Sick Boy

by Sean Waller

Tim Levine is on top of the world. The small but popular eight-grader has just been invited to try out for the high school baseball team and two girls have asked him to the school dance. A devastating diagnosis, however, changed his life He has cancer. Instead of following his baseball dreams, he’s entered a nightmare of tubes and chemotherapy. Tess, a leukemia patient with a contagiously positive attitude works wonders for Tim as he faces high school not as someone belonging to the “in” crowd but as a sick kid.Sick Boy, a heart-wrenching story, is a “fictionally autobiographical account” of this extraordinary young man’s year-and-half journey from diagnosis through treatment and on to recovery. It begins when he casually mentions to his mom that he can’t hear out of his right ear. Doctors quickly discover that he has a fast-growing malignant tumor in his upper palate. First chest and stomach tubes are inserted, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. His growing friendship with Tess and a hospital clown brings a new perspective and teaches him the importance of comforting others.Author Sean Waller, a childhood cancer survivor, was diagnosed at age 12 with rhabdomyosarcoma. He credits Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City for saving his life.

134 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Whitney Boatright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review coming soon !

[Anna Cioffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful...go read this for sure.