The most recommended books about diseases

This was a touching book about a mixed Korean girl who tries to help her sick grandmother, Halmoni, get better through the power of stories. With a bit of magical realism and Korean folklore brought to life, Lily finds her own voice (so she is no longer what she describes as a “QAG – quiet Asian girl”) and begins to understand her own ancestry. Like Lily, I found a connection to my heritage via stories and folklore.

When this book was released in 2017 I delayed reading it due to its major theme of a teenager dealing with her father’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

I usually avoid books or movies where this is a key element of the story due to my own experience. While I was a mature adult in my late forties and well past my teens when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I know too well the devastating impact of slowly losing a loved one to the disease. I’m glad I finally set aside my reservations and read this book.

Julia Lawrinson has drawn on her own and her daughter’s experience to produce a beautifully crafted and memorable story. It’s raw, honest, and heartbreaking yet never heavy. Before You Forget is also full of warmth, humour, and hope. 

As I said before, I love history, and Puckle’s book gives the reader a great look into the why of our funeral customs. As in: why do we send funeral flowers? (To which Puckle offers the glib answer, “the half sovereign he paid for it save him from the mental exercise of composing a suitable letter of condolence” before offering a serious explanation). Sure, the book was published almost a century ago, but that has no bearing on the contents. It’s an evergreen book and a highly recommended read for serious funereal scholars or those considering a career in funeral service.

When I think about magical books that talk about real-world stuff, my first thought is this incredible retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses that examines (through a magical lens) the toll of parental alcoholism.

Four sisters all have different ways of coping with the dysfunction caused by their mother’s alcoholism, but together they escape into magical worlds through their house’s closets. The youngest sister, Silly, has been left out for a long time, but she makes their magic stronger once her sisters finally let her join them.

The metaphors are so rich here—the escapism, the secrets and shadows hidden in family closets, and the seemingly perfect but oblivious dad—that this story goes beyond fairytale and becomes personal myth. I love it so much. It’s gorgeous.

Jane has grown up as the town outcast, caring for a dying mother who has never shown her any affection. She’s counting the days until she can leave when she meets new girl Sabrina, who pushes her to investigate the mysteries of her mother’s past, including the identity of her unknown father. What Jane discovers upends everything she thought she knew about her life and herself. Sensual, moving, and sometimes grim, I love this book for the way it explores tough questions. What would you do for love? What would you do for need? Who would you betray to survive?

I really fell in love with the themes of conservation, to start with. It reminded me of being back home on the ranch with Grandpa. He taught me that being a good Christian meant taking care of the earth. Ida B’s father had a similar philosophy. I saw myself in Ida B. I used to talk to trees the way she did in the book. Happy to hear that’s a fairly universal experience!

Once Hannigan got me to relate to Ida B., she got me to love her. Even on her worst days. Ida B’s mother, Ida, gets cancer, and Ida B. responds like most kids: She lashes out. They send her to public school, and she’s in a new environment, and she’s frightened, so she gets mean.

Ida B. has a lot of things happen to her that aren’t her fault and things she couldn’t control. She isn’t some… show more.

This sensitive, charming book shows how a child learns about what is going on in her granny’s brain.

It addresses the emotions that a young child may feel when they witness confusing changes in a loved one’s behavior. This story provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss dementia and what to do if a child has concerns or questions. 

Ani’s Light by Tanu Shree Singh with art by Sandhya Prabhat is about the depression and sadness when Mom is gone to the hospital for chemotherapy. This gentle picture book shows the reader that often fear makes us want to “hide” and find someplace safe.  But little by little the reader sees the importance of reaching out to others and slowly facing and talking about the fears that hurt one’s heart. 

This classic text by medical sociologist Arthur Frank was written in the wake of two life-threatening events: a heart attack at age 39 and a cancer diagnosis a year later. 

Frank draws on both his scholarly and personal experiences to guide others who find themselves in similar circumstances. He helps us understand that when we place ourselves in medicine’s hands, we also subject ourselves to their ways of knowing. Their stories bleed into our stories, but they are never the same as our stories because what medicine knows as disease is not the same as what we experience as illness. 

Thus, Frank teaches us: “These two stories, the story of medicine taking the body as its territory and the story of learning to wonder at the body itself, can only be told together, because illness is both stories at once.”

This story’s protagonist, Jessi, remains one of my favorite YA protagonists; she’s the sort of girl I would’ve loved being friends with as a teenager. And the Cohen boys… it’s no wonder Jessi is so enamored with them both! A poignant narrative centering around unimaginable tragedy, Some Other Now combines two of my favorite romance tropes: the boy next door and the love triangle. It’s a story about best friends, broken families, and love in all its fiercest forms, written with thoughtfulness and lyricism.