Why Me?
Robert & Laura Messinger
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2004 Little Mai Press
ISBN: 1893237028

Why Did I Have To Get Diabetes? Laura was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was three years old.

Now she is 9 & has adapted well to the daily regimen of finger pricks, insulin shots & diet restrictions. Despite all of that, Laura leads a full life that includes ballet recitals, piano lessons & lots of play.

Even though she now has a basic understanding of what diabetes is, she sometimes gets sad & a little mad & asks “Why me? Why did I have to get diabetes?”

“After reading one of her favorite books, for the umpteenth time, about taking diabetes to school, she asked me if I knew of any books about how it feels to have diabetes,” says Robert Messinger. “We decided right there & then that we were going to write one together.” & Why Me? is it! Now Laura can add “author” to her credits.

In Why Me? Laura tells of her family times & about a classmate with whom she makes an unlikely collaboration as they both come to terms with their feelings that often accompany chronic conditions, transforming it from defining them, into just something they have.

Why Me? is as bright & breezy as a Third Grader who is thrilled with being alive. It is also a sincere story of the dramas that rock their world: parties missed, misunderstandings with parents, frustration, anger & loss of self-esteem.

With lovely illustrations & a fast, easy-to-read story, Laura takes us with her on her adventures both at home where she has to face some major disappointments & at school where she reluctantly steps forward to help another student weather his first months as a diabetic. Even though this is “fiction”, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Laura. She has been quite a brave girl all these years coping with finger pricks & insulin injections, & now has learnt to be compassionate. I could not put this enchanting book down!

Why Me? also contains basic information about how diabetes affects children, how it is controlled & how food affects the body.

I highly recommend Why Me? for all the youngsters & their parents you know who are living with diabetes.

For ages 3-11. Why Me? needs to be in every school, house of worship, summer camp, Boys & Girls club, library, doctor's, clinic & hospital waiting room.

Do catch my Interview with this father & daughter writing team, I know you're going to enjoy meeting them!

More from Robert Messinger: I've Got Mail!
(11/07/04)

Rebecca