From Ant to Eagle
Alex Lyttle
2017, 243 pages
Children’s Fiction
Ever wonder what it would be like to have a sibling with cancer? This is a story that digs at your heartstrings as you follow Calvin’s journey through watching his brother fight cancer. He spends day after day with his brother after moving to a new town and not having much luck making friends. Although, as chance would have it, he makes a new friend named Aleta. They hit it off and find a “Secret Spot” to go during the summer days to read and play in the river. That leaves Calvin’s brother Sammy all alone every day, hoping his brother will take him to this Secret Spot. As time goes on, Sammy gets sicker and sicker, until his parents take him to the hospital where he is diagnosed with cancer; and Calvin feels like it’s all his fault since he spent the summer ignoring Sammy.
This is such a fantastic read. The way that Lyttle approaches the sensitive topic of childhood cancer is fascinating. I think this book is even better because it is based on experiences and patients that Lyttle saw while he was working in a pediatric oncology unit. Calvin is a character that as he recounts his journey through his brother’s cancer treatment, you really feel what he is feeling. The grief, the worry, and ultimately blame, are emotions that Calvin feels and you as the reader can feel right along with him. This book is certainly one that having a box of tissues nearby couldn’t hurt.
Elizabeth SousaConcord Public LibraryVisit Concord Public Library at onconcord.com/library.
