Diabetes in Fiction

For a young child, the diabetes of a beloved family member can be both bewildering and disturbing. But how can a complicated disease like diabetes be explained in language that is both simple and reassuring? CAN MOM HAVE A PIECE OF MY BIRTHDAY CAKE? does just that as it follows seven-year-old Abigail Ruby in her quest to understand her mom’s diabetes.

Caillou is confused when Emma is allowed to have extra snacks at preschool. He’s even more confused when Miss Martin explains that Emma has type 1 diabetes. Caillou is worried about his friend and becomes very protective of her. But when Emma outruns Caillou in a race, he soon realizes Emma’s diabetes isn’t like a cold or flu. It’s something Emma has to live with every day, and she’s doing a pretty good job of it.

Children’s fears of living with diabetes will be eased when they read about a young boy who develops Type I diabetes.

Maddie was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She’s nervous about managing her disease and telling others. But as she goes back to school, plays soccer, and spends time with her friends, she becomes more comfortable and confident talking about her health. A sensitive story that’s a great introduction to understanding diabetes for anyone who has the disease or knows someone who does.

This is the story of Zippy, a young girl who falls in love with ballet. With hard work she dances all the way to her pointes and the leading role in the performance. But soon Zippy and her family learn that she has type 1 diabetes. Will she still be able to dance in the performance? Zippy proves that she can take care of herself and still live her passion.

It has been this way since Sarina’s family moved to Liberia from Boston eight months ago. Her mother ties her to the mango tree in their front yard, terrified of losing her. It’s never for long, and Sarina knows her mother doesn’t mean to hurt her. But things just seem to get harder the longer her family stays in this country so far from home. On good days, when Sarina’s mother is feeling better, she sets her daughter free. On bad days, Sarina dangles her feet in the puddles and mud until dusk, waiting for someone to rescue her, wishing for the one thing her mother fears most: a friend. Then one day Sarina meets Boima, a Liberian boy, and he becomes Sarina’s cherished secret. He takes her to places outside her dirty yard, and shows her the ocean, the trees, and the people of Liberia. Together they discover what friendship really means … and that there is a world of joy, hunger, and hope waiting just beyond the mango tree.

Mackenzie Clark has been best friends with Nolan Walker for as long as she can remember. She’s shared everything with him, from adventures with their families and days lounging at the beach, to long talks about their friends and her journey with type 1 diabetes. The only thing she hasn’t shared is the fact that she is in love with him. Now in their senior year of high school, Mackenzie and Nolan know that in a few short months everything will change as they head off to different colleges. Determined to make the most of the time they still have left, they come up with a list of things they want to do together before graduation. But as they make their way through everything from toilet papering the school bully’s house to having a backyard camp-out like the ones they had when they were kids, Mackenzie can’t help feeling that she’s left the most important thing off the list: telling Nolan how she feels. But when confessing her love could jeopardize the incredible relationship they already have, is honesty really the best policy?

Shari Cooper hadn’t planned on dying, but four floors is a long way to fall. Her friends say she fell but Shari knew she had been murdered. Making a vow to herself to find her killer, Shari spies on her friends, and even enters their dreams. She also comes face-to-face with a nightmare from beyond the grave. The Shadow – a thing more horrible than death itself – is the key to Shari’s death, and the only thing that can stop her murderer from murdering again.

Stevie Hart is homeschooled, but don’t hold that against her. Sure, she and her best (okay, only) friend, Sanger, will never be prom queens, but that’s just because the Central Austin Homeschool Cooperative doesn’t believe in proms. Or dancing. Still, Stevie and Sanger know how to create their own brand of fun. Enter Max Garza, the new boy next door. After a near-fatal accident, Max is determined to defy mortality with a checklist: 23 Ways to Fake My Death Without Dying. Dead set on carrying out fabricated demises ranging from impalement to spontaneous combustion, Max charms Stevie and Sanger into helping him with this two-month macabre mission. But as Stevie finds herself falling for Max, it becomes increasingly difficult to draw a line between his make-believe deaths and her real life.

Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in her small Nebraska hometown. Everywhere she turns, someone feels she’s too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself?  The latest powerful, original novel from Hannah Moskowitz is the story about living in and outside communities and stereotypes, and defining your own identity.

(Originally WHEN DREAMS SHATTER) Rachel Deering’s dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer has to be put on hold when she finds out that she has diabetes, but the lessons she learns in managing her disease help her take control of her life.

Out of control – that’s how Lacey Duval feels in almost every aspect of her life. There’s nothing she can do about her parents divorce, there’s nothing she can do about the death of her young friend, there’s nothing she can do about having diabetes – that’s what Lacey believes. After a special summer at Jenny House, Lacey is determined to put her problems behind her. When she returns to high school, she is driven to become a part of the in crowd and win the attention of gorgeous Todd Larson. But Lacey thinks fitting in means losing weight and hiding her diabetes. She starts skipping means and experimenting with her medication – sometimes ignoring it all together. Her friends from the summer caution her to face her problems before catastrophe strikes. Is it too late to stop the destructive process Lacey has set in motion?