But you know me. Just forgetting stuff all the time. So I loved THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and I can't help but compare every sick kid book to that and often find it wanting because it lacks humor. I mean, I will fall in love with a kid and watch them suffer as long as they at least get to be snarky.
Well, Violet is very, very snarky. She is also going blind. She does all the teenage things like hide issues about her health from her mother and her doctors because sometimes kids are stupid. And she is so, so angry. She has cut ties with most of her friends because they don't know how to deal with her and they try to be sympathetic, which is her kryptonite. Then she meets Wyatt and Noor at a hospital picnic and they decide to use their Make-a-Wish wishes together in the weirdest possible way and it is wonderful.
This is another of those importance of community books that I love so and it really helps that it is hilarious. It is also realistically the viewpoint of a kid, but shows nuance with most of the parent interactions. The kid doesn't see nuance, but the reader does. Nicely played, Sumner! I also love that Noor out-snarks Violet. (Wyatt is pretty positive, but he can't eat hot dogs for shit...)
This book has a bit of everything and it all comes together perfectly. It feels a little caper-y in that they are planning the wishes on the sly, but that is really just the structure used to absorb the healthy example of unhealthy kids. Will I nominate this for MTCBA? You bet your sweet bippie I will. Will someone snark that it is middle grade. Of course they will. But whatever, it's a damn near perfect book and I loved it.
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