Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Written by Lurlene McDaniel
Reviewed by EK (age 8)
Now I Lay me Down to Sleep was a very sad book. Cary is a 15 year old girl with cancer. She needs to go to the hospital for some tests. They are not the type of tests you get nervous about in school. After the tests, a nurse comes up to Cary and tells her to do an assignment with Keith, a boy who also has cancer. They have to make games for a picnic. That's when the excitement starts. When the picnic begins, Keith gets hurt and goes to the hospital. That's when they find out that Keith's cancer is getting worse. The doctors find a tumor in his liver. Keith is going to die. This was a sad, but good book. Read it because you'll love it!
I felt sad as I read this book. One reason why I felt sad is because Cary's parents divorced. It wasn't surprising though; they were always fighting and disagreeing. I felt sorry for Cary. Another reason why I felt sad is because Mom doesn't care about Cary. She never takes Cary for blood tests. She cares about her job way too much, and there's no room for Cary in her life. She's a very irresponsible parent. It was also sad because Keith's family wasn't the same after they found out Keith was going to die. They were fighting, not talking, and crying. There are some other reasons why it was sad, but you need to read the book to find them out.
This book was really surprising. Cary has cancer. That amazed me. I mean, how many people do you know with cancer? Here's something that's really surprising. Cary's mom doesn't care about her or her cancer. Well, you think that's unbelievable? I bet you weren't expecting this. There's no cure for Keith's illness, and he dies. Get this, they're having a death party! I've never heard of that. That was just some of the surprises. I hope you can find the rest.
This book is like another book I read called Harry Potter. These two books have people who are alike, and they are Cary and Harry. Somebody dies unexpectedly in both books. Those characters were both people who Cary and Harry cared about. Another reason how the characters are alike is they both don't have a real family. That means they don't have a mom and dad who are married. How sad. They both have sad experiences.
I recommend this book to people who like sad and emotional books. I would also like to suggest this book to people who want learn about cancer. It is good for people who like long books. Happy reading!