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Updated November 19, 2003
Both Sides Now, by Ruth Pennebaker (Young Adult)Cancer is a word that grabs everyone’s attention, especially when the person who has the cancer is your mother. Liza’s mother has been undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and according to her husband, a doctor, everything is under control. When the cancer recurs even after a grueling bout of chemotherapy, both the oncologist and Lisa’s father recommend a stem cell transplant. The problem is that Liza’s mother has ideas of her own about the therapy she is prepared to accept and it is time for the family to accept that cancer patients sometimes die.
This story is told from two points of view, “from both sides”, Liza’s perspective and her mother’s. It is a powerful story of a family coming to terms with what they can and cannot change. It asks important questions about the quality of life, and what fighting for life really means.