Athletic and easy going Zac has grown accustomed to being the youngest on the cancer ward. When the feisty, angry and 
rebellious Mia moves into the room next to his to say he’s surprised would be an understatement. Unable to leave his room due to his treatment Zac and Mia strike up a somewhat erratic and very unusual friendship consisting of late night Facebook conversations and random wall knocks. It’s not until they’re both thrust back into everyday life that they realize hospitals are hard, but real life is even harder.
Set in Australia Zac and Mia is told from the dual perspectives of the title characters, author A.J. Betts puts a teenage spin on life living with cancer in and outside of the hospital. Equal parts funny and touching both Zac and Mia deal with their illness in their own unique ways – Zac takes everything at face value, a realist he listens to the doctors and does everything by the book. But at night while his mom sleeps in a cot by his bed he peruses the internet obsessing over facts and stories. Mia meanwhile refuses to accept her diagnosis, preferring to pretend it’s just not happening, full of unbridled rage she is the unstoppable force to Zacs immoveable object and when they collide sparks fly!
Fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park will gravitate to this story of two teens searching for answers to life’s big questions and finding them (maybe?) in each other.
Why You’ll Love It
It’s witty, smart and full of heart.
Choice Quote: “Did you know three Australians die every year testing batteries on their tongues?”
Zac and Mia is published by HarperCollins
*This post was originally published on The O’Deary Library
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