{"id":37925,"date":"2021-01-14T23:25:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T03:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37925"},"modified":"2021-01-14T23:25:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T03:25:30","slug":"review-of-wink-by-rob-harrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37925","title":{"rendered":"Review of Wink, by Rob Harrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wink<\/em><\/p>\n

by Rob Harrell<\/p>\n

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020. 315 pages.
\nReview written July 5, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review
\n2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>:
\n#4 Children’s Fiction<\/p>\n

Wink<\/em> is about a middle school kid named Ross who\u2019s dealing with cancer in his eye. And believe it or not, the author makes that funny.<\/p>\n

Ross has a rare type of cancer that matches the kind the author himself dealt with. He has a series of treatments that means he has to wear hats and gooey ointment and of course start losing his hair. And that starts happening when he\u2019s holding the cafeteria tray of the girl he has a crush on.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s definitely a very serious side to this book, but Ross does find ways to cope with the help of friends old and new, with cartoons, and then with music, as he learns to play the guitar and finds an unlikely person to make music with.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a little four-year-old niece with leukemia who just lost her hair. She\u2019s going to be okay, but after reading this book, I found myself extremely glad that she\u2019s not in school yet. Let alone in middle school. Ross\u2019s humiliations and difficulties are so relatable in this book, because going through middle school is hard enough, but dealing with cancer treatments, too, gives you all kinds of sympathy \u2013 which makes you relate to another problem he has of being completely tired of everyone\u2019s sympathy and attention.<\/p>\n

Ross\u2019s mother died of cancer years before this book. (Really? Did the author have to pile on like that? But like I said, Ross has all our sympathy.) He\u2019s got a stepmother who does her best to be loving and supportive. Everyone, in fact, is trying to be helpful and supportive. But sometimes Ross wants to be left alone. And then his best friend has some problems of her own and Ross doesn\u2019t even notice at first.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t make this book sound as funny as it manages to be. It\u2019s a light-hearted look at a very serious situation. And pulls that off with flair.<\/p>\n

robharrell.com<\/a>
\npenguin.com\/middle-grade<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/wink.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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