Zac and Mia

Gr 7 Up—Teens Zac and Mia meet in a Perth, Australia, cancer ward. Zac just had a bone marrow transplant, and the tumor in Mia's ankle will soon lead to an amputation. After eavesdropping through walls and later communicating by tapping and using Facebook, they form a bond. Though Zac knows all the grim statistics on recovery, he's a helpful patient. Mia, however, is noncompliant and angry. He's athletic, living on a distant farm with a supportive family. For city girl Mia, the only child of a single mom, it's all about good looks and popularity. Zac and Mia are separated after their hospital stays, and when she runs away from home, it's pure coincidence that she ends up in his small town and they're reconnected. They offer each other support as they deal with the harsh realities of illness and classic adolescent angst. Narrators Nicholas Mondelli and Kristin Condon convincingly express the complex, often insecure teenage state of mind related in first person.