Last Dance/Lurlene McDaniel

Plain City, Ohio:Darby Creek Publishing, 2005, c.1982

Last but not least one for the girls!!
Rachel Deering is aspiring to be a great ballerina but her world comes tumbling down as she discovers she has diabetes.
She now has to learn how to manage this disease and find ways in which to cope with being different from all of her friends. She wonders if she will ever be able to dance again if she has a reaction to insulin. There are many challenges and fears which she has to learn to overcome. The reader will be engrossed right from the beginning.The ending will surprise too.
This book is in paperback form, not a very long story but a nice light read. The delicious pink cover with ballet shoes and a rose on it will appeal to young girls.
New themes in each chapter are indicated by a rose. A nice touch.
This is a good size book to slip into a bag to read on a bus or where ever the reader can snatch a moment.
I recommend this book as an excellent introduction to to the world of diabetes as experienced by a young teenage girl.

Type 1 Teens

Type 1 Teens/Korey K. Hood,PHD. Illustrated by Bryan Ische.

Washington, DC: Magination Press, 2010.



I know this is another nonfiction book but it is the BEST one I have found so far on type 1 diabetes written specifically for teens. It is written in their language and very easy to understand. This book provides ideas and strategies on how to manage everyday life with type 1 diabetes. There are lots of pragmatic tips with a particularly down-to-earth chapter called 'My (So-Called) Friends'. It feels like the author is talking directly to the reader and could even be in the same room! Fantastic for the troubled teenager who does not know how to cope with diabetes in front of friends.
There is also a chapter on Relationships and Sex. Wow. A must read for any teenager  who as the author says 'It maybe more interesting because these are topics you are thinking about or because, for some reason or another, no one has talked to you about these things( Hood, 2010, p.115).
The author is humourous but provides sensible advice.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm 'old'! I hope every young adult ( and perhaps anyone) with type 1 diabetes will read this book and be encouraged and reassured that diabetes can be managed effectively and life can be lived to the full in spite of it.
Interestingly the title of the book and the  boy on the cover are illustrated in blue - the symbol of World Diabetes Day 2009 - 2013.

Joe the Barbarian/Grant Morrison,writer, creator; Sean Murphy, artist; Dave Stewart, colorist; Todd Klein, letterer.
The Deluxe Edition.
London: Vertigo/DC Comics, 2011.

Joe, is a 13 year old  an insulin dependent diabetic, who slips into a hypoglycemic state of hallucination. He enters a world of adventure and daring, strangely familiar yet unlike anywhere he's ever been before. He encounters King Death and embarks on a war that sees Joe as the saviour who can vanquish him.While at the same time, in the real world, he searches for a can of soda to regulate his blood sugar. Gripping stuff!
This graphic novel will certainly appeal to male young adults 12+. It's full of darkness, and fighting and fantasy. Many of the illustrations are in a frame form which adds to the excitement and tension of the story. There are some full length pages where the plot reaches a crescendo.Although the novel appears to be dark and austere there is an underlying message portrayed in it of working through the problems and challenges in life and coming out victorious at the other end.
This novel encompasses the 8 comics that were originally issued as single entities. At the back of the book the intial sketches by Sean Murphy are included together with commentaries and character designs and a storytelling breakdown.
I highly recommend this book as a novel way of introducing the characteristics of  diabetes to young adults.

Sweetblood

Sweetblood/Pete Hautman
NewYork, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003








Lucy Szabo is a diabetic who is preoccupied by vampires. She sees herself as a modern day vampire because of her disease and calls herself Sweetblood. Through the  Internet chat-room, Transylvania, she meets Draco who professes to be a real life vampire. Lucy becomes more and more caught up in the world of 'goths and vampires' and her grades begin to slip , her relationship with her parents worsens and she becomes unable to manage her diabetes. She meets Draco face to face and through her association with him and his strange world, she has to make some difficult choices.But is it too late......?

This book is a fantastic read for ages 12-up. And it was written before the Twilight series! Young adults who are keen on vampire stories will find this book very much to their liking. The connection between diabetes and vampires is absorbing and credible. The jacket cover of the book is enticing with the title character being all in red with drops of blood spattered on the white background. The inside of the book is in stark contrast to this with big  black chapter numbers and chapter headings in large black font. The blood droplets are on every page and are also in black. Very 'goth-like'. The book is written in the first person making the story line very plausible with imaginative dialogue. The main characters are introduced early on in the book which makes for a swift paced story.
The author himself explains on the inside back cover that he is insulin-dependent so he has  first hand knowledge of what Lucy is experiencing.
Sweetblood has been nominated for numerous book awards and won the Minnesota Book Award in 2004.

The Type1 Mom Song

I added this YouTube clip for another bit of fun.
A mother of diabetic children is describing her day via song .
Have the volume down low though. The singing can get a bit 'screechy' at times!
Enjoy a little light relief!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BDATgiMwRNA

The Dinosaur Tamer: And Other Stories for Children with Diabetes

The Dinosaur Tamer: And Other Stories for Children with Diabetes/
Marcia Levine Mazur, Peter Banks and Andrew Keegan.
Contemporary Books, 1995.

There are twenty five stories in this book and aimed at children aged 8 and older. But it is also suitable for an adult to read to a younger child.
The main characters have type 1 diabetes and the stories contain different situations whereby the characters have to manage their diabetes and not be afraid to ask for help.
The book was written in 1995 and the information may be a bit outdated. The treatment of diabetes has come a long way since then. However it is still a valuable resource for use in discussion with a diabetic child or young adolescent.They will be able to relate to the stories.

The Truth About Stacey

The Truth About Stacey(The Baby-Sitters Club)/Text by Ann M. Martin, Art by Raina Telgemeier



New York, USA:Scolastic Inc, 2006





This book is part of a very popular series - The Baby-Sitters Club. Stacey
has moved to a new town with her parents. She is trying to manage her diabetes but her parents are very overprotective. Stacey doesn't want her new friends to know she has diabetes in case they avoid her. She also has difficulties in her baby sitting club, has boyfriend problems and has to contend with a rival baby-sitting club. All good reading for children aged 9 and older.
This book has a colourful cover which is in stark contrast to the black and white graphics inside. The reader is not distracted by colourful illustrations thus making the dialogue the focal point of the story. The dialogue is easy to read with lots of speech bubbles. The management of diabetes in an adolescent is cleverly incorporated into the storyline without it being too oppressive.
I highly recommend this book as a fun and entertaining read, at the same time being informative but not too overwhelming.