Side Effects
Grade 6-10–A problem novel thats nicely paced and easy to read. Ultra-normal teenager Izzy learns that she has stage IV Hodgkins lymphoma. She undergoes standard treatments, withstands her newfound pity-popularity at school, leans on her best friend, and grows in her understanding of her mother. She narrates with a relatively light, joke-cracking tone as her ballpoint pen doodles cartoon jibes at the things making her uncomfortable. Throughout, readers see how the teens condition affects her loving family and supportive best friend. Reassured by the preface, they will have no fear of Izzys recovery. Rather, the story focuses in great detail on her treatments and how she gets through them, holding out for a future in which she will have long, braided hair and a boyfriend who can deal with serious stuff like cancer. Readers witness every hospital visit, every injection–everything that goes in, and the color of what comes out (with some spectacular pukes). The book has realistically typical teenage characters and apparently solid research into various Childrens Hospital patients and their treatments, but its not too heavy, complex, or long.–Rhona Campbell, Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library, Washington, DCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.