Hannah and Max Bennett’s mother has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and suddenly the whole world feels like it has been put on hold. To her relief, Hannah discovers that having cancer in the family doesn’t keep birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas from coming, and even cancer can’t keep four-year-old Max from occasionally being a pest.

In this reassuring novel for middle-grade readers, Hannah learns a lot about breast cancer and a bit about herself too. In a gentle and sometimes amusing manner, Cancer Slam humanizes breast cancer and reminds readers that life goes on, even in the face of adversity.

There are plenty of moments for grinning, smiling, and even laughing through the story of this family as they navigate their experience of breast cancer. The humor helps the medicine go down, so to speak.
Dr. Andrew Seidman
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center