Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

By Lurlene McDaniel

Book Overview

Sometimes Carrie Blake feels she just can't stand??life's problems or pain. At fifteen, she's had??leukemia for three years, and although the disease is??in remission, she's never sure when things... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553288970
• ISBN13: 9780553288971
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf Library
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.1" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Another poignant novel from Ms. Daniel

Carrie Blake is a fifteen-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. At that time, she also had to deal with her parents' divorce. She meets Keith Gardner, an athlete at her high school, who also had cancer, Hodgkin's disease. Both are in the hospital support group. They are both assigned to work on the picnic for cancer patients. As they get to know one another, both become great friends. Keith has a wonderful family who treats Carrie very kindly, while Carrie's parents are both seeing other people. But not everything is perfect for the Gardners. Soon, Keith's cancer returns, and there is nothing that can be done. Keith's family, and Carrie, have to learn how to live without him. This is a really great story, with plenty of emotion, as all of Lurlene McDaniel's books are.

NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP

i have read all of the lurlene mcdaniel books and i loved all of them!this one really got my attention though!its about a girl named carrie.her parents just got a divorce and it was tearing her up.Carrie was diagnosed with leukemia and went to a support group.there she gets to know keith gardner.his family becomes quitte close to carrie.keith gets an x-ray and finds he has a tumor in his stomach.the family goes to a camping spot while keith starts to slip away.in this carrie learns what a true family is.i realy recomend this book to all preteens and teens!10-17it really is a 5 star book!

How can teen lit be so good?

With a few exceptions, I read no teen literature-and Lurlene McDaniel is the biggest exception. Her books never fail to make me cry with her tender portrayals and realistic characters.And I cried when I read about Carrie, a girl with leukemia who befriends a boy named Keith who suffers from cancer as well. Carrie's life and family were torn apart a few years before when her parents divorced angrily, and even now they are afraid to take her to clinics or cancer survivor picnics. Her ditzy mother is absorbed in her boyfriend and her job, and her father is absorbed in blaming her mother.And Carrie finds a center of peace in Keith's family, which managed to stay together even in the worst times. But Keith is dying from a flare-up of his leukemia, and Carrie must learn to deal with it...The writing is exquisite as usual, but McDaniel really outdoes herself in the last scene with Keith. Her language is beautiful and expressive, and I could actually see the characters' faces. All readers will sympathize with Carrie and her broken home, and the parents who don't seem to care enough about what happens to her. A must-read for every teenager and adult alike.

A heart wrenching novel which deals with reals life issues.

I would recommend this book, it is an extremely wonderful and heart wrenching novel which deals with real life issues involving the struggle between teenagers and a life threatening disease. It is suited for families that have dealt with leukemia or any type of other serious disease. People between the ages of 14 through 17 should probably read this novel because they can see how some kids their age live their life in pain. The teens in the story are not only confronted with leukemia, the sickness, chemotherapy, radiation, and physical changes which go along with the disease but also with the way their friends and family react to them. After Carrie and Keith go through chemotherapy at the hospital they find their worlds are turned upside down. Their relationships between friends and family had changed. They were frightened that their cancer would return. Their lives as typical teenagers were over. Carrie's parents divorce left her feeling torn between them, and she doesn't understand how much harder they made her daily life. Keith's family is very supportive and is always their for him. After Carrie and Keith met at the Cancer Support Group Carrie's life seemed to be brighter and more open. They discovered they both had survived cancer and became friends. Their disease brought them together and helped them to face their problems. Keith's illness worsens and he knows that he can no longer fight dying. He decided to participate in a hospice program which allows him to remain at home instead of the hospital. Carrie and Keith's relationship deepens throughout Keith's second incident with cancer. Good aspects of this book are the understandings of what some young adults have to go through and learning that you have only one life to live and that if you are in good health, thank god. Bad aspects of the book is feeling the pain for Carrie and Keith's families. This book was very emotional and was hard to read without a tear rolling down your cheek.

My Favorite

I'm 16, I've read all kids of books from completely different types of authors, but this is my all-time favorite book. "Watching" Carrie and Keith at the cabin as he prepares to die is the most touching thing I have ever read, and that may surprise some people since this is simply young adult fiction... but it's not. I seriously recommend this book to anyone who is interested in medicine or childhood cancer (like I am), or to anyone who just feels like crying.