We all know a child who has suffered from some form of cancer. If we don’t know the child personally, we encounter them through their support system volunteers. Kacey was my husband’s cousin. Unfortunately, cancer claimed her on the morning of her 18th birthday. It devastated our family. The second I did not know when she fought her battle, but Gracie is one of the lucky ones. She is in remission and lives a normal life.

The facts are sobering. How can the government continue to underfund pediatric cancer research? How can only 6 new drugs be developed to treat children? Missing from these facts is how many of these children could have survived childhood cancer with early intervention. 4.6% of children have no medical coverage. It feels like we could be doing better for our children.

Two YA novels on this topic:

John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel meets Augustus at a Cancer Kid Support Group. He is in remission; she is considered terminal. They fall in love with each other and learn to live life as one should — unapologetic.

Chris Crutcher’s Deadline

18 year old Ben Wolf had big plans, but they are suddenly derailed by a cancer diagnosis. He decides to refuse treatments and keep his diagnosis a secret. This decision leaves him with just one year to make his mark on the world.