This Is the Child: A Father's Story of His Young Son's Battle with Leukemia [Paperback]

Terry Pringle (Author), Robert Coles (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1992

From the original publisher, Alfred A. Knopf...

In this extraordinary chronicle, Terry Pringle, telling of his four-year-old son's battle with leukemia, so fully captures this "ordinary" child's achievement of amazing courage and grace that his book transcends its burden of pain to fill us with wonder and pride at the gallantry of which the human spirit is capable.

From reviews...

"Pringle has balanced his account perfectly. He employs neither sympathy-card sentimentality nor gruesome close-up." --Time Magazine

"A profoundly stirring book, This Is the Child is one of the finer contributions to inspirational literature." --Dallas Morning News

"With this book Pringle has clearly found his professional calling. We'll hear from him again. But life will never serve the writer with a more heartfelt story." --Texas Monthly

"This Is the Child is a story of victory of courage over fear, peace over turmoil, spirit over flesh." --New York Times Book Review

"The reader experiences a wonderful feeling of elation at the indomitability of the human spirit." --Fort Worth Star-Telegram

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A father's chronicle of the harrowing disintegration of his six-year-old son, a leukemia victim, becomes a testimonial to the power of the family's faith.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Southern Methodist University Press; 1st Southern Methodist University Press Ed edition (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870743325
• ISBN-13: 978-0870743320
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the tissues ready!!, July 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: This Is the Child: A Father's Story of His Young Son's Battle with Leukemia (Paperback)

I read this book in 1 day because I could not put it down! From the 1st sentence, the author captivated me and made me feel part of his family through the end. The story is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time. It is extremely well-written and shows the family with all of their flaws as well as their great strengths. I could not stop crying while reading this book and recommend it as long as you are prepared to leave a piece of your heart with the author and his family.

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest Memoir of Childhood Leukemia, September 29, 2011

By 

M. Nelson (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Is the Child: A Father's Story of His Young Son's Battle with Leukemia (Hardcover)

When my daughter was undergoing treatment for childhood leukemia in the late 1980s, I first read Terry Pringle's account, This is the Child, about his family's ordeal. Recently, I re-read the memoir in its Kindle format, and it portrayed the same poignant reality during my second reading, more than 20 years later. Pringle's first-person present-tense, detailed account brings suspense to everyday life with young children, as a family must undergo the distressing aspects of leukemia treatment and that treatment's uncertain outcomes. I have read numerous memoirs by people who have suffered through medical trials with their families. There is a temptation to whitewash the facts, to focus only on the distress, or to repeat far too many cliches and platitudes. Pringle's book suffers from none of these faults. Rather, Pringle presents the horror of diagnosis, the optimism of early treatment, the periodic returns to ordinary life, and the devastation of cancer's return, detailing his observations and reactions as well as those of his afflicted child, Eric. He also approaches the difficult dynamics of sibling rivalry, when the well child has to stand aside for the pressing needs of the sick one, as well as a parent's inevitable occasional impatience with the situation when the well child calculates his grievances and presents them unabashedly, seemingly oblivious to the drama being played out in his sibling's life. If you are looking for an honest account of what life is like living in a family that must deal with childhood leukemia, read this book. I have lived all of this myself, and Pringle represents it faithfully.

5.0 out of 5 stars Real life, February 10, 2011

By 

Amy - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is the Child: A Father's Story of His Young Son's Battle with Leukemia (Paperback)

Cruel? Michael as a villain? This is not a novel neatly packaged to make everyone feel good at the end. This is REAL life! These are the feelings and these are the moments a father endures when his son is dying. I sooooo appreciated the level of honesty. There is no such thing as a perfect parent and I assume in times of great sorrow and great loss, we are all less than perfect. The angst and frustration are so clearly drawn for us here and I have no doubt that any parent who's lost a child will greatly welcome a little more truth and a little less fakery. Nothing more I could possibly say except "Thank you". Thank you Mr. Pringle for sharing your heart and letting others in this situation know that they are not alone.
My copy of this book sits in a hospice library and I know it has brought much comfort and a strange sense of camraderie at a time when one must feel so very alone.
-A