The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise

March 2, 2015
In a satisfying, if somewhat derivative romance, British author Crow chronicles the relationship between two cancer patients in northern England. When witty 15-year-old narrator Francis is diagnosed with leukemia, his tenacious, hard-drinking mother and gay older brother rally with humor as he enters a teen care facility for treatment. There he meets a sharp-tongued girl named Amber, whose glib sense of humor results in conflicts with some of the other patients. For a loner like Francis, however, Amber proves to be not only his first love, but also his first real friend. As Francis and Amber fall in love amid their cancer treatments, their narrative is infused with tenderness, pain, and many moments of levity (including an incident in which Francis vomits on a cop's shoes). Tragedy looms asâin a setup familiar to star-crossed YA romances built around illnessâone of the characters enters remission, and the other does not. Nevertheless, Crow, in his first book for teens, creates vivid characters who fortify and uplift Francis, and serve as assets to the central love story. Ages 14âup.

January 1, 2015
Learning, loving and surviving with cancer. Suffering from headaches, weight loss, bloody noses and more, 15-year-old Francis is diagnosed with leukemia, to the dismay of his functioning-alcoholic mother and his older, gay brother. While in treatment at a local hospital in northeastern England, he meets tough, straight-shooting, sassy Amber, who intrigues and dazzles him. The two fall tepidly in love, and the novel progresses as expectedly any romance between two teenagers with leukemia might. From the beginning, Crow establishes that Francis is considered "sensitive" or "soft" by his mother and brother, and readers should keep that in mind as they make their ways through. Parts of their affair will have readers rolling their eyes in embarrassment, but other parts will grab their attention with Crow's cinematic ability to create an emotion or character with such sharpness they'll want to read it again. All of the characters are rendered with affection and plenty of detail; readers will especially like Francis' mother and his brother's friend Fiona, both of whom have fiery personalities set against warmer cores. Francis himself may seem a bit whiny at times, but his sense of introspection helps counterbalance the fluff. Readers who like to cry will definitely need a box of tissues before they reach the end. Mushy but satisfying. (Fiction. 13-17)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-Fifteen-year-old Francis has enough problems. His awkward sense of humor alienates his peers, his older brother only comes home to steal food from the pantry, and his mom is still mourning the death of his little sister. The last thing Francis needs is a leukemia diagnosis. He is given an extended stay in the teen cancer ward of the local hospital and has nothing but time on his hands. At first, his roommates do not appreciate him any more than his classmates did. But then the indomitable Amber moves in and Francis's world changes. Amber understands Francis in a way that no one else ever has. She dares him to be different, and soon they fall in love. As their lives become more intertwined and Francis slowly gets better, he realizes that Amber may not be able to follow him through recovery. Francis and his family are humorous and special. Readers will welcome the different British cultural idiosyncrasies in this cast of characters. Unfortunately, Amber falls flat. She is an extreme manic pixie dream-girl stereotype-one with which readers are probably already familiar. She never has time to really develop on the page, so the romance between her and Francis is unexpected and hard to understand. The story of young love in the cancer ward has been done before and other titles have been more masterful with the topic. Recommend to readers who simply cannot wait for John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) to come back on the shelf.-Morgan Brickey, Marion County Public Library System, FL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Frankie Wootton is a 15-year-old romantic loner with a wild imagination. He lives in Tyne-and-Wear, England, with his single, hard-working mother, whose focus is on providing the best life she can for him and his older brother. When Frankie is diagnosed with leukemia, his world becomes dominated by excruciating treatments and a lengthy hospital stay. In the treatment ward he shares with three other patients, he meets and falls wholly in love with the intrepid, exceedingly honest Amber Spratt, whose lower-income worldview never fails to surprise and educate those around her. The two become inseparable, and when they are released from the hospital, they do everything they can to be together, and they are especially grateful when their good days coincide. When Frankie's health improves and Amber's spirals downward, however, he is afraid of a future without her. Bravery and dread coexist, and the realities of cancer and family dynamics come to the surface. Crow skillfully crafts his characters to be real teens who struggle to be normal in the face of abnormal circumstances.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)