Name: Defiance
ISBN: 9780312535810

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Tender, Clear-Eyed Reading

A child’s wish for ordinary summer days meets the difficult work of living with illness.

Come here for

A young perspective on illness, secrecy, and wanting life to feel normal
Poetry and an unlikely bond with a farm woman and her cow

Expect

Tenderness alongside hard questions about healing
A sustained story that finds meaning in unexpected company

Book Details

Authors: Valerie Hobbs
Publisher: Square Fish
Published: May 26, 2009
Format: Paperback
Theme: Illness & Injury · Abuse & Healing
Reading lane: Illness & Injury

Affinity

Publisher Categories

Illness & Injury
Friendship

About This Book

Eleven-year-old Toby Steiner wants to do normal things on his vacation. He wants to hike and race his bike down the hill. He wants to learn to fish out on the lake. He doesn't want to return to the children's hospital where his painful cancer treatment finally ended. When Toby starts spending time with Pearl, a spunky old woman who lives on a nearby farm, and Blossom, her broken-down cow, he sees all the more reason to keep the new lump on his side a secret from his parents....

Read full description

Eleven-year-old Toby Steiner wants to do normal things on his vacation. He wants to hike and race his bike down the hill. He wants to learn to fish out on the lake. He doesn't want to return to the children's hospital where his painful cancer treatment finally ended. When Toby starts spending time with Pearl, a spunky old woman who lives on a nearby farm, and Blossom, her broken-down cow, he sees all the more reason to keep the new lump on his side a secret from his parents. From Pearl he discovers the beauty of poetry, and from Blossom he just might uncover the meaning of life.