Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask tells the true, heart-wrenching story of Sam Lightner. Born with a rare disfiguring growth that covers and distorts the left side of his face, skull, and neck--Sam is determined to live a normal life. For fourteen years, doctors refuse to operate on Sam, until an elite team of surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital undertake a risky thirteen-hour operation to remove the malformation. Sam nearly dies on the operating table, but survives, and returns home to begin his freshman year of high school. However, when doctors discover excess fluid around his brain, Sam slips into a coma, and is not expected to live. As the family and doctors begin to give up, one doctor--pediatric neurosurgeon Monica Wehby--keeps believing, even as all hope seems lost. The only female in the boy's club of neurosurgery, Dr. Wehby is scorned for refusing to accept facts and for allowing her emotions--as a woman--to cloud her medical judgment. But she perseveres, staying by Sam's side, until he moves first a finger, then a foot, and finally, begins to interact with those around him.
Tom Hallman's Pulitzer prize-winning series on Sam Lightner in The Oregonian touched the city of Portland so profoundly that it generated more than ten thousand letters from readers. Now Tom Hallman takes us far deeper into the world Sam inhabits, encompassing startling and inspirational events up to the present day. A human story of hope in the face of tragedy, and the compassion to attempt the impossible, Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask shows how one boy--wanting nothing more than to be part of the regular world--is helped along his journey by medical miracles, and by the generosity of the human heart.
Publishers Weekly
Hallman's writing is crisp and affecting, though also sometimes overly dramatic and simplistic. He portrays Sam's doctors, for example, as wholly altruistic beings (a portrayal not entirely unjustified) and glosses over some of the more personal, and painful, emotions his parents must have felt watching their child suffer. Still, this is a deeply moving story, an against-all-odds tale of bravery and faith. 8 pages b&w photos.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by ArielC9 Loved this book! I loved this book! I couldn't put it down and finished it in 3 days. Really lit a fire of determination and optimism in my life!
Rated of 5
by SuZy Q
i read this book for a book report i loved it so interesting !!
Rated of 5
by brittani
i had to read this for a book report and i thought oh great. but i stayed up till 1:30 the last three nights so i could finish it. i loved the book, it really puts things in perspective.
Rated of 5
by Kate
Wonderful book ... moving and inspirational
Rated of 5
by Courtney
A quick read - I may have enjoyed it more than most because I am in the process of becoming a surgeon. It ended a bit quickly.
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