Gr 1-4-This account of survival of childhood cancer is told in the voice of nine-year-old Andrew Bridge. When he was three, he was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy followed, and today he is cancer-free. Andrew is honest about the inconvenience and discomfort involved in treatment, but he doesn't dwell on them. He is also honest about the conflicting emotions he experienced. Photographs of the child taken during his hospital stays accompany the text. Some are quite small. In fact, the overall design is disappointing in several ways, notably the drawing of a mournful face of a puppy that appears on many pages throughout the book. Melanie Gordon's Let's Talk about When Kids Have Cancer (Rosen, 1999) is a more straightforward approach to the topic. Despite its visual flaws, Andrew's Story will be reassuring to children who have cancer themselves or who have friends with the disease.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Written in first person as though nine-year-old Andrew Bridge is talking to readers, this book recalls the boy's diagnosis of and treatment for cancer when he was three. Color photographs taken by Andrew and his parents help document the phases of Andrew's recovery from a childhood cancer that required surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Andrew's brief, honest recollections of high-tech diagnostic tests, losing his hair, and missing preschool are balanced by accounts of fun outings he enjoyed on days he felt well. An important aspect of the book, which is also mentioned in an author's note for parents, is the discussion of the anger and confusion Andrew felt about invasive treatments that were supposed to help him when, in fact, they "felt like they were hurting." Written to encourage and inform young cancer patients, this readable book will also sensitize patients' healthy friends and family members to the issues surrounding the illness. Ellen Mandel
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