Standing Tall by Kathy and Joel Soukup

I'm on a kick about reading books about medically complex children recently. Perhaps it is because I have one myself?!

Standing Tall is a memoir about Joel Soukup's journey with Osteosarcoma. Because of the location of his cancer, it was necessary for doctors to amputate Joel's cancer at the hip. Even with this drastic measure, his cancer returned in his spine. Currently, Joel is in remission and enjoying a normal life.

While I appreciated Joel's journey and struggle his mother Kathy shared, I struggled with the quality of the writing. It seemed to jump around quite a bit and repeated itself often. The lack of a smooth timeline made it difficult for me to get into the book. I did like the insights from Joel, and I think showed bravery for that young man to share the emotions he felt during that time. I do wish that the font for Joel's thoughts had been different. It was just slightly smaller and it was hard to tell which thoughts were his or Kathy's. I read the e-book, so I'm not sure if this is different in the paper version.

All in all, it was a nice memoir of a young man's cancer journey, but it didn't tug at my heart strings like other cancer memoirs I have read.

Disclaimer: I'm a Book Looks Blogger and receive complimentary books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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