An ALA Sydney Taylor Award Honoree A Junior Library Guild Selection Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s easier– It’s safer– It’s better– –for the other person. She’s got issues. She’s got secrets. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis. But then she meets another sick kid. He’s got a chronic illness Isabel’s never heard of, something she can’t even pronounce. He understands what it means to be … can’t even pronounce. He understands what it means to be sick. He understands her more than her healthy friends. He understands her more than her own father who’s a doctor.
He’s gorgeous, fun, and foul-mouthed. And totally into her.
Isabel has one rule: no dating.
It’s complicated–
It’s dangerous–
It’s never felt better–
–to consider breaking that rule for him.
more
its aammazzinnggggg
I don’t know exactly where to start with this one, except to say how much I adored it! It was such a sweet and cute story, but with a lot of moments that were still emotionally intense or else really made you think. Since I am not a sick person, there’s a lot I don’t understand first hand. But, I think this story did a great job at sharing things that people who do have chronic illnesses feel and hear from “healthy” people all the time. The story really made me think a lot about how I feel or think when I hear about people who are sick and what they have to deal with on a daily basis. It definitely brought to mind all the times in the past that I may have even said something about a person not looking like they were sick or disabled whenever they pulled into a handicapped parking spot or something similar. Things in recent years after meeting more people who don’t look sick, but are, I’ve quit even thinking that way myself, and now it does stand out when I hear other people around me say those things. I really liked that the author was able to write a story where as the tagline says, they don’t die in this one, but there were still some emotionally tense situations in the book.
It wasn’t just the part about being sick kids that was so good in the book either though. There were normal teen situations, absentee parents, not knowing how good some friends really were, and then of course feeling attractive to the opposite sex. It was so great to be able to see a toxic friendship ended, but the character still wondering if she was doing the right thing.
And oh the humor! I loved Sasha’s sarcasm in so many situations, as well as his hilarious answers to Isabel’s questions. While the dead girl answers weren’t completely clear to me for what they actually did for the story, it was a unique and different idea to be included.
A great story, I can’t wait to get this for the kids in my school library to read!
I, too, have Rheumatoid Arthritis and was greatly able to relate to the main character. I’d never read a book about someone with RA before, so it was great to have someone else who “got it”, even if it was a fictional character. I laughed and cried my way through the book as I rooted for the sick kids to get together. It’s a keeper.
There are few young adult contemporary romances that really make me think in a new way, but SICK KIDS IN LOVE did just that. My own three children suffer from an autoimmune disease that is nowhere near as severe as what Ibby and Sasha have, but it does impact their lives, since it affects what they can eat, something they do three times a day. It was refreshing to read about teens who live a life in spite of, as well as under the constant influence of, a chronic illness. Add to that both main characters are Jewish, and this is a story unlike anything else I’ve read. I’ll admit that I was worried at first. I mean the title leaves a lot open-ended. How sick? Will one or both of them die? But I’m pleased to report, without spoiling anything since the author has freely admitted this publicly, NO ONE DIES!
Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis, requiring her to get regular fusions. At one of these visits, she meets Sasha, a charming boy with gaucher disease. The two flirt, but Ibby has a no-dating policy for reasons that become clear about mid-way through the book. Her father is chief physician in the same hospital, so she spends a lot of time there, not only visiting him, but volunteering one day a week. This creates a collision course between Sasha and Ibby, sooner rather than later, and an instant friendship develops. It’s clear Sasha wants more, but Ibby holds firmly to her no-dating rule. But the more time they spend together, the more obvious it is that she feels more than just friendship for this boy. Witty banter and obvious chemistry gets the reader rooting for these two to end up together. But Sasha and Ibby have deep issues they’ll both need to overcome if they can be more than friends.
Plot
The heart of the story is the relationship between Ibby and Sasha. Feelings develop slowly, though the attraction is immediate. The friendship flourishes because they have more in common than just their respective illnesses. But there are also huge differences that drive most of the conflict. Ibby is rigid and deeply wounded. Sasha is easy going and eager to please. This makes things between them seamless at first, but ultimately comes between them. There is a HUGE twist I never saw coming that turns Ibby’s world upside down. It could have become a cliche, but instead the author uses it as a catalyst for Ibby to see her flaws in a new light rather than turning it into a huge angsty situation creating drama for the sake of drama.
Characters
The characters are so deeply drawn and real in every sense. Ibby has deep wounds, the origins of which are revealed slowly. She’s forced to face the reasons she refuses to date as her feelings for Sasha grow, but her transformation isn’t complete for a long time. In fact, like all humans, she continues to be a work in progress through the end. We learn that Sasha is more than just a light-hearted guy who lets everything roll off him. One of the best ways the author lets us inside the minds of her characters in a story told from a single point of view is through Ibby’s high school newspaper column. She asks people around her a variety of questions and we get to learn who they are through their answers.
What I Loved About SICK KIDS IN LOVE
1. New York City. Both kids live in the city in small apartments and take the subway to get around. The setting is as much a part of the story as the characters.
2. Sasha. I love his outlook and positive attitude and the way he’s honest, open, and caring.
3. Ibby. She’s had so much to deal with in her short life, and while she lets it get to her at times, she’s determined to rise above it.
4. Reality. The author paints a portrait of the daily lives of those living with a chronic illness, neither romanticizing it in any way, nor making it more depressing than it needs to be. This is life for so many Americans, and it’s an honest portrayal of their normal.
5. Friends. Ibby’s friends, all healthy teens, play various roles in her journey. Their responses to her illness and her relationship with Sasha give readers an opportunity to see how our responses as healthy people impact those with chronic illness without coming across as preachy.
Bottom Line
An honest, heartfelt story of teens who are anything but average, doing their best to live average lives.
Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Sick Kids In Love
By: Hannah Moskowitz
*REVIEW*
As a person, adult-not teen, living with two very rare chronic autoimmune disorders, I appreciate the viewpoint of Sick Kids In Love. The invisibility of it is so frustrating because you look totally fine, but your body is destroyed on the inside. Quality of life is a joke. This type of sickness is a horrible reality to experience day in and day out , and I wish more stories addressed the issue of invisible illnesses. I felt complete sympathy and sadness for the characters because I understand their plight. This story is so important, and everyone should read it for the sake of awareness.
How is it I haven’t read anything by Hannah Moskowitz? I’m so glad that’s rectified and while it looks like I’m not short on material, Sick Kids in Love is going to be hard to surpass in excellence. Her writing is wonderful and her storytelling solid. The story is built on amazing characters and Ms Moskowitz has such a unique voice, insight into the psyche of two sixteen-year-olds, With the potential for great heartbreak, I don’t think that I’ve read a book quite like this.
When Isabel and Sasha meet in a treatment room at the hospital, they couldn’t know that this chance encounter would upend both of their lives. We follow them as they build a friendship born of a common understanding of what it’s like to have a disease that may never be cured and treatments are likely to last their entire lives. The authors does a really good job educating the reader in their diseases; Isabel is afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sasha has a rare disorder called Gaucher Disease. This bond they form is a first for both of them leading them down the path to a romantic relationship.
We get to know Isabel (or Ibby) through her school friends and the unique, somewhat fractured relationship she has with her father. Both she and Sasha are without a mother in their homes and you can see how this affects their sense of families. While Sasha has a sister and brother, Isabel is very much alone and relies on her friends for emotional support. Sasha’a entrance into her life will test her as she faces the fact that she is very reluctant to get too close to anyone. She learns a lot about trust and faith.
We also get to know Isabel through a clever writing device. Maskowitz puts Isabel on the school newspaper with an advice column. Isabel’s schtick is to ask a single question of a variety of people, assigning them a role which may or may not be the same the next time she asks It’s a little glimpse into her emotional state at the moment.
Sasha we see mostly through Isabel’s eyes. It’s clear early on that she’s infatuated and that crush that won’t be going away anytime soon. I just loved this description of their first encounter:
“He smiles and tilts his phone toward me. Oh God, he has dimples. Just slay me in the drip room.”
It took me a few chapters to get into it and it was the kind of read you don’t blaze through, I needed to relish in getting to know these characters and their plights. That said, it is well-paced and I never felt like scenes were being rushed to get to the next step in the plot. It advances throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons and throughout we are reminded that they are teenagers with complicated histories and the insight to know they have to take chances to find love.
Yes. I will take more stories like this please. This was such a clever story.
First… the answers to Isabel’s questions to her column were hilarious.
You get them with almost each chapter.
Secondly, SASHA. That is all. He is the winner of all book boyfriends. I don’t know if I’ve seen a sweeter, more caring guy in any of the books that I’ve read.
And young love…. There is just something about all of those firsts that remind you how powerful flirting, crushes and love can be.
There is so much personality to this story! <3
A look into the lives of two teens dealing with two different types of diseases. They come together in their fight in trying to be normal and learn to it is ok to lean on each other and other people. Loved that this was messy, heartbreaking and humorous all rolled into one. Isabel and Sasha and all their issues collide at times but others you can see how they rely on not being the only one facing difficult lives.