Goodnight, Beautiful

This tearjerker from British novelist/journalist Koomson (Marshmallows for Breakfast) explores the experience of a parent coping with a critically ill child. Seven-year-old Leo may never wake up from a medically induced coma after an aneurysm and a delicate operation. If that's not harsh enough, his mother, Nova Kumalisi, is also desperate for Leo's birth father, Mal, to know their son before it's too late. Leo is the result of Nova's agreeing to be a surrogate for lifelong friend Mal and his wife, Stephanie, but in the middle of the pregnancy, Stephanie became jealous of Nova and Mal's relationship and opted out of the arrangement. Nova chose to keep Leo and raise him on her own while Mal cut all ties with her and the child at his wife's request. Brimming with portents, this moving story captures the despair of a parent facing the prospect of losing a child. Best read with tissues at the ready. (Oct.)