Jeffrey Alper discovers what it means to be a cancer survivor. For him, it means physical alterations and lapses in cognitive functioning. It means being aware of how people interact with him as “the boy who survived cancer.” This sensitively told and insightful story reveals what happens when Jeffrey’s cancer is in remission and he is left wondering whether, or when, the cancer will return.

I loved this book and the story it tells of a young teen boy who is currently in remission after battling cancer, but it suffering from results of his sickness. The disabilities and challenges he is left with leaves him fragile and lost, giving him the opportunity to truly find himself and battle personal life problems going on around him. The battle didn't stop once he became clean of cancer, but making the transition back into school is what made it more difficult for him. He took this opportunity to grow within himself and conquer his problems. This is a touching book about friendship and the every day challenges of a teen with or without having battled cancer. ( )

Late effects- I never thought about them before. We have a teacher in our town who has been fighting her battle with cancer for the last two years. We are all focused on fundraising, getting her well and into remission, but we don't think about the after, when she may lose her career and not have control of her body again. All those poisons may help her turn a corner, but they may also devastate her golden years. As a follow-up to Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, Sonnenblick tells the other part of the story, what happens to people after they "make it." The long-term effects on family, friends and finances still lurk in the future...
Moving on with a life that was once ruled by cancer can be as uplifting and as heartbreaking as the progression of the disease itself. ( )

I absolutely love how Sonnenblick built a community, and then wrote several books about different characters. That strategy provides the reader with the comfort of a series, but the freshness of stand-alone novels. The back-story explanations in this one were just a titch awkward, and the author clearly had a message to convey which gave this book a whiff of didactism, but I still enjoyed it a lot and predict all his fans will too. ( )