Debut YA poetry and essay collection about a Black cancer patient who faces medical racism after being diagnosed with leukemia in their early twenties, for fans of Audre Lorde''s The Cancer Journals and Laurie Halse Anderson''s Shout.

When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they''re suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don’t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of "well-meaning" but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they share their story online.

But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realmWalela''s diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to oncology appointments in Beverly Hills, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled.

Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.

In Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.


Format Inbunden Omfång 400 sidor Språk Engelska Förlag Penguin Young Readers Utgivningsdatum 2024-02-06 ISBN 9780593529492