Better Off Bald by Andrea Wilson Woods

BOOK INFORMATION

Genre: Biography/memoir

Paperback: 392 pages

• Publisher: Build Your BLISSS (September 23, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1544504594
• ISBN-13: 978-1544504599

Synopsis: Adrienne Wilson is a depressed, suicidal teenager—until the day she receives a diagnosis of stage IV liver cancer. Facing the fight of her life, Adrienne discovered just how much she wants to live. In Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, Andrea Wilson Woods chronicles her sister's remarkable life, from the time she was born to the day she dies at age fifteen. Written like a journal, Andrea takes the reader inside her and Adrienne's journey explaining how she gained custody of Adrienne from their mother and how the sisters' relationship evolved over time. Adrienne's courageous spirit shines through as she squeezes more life into 147 days than most people do in a lifetime. From meeting Jay Leno to spending the day with Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Adrienne makes every moment count. As she lay dying, Adrienne teaches Andrea how to live.

Review:  This is an amazing memoir about two amazing young women. They are sisters, but the older is acting as the parent to the younger. When Adrienne is diagnosed with cancer, both of their lives change in an instant.
While you may expect this to be a sad story (and it does have its moments), there is a lot of happiness and positivity in the pages of this book. Even in the final days of Adrienne's life, she is an inspiration to everyone around her.
The book is very honestly written and gives great insight into the lives of both sisters and the emotions they were feeling as they took this final journey together.

Rating: Five stars

About the author

ANDREA WILSON WOODS is a writer who loves to tell stories, and a patient advocate who founded the nonprofit Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association. Andrea is the CEO and co-founder of Cancer University, a for-profit, social-benefit, digital health company. With Cancer U, Andrea synergizes her talents of coaching, writing, teaching, and advocacy. For over ten years, Andrea worked in the education field as a teacher and professor for public and private schools as well as universities. Andrea obtained her master’s degree in professional writing from the University of Southern California; her nonfiction writing has won national awards.

GUEST POST AND REVIEW: Jessica Verdi, Author of What You Left Behind

Synopsis: It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

My review: I was fascinated by the idea of a YA novel written from the male point of view, especially by a female author. Jessica does a fantastic job of getting into the mind of a teenaged boy. Ryden has so much going on in his life--mourning his girlfriend, raising his daughter, holding down a job, going to school, being on the soccer team--and we get insight into his thoughts on all of it.

Sometimes I felt sorry for him, and other times I just wanted to shake him...much like how I feel about most ACTUAL teenagers. The entire cast of characters in this book are realistically written and very believable. Ryden's mother is always there to support him, but she also makes him be responsible for his daughter as much as possible. His friends are unsure how to react to him, with the exception of Meg's sister and Meg's best friend, both of whom are straightforward with him, good or bad. 

There are a lot of ups and downs to this story, but the ending was very satisfying. I'd love to read a sequel, several years in the future, to see how things are going, not just for Ryden and Hope, but for the other characters as well.

My rating: Four stars

GUEST POST FROM JESSICA VERDI

My question: How different was it to write this novel from the point of view of the opposite sex?

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Teresa, and for your great question! What You Left Behind is my first book from the POV of a boy. I absolutely fell in love with Ryden as I was writing, and I felt like I really knew him. In so many ways, it was easier to write from his POV than from the POV of a female narrator as I did in my first two books. I think, because he's a boy and I'm not, I may have subconsciously felt more freedom to just take his character wherever it needed to go, because, since we were already so different, there was no element of "me" clinging to him. No "Well, I would or wouldn't do that," etc. So it became more of an “anything’s possible” process, which was really fun.

I'm glad to have written a book from the POV of a boy because there are plenty of boy readers out there who need to see themselves represented in literature, and as something more than just the love interest of the female main character. (Not that there’s anything wrong with a good, juicy romance!) There just seems to be a shortage of male narrators in YA lately, and that may or may not be related to the fallacy that “boys don’t read.” Boys absolutely read, and they need to see themselves on the page just as much as the rest of us do. I love that there’s a boy (and only a boy) on the cover of the book, and I'm hopeful boy readers will pick it up and find Ryden interesting and identifiable.

About the author

Jessica Verdi lives in Brooklyn, NY, and received her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She loves seltzer, Tabasco sauce, TV, vegetarian soup, flip-flops, and her dog. Visit her at jessicaverdi.com and follow her on Twitter @jessverdi.

FREE BOOK: Damaged by Avelyn Page

DAMAGED IS FREE!!

#CancerSucks #KickAssTakeNames #Damaged #NotBroken

Evie Carter has faced trials and tribulations her entire life. Her teenage years have been ripped away from her as she battles cancer. Just when things can’t get any worse, her doctor delivers the news that it’s finally time to make a life or death decision. Her options are limited and come with deadly consequences. The miracle drug that is meant to save her life changes her on a cellular level. She might not be damaged anymore, but she might just be damned in her new life.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542005

“I’m so sorry—” begins Dr. Lu“—but, Evie isn’t going to survive her treatment. Her body is beginning to shut down.  She was just too weak to make it through the procedure. I thought she would be strong enough after her pre-trial exam, but even I could not predict her reaction to the procedure. I fear that in just a few short hours her brain activity will cease and her blood pressure will rapidly begin to drop. We’ve made her comfortable so you can say your goodbyes, but barring a miracle or an act of God, Evie is gone.” Heavy sobs fill the room as my family breaks down at the news.

Gone? How in the fuck am I gone? I’m right here! I want to scream at Dr. Lu for scaring my parents like this. I just need to get more of these drugs out of my system so I can show them that I am still here. I feel fine! I feel better than I have in months and she’s telling my family I’m dying? I don’t understand!!  I AM RIGHT HERE! 

Avelyn Paige is a born and raised Indiana girl. She may be a Hoosier by birth, but she’s a Boilermaker by choice! Avelyn lives in rural Indiana with her pastor husband, 2 spoiled cats, and one very odd looking dog.  She’s an oncology research scientist by day and a writer and book review blogger by night. She enjoys reading anything she can get her hands, baking, and spending time with her friends and family.

Never intending on ever writing her own book, the idea behind the Damaged series came to her on a drive to work early one morning thinking about her father who’d recently passed away. His strength during his cancer and rare blood disease battle inspired Avelyn to do something she’s never thought about before. She’s excited to see where this wild ride takes her. 

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