Author: Kate McGovern
Year Published: 2015
Genre: YA fiction
Pages: 342
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Location (my 2016 Google Reading map): USA (Massachusetts)
FTC Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my school library
Summary (from the back of the book): Seventeen-year-old Rose Levenson has a decision to make: does she want to know how she might die? Because when Rose turns eighteen, she can take the test that tells her if she carries the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease, the degenerative condition that is slowly killing her mother.
With a fifty-fifty shot at inheriting her family's genetic curse, Rose is skeptical about pursuing anything that presumes she'll live to be a healthy adult--including her dream career in ballet and the possibility of falling in love. But when she meets a boy from a similarly flawed genetic pool and gets an audition for a dance scholarship across the country, Rose begins to question her carefully laid rules.
Review: Another good and thoughtful YA book! It has the usual aspects of YA that I like--a little romance, some teen angst, and a great best friend. Of course, there is the issue: Huntington's disease. I didn't know anything about it when I started this book, but now I feel like I have an idea of how it affects not only the person afflicted with the disease, but the people around them, both strangers and family. Learning about Huntington's was done organically in the story, which is the best way.
I am surprised to say this, but I also got caught up in one other aspect of the story: the mom loves trains and in particular train trips. She maps them on a mounted world map and reads about each trip because her dream was to go on them. Now that she is sick that isn't possible so the daughter does one of the train trips and the description of the Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco) sound so wonderful--going over the Rockies and through Donner Pass!
I was completely caught up in this story, wanting to know if her relationship with Caleb works out, what happens to her mom, does Rose find out her test results, etc.
FTC Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my school library
Summary (from the back of the book): Seventeen-year-old Rose Levenson has a decision to make: does she want to know how she might die? Because when Rose turns eighteen, she can take the test that tells her if she carries the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease, the degenerative condition that is slowly killing her mother.
With a fifty-fifty shot at inheriting her family's genetic curse, Rose is skeptical about pursuing anything that presumes she'll live to be a healthy adult--including her dream career in ballet and the possibility of falling in love. But when she meets a boy from a similarly flawed genetic pool and gets an audition for a dance scholarship across the country, Rose begins to question her carefully laid rules.
Review: Another good and thoughtful YA book! It has the usual aspects of YA that I like--a little romance, some teen angst, and a great best friend. Of course, there is the issue: Huntington's disease. I didn't know anything about it when I started this book, but now I feel like I have an idea of how it affects not only the person afflicted with the disease, but the people around them, both strangers and family. Learning about Huntington's was done organically in the story, which is the best way.
I am surprised to say this, but I also got caught up in one other aspect of the story: the mom loves trains and in particular train trips. She maps them on a mounted world map and reads about each trip because her dream was to go on them. Now that she is sick that isn't possible so the daughter does one of the train trips and the description of the Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco) sound so wonderful--going over the Rockies and through Donner Pass!
I was completely caught up in this story, wanting to know if her relationship with Caleb works out, what happens to her mom, does Rose find out her test results, etc.
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