Not long ago, seventeen-year-old Carley Allison had it all. She was on the edge of fame as a singer and composer. She was reaching for the highest levels as a competitive skater. She had a brand-new boyfriend and a golden future waiting after graduation. Her world came crashing down when she was diagnosed with a rare kind of cancer in her trachea. Her case, doctors said, was one in 3.5 billion.

Faced with an uncertain new future, Carley did what she always did: she rose to the challenge. Cancer treatment tested her, but Carley was fearless and strong. Told she might never sing again, Carley beat the odds and performed on television for an audience of millions. ?Ladies and gentlemen, ? the announcer said, introducing her, ?The voice you're about to hear is a miracle ...?

Carley died before her twenty-first birthday, but her memory lives on in the countless people she touched with her courage. Bestselling author Alice Kuipers (Me & Me, Life on the Refrigerator Door) weaves their stories with the blog Carley kept in the final months of her life. These many voices --- plus plenty of Carley's texts and photos --- show her transformation from ordinary to extraordinary, and convey her personal rules for living well in the worst of times.
Some readers will know Carley already, whether from videos she shared on YouTube, from her heroic public performances, or from the internationally-acclaimed movie Kiss and Cry inspired by Carley's story and starring her real-life friend Sarah Fisher (Degrassi) This tribute to her life and legacy will appeal to her admirers and inspire those who are meeting Carley for the first time. Always Smile is a book that will linger and resonate in a reader's heart.

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 9th grade-college graduate.

This book has been graded for interest at 14-17 years.

There are 392 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2019 by Kids Can Press .

Alice Kuipers is the author of 8 books for young adults and children that have been published in 34 countries. She lives in Canada.