Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

jeffdaboss - If you loved Rodman Philbrick's The Mighty or Gennifer Choldenko's Al Capone series, you will absolutely LOVE this book! Steven is your average 8th grader, whose not popular, but not unpopular either. He plays drums for a city band, likes a hot girl, and has a hyperactive brother named Jeffery. His life turns around when he hears four words. "Your brother has leukemia." As Jeffrey is in and out of the hospital, Steven suffers in many areas of his life: school, family, girls, money, and leukemia. But if one thing helps Steven get out of whack, it's Jeffery who is always there. Somehow, Steven gets through things by what his guidance counselor told him, "Instead of agonizing about the things you can't change, why don't you try working on the things you CAN change?" Through this one quote, Steven brings up his grades, loses his lackadaisical attitude, shaves his hair to help Jeffrey cope with the loss of his hair, and ends up becoming the popular kid by supporting his brother. When a fundraiser comes up supporting Jeffrey, and Steven has to play drums, he is prepared for this. But when Jeffrey has to go to the hospital right before his big solo, Steven leaves to support his brother. This story really, truly shows the effects of love.