"Too Young to Die" by Lurlene McDaniel

In the book, Too Young to Die by Lurlene McDaniel it tells of a sixteen year old girl named Melissa Austin who receives devastating news about her health. It is her junior year in high school and lots of good things are happening. She has focused on her grades and has been asked to be on Brain Bowl which is an academic team at her school. She is very excited because it has been her dream to get a National Merit Scholarship and become a lawyer. Her best friend, Jory Delaney, also hooks her up with the guy of her dreams, a senior at her high school named Brad Kessing. Melissa and Jory are determined to have the best junior year ever!

Little things start happening to Melissa, but she brushes them off like it’s no big deal. One of the first things she notices is the bruises on her legs but she doesn’t really think anything of them until an administrator at her school calls her to the front office. Teachers at her school were scared the bruises were from being abused from somebody at home. Melissa goes to the doctor and they tell her she will have to spend several days at the hospital to run some tests. Melissa is very scared because everything in her life has been going so well and now all of these medical problems are interfering right at the wrong time. They run some tests and discover that Melissa has lymphocytic leukemia. Melissa is devastated because she feels like all that she has worked for won’t even matter anymore.

Melissa has to go through many treatments and rounds of chemo therapy to help fight off her disease. She overcomes many obstacles like fighting through the sickness of treatment and emotional pain like losing her hair. Melissa’s family and friends devote lots of their time and effort to help Melissa through the hard times. Melissa also meets other kids at the hospital that help her see through the worst parts of her sickness. She meets a guy named Ric at the hospital who also had cancer. He helps Melissa through the rough times and makes her feel like a normal teenager again. Ric and Melissa always said that the reason they were so close and so much alike is because they both had suffered through the cancer. Melissa also meets a four year old girl named Rachael at the hospital. Rachael also had leukemia. Melissa and Rachel always said that they were sisters at heart because they shared the same feelings and knew how each other felt through all the ups and downs of being sick with leukemia.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very sad, but McDaniel really shows how somebody might feel when going through hard times like the ones Melissa experienced. I think that this novel can teach people how those who have experienced or might be experiencing cancer would feel. It not only tells a story but teaches about leukemia and the grief and pain it brings. Melissa is strong though and fights through it and makes it into remission. I think this book could give encouragement to someone who might have cancer, and show them that it is possible to fight through the battle.