This story is a richly woven account of the Slepy family—Dick, his wife Seena, and his diverse daughters Mary Grace, Mary Tessa, Mary Catherine and Amaryllis (Yllis). We are flies on the wall of each Slepy’s consciousness as each of them moves through their odd family’s days with their own separate form of reality. The thoughts of stubborn Mary Tessa, beautiful, self absorbed Mary Grace, Mary Catherine the Saint, and oddball Amaryllis are shared with us as the family is uprooted from their Michigan home to join their father in Africa as he “ministers” to the underprivileged . Each of them will be challenged, broken, and rebuilt by events that, until their arrival on the Dark Continent, have been shrouded from even their own conscious minds. Each character in this story is colorfully painted and shared with the reader. Sometimes the thoughts are not pretty—leading us to realize how fragile and complex all of us truly are.

Admittedly, I have read a bunch of REALLY GOOD BOOKS lately. Also admittedly, I tend to shy away from young adult books in general. But the buzz about this book—and then hearing the subject matter—”cancer kids”—drew me in. Now, many of us find the subject of cancer off-putting and depressing. As if our own struggles aren’t enough to deal with, am I correct? Yet, after working in the field of cancer care myself for many years, I was interested in the approach the author would take. I am so glad I read this book, because John Green did the subject justice. Hazel and Augustus, two teens going through very different cancers, meet in a support group that neither of them is thrilled to be attending. Augustus is in “remission” and Hazel knows she is terminal—her lungs struggling with metastatic tumors from thyroid cancer. Both of them find themselves tired of the experience of their disease defining them in the eyes of others. Their story is much the same as any teenager struggling with regular issues, falling in love, peer pressures, etc. But it is with the added facet of having cancer as well. Using the typically sarcastic, intelligent teenage voice, Mr. Green “Nails it” for many people (not just kids) who have to deal with cancer on a daily basis. Those folks are not defined by the disease (the only thing we outsiders seem to see). Instead, it becomes part of their daily pattern albeit a dreary part. So, those folks wish to be greeted with normalcy rather than pity and sorrow. Hazel and Augustus approach their day-to-day lives as well as their relationship with a maturity that we don’t find in typical teenage situations. Or do we? Are teens more than vampire romances, mean girls, and zombies? Read this book about two super-cool, intelligent teens who just happen to have cancer. And yes—you will cry.

Most of us are ill-versed in the Victorian language of flowers. Often we associate this method of communication with romance, patience, passion, etc. But the flip side of floral communication is true as well. We can send messages of contempt, spite and other forms of ill will. As a child, young Victoria Jones has been thrust from one foster home to another as each family she meets finds her violent outbursts too much to handle. As she grows, she is increasingly detached from human contact and finds refuge in flowers and their meanings. Here she finds the gift of being able to communicate with others via the meanings built into the beautiful arrangements she constructs. Most of her recipients are unaware of the significance of the arrangements she chooses — sometimes they are even filled with hateful statements. Victoria ages out of her final group home and finds herself utterly alone, homeless, and jobless. She lives in a park, forages for food discarded by restaurants, and steals flowers from other people’s gardens to build her own sanctuary. After she lands a job at the shop of Renata, a rather unorthodox florist, Victoria’s life begins to change. But, can she release her heart from the steel chamber she built to keep it safe? As summer is winding down and our blooms are fading—-pick up this book and step into a greenhouse filled with another bygone way of communicating that is far more beautiful and meaningful than any email could aspire to be.

Marylou is in her sunset years and she is irate and snarky. Why? Because back in the 1960’s while pregnant with her first and only child, she was part of a study of 800 pregnant women. They were asked to swallow a pink fizzy “vitamin drink” that would ensure a healthy baby. As a result, after having eight years with Helen, her daughter succumbed to cancer. Marylou begins a life that revolves around her quest to find Dr. Wilson Spriggs—the man in charge of the study—and kill him. Fast-forward to present day. Marylou is now known as Nance. She has found Dr. Spriggs and has begun to slowly infiltrate his life like the cancer that took her daughter. As she creeps into the marrow of the family, she begins to doubt whether she can fulfill her quest, having formed ties to the evil doctor’s grandchild. I love the biting inner dialogue Nance has as she argues with herself over which way to kill Dr. Spriggs. The candy-coated exterior she displays to Dr. Spriggs’ family hides an inner bitter shrew hell-bent on revenge. The question is, will she….?