{"product_id":"bless-the-blood-9780593529492","title":"Bless the Blood","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA searing debut YA poetry and essay collection about a Black cancer patient who faces medical racism after being diagnosed with leukemia in their early twenties, for fans of Audre Lorde''s \u003ci\u003eTheCancer Journals \u003c\/i\u003eandLaurie Halse Anderson''s \u003ci\u003eShout\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they''re suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don?t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of well-meaning but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela''s diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to therapy in wealthier neighborhoods, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBless the Blood:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ \u003c\/i\u003e\"Nehanda infuses queer Black disabled resilience and wretchedness into a poetic sinew that stretches, tears, and heals again and again...Shatters mirrors and windows to reveal the jagged shards of self-determination: 'gently volatile' and absolutely crucial.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e★ \u003c\/i\u003e\"A forcefully crafted collection of poetic and narrative storytelling with devastating impact\"\u003ci\u003e \u003cbr\u003e—Publishers Weekly, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ “Nehanda is a gifted poet with a fiercely honest, achingly vulnerable voice. They reveal both the ugly and the beautiful, their anger (‘Concept: Coraline but Make It Black’) as compelling as their stunning love poems (‘Heaven Is at Grandma’s House’ is unforgettable) and odes (‘Nail Salon as Self-Care’)…Teens will recognize the inspirations for many of the poems, from bell hooks to Megan Thee Stallion, as they follow Nehanda’s journey to its cathartic, revelatory end.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e★ \"\u003c\/i\u003eNehanda crafts a gritty collection of poems and short essays that speak to the emotional, financial, physical, and social circumstances of illness and medical racism in America. ...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eBless the Blood\u003c\/i\u003e is unlike any book I’ve read before. In a voice that’s \u003cb\u003eutterly electric and completely new\u003c\/b\u003e, Walela Nehanda explodes the tidy narratives of the typical illness arc. Equal parts prose and poetry, memoir and manifesto, this book\u003cb\u003e rejects every trope of what it means to be sick and disabled.\u003c\/b\u003e When in the throes of illness, it’s so easy to feel helpless, but \u003ci\u003eBless the Blood\u003c\/i\u003e pulses with a power that’s contagious. Reading this book gives me the energy to take it on.\" —Suleika Jaouad, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBetween Two Kingdoms\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Walela Nehanda’s \u003ci\u003eBless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e cuts deep into the pain, everyday details, dysfunctions, dreams, and desires of being sick and disabled. Nehanda’s depiction of the medical industrial complex is spot on. ...\u003cb\u003eA haunting and powerful read\u003c\/b\u003e.\"—Alice Wong, Founder and Director, Disability Visibility Project\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With this stunning collection of poetry, journal entries, prose poems, vignettes, notes to self, notes to all the rest of us, it becomes clear that Nehanda's gift with words also serves as their lifeline to living with leukemia. \u003cb\u003eTheir refusal to sugar-coat, sanitize, sterilize, normalize, etc. is what makes this book genuinely more uplifting to me than most all illness and disability narratives.\u003c\/b\u003e This reality, so masterfully delivered and coming from a young queer Black nonbinary person, makes it the only real successor to my beloved Audre Lorde's \u003ci\u003eCancer Journals\u003c\/i\u003e I have ever encountered. Whether unpacking medical racism, economic hardship, or everyday ableism—whether investigating family bonds, community efforts, and the grace of our ancestors—\u003ci\u003eBless the Blood\u003c\/i\u003e goes all out and truly deserves its own section, shelf, category.\" —Porochista Khakpour, author of \u003ci\u003eSick: A Memoir \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Penguin Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49403261944151,"sku":"9780593529492","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780593529492.jpg?v=1730482930","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/bless-the-blood-9780593529492","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}