Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

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We meet our narrator and main protagonist, Zoe, on one of the worst days of her (and her best friend Olivia's) life. They deal with the devastating news differently, as we find a year later along. They remain the closest of friends. But then Olivia gets sick. And Zoe has to figure out how to handle day to day life with her best friend's new life. Not to mention the problems Olivia has dealing with being ill herself.

The prose is well-written and flows in a conversational style that seems to fit a sixteen to seventeen year old girl. I care about what happens to the characters - not just the two or three main ones, but all of them. The story feels realistic, and I wasn't sure exactly where things were going. The book was hard to put down once I got started.

I would recommend this novel to teenagers in the target age group, as well as parents/adults who might want to see what seriously ill teens and their friend go through. It's fiction, but the medicine seems correct to me (I'm a doctor). More mature kids could probably read it (or have it read to them by a parent) at a slightly younger age.

Reviewer: Lorien Goodale

Available: February 14, 2014