What an honor it is to hear how The Goodbye Cancer Garden touches the lives of readers. I receive emails each month from around the country, sharing stories of how the book has brought hope to a family experiencing cancer, or given a grandma context for explaining her illness to her grandkids, or (I love this one) how it's brought smiles to the faces of little ones who have then wanted to plant their own goodbye cancer garden.
So when the book receives awards or honors, I am pleased to know that such recognition will get it into the hands of more readers. Imagine my surprise to learn The Goodbye Cancer Garden was selected as Best English Language Children's Book at the Sharjah (U.A.E) International Book Fair in late November of 2011. With this honor comes the possibility that the book will be published in Arabic and touch the lives of readers in the Middle East.
And just this week Cancer Garden was placed on the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Council) Choices list for 2012. The CCBC is a research and support organization for children's literature out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Its "choices" help libraries and other organizations know what's new and special for young readers out there. Wish I could thank the judging panels for both of these awards. Thank you!
