The Best Year of My Life, Book 1: Getting Diabetes. [Paperback]

Jed Block (Author), Jeff Block (Creator), Caitlin Block (Illustrator)

Book Description

Children's book about diabetes, written in the voice of a newly diagnosed sever-year-old girl, Caitlin, who illustrated the story. The book focuses on the humanness of the girl, her family, and the people around her. It's meant to help children with diabetes and their families deal with the jolts and issues that come with a new diagnosis.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The second book in this series, MAKING THE BEST OF LIFE, Book 2, Learning to Live With Diabetes (ISBN 0967272815), was published Nov. 20, 2000. It also is available through amazon.com.

From the Author

We were blindsided by the diagnosis of juvenile diabetes for our daughter Caitlin when she was seven. Bringing her home from the hospital with diabetes, I felt as insecure and frightened as I had when we brought our firstborn home after childbirth. Only with diabetes, the joy that comes with starting a family was absent. We didn't have nine months to prepare, and we were bringing home a child with a disease that can kill. Suddenly, we felt as if we were responsible for a helpless infant again who would need changing and feeding at least every three hours. Only this time, we were much more afraid for her and fearful of the life-threatening mistakes we could make.

I wrote this book for one reason: to help other families deal with the initial shock and give them a gentle push toward the emotional mountain they'll have to climb. I also tried to cross a line that would make it a book that would help adults, as well as children.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 28 pages
• Publisher: Jed Block; 1 edition (June 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967272807
• ISBN-13: 978-0967272801
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an instant hit, August 22, 2010

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the grandma - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Best Year of My Life, Book 1: Getting Diabetes. (Paperback)

When I learned that my beloved, charming, good hearted granddaughter had Type 1 diabetes, age 8, I was devastated, not only for her but for my daughter who now had two children (the other is a 4 year old boy) with this condition. I live a few hours away, so I can't be hands-on help, but I do try to find a way to make it better. When I took this book to my granddaughter, she IMMEDIATELY took the book and disappeared for the whole first hour of my visit. Normally she would be practically sitting on my lap, hanging around my neck, chattering away! After she read it, we discussed the fact that this young writer, the same age as my granddaughter, had a positive attitude and was willing to share her story. My granddaughter said she was afraid that some kids at school would make fun of her, so we talked about that, and she decided she had to write her own story to share with her classmates. We made an outline of some of the feelings and experiences she could share. This book helped my granddaughter to know she wasn't alone, diabetes wasn't her fault, and that she could thrive in spite of diabetes, and also opened a real connection between us. My daughter has four children under the age of 8 and although certainly supportive of them, doesn't always have the time to discover and discuss all the emotional issues kids with diabetes might have. From the get-go, I feel this book is a must for these children as it presents a realistic and upbeat example of a child living with Type 1.