The Probability of Miracles

May 7, 2012
Seventeen-year-old Campbell Cooper is dying of cancer, although her family is unwilling to admit it. After Cam's high school graduation, her mother, Alicia, desperate for a miracle, moves Cam and her younger half-sister, Perry, from Orlando, Fla., to Promise, Maine, an en- chanted town replete with flamingos, blue dandelions, and endless sunsets. Emma Galvin's Cam is adorable but tough, and the narrator perfectly captures her dry, sarcastic wit. Galvin also uses a subtle accent for Camâone that is a blend of the character's heritage: her father is Samoan, her mother from New Jersey. The rest of the major characters are unique and well rendered, from Cam's delicate, sickly friend, Lily, to her hunky love interest, Asher, and her Norwegian half-sister Perry. Additionally good are the voices lent to the many teens of Promise and Cam's spunky Nana from Hobokenâa voice Galvin absolutely nails. Unfortunately, many of the book's supporting cast sound too similar to Cam, and this takes away from the notable voice Galvin has created. Ages 14âup. A Razorbill hardcover.

October 31, 2011
Wunder gracefully balances comedy and tragedy in this debut novel about jaded 16-year-old Campbell, who is battling terminal cancer. After five years of treatment, her doctor tells her, “Science is not enough this time.... What you need is a miracle.” Though no-nonsense Campbell scorns the idea of miracles, her mother and younger sister refuse to give up, and her mother relocates them from their
Disney-centric life in Florida to Promise, Maine—a hard-to-find town reputed to have mystical healing powers. As Cam fulfills her “Flamingo List” (her version of a bucket list), which includes such goals as “Have my heart broken by an asshole” and “Experiment with petty shoplifting,” she confronts unexpected joys and disappointments and abandons some of her defenses and detachment. Wunder creates a large, memorable supporting cast to bolster Cam, including her friend and fellow cancer patient, Lily; love interest Asher; and unconventional family. The surreal proceedings—along with some potential miracles, depending on one’s belief in such things—explore the subjects of death and life with sensitively honed humor, examining what it means to live. Ages 14–up. (Dec.)■