One of my newest book interests has been Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord. The prevalent issue of the book is one that is very close to my heart as one of the characters is showing the early symptoms of dementia, the same disease that I’ve watched my own grandmother go through.

Being a book for younger readers, the language is quite simple, but typically difficult topics are easier and better said in the simplest form possible, so that children can understand it.

That said, Half a Chance does not claim to understand dementia in the slightest. It simply lays out what it looks like and feels like. And I’m glad that it doesn’t explain what is happening to Grandma Lilah, who is unfortunately aware of some of what is happening to her. The majority of people who witness their relations travel the Alzheimer’s path are forced to just simply watch. The book captures that helplessness perfectly because, like with most diseases, the Alzheimer’s patient is not the only victim. I’m not saying that I don’t want somebody to someday find a cure because I definitely do…

Dementia is not the only issue dealt with in the book. It also deals with the loneliness  and uncertainty of moving constantly as well as the everyday beauty of life. The narrator is remarkably observant. She reminds me somewhat of the narrator of Alice Munro’s “Walker Brother’s Cowboy,” who doesn’t understand everything she sees, but sees a plethora of things that many people might have missed.

Don’t let me tell you about the book (or Munro’s short story, if you haven’t read it), read it for yourselves. It speaks for itself.