“Life is harder for people who aren’t conventionally attractive” (Moskowitz, 213). Like The Fault in Our Stars, Sick Kids in Love is a book about the relationship between two kids battling illnesses. Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis. She is also a girl who always asks for another opinion, and never makes a decision on her own. Sasha has Gaucher (go-SHAY) disease. He is also a guy who is impulsive and daring, and who wants to make everyone happy. After meeting in a hospital, they bond over their experience with chronic illnesses, and soon grow to be close friends. When Sasha’s illness leads him to need surgery, they grow closer, but then must work through some conflicts along the way. In a way, we are all defined by something in other people's minds. For some people, it could be a sport, music, or even a hobby. For Sasha and Isabel, it was their illnesses. Throughout the book, both of them discuss being defined by their illness, and how they don’t like how it is what people see first. I could relate to this because, in a way, it happens to everyone. As a society, we tend to look at the outside of a person, and immediately judge them without getting to know them. This book was also formatted differently than most books I read. Before every chapter in the book, there was a question and a sample of answers that Isabel had gathered. I noticed how this added to the book, especially by aiding in character development. This book gave me a better understanding of what life is like for teenagers who live unlike I do. Both Isabel and Sasha have chronic illnesses, but they are also living seminormal teenage lives. Sick Kids in Love provided a window into the life of two kids, who are trying to not let their illness define them. Although at times I felt sorry for Isabel and Sasha, I tried to steer my feelings and emotions away from sympathy. I didn’t feel much empathy throughout the book, because I have never had an experience as difficult as Sasha and Isabel’s. However, after reading this book, I think I will be more empathic in the future. Overall, this book helped change my thinking, and it was also a very enjoyable book to read. By Lily S.
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AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
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November 2022
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