Abby Sher

Did you know that almost three million children and adolescents have a parent who has or had cancer? Knowing that there are so many people who have to suffer from this just makes you want to know how they deal with it.

This book is about a young girl who does not have her parents in her life. The conflict is her mother is always working and cannot always be there. Her dad is suffering from terminal cancer. She only has her good friend, Julian who is always there for her.

This book gives you the perspective of what life would be like with little to no parenting, self-harm, and love for someone who does not love you back. The only time that there is parenting is when her mother comes home from work. Along with this, when she gets angry and sad, she finds a safe spot. Then she will begin pounding on her head until she gets to the number five hundred. This is because she is angry and embarrassed at herself and others.

The book is emotional, and for some people, it might be relatable, because the main character and other characters share their feelings on dealing with life’s situations. For example, Eleanor goes to her dad’s doctor, Dr. Ganesh, to talk about her feelings. Since he is a doctor, he cannot listen and tell her personal information. Over time, she gains feelings for the doctor and tries to kiss him at the end of the book. She is going through this rough time with losing her dad and her best friend. I won’t say what happens with both of them but she needed them at this time.

I think the theme of this book is that if you need help with self-harm and feeling abandoned, you should get help. Before you do something that you might regret. Because in this life in the book, there is little help for a young girl who is struggling in life. There is her mother who comes in at the end of the novel along with her sister. Her sister is in college and just left her family behind. Eleanor’s mother took off time from her work when she learned what was happening to her husband. In reality, a young girl would do something like self-harm to get somebody’s attention.

I recommend this book because it has a nice but sad turn in the book towards the end. Although some parts may be sad, family is an important part of the theme because it highlights the importance of having someone. So, if you want to read a book about how to deal with stress, anxiety, and the death of a loved one, this would be a good book for you to read.… (meer)