How lovely to read a book about cancer with a happy ending!

This short beautifully illustrated book about a teenage girl who has leukemia. It makes you experience all the ups and downs of someone suffering with cancer at such a young age and made me thankful for my own healthy children.

It was a refreshing change to read from the perspective of someone who has cancer and thinks they are going to die, as of course many do, but with so much hope and trust in the Doctors and nursing teams to cure her.

Heartbreaking and heartfelt. This book is sure to win over anyone's heart. I would definitely highly recommend this author.

The title of the book prepares you for the story before you even open the pages of this relatively short graphic novel. The images themselves are dull, mainly shades of gray and black with some reds thrown in intermittently. As the book opens, the 15 year old main character is walking down the hall to her oncologist’s office to hear the latest status and recalls the array of emotions that she has gone through over the past few years. There is the institutional smell of hospitals, the way people look at you when you have cancer, knowing that everyone feels sorry for you. She remembers her roommate who died. And she remembers what it was like to finally fall in love.

I won’t say that this book is an easy read, though it can easily be read in one sitting. Desjardins definitely honored the young girl looking for a book about cancer with a happy ending, but didn’t gloss over the fact that cancer is a very hard road. It impacts not only the patient, but everyone around them. Cancer is a very complicated disease. Treatments sometimes work and sometimes don’t. There is always a feeling of dread when going to the oncologist.

Fortunately, as the book winds down, we know that she is walking toward a happy ending. Artistically, Marianne Ferrer did a great job of expressing the girl’s emotions through color while still in very muted tones. As the girl, we never know her name, tells her boyfriend, who is colored in, that she is cured, she literally sheds her skin of cancer and is full of color herself.

Not a book for everyone, but a great way for young adults to understand what someone going through cancer might be feeling.

This was such a cute read. I think this would be well suited to young cancer patients to give them some hope that they to can have a happy ending.

This book was a lot more light-hearted than I thought it would be. I know the title tells you that it has a happy ending, but it seemed to just gloss over something that could have a lot of depth to it. I did like that the reader is giving an inside look as to what is going on in the head of a cancer patient when they are headed to the doctor for news, I would have just liked for there to be more.

It felt like I was just reading the end of the story and there was a lot that had happened before that would have helped me connect with the characters more. Basically, I just wanted more.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: India Desjardins
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group - Lincoln Children's Books
Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date: 29 Jan 2019

A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending) is a short YA story by India Desjardians, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer, and translated from the original French by Solange Duellet. The 96-page book follows an unnamed 15-year-old as she makes her way through the hospital on the way to find out how much time she has left to live. As she walks, she reminisces about the previous five years since her leukemia diagnosis.

The girl thinks about her treatment, the way others treat her because of it, and the guilt she feels toward her sister for taking up so much of their parents’ time. But the things that really resonated with me, were the mundane things, how she’ll never know how a TV show ends and how she’ll miss the taste of cookies and her grandpa’s lasagne. These are the things that made the book feel tragically real and emotionally raw. I read the whole book in one sitting but had to take far longer to decompress afterward than it took to read.

What makes A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending) particularly remarkable is how immediately you connect to the main character and the small cast of supporting figures. There’s Annie, the nurse who tries to provide happiness and a kindly ear, Maxine – the best friend of our protagonist who has also been struggling with leukemia treatments of her own, Victor the boyfriend, and the protagonist’s family, mum, dad, and sister. Even though they are only ever on the periphery of the story and are given almost no background at all, they feel intensely present.

While this story is told in the first person from the perspective of the teenage girl at its heart, we catch glimpses into how the diagnosis and treatment have affected everyone else’s lives too. I was particularly affected by a scene between the protagonist and her mother when the mother finally came to understand why her daughter didn’t like being told how strong she was. Another moment that touched me showed the girl coming to understand why her father insisted on cracking jokes all the time. It took me a long time to turn the pages after reading these pages.

I’ll admit that the artwork in this book wasn’t really my style, however, I felt it worked well for the story and there were moments where it really spoke to me. As the girl and her parents wait to hear her prognosis on a sterile, plastic, hospital bench, they seem to shrink away into their own personal darkness on the page in front of you. It is profound, and moving, and all too familiar for anyone who has waited on similar phone calls.

Despite its happy ending, A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending) is not the easiest book to read yet I believe it will bring hope to some people going through similar events, and understanding to those who, fortunately for them, have never had these experiences. For those reasons, I would recommend A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending) to anyone who knows someone dealing with a life-threatening diagnosis.

GeekMom received this item for review purposes.

Wow. It is amazing how much can be effectively communicated through a limited number of perfectly concise words paired with poignant illustrations. Cancer is such a heavy topic and the author handles it in such a captivating and honest way. And the illustrations are just phenomenal.

The young girl (we’re never given a name) has been battling leukemia for 5 years and is about to find out if she’s going to live or die. Either way, the battle is over, only the outcome remains to be known. The book opens with her and her parents entering the hospital, and her thinking over the years she’s spent there. How the hospital smells, how the color schemes are always bleh, and how her best friend and long-time hospital roommate Maxine lost her battle the previous year. She talks about how it has affected her family, her childhood, the things that people say to her that drive her crazy, and how they look at her like she’s dying. It’s all very realistic and genuine without being particularly emotive.

The illustrations…I just can’t say enough about how suited they are to the subject matter, how the images were so in sync with the words they were connected to, and in fact, sometimes communicated even more effectively than what was written. At the very end, when she reveals the outcome to her boyfriend Victor, is an illustration that took my breath away. It really said everything that needed to be said in that moment.

Long story short: Not a fun read to be sure (though I’d expect the word “cancer” being in the title hinted at that), but definitely an exceptional one.

This was a touching picture book, depicting a young person's fight, and triumph, against cancer. Told from the point of view of a young cancer patient, you are taken inside the mind of the sufferer and hear the thoughts she goes through. She reflects on the things she will miss if she loses the battle, and the people she doesn't want to burden with her illness. She also tells of how she understands that people need to say or do something, but their actions and words are not always the most helpful.

The colours used in the simple illustrations reflect the emotions of the narrator as she tells of her journey with few words.

Many thanks to the publishers from whom I received an eARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this arc from Netgalley for an honest review. This graphic novel is told by a young girl and her diagnosis of cancer at the age of 15. It’s touching, raw, emotional and open. Truly beautiful.

I loved this book. It was so good. Don't have anything to describe. But everything felt real. Could get in easily. The writing was good of course.

It took me a while to figure out how to actually read this, because I wasn't used to the format - but I'm really glad that I did, because it was definitely worth it.

Even though you're told from the beginning that this book has a happy ending, that doesn't stop it from dealing with anything real, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

Also, 10/10 for illustrations!! They were just done so well!

Netgalley, and the publishers have kindly sent me this arc when I requested one. Here is my honest review. This story was just incredible. It gave this insight into what happens after the treatment. I am in love, and my heart hurts at the same time. All involved just invoked so much emotion throughout it all. This is definitely won't be something I can read all the time. Just maybe sentimentally. This is about a young girl who has cancer, is treated, and then, replays it all while she is in the doctor's office awaiting the news if the treatment worked.  If you have ever had loved ones who have had cancer, or you yourself have, this is just unbelievably relatable.

As a cancer patient, I was definitely interested in this book and just what the supposed happy ending would be. I will say, I was skeptical at first because it's hard to imagine a happy ending when it comes to cancer. But I was pleasantly surprised and the ending made me super emotional! Hearing the big R word is a huge deal when you're going through something like this and I was so happy to see that this was the happy ending. It reminded me of when I got the call and was told I was in remission and it just brought back so many feelings and emotions that I had when I found out. I loved the artwork and the story was easy to follow and, of course, had a wonderful happy ending that made the story so much better! This was a great story that I would highly recommend to anyone, whether they're a cancer patient, know someone going through cancer, or just want to read a quick story that gives a bit of insight into the life of a cancer patient.

This comic was a refreshing and hopeful book about a 15 year old girl who suffers from Leukaemia.

There isn't much that happens in the story, but it was a sweet read all the same. I didn't much enjoy the artwork, but some of the drawings were pretty enough.

I finished the book in 20 minutes tops, and it was an easy, fun read.

In this book, we meet a fifteen year old teen girl who has been fighting leukaemia since she was just ten years old. She lost her friend to leukaemia and we see how she feels about feeling a burden on her family and feels they'd be better off without her.



The images are full of mixed emotions with dark sad images for her hopelessness she feels and warmth with colourful happy memories about her life.



Victor is her other friend, nothing to do with cancer but her school, she falls in love with him and we see how they grow together despite the cancer between them that could be a ticking time bomb.



It was sweet and moving with little words, the story comes across well in pictures and is sure to tug on your emotions as we can imagine being the main character as she faces her future and appreciates her past.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Throughout my life I have watched a lot of my family and friends go through cancer, with a variety of outcomes. While I have read adult books that deal with the subject well I have never read a picture book for kids and teens (as well as their parents).

I felt like this book dealt with the subject well and felt very realistic especially for a teenager and the many feelings that they are going through with cancer but also with their regular teenage life which is going on outside of the hospital.

The illustrations were beautiful and haunting and I found myself getting lost in them.

Overall this is a really interesting story and a good insight into a young person dealing with cancer.

'A Story About Cancer With a Happy Ending' by India Desjardins with illustrations by Marianne Ferrer and translation by Solange Ouellet is about that seeming rare event in a cancer diagnosis.

Starting with the bright, bland halls of a hospital, we meet our narrator, who was diagnosed with leukemia 5 years ago. She is back to find out what the doctors have to say about how she is doing. She reflects on the journey: the friends she has met and lost, how she hates being told to be strong, and Victor, the young man that means so much to her now.

The title is a bit of a spoiler, but it really doesn't ruin the beautiful story. The color palette is deliberate, and I didn't get why until the end. Then I went back through the book to see where it was used. I think this would be good book to give certain young cancer patients. I really liked this one.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - Lincoln Children's Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

This book was such a beautifully written and illustrated book. It’s so nice to see a book about cancer that actually has a happy ending, but still makes you want to cry. I was a very short, sweet read that I couldn’t put down. I can’t imagine being part of this family or any dealing with this kind of life. I loved that there was a bit of romance thrown in and so much family love that my heart just swelled.

It was very easy to find yourself in the story, to feel as if you are almost a part of it. At times our main character was very forthcoming about what she and her family and loved ones were dealing with. My eyes swelled with tears so many times throughout this 50-ish page story.

Overall if you want a slight peek into this sorts of life this is a great one! It flows and the illustrations bring so much to the whole story.

A Story about Cancer was a beautiful book and is highly recommend, I loved the cover, lovely pictures.

4.5 Stars

This was utterly GORGEOUS.
I went into this book thinking it was a full-blown novel because Netgalley put it in the Teens and YA category. It wasn’t exaaaaactly YA, because it was basically a picture book. But for teens!
That made me wary in the beginning because what picture books exist for teens? I quickly realised that this was a good thing though, even if it has rarely been done before.
The story was BEAUTIFUL, the art, BEAUTIFUL and the colours, BEAUTIFUL. It was a whole lot of beauty packed into a small book.
This is the kind of book I’d want to keep on my shelf to say the least.
Would recommend over and over and over again.