After Ever After

Jeffrey Alper is not your average eighth-grader. In fact, you might know him as That Boy Who Had Cancer. That was when he was four, but he's in remission now, so his story should be over, right?

Wrong. Oooohhh, so wrong.

Jordan Sonnenblick does a bang-up job of exploring what comes after the natural ending to most stories like Jeffrey's--in this case, after remission. What comes next is a realistic story about a kid who has to readjust to a typical life. This includes deepening his friendship with best friend Tad, working up the nerve to have a real conversation with the hot new girl, and oh yeah, dealing with math. This wouldn't be such a huge deal, except that Jeffrey isn't great at math. The methotrexate from his chemo treatments has given him what could be described as borderline learning disabilities. His dad is a brilliant mathematician. Oh, and did we mention, Jeffrey now has to pass a new standardized reading and math test or he can't go to high school?

In any other cancer-centric story, Jeffrey and Tad, who also had cancer, might be pathetic or saintly. They are neither. They are typical boys with real, developed voices. They are funny and even snarky--Tad gets downright rude, which is a little jarring at times but honestly, can you blame the kid? Jeffrey's determination to help Tad and others, including the entire eighth grade, rather than focusing on his own problems, is also admirable.

The relationship between Jeffrey and his dad is tense. I flinched a couple times because I've been there--I wasn't good at math either, and before my parents knew it was disability-related they were strict about it. In fact, at times, I shut the book and said to Mr. Alper, "Can't you give the kid a break?" That's why the ending was gratifying on a relational as well as emotional level.

There is one part of the ending I wish had not been included, and if you've read the novel, you know what that is. I understand it on a logical level, but the whole thing feels a little trite. At least the author didn't use some of the devices I've seen in a similar situation. Overall, I would recommend this not only for the target audience but also adults, particularly parents, educators, and others who are working with kids who have disabilities, medical needs, or similar things going on.

I could not put this book down! Personally, I thought this book was even better than Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie (which I LOVED), probably because you come to care about Jeffrey (Steven's little brother who has cancer) in Book #1 and instead of making this book about Steven again, we get to learn about Jeffrey and what it is like to be him. The story takes place when Jeffrey is at the same age Steven was at in the first book (8 years have passed since Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie). Mr. Sonnenblick writes this book as realistically as the first, and I loved all the characters. As a middle grade kid myself, I feel like I connect with Jeffrey - the readers gets to know him that well. I think that Mr. Sonnenblick is a great author who portrays the mind of a teenager very well. Like in the first book, Mr. Sonneblick uses humor to diffuse some really tense issues in the story. I love his writing style!
*NOTE* I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

#28 Book Read in 2012
After Ever After (YA)

Jeff had cancer at a long age. Due to side effects of his cancer treatment, he has a learning disability, especially when it comes to Math. New educational regulations are now requiring all students in the state to pass a standardized test before being promoted to high school. Jeff is convinced but his friend Tad makes it his mission to tutor Jeff. Tad also had cancer when he was a child and is in a wheelchair. Jeff decides if he's going to get tutored by Tad, he will work on getting Tad to walk across the stage at 8th grade graduation. Jeff does not realize that Tad has some more pressing issues to handle.

This book was a great, quick read. The characters were well developed and this book had a lot of humor in it. There were also tearjerker parts. This book also had a romance aspect to it when Jeff falls for the pretty new girl.

I really enjoyed this book.

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Jordan Sonnenblick's After Ever After is based upon the memorable eighth grade year of cancer survivor Jeffrey Alper, and his life after enduring leukemia. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and highly recommend it to those who share an interest for humorous, inspiring, and cheesy-love literature. Alper's sarcastic tone captivated my attention as he led readers through his personal fight to overcome cancer and its affect on him four years later. I personally find books pertaining to cancer quite depressing, yet After Ever After mostly discusses Alper's current position as a fourteen-year old boy and his middle school experience. Occasionally, he would intertwine flashbacks of how chemotherapy, treatments, and generally having leukemia affected his life in the present, but did not include too much information to distract readers' attention from the story's main plot.
One main reason why I found enjoyment in reading After Ever After was due to its relatability. Being around the same age as Jeffrey Alper, I could better understand the topics and ideals he described because of his language and phrasings. Because of this, I would only suggest this book to younger readers around the ages of 12-15. Also, all the events were described in full detail, making the it easy to follow. I scarcely ran into the problem of misinterpretation, feeling lost in the story's occurrences, or having to reread sections multiple times. On a side note, this novel is written in the first person point of view in the perspective of Jeffrey Alper. A common issue I discover with first person narratives are that they can often lose readers' attention with unnecessary or boring information about their personal life. However, After Ever After was nothing but the complete opposite, and I can relate it to be somewhat similar to a journal - containing only the most significant, influential, and captivating moments. There was never a point where I was tempted to put down the book, as every chapter provided entertainment and grabbed my attention.

I admired Jordan Sonnenblick before I even knew his books. Like me, he put in a number of years teaching in the public schools of Houston through Teach For America. Plus he's a funny, unassuming guy who is unstinting when it comes to sharing his experiences. Among other things, he gave me heaps of advice about managing publicity and pulling off high-quality author visits.

Maybe all this awesomeness contributed to the moment of fear that struck my first-time-author heart: what if I don't like the work as much as I like the person?

Not to fear, though: Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie and the companion novel After Ever After hit all the right notes. These are middle-grade fiction at its best. Put it out there for guys or girls. Serve it up in class or outside. These books are real without crossing any of those tricky boundaries that are so worrisome for librarians and teachers of the younger crowd.

I accidentally listened to these books out of order, hearing Jeffrey's story in After Ever After before Steven's in D, G, and DP. It didn't really matter, though, because After Ever After really is a companion book, not a sequel, and nothing is lost for readers who haven't read D,G, and DP. The self-deprecating humor and general wholesomeness of the guys is a common thread, but Steven and Jeffrey's challenges, strengths, and outlooks are appropriately distinguished. Together, the two novels offer a view of how childhood cancer affects--and continues to affect--families.

After Ever After in particular helps readers think about something that they might not consider: the many costs and complications of life for a childhood cancer survivor. Jeffrey and his friend Tad (also a cancer survivor) have to live with side effects from treatment that touch everything from their fine motor control to their walking ability, their memory to their problem-solving skills. (FYI I was intrigued to hear mention of Gleevec as a treatment for one of the boys as this is the medication my Dad has been on as a treatment for gastrointestinal cancer.)

For all their differences, both Steven and Jeffrey are sweet but not TOO sweet boys. The books are clean but not squeaky; Sonnenblick's pitch-perfect voice keeps the reader from ever thinking for a second that the writer is writing at a younger audience. This is writing for middle-grade readers at its best.

I know I mentioned the humor already, but really. Really. So funny. Like Tad in After Ever After calling his little sister the "emergency replacement child" that his parents cooked up just in case he croaked. In light of my colossal inability to generate humor, this kind of funny floors me.

At the age of five, Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia - lymphocytic lymphoma, to be specific. He was a lucky little boy: His parents and 13-year-old brother, Steven, were there for him every step of the way, and the community rallied around him. He was a lucky little boy: He survived.

Years later, Jeffrey's in remission, but reminded of his illness every day, thanks to the limp and other irrevocable marks left on his body and his mind by the cancer. Radiation and chemotherapy left him "a little scrambled up," making him "spacey" on occasion. Now in eighth grade, he instantly bonds with a new classmate, a girl who just moved to New Jersey from California. The second Jeffrey meets Lindsey, he knows she's his dream girl. Dealing with middle school (and trying to impress female classmates) is hard enough without having physical impairments, but Jeffrey has an unsinkable spirit. His best friend, Tad, also a cancer survivor, is less upbeat about his condition. The two boys have leaned on each other both in and outside of school since the fourth grade. Now, their last year in middle school will test their strength - physical strength, mental strength, and strength of character - over and over again.

After Ever After will make readers laugh and cry and feel. It will be a delight to fans of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, the book that introduced us to the Alper family, a book that I read, loved, and hand-sold like crazy the year of its release, and have continued to recommend ever since. After Ever After is a solid stand-alone story, so those who came upon After without having read Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie won't be lost, but they would be wise to read the equally-fabulous Drums to see how the story began. Instead of picking up the story right where Pie left off, Sonnenblick opted to fast-forward After Ever After to Jeffrey's eighth grade year and make him the first-person narrator instead of Steven, who was the protagonist of the previous story. Readers catch up with Jeffrey quickly, learning not only of his medical history and current health status but also of his elementary and middle school experiences. Likewise, we are informed of Steven's whereabouts - something I won't give away here, something that was another bold choice on Sonnenblick's part which ensured that this story was now solidly Jeffrey's - and what a great story it is.

"I can't walk too well, but when I'm on my bike, I can fly."

Go, Jeffrey, go.

Jordan Sonnenblick's first novel, DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE, introduced the Alper family. At that point, five-year-old Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia, while 13-year-old brother Steven struggled to maintain some sort of normalcy in his life. Readers may well remember the often poignant yet humorous glimpse into the family as they dealt with the unexpected crisis. While that story may have ended with a "happily ever after," their journey was far from over.

Fast forward eight years: Jeffrey is in full remission from the deadly cancer, and his biggest obstacle is navigating through the eighth grade. Having been the poster child for community charity, Jeffrey is perfectly content to just lay low and coast on through to high school. If being a teenager wasn't difficult enough, the effects of his leukemia treatment have left him unable to walk without a limp and a brain that sometimes has trouble processing information. Needless to say, school is difficult, particularly math, and Jeffrey does well just to get by.

Steven flew the coop a couple of years ago to college but always made a point to come home and give Jeffrey the guidance only older brothers can give. And Steven has never let him down. So Jeffrey is at a complete and utter loss when Steven decides to leave the country and fly to Africa to "find himself." Jeffrey still has so many questions that need to be answered:

1) What does he do about the new and beautiful girl from California who is inexplicably interested in him?

2) How does he stick up for his friend, Tad, who is also a cancer survivor but is confined to a wheelchair and has a chip on his shoulder?

3) Is there a good way to sneak out of the house when you're grounded?

Jeffrey was grounded from now until forever for failing to tell his parents about the new state mandate that all eighth graders must pass a proficiency exam to enter into high school. There is no possible way for Jeffrey to pass the math portion without a miracle. And it seems that miracles are in short supply when you are a cancer survivor. Tad strikes Jeffrey a deal to tutor him in math as long as Jeffrey promises to help Tad gain the strength to walk across the stage to collect his diploma. Graduation is a long way off, though, and a "happily ever after" isn't looking too good.

I appreciated DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE for its funny and heartwarming look at a topic that is both serious and often overlooked in literature. Sonnenblick introduced readers to a family that took one day at a time and still tried to enjoy the little things. While Sonnenblick felt that he "had told the whole story of the Alper family," an email from a social worker that runs a teenage cancer survivor support group told him that the story was far from finished. Thus, AFTER EVER AFTER provides that extra insight into the ongoing battle that is known as life. Sonnenblick once again succeeds with the right mix of sincerity and hilarity.

This book is a sequel to Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie where eighth grade Steven tells his story of trying to be a normal teen while dealing with the fact that his four year-old brother Jeffery has leukemia.

After Every After is in turn narrated by Jeffrey who is now a teen himself and dealing with learning disabilities caused by all the different medications he had to take as a child in order to save his life. He is also trying to escape his identity as "the kid who had cancer" as well as adjusting to the fact that his reliable and every-steady brother Steven has taken off to Africa to "find himself."

Jeffery's best friend Tad is also a fellow cancer survivor who still has to use a wheelchair. When Jeffery finds out he has to pass a state mandated math class in order to move on to high school he is terrified that his learning disabilities will keep in stranded in middle school forever. He turns to Tad for help and together they make a pact...Tad will tutor Jeffery in math and Jeffery, who is an avid bike rider, will get Tad in shape enough to walk across the stage at their eighth grade graduation.

Through out all of this Jeffery is also falling for the very cute new girl who seems to like him though he can't figure out why. His one wish is that he could talk to Steven so he can figure out how to navigate through his perilous journey of love and middle school (not to mention overbearing parents.) But Steven has cut himself off, no email, no phone, no nothing!

I loved this heartwarming, well written read! I laughed, I cried and I smiled a lot. There are a lot of great characters to love including a hilariously described gym teacher who has the best of intentions but, well...think of your gym teacher :) Lots of humor and sarcasm balanced with the emotional cost of dealing with cancer and people who you think have let you down.

A marvelous, must-have addition to any middle and high school library! Boys and girls alike will enjoy this one.

Junior Library Guild Advanced Readers (6th-9th) pick for April 2010

After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick, is an interesting and an excellent book that promotes you to think about your life in a different way. I would give this book five stars out of five stars if I had to rate it, mainly because it made me laugh, and it taught me an important life-lesson: to be grateful about my life.
After Ever After is about two eighth-grade friends named Jeffrey and Tad who were both
diagnosed with cancer when they were young. Jeffrey sees a girl named Lindsey who is immediately appealing to him. They both talk a lot, and she eventually becomes his girlfriend. The problem is that Tad embarrasses Jeffrey in front of Lindsey several times in the novel. Tad's dream is to learn how to walk (since he struggles to walk after he is diagnosed with cancer) across the stage at the eighth-grade graduation. Another major problem that Jeffrey faces is that he is bad at math. He has to take a standardized exam at the end of the year to move on to high school. He keeps failing the math section, which puts him at a high risk of repeating eighth-grade. Since his dad is an accountant and loves math, he tries to coach Jeffrey but always yells at him when Jeffrey does not understand a problem. Jeffrey cannot tolerate this, so he gets Tad to coach him. He teaches Tad how to walk by using the treadmill. In the end, Jeffrey passes the standardized exam, but Tad dies because of liver failure when his cancer is treated, so he never accomplishes his dream. The lesson that After Ever After taught me was to be grateful about my life because there are many people who are not as fortunate as I am.
Again, I enjoyed After Ever After because of the moral of the story: to be thankful for your life. Still, I found the book sad because Tad dies, so he never gets the chance to accomplish his dream. I do not think that anything in the book really needs to be improved because everything is clear, which makes it a page-turner. I would recommend After Ever After to both teenage boys and girls because there is some mature material in the book. This book reminds me of Freak the Mighty because in the end of that book, the protagonist's best friend dies, which makes the main character devastated for a while. All in all, After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick, is definitely a book that makes you stop and think about how lucky you are, and it also makes you think about your life in a unique way.

I read the first book "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" when I myself was in 8th grade and was dealing with my six year old brother who was fighting Leukemia himself. The first book was given to me by the program that my brother was apart of while in treatment, and I loved the first, so of course I had to read the second one. I loved the first book, and I loved this book. I won't spoil it for you, but this book had me in tears after reading it and it made me more appreciative that my brother ended up beating his disease, just like I always knew he would :). I'm glad that this author wrote these books, because for those having to watch a sibling fighting a disease as serious as this, it's a bit of added comfort, and even something to be hopeful for.

AFTER EVER AFTER by Jordan Sonnenblick is the sequel to DRUMS, GIRLS, & DANGEROUS PIE. It is eight years later and life is continuing for the Alper family.

Jeffrey is ironically starting the eighth grade. That's the grade his older brother, Steven, was in when Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia. Jeffrey is now in remission from the disease, but he suffers from some side effects from the chemo treatment that saved his life. He walks with a limp, his attention wanders easily, and his brain just refuses to process anything related to math.

Not a big deal, you say. Well, if your father is an accountant and the mailman has just delivered a letter saying that every eighth grader in the state must pass a set of required tests, including a math test, or repeat the eighth grade, let's just say things have looked rosier.

A lot of other things have changed for Jeffrey, as well. His brother graduated from high school and went off to college. Again, not a big deal, but then Steven decided after three years of college that he would drop everything and head to Africa to become part of a drum circle. That left Jeffrey on his own to deal with his last year of middle school.

Fortunately, back in fourth grade, Jeffrey found his best friend, Tad. Tad was also a cancer survivor. In fact, Tad had survived the disease twice. It left him weak enough to need a wheelchair, but it certainly strengthened his wit and wisdom when it came to dealing with daily life.

When Tad learns about the state testing requirement, he steps up to help Jeffrey by becoming his official math tutor. The two make a deal that Jeffrey will study hard to pass the test, and Tad will train hard so he is able to walk across the eighth grade graduation stage under his own power.

Jordan Sonnenblick continues Jeffrey's story in his signature style using an authentic teenage voice and laugh-out-loud humor. By asking his main character to adjust to a learning disability and a physical handicap, as well as changes in his family structure, Sonnenblick creates a new depth to the sequel. The determination he showed as a young boy dealing with cancer helps him with the struggle to be successful at school and also at any new challenges thrown his way.

This is a sequel I was not expecting, but I was thrilled when it came to my attention.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Besides the spelling mistakes and poor editing, I did manage to finish this book. Wow! This book is completely unrealistic, did the author even do any research about children who are cancer survivors? The author tries so hard to write a children's book, although secretly he's hoping this book will win him all kinds of awards and glory, when it's obvious he has no sensitivity people who have had cancer.

Skip this book!