Dessert First

Gr 8 Up—A sweet, sorrowful, and simply divine debut novel that teens will be sinking their teeth into. It is set in the bustling East Bay, which is only a few miles and a BART train ride away from San Francisco. Kat Monroe is a 16-year-old girl whose 12-year-old brother Beep is dying from leukemia. Kat tries to stay positive with humor and angst, but there are times when she just can't take the awful hand that her family has been dealt. Kat and her sister Rachel don't get along at all, but they have one common goal: keep their brother happy while he is still alive. Kat's parents try their best to put on a brave face through all of the difficult treatments that Beep has to endure, including a bone marrow donation from Kat. The teen attempts to stay strong by writing on her cancer blog and updating the Facebook page she made to keep family and friends posted on Beep's progress. Through all of the sadness and pain, Kat has one good friend, Evan, whom she keeps pushing away because she knows he wants to be more than just friends. To cope with her ups and downs, she reaches out to a young man on one of the cancer blogs, Hunter, who is also sick with leukemia. Through deep loss and pain, Kat finally comes to a point of clarity and joy in this wonderful story, which will be a hit with fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Jesse Andrews's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.