Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors

Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer?  You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you're told...maybe not.  How would you cope?

That's the question each of the people in this book had to answer.  Each individual tells his or her amazing story, in an honest, first-person perspective that provides a depth you would never see otherwise.  Inside, you'll meet Zac York, who tells of climbing Mount Whitney--on crutches--after battling brain cancer.  You'll meet Jessica Myers, who had to cope with her boyfriend's callous reaction as she struggled with thyroid cancer.  And you'll meet Rob Dooley, who fought brain cancer and was left with major cognitive deficits--including short-term memory loss--but never let that get in his way of obtaining a college diploma and entering graduate school.

You'll also get to know and come to love seventeen others, who tell their captivating stories in their own words.  It's all here--struggles, triumphs, friendships, love, breakups, relapses. Twenty unique and fascinating stories, with one common theme--childhood cancer.   They'll make you smile, make you cry, and fill you with hope.

Carolyn Rubenstein has spent most of her life working with children with cancer. At age 14, Rubenstein started “Carolyns Compassionate Children” (CCC), a non-profit organization that began as a pen-pal program for kids with cancer. In recent years CCC changed focus to providing scholarships to childhood cancer survivors. A native of Boca Raton, Florida, Carolyn Rubenstein  is a graduate of Duke University.  She began a PhD program in clinical psychology at Harvard University in the fall of 2008.