A book about an eleven-year-old boy fighting cancer could be incredibly depressing, but in the hands of Santa Barbara author Valerie Hobbs, Defiance is a
tribute to the human spirit.
Toby and his mother have rented a cabin in the country for the summer, and Toby is determined to make the best of his apparent remission. He’s tired of painful treatments and the stares his bald head gets him. He just wants to be left alone for a change. He wants to ride his bike and be a kid, things he hasn’t done since kindergarten.
Unfortunately, Toby finds a new lump on his side, a lump he decides to hide from his parents. He can’t bear the thought of being ripped from vacation to go home and start those awful treatments again, so he spends as much time as he can out exploring the countryside.
That’s how he meets the elderly but fiercely independent, Pearl. Pearl is so nearly blind that she can’t see Toby’s bald head, so she treats him like a normal healthy kid. Toby is so impressed by Pearl’s ability to get around her age and blindness that he sees no reason why she should be forced to go live with her bossy
daughters.
This unlikely friendship grows with the love they share for Blossom, a deep-thinking cow with wise, dark
eyes. Blossom’s illness inspires both Toby and Pearl to fight for their own lives, and for what’s important in them.
Defiance is told with sensitivity, humor and poetry, and is recommended for children Age 10 and up.
tribute to the human spirit.
Toby and his mother have rented a cabin in the country for the summer, and Toby is determined to make the best of his apparent remission. He’s tired of painful treatments and the stares his bald head gets him. He just wants to be left alone for a change. He wants to ride his bike and be a kid, things he hasn’t done since kindergarten.
Unfortunately, Toby finds a new lump on his side, a lump he decides to hide from his parents. He can’t bear the thought of being ripped from vacation to go home and start those awful treatments again, so he spends as much time as he can out exploring the countryside.
That’s how he meets the elderly but fiercely independent, Pearl. Pearl is so nearly blind that she can’t see Toby’s bald head, so she treats him like a normal healthy kid. Toby is so impressed by Pearl’s ability to get around her age and blindness that he sees no reason why she should be forced to go live with her bossy
daughters.
This unlikely friendship grows with the love they share for Blossom, a deep-thinking cow with wise, dark
eyes. Blossom’s illness inspires both Toby and Pearl to fight for their own lives, and for what’s important in them.
Defiance is told with sensitivity, humor and poetry, and is recommended for children Age 10 and up.
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