Medical books for children
Clover and Danny are such close friends that Clover is convinced they have a symbiotic relationship - a word she learned in her favorite class, science. The topic of opioid addiction may not be something you wish to read about in a children's books, but millions of children see it in their lives and Messner has tackled the subject with age-appropriate sensitivity. Abby's disease disturbs the whole family and Charlie experiences dashed hope and false promised. Abby is in college and is struggling with an to heroin. Charlie hopes for a lot of things, both for herself and for her friends, but the most poignant of all involves her sister. Charlie goes ice fishing and she catches a fish who says it will grant her wishes if she will release him back into the water. He eventually reaches the mountain but discovers that being alone is not the answer he was looking for. Ages 10 and up. On his journey, Matt faces the hardship of his symptoms and encounters strangers who both help and hinder him. Only his friend Jessie guesses where he has gone and she struggles with keeping or revealing his secret. Without telling his parents he leaves home with his dog, Beau, to accomplish his dream of climbing Mount Rainier. Matt's cancer keeps recurring and he is angry about his illness, often rude and bitter to others. The author based the story on her own experiences and this is a wonderful, moving book.
Confined to bed and totally dependent on others, Ruthie's physical world narrows, but as others come to visit her, Ruthie begins to collect stories and her emotional and intellectual world expands.
Medical books for children full#
After a car accident, Ruthie suffers terrible injuries and she is placed in a full body cast. In the 1960s, Ruthie and her family are recent Jewish-Cuban immigrants living in New York City. A thoughtful book that all middle schoolers will relate to. Norah struggles to find out where she fits in and how she wants to claim her own identity. Norah's tutoring pushed her into eighth grade math where she makes friends with Griffin, who doesn't het know about Norah's cancer and Norah hopes to keep it that way. Because of her sensitive immune system, her protective parents don't want her to rush into too many activities and Norah pushes back, wanting to join after school activities with her friends. Norah Levy is retuning to seventh grade after spending two years in treatment for leukemia. Wonderful writing makes this a book not just for baseball fans. His adopted father moves a lot, and when they move to a new town with a demoralized baseball team embroiled in scandal, Jeremiah becomes the motivating coach they need to lift them up. Jeremiah's medical challenge is that he has a weak heart which keeps him on the sidelines.
(Note: book covers and titles are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Some of the books focus on the perspective of the patient but others narrate the experience of those whose lives are affected when a loved one gets ill. I looked for books to cover a wide range of medical conditions, from temporary to chronic but manageable to terminal illnesses. With this list of children's books with characters who have medical challenges, I have chosen to focus on middle grade novels. Books about tough situations can give children a way of approaching difficult emotions that surround challenging medical conditions, whether that be a temporary sickness, chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes, or serious diseases like cancer. Sadly, whether it is our own children, or their friends, sickness, chronic illness and even tragedy occur. We all hope that our children will live typical, healthy lives.