Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2018
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A young ballerina finds an unlikely ally as she fights a terrible illness.
Teenager Cason Martin is the youngest ballerina in the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory. She never really had a choice of whether she learned to dance or not. Her mother, the conservatory's artistic director, has made all the decisions in Cason's life. But that's about to change. Cason has been hiding an injury, and it's much worse than anyone imagines.
Davis Channing understands all too well what it's like to give up control of your life. He's survived cancer, but his drug addiction nearly killed him. Now he's been sober for seven months and enjoying his community service at the hospital. But just when he thinks he's got it together, Davis's ex-girlfriend, who is still battling her addiction, barrels back into his life.
Cason and Davis are not friends. But, as their worlds collide, they will start to depend on one another. Can they both be brave enough to beat the odds?
"Starred Review. The debut author, a cancer survivor and amputee, covers challenging physical and emotional terrain in compelling detail with compassionate insight and strong storytelling skills." - Kirkus
"A solid addition to YA shelves and a next read for fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars Grades 9 and up." - School Library Journal
"Starred Review. Heartbreaking, beautiful, and ultimately hopeful." - Foreword Reviews
"A beautiful debut that is as inspiring as it is real." - Beth Revis, New York Times best-selling author of A World Without You
"Raw, brutal, and beautiful, Kati Gardner's debut is an amazingly vivid and authentic glimpse into dance, cancer, disabilities, and hope." - Sangu Mandanna, author of The Lost Girl
"A beautifully intertwined story of two people who are trying to be courageous. Brave Enough starts with a heartbreak and gives us hope." - Janet McNally, author of Girls in the Moon and The Looking Glass
This information about Brave Enough was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kati Gardner is a recovering actor, wife, and mom. She is a childhood cancer survivor and amputee who writes books about disability and kissing. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives and writes in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brave Enough is her first novel. You can find her on Twitter at @AuthorKati, on Instagram at AuthorKatiGardner, and at katigardner.com.
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