Customer Reviews

Side Effects

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From the author of The Girls (a realistic look into the inner workings of an all-girl clique) comes a novel about an almost-fifteen-year-old who is diagnosed with lymphoma. The once-healthy Izzy is suddenly hospital-bound. The faces of the nurses, doctors, and counselors who surround her blur as she undergoes chemotherapy. Meanwhile, her mom is a mess, her father is fairly steady, her little brother doesn't quite understand what is going on, and her best friend isn't allowed to visit her.

While her body battles cancer, Izzy's tongue stays as sharp as the needles that the nurses stick in her arm. Instead of a book riddled with angst, the story details Izzy's treatments and her physical and emotions reactions bluntly. Instead of being a sob story, this is the story of survival. Izzy refuses to give up, and readers won't give up this book until they've reached the final page. Well-done.

Izzy wakes up one morning concerned because her glands are still swollen from a recent sickness--and she soon discovers that she has cancer. She's placed into a children's hospital where people come talk to her until she no longer hears what they're talking about. All she can do is concentrate on drawing.

Her mother is a basket case and Izzy is in shock.

Now her life has drastically changed. People who were her friends no longer talk to her and people she's never talked to are fake around her. She doesn't quite know how to react, but it's not with the anger her best friend feels.

Izzy goes though treatments: pain, the puking, and the needles, but still never loses her sense of humor.

SIDE EFFECTS takes a deep look into the medical and emotional roller-coaster of cancer patients. With Izzy, you hear the knowledge first-hand, which makes you both laugh and cry.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Izzy has cancer - and is back in school trying to catch up. Her descent into illness - and struggle to retain to a world of normalcy - makes SIDE EFFECTS an outstanding survey of cancer recovery, delving into much more than the usual physical issues of struggling with cancer. Leisure readers in grades 4-8 will find it outstanding.

This is a truely amazing book that I read once, then started to read again (until it was due at the library). the book is about a girl, Izzy who is battling Lymphoma. I like it because it is from the fifteen year old's point of view. She has very dry humor, which the book is filled with. Again the book was really inspiring and amazing. I'm twelve, I didn't cry, but I'm sure if my mom read it, she'd be sobbing because she'd be thinking of what the mom had to go through. May I add that the mom is over protective.

This was not part of my books that I am to be reading as a judge(I was nominated to read Runaway and Matched), but I am making it a goal to read all the books in this tournament. After all, it is my tournament so I should read them all, right?

I picked this book up to read next because I loved the cover. It grabbed me. It pulled me towards it to read.

I fell in love with Izzy from start. Her sarcastic tone and her little comments cracked me up. She instantly reminded me of a daughter of someone I know and in many ways myself(her sarcasm). When the cancer hits Izzy must deal with the treatment process of lymphoma. I have never gone through cancer treatment myself, but know of many people who have and this book seemed like it was a pretty realistic portrayal of the process. What I liked about Izzy was that she was not "Oh, poor me." Rather she tried to be headstrong and mask her feelings which is how I think most teens would act.

The novel brings out the other aspects of life that a teen would have to deal with like missing school, crushes, how "friends" treat you, dealing with family, etc. I felt like she was dead on with the issues.

The novel is a quick read. It does not drag on and on like some novels in this type of novel can do. Rather she tells the story, hits the key points, and moves on.

For once, there is happiness at the end. I liked this. Everyone who reads my posts know I love death and destruction in my books. This book I was glad to have the opposite. Cancer is not always death. Cancer is a battle and it can be overcome with patient, strength, stamina, and a strong support from family and friends.

A good book to check out if needing something short, quick, funny, and powerful.

I am super passionate about Childhood Cancer! So, when Amy Goldman Koss, who is on my Facebook friends list, posted that she was looking for people to review her book I did the "Horshack thing," "OOoooo! OOOOOooooo! OOOooooo! ME! ME! ME!"

Now, I read the book in two days (yep, it's THAT good!) but it has taken me almost a month to get it here for my review! Thank you, Amy, for being so patient!

On page two of Side Effects, 14-year-old Isabelle complains of a swollen gland that won't give her a break and her mom makes a doctor's appointment. Isabelle was annoyed that the stupid gland just never went down after having the flu a few weeks ago. And that's where her story begins....

The "C" word! CANCER! Lymphoma to be exact.

Not only is CANCER every mother's worst nightmare, it is every teen's worst nightmare...especially when your mom turns into a bumbling idiot at the mention of the word.

"If the cancer didn't kill me, the ride to the hospital would. My mom's eyes were streaming tears and she was babbling in general."

Izzy was usually annoyed, she was a teenager, it's what she did best. Izzy's indignant personality rarely fades as she and her best friend Kay try to stay one step ahead of this roller coaster that may just kill her. But when you are running on foot down the steep track with CANCER-on-wheels barreling down behind you going ten times faster, it may just be easier to lay down and die than try to beat it.

Izzy makes her cancer diagnosis frightening, livable, somewhat doable, sometimes humorous, and oh so REAL! Who knew you could crush on someone, while he crushes back, all the while having poison pumped into your veins, together..how romantic. NOT!

Having been virtually "in" the cancer world during my short stint as a Childhood Cancer Awareness Advocate through my blog its 4 the kids, I can say this book is a bright-side view of cancer but at the same time a painful peek into Izzy's world as she battles a monster bigger than she had ever imagined. While Izzy's story is real and raw, it is humorous but truthful.
Not only would a child with a recent diagnosis benefit from the TOUGH HOPE throughout Izzy's journey, this book is a PHENOMENAL resource for the friends and family of a teen with cancer. Izzy's thoughts relay what she wishes her mom would say, what she wishes her best friend knew, what she hoped the boy she liked would not say. Everyone could benefit from reading this book...maybe people would acknowledge little bald heads instead of look away. Izzy would kick you if you were so rude!

Goldman Koss did an amazing job of writing from inside the mind of her fictional Izzy. While I read I truly felt for her, wished I could clue her BFF in and hoped she would be OK. Izzy's thoughts are so vivid and the descriptions of her physical AND emotional side effects paint the painful picture of what cancer can do.

I thank Amy for this poignant book that reveals the truths I know cancer patients would love to have their loved ones, doctors, nurses and BFFS know as they run from that coaster car that's breathing down their necks!

Cancer is serious. It is horrific. 46 children are diagnosed with it EVERY school day! It's not a subject to make light of and Amy Goldman Koss gives this subject the respect and seriousness it deserves while twisting it with a bit of crass teenage wit.

Thanks Amy! I hope hospitals buy oodles and oodles of this book for their oncology floors!

One of the nicest things that Koss does in this story is tell you right at the beginning that Isabelle "Izzy" is going to survive her battle with cancer. And it is a battle. Izzy is 14 years old when she is diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and finds herself in the hospital for a biopsy and then chemotherapy. Izzy doesn't do well with the treatments. In fact, she has just about every horrible side effect you can imagine. Koss doesn't try to make it pretty - she shows the reader just how ugly the treatment for cancer can be and that not everyone is going to sail through it with a smile on their face.
If I could make any changes to the book, I would add drawings of some of Izzy's illustrations that are described so wonderfully in the story and I would take out most of the swearing. I believe that while it does fit with the character, it would have been possible to show Izzy's feelings and attitude effectively without the language.
I would definitely recommend this book. Koss handles this serious subject with just the right amount of humor to help counter the devastating side effects!

Side Effects - Amy Goldman Koss

"Izzy knows her cancer could kill her: but that's no reason to lose her sense of humor."

That's an understatement. Amy Goldman Koss's story about 14-year-old Isabelle (Izzy-Lizard to her brother, Max) Miller is such a humorous read that you almost...almost take the cancer for granted. A lymphoma diagnosis sends Izzy into the unfamiliar world of chemo, endless blood tests, scans and seemingly never-ending vomiting.

She learns quickly after her first treatment that this is going to be one awful ride.

Izzy tries, mightily, to keep her sense of humor throughout and to continue her love of art and drawing. You root for her to keep her wonderfully sarcastic, dry wit. But, you know she's losing the battle when her best friend, Kay, no longer gets the humor and Izzy fears that Kay is moving beyond reach.

"I tried to be the Izzy Miller I was before, but I couldn't remember how. And it was exhausting to try."

She complained to her pragmatic Aunt Lucy. "But everyone is so incredibly irritating."

"Well, cancer or not, that'll never change," Aunt Lucy laughed. "But, for that, there's always chocolate."

I found myself loving Aunt Lucy at this point!

Written with a deft, unpretentious hand, Side Effects isn't for the squeamish. Amy Goldman Koss mixes the good, the bad and the ugly throughout Izzy's battle to conquer a disease she doesn't quite understand as she tries to fight depression and keep her sanity while well-meaning friends and relatives tip-toe around her illness.

The author's ability to create a realistic, but thoroughly entertaining story of a teenager's struggle to get her life back, is well worth picking up a copy of "Side Effects." If you know a young person who's fighting some form of cancer, or even if you don't, I highly recommend this book.

Mary Cunningham, author, "Cynthia's Attic" series for 'Tweens
The Magician's Castle
The Magician's Castle (Cynthia's Attic)

In the middle of writing my own YA, hard-hitting for the under-served market of teen dudes and the 12+ years olds who look up to them, this book was a fast read and a lot of fun.

Koss takes us through Isabelle's "Izzy" journey of cancer and it's diagnosis, treatment, procedure and conclusion ... nope, won't give the ending away. But I was surprised how quickly I finished this read; I took scads of notes to employ for my own YAs. I enjoyed how Koss completed Izzy's arc in what mattered more, priorities-wise.

Minus the medical jargon, the "dumbing-down" angle of how kids are resilient more than we adults give them credit for, the tactless-but-honest nature Koss took of WHY must children's hospitals look like puppy-dog-and-kittens on the floors with festive circus colors that garishly contrast the real reasons there had me laughing a couple of times. I got into Izzy's voice and loved the sensitive, straight-forward nature Koss took to show us what going through cancer is really, really like.

My mother, stepmom and uncle died from cancer. All of them mentioned how tiring, draining and taxing chemo is. They all said it hurt, but never spoke of the ghoulish, but needed details of what they had to endure. "No wonder kids screamed when they saw Tanya coming" is a perfect line to sum what Izzy otherwise dubbed her as "the Smurf."

This would've gotten five stars, but for Izzy's level of disrespect her mouth dished to her mother; illness or not, I'm old school and I found that bothersome her mother didn't get in her face more with this; and the disjointed feel parts of the book held for my taste. I got she was triyng to be upbeat about things, but a few times, I wondered where the self-pity was, the anger, the angst, the "what if ..." possibility of dying had crossed Izzy's mind most cancer sufferers wrangle through. This would've made the book longer, I'm sure, but to see her pull through on grit/determination w/o showing that other side of it--even antagonists have a soft side--sorely lacked.

Overall, fine read. Loved the CandyLand game reference and how she handled a patient suffering a blood disorder not far from sickle cell, as well. Tastefully done and wonderfully told in a fresh, in-your-face narrative more teen reads need today. Nice job, Mrs. Koss! Kudos!

One things for sure, there are not many books like this.

As readers we get to see the world of a cancer patient through Izzy's eyes, our fourteen year old cantankerous (or regular teenage angst) main character. For six grueling months we follow her from diagnosis, treatment, to conclusion... sorry, no spoilers here. As readers we come away with both an attachment to the storyline and an appreciation of what having cancer must feel like.

I'm happy that someone has finally written a good teen book about cancer that 1. doesn't bog us down with too much medical jargon, 2. chips away at the mystery for all of us looking in from the outside, and 3. gives us a characters we can relate to.

My one complaint is that at times the story feels a bit disjointed. Also, if I ever talked to my Mom the way Izzy does, illness or not, I wouldn't be typing this review right now!