Bombeck, best known for her thrice weekly columns on all the trials and tribulations of being a suburban mother, wrote this very different book about children living with cancer. She was originally approached by the director of a camp for children with cancer and asked to help write a pamphlet or booklet that would let the campers know they weren’t alone, something that would help the counselors and the children as they dealt with some very real issues.

After writing the first few chapters she asked a group of children to read and critique her work. The campers responded with , “You gotta make it funnier.” And they said she had to add a first chapter titled, “Am I Going To Die?” To her immense credit she DID find humor to relate in the thousands of letters she received from all across the United States and from as far away as New Zealand, from children and their families who were living with this disease, frequently beating the odds, always fighting with courage, grace, dignity and hope.

The book includes many personal stories from the children themselves, and, yes, there are even a few segments that had me chuckling. Like the four-year-old who judges her healthcare givers thus: “These people don’t know what they’re doing. They put blood in me one day, and they take it out another!”
( )

Heartbreaking, but should be read. Kids are smarter and braver than expected when faced with terminal illness. ( )

Stories about Juvenile surviving cancer.

Typical Erma Bombeck. Funny, self deprecating observations on life, with a touch of inspiration. ( )