A Story about Cancer (With a Happy Ending)

By Saily Marrero

Inspired by the author’s encounter with a 10-year-old girl with leukemia, India Desjardins created A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending), a short graphic novel delivering exactly what it promises in the title, a cancer story, and a happy ending. Along with the help of illustrator, Marianne Ferrer, and translator, Solange Ouellet, the story is brought to English speaking audience.

Ferrer’s watercolor illustrations use different color schemes to differentiate between healthy and the sick. Healthier people are given more vibrant colors like reds, maroons, and purples. Meanwhile, the protagonist and other sick people are primarily illustrated with muted blues and greys. This color scheme extends to the different emotions experienced by the protagonist. The most colorful scenes occur when she’s with Victor, her main love interest. Meanwhile, we see greys and blues when she is at the hospital, enduring various examinations, or awaiting news about her health.

Although the story is about cancer, older children can read this story and understand the difficulties and challenges cancer can pose for a family. As stated in the title, this cancer story has a happy ending where the protagonist is “cured” from cancer after years of battling the illness. For the author it was important to have a happy ending after meeting a 10-year-old leukemia patient who “told her that she was fed up. All the stories about children like her who had cancer had sad endings, so she didn’t want to read them. [unpaginated]” For Desjardins, A Story About Cancer (With a Happy Ending) was an opportunity to rectify that wrong. Although they are few, it’s good to remember that cancer stories with happy endings for children do exist like Mollie Ray’s Giant or Jordan Sonnenblick’s Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

Moreover, the story also shows the mental health toll it takes on the protagonist. Not only does she have cancer, but she’s also witness to how those around are affected by her diagnosis. Early in the book she states, “The problem is… people look at you in a certain way when you have cancer. It’s a look that says you’re going to die… I just wanted everyone to treat me like a normal person. Not feel sorry for me, or tell me how strong I was, or that I could beat this disease.” She was unintentionally being othered by her peers because of her illness.

Ironically, words of encouragement made the protagonist feel worse and added pressure to feel better, although she knew “there was nothing [she] could do to fight it” except to endure the medical exams and treatments. Her mother was one of those people constantly telling her how strong she was until they had a conversation about why it made her uncomfortable. Meanwhile, her father is constantly making jokes to keep things light. Both of these things bother the protagonist, but understands they are coping mechanisms for her parents.

While the audience knows the protagonist has leukemia, “cancer of the body’s blood forming tissues” (Mayo Clinic, 2022), the authors don’t go into detail about what that means or how it manifests in the body. We don’t see the symptoms that lead to a diagnosis, nor do we see conversations about what leukemia is, what type of leukemia, or treatment plans for the illness. However, we do see the protagonist going through chemotherapy, and some of the common side effects associated with it like fatigue and hair loss (American Cancer Society, 2020).

At the end of the story, there’s short explanation of what inspired the book and how this book is meant to “give any child who has cancer hope.”

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Saily Marrero, M.S.I. is the Nursing & Health Studies, Psychology, and Biology Librarian at the University of Miami. In her free time, she enjoys reading graphic novels and practicing yoga.

American Cancer Society. (2020, May 1, 2020). Chemotherapy Side Effects. American Cancer Society. Retrieved October 1, 2024 from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/treatment-types/chemotherapy/chemotherapy-side-effects.html

Mayo Clinic. (2022, September 21, 2022). Leukemia: Symptoms & Causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/leukemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20374373