Invincible

Gr 9 Up—Evie, a self-described Cancer Girl, transitions from palliative care with end-stage Ewing's sarcoma to miracle girl. Instead of shuffling off her mortal coil after being taken on a last mad adventure from the hospital by goth girl Stella, who with her signature fedora and red lipstick is also battling cancer, Evie unaccountably rallies. Perhaps it is the shock of losing friends made in the cancer ward, the new lease on life, or the carpe diem philosophy shared by rebel Stella, but miracle Evie has lost her taste for cheerleading, her best friend, and even Will, the boyfriend who never let her down through the long months of her illness. It's difficult to care much for Evie as a character, beyond basic sympathy for any person dealing with a painful illness, because she doesn't ever really emerge beyond the page. When Evie's back to her pre-cancer life, she meets new romantic interest Marcus on an escape from her intolerably loving home. He's different and happy to share the pot bequeathed by a cancer comrade; and compared to tame Will, Marcus seems like a fascinating bad boy. Yet it's Evie who attempts to numb herself with pills, weed, and booze, leading to a crisis cliff-hanger ending.