A tribute to the courage of children who face cancer

Bluish by Virginia Hamilton {Blue Sky Press) $5.99 and now available as an e-book.

We know someone who has survived cancer and we probably know at least one person who has died of the disease. The power of this illness to ravage a child, even as her illness and side effects of treatment scare her classmates is faced brilliantly in Virginia Hamilton’s middle grade novel of the same name.  This powerful story has been resurrected as an e-book with a short bio and images of Virginia Hamilton included in an epilogue. Virginia Hamilton, a major literary figure, documented the struggle a young girl faces as she simultaneously asserts her independence and yearns for guidance. The novel traces the ways Natalie shows courage in her battle to survive her disease as she works to be included as a healthy child and treated like her classmates. But in this classic tale of friendship we see how difficult relationships can be. Natalie, so different from the other girls in Dreenie’s fifth-grade class, comes to school in a wheelchair and always wearing a knitted hat. The kids call her “Bluish” because her skin is tinted blue from chemotherapy. Dreenie is fascinated by Bluish — and a little scared of her, too. She watches Bluish and writes her observations in her journal. Slowly, the two girls become good friends. But Dreenie still struggles with with Bluish’s illness. Bluish is weak and frail, but she also wants to be independent and respected. How do you act around a girl like that?

This tribute to the courage of children—those who face cancer as victim or friend—resonates with the need for friendship. As Hamilton’s website says, “Woven into her books is a deep concern with memory, tradition, and generational legacy, especially as they helped define the lives of African Americans. Virginia described her work as ‘Liberation Literature.’” This particular novel will continue to liberate readers striving to understand what it’s like to live fully even in the face of illness and possible death.