NEW FEATURE LAUNCH -The Ascending Butterfly Book Club - Featured Book in the Spotlight

This contest is now closed for entries! I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their amazing stories of strength and perseverance. The winner has been notified and once the winner confirms, this thread will be updated with a winner announcement shortly. Stay tuned, September will bring a new book club title!

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?

That’s the question the twenty young people in this book had to answer when they were diagnosed with childhood cancer. Perseverance shares life lessons learned through their stories and educates the reader on how to incorporate them into his/her life. It tells of their trials and tribulations, of their triumphs, and of the unique challenges that day-to-day life brings them. Perseverance also provides an intimate look at the lives and journeys of these young people and how their courage and strength have affected the lives of others.

These honest, first-person accounts lend amazing depth to the inspiring stories of these young men and women. Inside, you’ll meet Zac York, who tells of climbing Mount Whitney—on crutches—after battling brain cancer. You’ll meet Alex Oden, who—just days after brain surgery—gave his 8th grade peers a graduation speech called “A Day Well Spent,” in which he challenged them to make a difference in just one day. You’ll meet Kristen Jones, who, while battling leukemia, was able to pass the MCAT and pursue her dream of becoming a pediatric oncologist.

Twenty unique and fascinating stories, with one common theme: perseverance. The stories of these heroes demonstrate how anyone can learn to live with energy and passion, regardless of the obstacles to be faced, and will remind us all that now is everything.

I will admit my desire to obtain the review copy of this book and practically devour it was because Cancer hits home for my family. This wasn't just a 'read' it was incredibly personal. I've had to watch not just older family members battle this disease but also one too young. I'm amazed how easily conversational a book on a subject so serious turned out to be.

I do a lot of reading and writing to keep up the continuity on not only this inspirational blog but other writing that I do. Sometimes it's fashion, sometimes beauty, and it's very easy to get consumed by it all. Life is busy. But what happens when life forces you to slow down? Perseverance is what happens. And reading about how each young person in this book copes with how to press forward when your life stops is awe inspiring.

To say I recommend this title is an understatement. Sometimes we find ourselves at a loss on what to say when someone we love is going through something like this, I wish I had this book sooner. For young people going through it, here are your own thoughts, fears, ups and downs right there to help you through it. For any parent of a young person battling Cancer, this gives you the strength to know that you are not alone. That there are other parents like you out there having to dig deep inside and help your child fight the fight of their life. This book shows you that it can be done. It can be done with dignity, laughter, grace, and inspiration.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carolyn’s Bio:

Carolyn Rubenstein has spent most of her life working with children with cancer, in one form or another. She first met “kids with cancer” when she was six years old, and visited Camp Sunshine in Maine. Even at that young age, meeting these children affected her deeply—they were her peers, but considered “different”. But really, Carolyn realized, they weren’t different at all. She made dear friends at that camp, and it started her on a path.

That path has taken many turns. At 14, although still just a kid herself, Carolyn started “Carolyn’s Compassionate Children” (CCC) a non-profit organization that began as a pen-pal program for kids with cancer. As the years passed, Carolyn “grew up” with many of her friends with cancer, and saw the financial difficulties they were facing when it came to paying for college. Often, these young people had so much medical debt that paying for school seemed out of the question. To address this need, CCC changed focus from just a pen-pal organization to one that provides scholarships and support to childhood cancer survivors. In addition to providing its own scholarships, today CCC features on its website the “CCCpedia,” a database accessing information about more than 3,000 college scholarships for young adult cancer survivors.

A native of Boca Raton, Florida, in 2007 Carolyn graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Duke University with a BA in psychology. She began her PhD program in clinical psychology at Harvard University in the fall of 2008. Now age 24, in her free time she practices yoga, writes letters, and spends as much time as she can with her family, her friends, and her dog Lila Rose.

Carolyn is a Featured Blogger on the Huffington Post and also blogs on Psychology Today.

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WIN IT! - 1 reader will receive an AUTOGRAPHED COPY of the book.

How to Win: You must be a follower of Ascending Butterfly to be eligible for this and all giveaways. In addition, please share a time in your life when perseverance pulled you through! Comments that don't follow these instructions, or just say enter me will NOT be entered into the giveaway!

Please leave your email address somewhere in your comment. (You can format it this way for security, example: ascendingbutterfly AT mail host DOT com), if your blogger profile has your email you can just indicate this in your entry.

Please follow directions or you will be disqualified! All comments are moderated, so no worries if your comment doesn't appear on the site right away. This giveaway is open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike, but you must follow this blog for your entry to count. You have from now until Monday, August 24, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST) to comment and be entered for a chance to win.

Winner will be announced shortly after Thursday, August 27th! Giveaway open to USA only, 18+.

EXTRA CREDIT:

• Blog about this giveaway, linking to this giveaway post. Leave the URL in a comment


• Follow me @Tracy_Iglesias on Twitter (this is ascendingbutterfly’s editor) and give me your twitter ID in a comment


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