same approach to her junior year of high school--work hard, think positively, and keep everything under control. When tests reveal that a riskier, more painful treatment is needed, it seems Liza's mother has given up. But she hasn't. Her mother's courage shows Liza that life isn't about control, it's about living. Drawing on the author's own experiences with breast cancer, this unforgettable novel reveals that positive thinking is not always the answer to tragedy, but that facing pain can bring great strength. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Publishers Weekly Review
Pennebaker's (Don't Think Twice) bittersweet novel about a 15-year-old's attempt to cope with her mother's breast cancer combines convincing characters and near-perfect pacing. When her mother's follow-up exam reveals that her cancer has returned, Liza follows the example of her positive-thinking father who tells Liza and her younger sister, Jane, that everything will be fine and that they must all be strong. Readers will quickly see what Liza, the narrator, cannot--that she uses what she calls her optimism to hide her fears and feelings, even from herself. But Liza's behavior shows the effects of the strain. She flunks driver's training and, worse, neglects to edit a controversial article for the school paper (which results in the resignation of her favorite teacher). Pennebaker skillfully builds the tensions in her plot, so that readers can practically pinpoint the moment that Liza will have her meltdown. From this moment of crisis Liza begins to learn to express her emotions. She begins to appreciate her mother's quiet strength, realizing that her mother is not, after all, weak or overly sensitive or high-strung. Liza's mother periodically weighs in with short narratives, chronicling her own search for a voice and her gradual acceptance of her disease. Through these passages, readers hear another perspective on the characters and realize how truly complex they are. Moving and realistic, this taut novel trades a happy ending for one both honest and empowering. Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc.
Copyright Reed Business Information
