Dangerous Pie

Happy almost noon everybody! How has your week been?

Mine’s going to be and has been crazy busy with all of the stuff going on. But I’ve had a chance the last few nights to read After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, and I’m really glad I did.

Even though I didn’t know this when I started reading the book, this novel is a sequel/companion novel to another novel by Jordan called Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie concerned Steven Alper, an eighth grader whose younger brother, Jeffrey, is struggling through cancer. This book deals with Jeffrey Alper when he gets to eighth grade. I probably wouldn’t have gotten the connection other then Jeffrey’s email address involving dangerous pie, and the title of the first book involving dangerous pie. I’m going to have to add that book to my reading list because this one was amazing, and it would be cool to see how the story began.

After surviving cancer, and it not returning for five years, Jeffrey is pretty much in the clear for the whole cancer thing. But, that doesn’t mean things are easy. People still treat him differently because he had cancer, his brother decides to go off the deep end and beat some drums in Africa to “find himself,” and there is this really hot girl that Jeffrey has a huge crush on. That isn’t to mention the statewide math test that Jeffrey has to pass in order to graduate. That wouldn’t be a big deal if Jeffrey was normal. But, chemotherapy does funky things to cancer survivors sometimes, and Jeffrey is no exception. His brain has a very difficult time with math, so Jeffrey is pretty well convinced that he won’t graduate with the rest of his class. That is until Tad, his best friend who is also a cancer survivor, comes up with a plan to make sure he gets to walk across the stage.

Although this book deals with the heart-wrenching topic of cancer, it is heart-warming and hilarious. The very down-to-earth, realistic friendship of Jeffrey and Tad is very funny, and Jeffrey has a great outlook on some tough situations. Just like Jeffrey learns, the book reminds us to never take a day for granted and to move on even through hard times.