Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

The author partied a lot as a young adult and jumped around from boyfriend to boyfriend. She decided to get dedicated to work by taking a job in France. She also entered into a longer term relationship. Then she discovered she had cancer. Treatment was a long process. Her boyfriend and her parents provided a huge amount of selfless service. She did not appreciate it enough. She found herself distancing herself from them. She had started writing about her battle with cancer as she was going through the process. It took a while to realize the impacts it had on loved ones. She was not the only one to have life interrupted. There were also the challenges of dealing with life after cancer. With so much focus on beating it, it is easy to lose track of the post-cancer life. She goes on a cross country road trip to try to find herself post-cancer. Discussions with many people help her learn more about herself and relationships with others. Do we spend enough time looking at the social and other non-medical impacts of fighting disease. What is the point of licking a disease if it destroys lives?

Halfway Normal

A girl returns to middle school after being absent for a few years for cancer treatment. Her doctors wanted her to stay away for a little longer to complete her recovery. Her hair has still not grown back yet. Her body has not matured like that of many of her friends. However, she is ahead of her grade for a few classes due to tutoring that she had, and thus will be in 8th grade math and science. This is a perfect recipe for middle school drama.

Things get off to an interesting start. One long time friend has turned into a flirt and is hanging out with a lot of other kids. She starts to fall for a new boy that she meets in an 8th grade class. She feels the need to pretend to be an 8th grader for him. Her parents don't want her to do after school activities to protect her from germs. She eventually struggles through challenges with the help of Greek Mythology and pomegranates. 

The Emperor of All Maladies

Cancer is the modern killer that seems to fit our society perfectly. It is not a single disease, but a related group of many different conditions, all of which involve cells growing out of control. Reports of cancer have occurred back in ancient times. However, it has become much more prevalent today. Most cancers require multiple mutations to occur before cells start growing "out of control". People born with a mutation will often have a head start, however, getting cancer is not a given. It occurs more often in older people because they have had a greater chance to have a mutation occur. Carcinogens help aid the mutation process, but are no guarantee of contracting cancer. Some cancers (such as prostate cancer) occur frequently in old age, yet are often not the cause of death. Others may be extremely genetically related and occur at younger ages.
The medical profession has gone through many phases in the attempt to cure cancer. The many different types of cancer have differing biologies and treatments. The understanding of cancer has changed over time. Researchers had thought they had found strong indicators and causes, but the "easy" ones were often isolated to a few small types of cancers. Initial treatment used the "all out war" approach. A cancer and any nearby tissue were removed. Toxins and radiation were used to eradicate any cells. (Alas, this would often cause harm to the person and other parts of their body.) Modern research has helped uncover gene pathways and enable more targeted approaches that only impact unique aspects of the cancer cells. Cancer, however, grows and mutates rapidly, requiring targeted approaches to adapt to the changes. Some cancers have high rates of cure success, while others are still a death sentence.
Politics often becomes involved in treatments. If a potential cure is available, why limit it to a few people in chemical trials? Why not let everyone benefit? The quest to find a great cure has lead to some not-so-great experiences. For breast cancer, a South African doctor was showing extremely high remission rates for his procedure. People demanded it and forced insurance companies to cover it. Alas, it turns out the results were fraudulent, and not independently confirmed. It did not lead to long-term success and the insurance companies were actually right to be hesitant. Even good cures more only prolong life a few months or years. Is it worth it? For some people individually, the extra time may be a great benefit. For society, however, we are still looking for the long term cure.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

An 8th grade boy loves to play the drums. His 5 year-old brother is sooo cute, but can be such a pain. One day things change. The younger brother comes down with cancer. This brings all sorts of struggles to the family. With the struggles, the older brother learns that he really loves his younger brother. There are also a couple of girls, the girl that he has a crush on, and the "friend" that he ignores. Of course, he ends up with the friend as a "girlfriend". (But the "crush" girl does eventually become a human "friend" instead of being dumped in the mud.) A big climax event is a benefit concert, organized by the two girls. It helps raise money for the family, and allow the jazz band to stay together. (Really, people would drop band just because of a public service requirement? And they would allow a benefit concert to fulfill the requirement? Ok, it's a little far out, but you have to have a climax, right?) He plays the first half of the concert, but his brother gets sick for the second half. They have to run to the ER, but luckily, everything turns out ok.

Yeah, it is pretty much all cliches. (You can just see it as a "heartwarming" movie.) So, it just comes down to the storytelling. Luckily, the writing is well executed. I also enjoyed the details on drummy. (Hey! He got it right!)