Paraphrase of editorial reviews on Amazon.com:
Alice is an 11-year-old girl whose hunger strike is taking her precariously towards death. When her parents divorced Alice went to live with her father. However she's now been hospitalized for bronchitis as a result of his neglect. In spite of this, she has intentionally stopped eating in order to avoid being released from the hospital into the custody of her alcoholic mother and hateful stepfather.
Alice's roommate, Rex, also 11 years old, is a terminal cancer patient. The irony of Alice's choice - death over a difficult life - is bitterly amusing to Rex in contrast to his own situation. The story is saved from pathos by the exchanges of humor among the two kids and a wiseacre nurse, as they spar to see who can put up the coolest front. But when Rex is taken to the intensive care unit for his last hours, he finally drops his pose of sophisticated detachment to convince Alice that "dying sucks" - an admission that helps her make the choice that Rex has been denied.
Recommended for ages 11 and up.
Alice is an 11-year-old girl whose hunger strike is taking her precariously towards death. When her parents divorced Alice went to live with her father. However she's now been hospitalized for bronchitis as a result of his neglect. In spite of this, she has intentionally stopped eating in order to avoid being released from the hospital into the custody of her alcoholic mother and hateful stepfather.
Alice's roommate, Rex, also 11 years old, is a terminal cancer patient. The irony of Alice's choice - death over a difficult life - is bitterly amusing to Rex in contrast to his own situation. The story is saved from pathos by the exchanges of humor among the two kids and a wiseacre nurse, as they spar to see who can put up the coolest front. But when Rex is taken to the intensive care unit for his last hours, he finally drops his pose of sophisticated detachment to convince Alice that "dying sucks" - an admission that helps her make the choice that Rex has been denied.
Recommended for ages 11 and up.
