Sick Boy

by Sean Waller

"Mom, I can't hear out of my right ear."

It's the fall of 1983, and Tim Levine is poised for a breakout year. Entering 8th grade, he is entrenched in the popular crowd. Despite his diminutive size, he's just been invited to try out for the high school baseball team, something almost unheard of for an 8th grader. Two girls have just asked him to the school dance.

Then, within a two-week span, Tim's life changes as he finds himself in the hospital diagnosed with cancer.

With two tubes attached to his body like unwanted appendages and a newly bald head thanks to chemotherapy Tim struggles with the realization that his athletic future and his budding love life may be put on hold. He also has to deal with the fact that his friends are moving on through puberty, on to high school, while he lags behind.

While in the hospital, Tim meets Tess, a leukemia patient with a contagiously positive attitude. This is a blessing for Tim as he struggles to make his unorthodox transition from middle school to high school, as well as his transition from being the popular kid to the sick kid.

Sean Waller, a childhood cancer survivor, has created a moving tale about persevering through unforeseen obstacles. Sean was diagnosed at age 12 with rhabdomyosarcoma. Sick Boy is a fictionally autobiographical account of his year and a half journey from diagnosis to treatment to recovery.

Sean is thankful and grateful to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City for saving his life, and hopes you never have to go there. Except as a volunteer.

116 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Whitney Boatright]

Review coming soon !

[Anna Cioffi]

Loved this book so much!!! The characters were compelling and such a humbling plot. I would totally recommend to anyone adult or child!

[Janice Berliner]

Sick Boy, by Sean Waller, is a poignant and heart-wrenching story about a 12 year old boy diagnosed with cancer, and all that goes along with the combination of tween angst and chronic illness. It is beautifully written and triumphant. Do yourself a favor and read this wonderful story. It should be required reading in middle and high schools, in my opinion.

[Susan]

I was substituting in a middle school science class where the assignment for the day was to continue reading this book. The students also had to fill in a worksheet as they read. I commented that the book looked interesting. The students encouraged me to read it, so I did. I finished it that day and was glad I read it. It is a compelling fictionalized version of the author’s experience with cancer, chemo and radiation, as well as the effects all of this had on his family and friends. There are a lot of life lessons in this tale that these students seemed to appreciate.

[Oceantide74]

Written with humor and compassion. Should be required reading for middle schoolers. Great character development.

[Jason]

beautiful...go read this for sure.