The Bald-Headed Princess

Gr 4—6—Stricken with leukemia at 11, Izzie is devastated. Will she have to give up playing soccer? What will her friends think/do? How will she be able to keep up at school? While her inner thoughts turn over these questions, Izzie's outward self is nonstop irony. The story is fast moving and easy to read; however, this is not the voice of an 11-year-old. While the child's cancer is soon in remission, the narrative does not make light of the seriousness of the treatments, from the minor surgery for the medication port to the aftereffects of chemotherapy, described in just enough detail to be realistic without being too graphic. The reality of death is also addressed through a younger patient whom Izzie meets at the hospital. Ditmars makes it clear that her purpose was to write a story for children diagnosed with cancer. While the novel is too centered on the illness to be widely used, it does achieve the stated goal.—Wendy Smith-D'Arezzo, Loyola College, Baltimore, MD