Why Me?

by Deborah Kent

Requiring a kidney transplant or dialysis for the rest of her life, Rachel, a young girl stricken with kidney disease, begins her search for a donor and discovers that she was adopted. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590441795
• ISBN13: 9780590441797
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

"Will Rachel's life ever be the same?"

When I read this book, I didn't know anything about the life of people with kidney problems. Though "Why Me?" is fiction Deborah Kent does a great job describing Rachel's feelings and moods.Rachel wakes up one morning and can hardly move. She calls for her mother and is taken to the hospital. There, she finds out she needs a kidney transplant. Since she was adopted, she doesn't know any of her blood relatives. She is put on a kidney transplant list and tries to find her birth mother, hoping she will donate a kidney. When Rachel finally finds her, it is awkward because she isn't sure what to expect, or if this woman even wants to help her.This book is 177 pages, and with the content, it is suited for the 11-14 year old age group."Rachel wakes up one morning to find her world has been smashed to smithereens..." comes from the back of the book, and some reviewer tried to pass that off as a review. I believe that's called plagerism.

a girl alomost like rachel

I read this book back in 5th grade i was like 12 now i'm 19. I have been trying to find this book for years it has helped me alot in wayz and get through life alot better. I had a kidney transplant 13 years ago and went throguht almost everything Rachel did. Now i need another kidney cause my kidney faiuled and i'm back on dialysis but this book helped me.

Diagnosis very good

This is a fantastic novel,about a teenage girl whose kidneys have ceised to work.This makes her feel very dizzy and sick and she is unable to pass water.She will have to live on dialasys for the rest of her whole entire life,unless she can find her birth mother,who she hopes will give her a kidney.Dialysis involves a needle or tube being inserted into the stomach to fill the body with or empty it of fluid.She can eat very few types of food and can only drink very little.Nor she can swim(due to the tube in her tummy).I have arthritic pain and although that aint nice,this novel made me truly feel so lucky that my organs work properly.I won't ever forget this book,Deborah Kent should be proud to have that kind of talent.This book is going to teach people what it is like to have kidney disease,more than any encyclopedia or medical show would.It isn't a picnic to read of medical procedures but I recommend this book if you would like something realistic and sympathetic.

The back of the book reads:

Rachel wakes up one morning to find her world had been smashed to smithereens. Her whole body feels heavy and painful, and she can barely sit up. Rushed to the hospital, she learns that she has a kidney disease. Rachel will have to go on dialysis for the rest of her life...or until an organ donor can be found. The doctors tell Rachel that the best donor would bea blood relative. But she is adopted, and knows nothing about her biological mother. All Rachel can think is, Why did this have to happen to me? As she struggles with her illness, Rachel must also handle the emotional ups and downs of trying to find her birth mother. Will they be able to locate her? What will she be like? And will she agree to give Rachel what she needs-a second chance for life? This book is really good because it made me not to take my health for granted, and at the same time taught me about kidnet disease and dialysis. It's also a good story, and worth every cent I paid for it.