Scarlet wants to be a normal high school student. Her health
problems have prevented anything but a normal life. Finally, her dad and
stepmother have given her a chance to attend a week of high school at Smithfield
High School where her mother works as the nurse- Nurse Killiam.
Each chapter in this book records her struggle for each day
of that week.
Scarlet is suffering from a terminal disease called Long QT
which affects her ability to breathe and makes her heart race. “I am very aware
that I ‘m taking my life in my hands by coming to school. Being normal might
just kill me.”
Scarlet clearly has led such a sheltered life that she is
unprepared for the taunting and bullying which immediately becomes apparent.
Scarlet doesn’t know whom to trust, but when Jordan, Celina
and Nessa rise to her defense in the cafeteria, raising the ire of the jocks,
Scarlet feels this might not have been the best idea.
Scarlet’s biology teacher, Ms. Blakely, assigns a project to
track a medical family history and identify any possible genetic traits and
then analyze them. A classmate, Anthony Carrera, asks to be Scarlet’s partner.
Anthony’s (Tony’s) interest in Scarlet’s disease might just
save her life!
This story was compelling! The author C.J. Lyons is a former
pediatric emergency room doctor so the medical explanations are spot on. As a
reader, you are routing for Scarlet- hoping against hope that she can finally
feel like a normal girl.
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