Extraordinary Means
Robyn Scheneider
Genre: YA Kids with Illness
Overall: B
I pre-ordered this book by accident. It just popped up on my Kindle and then I went back through my e-mails and yep, there was a pre-order. Oh well, I was putting it on my wish list anyway.
Lane is your basic overachieving kid who has his whole future figured out except for getting diagnosed with a strain of completely drug resistant tuberculosis. He finds himself at Latham House, a sanitarium for the rest and relaxation and hope this at least goes into remission cure. While he’s there he meets Sadie a girl he knew once upon a time at summer camp and immediately starts up a relationship with her and her too-cool for this sanitarium friends.
My reading chart for this book:
Started out intrigued. The middle section was a bit of a chore and then darn it all it hooked me I in the end and got me right in the heart. As a whole I liked the main characters although they weren’t exactly the smartest kids in the world they were understandable. To me the worst thing they did- sneaking to events in the town- did have a payoff at the end sadly. Also the author has a great little section in the back talking about how she became interested in this subject and a bit of the history of tuberculosis. Once upon a time it was considered somewhat romantic to be infected by it.
Like I said the end grabbed me for personal reasons. They may behave like your typical kids through much of the book but they do realize in different ways that they are facing something horrible. That time might be too short or that they may get a miracle and have to learn to live differently than they ever imagined. I was surprised I wound up liking Sadie in the end and I’m especially understanding of Charlie’s need to leave something behind to be remembered.
At one point one of the characters notes that if they survive this one day they won’t be the same people that lived this experience and knew this people and loved them. That we aren’t just leaving people behind but parts of ourselves at every moment. So even though it was by accident that I ordered I definitely connected and took something from this story.
Recommend: Yes. To be honest after this and certain television shows I’m tired of sick and dying kids but this is still a worthy and well-written story. I actually liked this one a lot better than The Fault in Our Stars. I’m just not sure I’d be rushing to read it