by KB Meniado
THE STORY
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. Get a copy: Amazon / Read reviews: Goodreads
WHAT I LIKED
As much as we have to face life and its ~real realities, I love that the title spoils readers about the story’s Happy Ending. With everything that’s going on in the world, we need all the happiness we can get, right?
But A Story About Cancer With a Happy Ending (by India Desjardins, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer and translated into English from French by Solange Ouellet; first published in 2012) isn’t a happy book for most part. It follows a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with cancer, and how it has affected her and everybody and everything else.
It’s heart-pinching—and a kind of scary read—because I don’t think anybody wants to live through (or relive) this kind of painful and emotionally charged situation, BUT the story actually nails it on reminding you to ponder on what it means to hold on in spite of.
My favorite is the love that centers this story. Unconditional love from family, friendship and teen romance with Victooor 🎵
The ‘dreariness’ of the art is, in my opinion, also perfection. The colors capture the tone, and the minimalist take allows the text to shine.
tl;dr
A sweet, quick illustrated YA read, A Story About Cancer With a Happy Ending by India Desjardins and illustrated by Marianne Ferrer is about enduring, hoping and accepting. Highly recommended! ☁️
BOOKBED 
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