Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir

Synopsis

A searing debut YA poetry and essay collection about a Black cancer patient who faces medical racism after being diagnosed with leukemia in their early twenties, for fans of Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals and Laurie Halse Anderson's Shout.When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they're suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don&’t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of "well-meaning" but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online.But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela's diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to therapy in wealthier neighborhoods, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.In Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.

Copyright:

2024

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780593529515

Related ISBNs:

9780593529492

Publisher:

Penguin Young Readers Group

Date of Addition:

02/06/24

Copyrighted By:

Walela Nehanda

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Teens, Disability-Related, Biographies and Memoirs, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender

Grade Levels:

Ninth grade, Tenth grade, Eleventh grade, Twelfth grade, College Freshman, College Sophomore, College Junior, College Senior, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student

Reading Age:

14 and up

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.