Send Me a Sign

First-time author Schmidt gracefully incorporates weighty subject matter%E2%80%94a teenager battling leukemia%E2%80%94into an inspirational yet unsentimental novel about love, trust, and hope. After receiving her diagnosis, popular cheerleader Mia Moore%E2%80%94who obsessively seeks out hidden symbols and signs to determine her decision-making%E2%80%94faces two problems: surviving chemotherapy and following her mother's suggestion to keep her illness secret. Mia has already explained her condition to her longtime neighbor and confidante, Gyver, but his unconditional support doesn't make it any easier to lie to her girlfriends and her new boyfriend, Ryan. Pretending nothing is wrong is as taxing as her cancer treatments, and when Mia finally confesses the truth to Ryan and the cheerleading squad, their reactions are not what she expects. The dramatic physical changes Mia undergoes are honestly addressed, yet they are less in the forefront than her emotional transformation. Schmidt's heroine believably vacillates between stoicism and indignation as she learns to rely less on superstitious signals to predict her future and more on herself, taking charge of the matters within her control. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. Agent: Joe Monti, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (Oct.)