Welcome to the comments and discussion of the Young Adult Cancer Book Club! We are reading Brave Enough by Kati Gardner!  Catch up on Chapter 1 and Chapters 2-5.
Week 3: Chapters 6-8
Commentary by Aerial D.:
We dive right into the middle of Cason’s first chemo round. Her child life specialist, Heather, is introduced and is communicating to Cason and her mom, Natalie, about the different programs that Cason is eligible for. Natalie is uninterested, if not borderline offended that Heather would assume any of this applies to the two of them. I think this probably coming from a place of denial. I can only imagine how hard it is for Natalie to accept that her daughter’s dance trajectory will not come to fruition. However, this is not helping Cason at all, and luckily Heather is pretty receptive to this and is able to come back and have a more productive conversation while Natalie is grabbing lunch.
As we get to know Davis more, we learn how much of a battle with narcotics he still has. Every day takes considerable willpower to not use. Volunteering at the hospital seems to be helpful and he enjoys helping take care of Cason. Unfortunately, he runs into a dealer, Ethan, on the way out of NA and has quite a kerfuffle. We later learn he ends up in the ER.
When we pivot back to Cason, she starts losing her hair and almost in the same breath, we learn that she also made it into the Studio Company. This turns into a particularly low point for her. Having cancer is finally starting to set in, as the chemo is making her more sick, her physical appearance is quickly changing, and now a goal that she had been working on for a long time is finally in her grasp but she is unable to reap the rewards of achieving it. This, in a nutshell, I feel like perfectly sums up several young adult cancer survivors’ lives. Cancer never comes at a convenient time and definitely completely derails whatever goals are trying to be achieved at the time of diagnosis.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Cason accepts and handles what her diagnosis and treatment plan throw at her, and how she is able to adapt!
Join in next Monday for the comments and discussion on chapters 9-11!
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We will talk about a few chapters each Monday until the book is done. If Monday happens to be a holiday, then the post will publish on Tuesday. Once we finish the book, we’ll use one more Monday to talk about general feelings from the book and anything else you’d like to discuss. We’ll also have a video chat book club discussion at the end! Join in, in the comments every week! Also, there will probably be spoilers so read along with us! Excited about the young adult cancer book club? Have any suggestions for future reads? Let us know!
