Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir

Debut YA poetry and essays about a Black cancer patient who faces medical racism after being diagnosed with leukemia in their early twenties, for fans of 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 as Walela fundraises for surgeries online.

But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela'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 therapy in Beverly Hills, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.

In the tradition of Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.

ISBN-13: 9780593529492

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Kokila

Publication Date: 02-06-2024

Pages: 400

Age Range: 14 - UP Years