THE MOTH GIRL

A teen girl struggles to adapt to the disease that’s upending her life.

Winning the year’s first cross-country race feels great. Anna usually trails her best friend, Smilla, but lately she can summon boundless energy and speed, though her hands feel shaky and her feet and legs are painful afterward. Hoping to power through the pain and fatigue, she downplays these symptoms until she passes out during practice and, upon awakening, discovers she’d been floating in midair. A devastating diagnosis follows. Lepidopsy is incurable; symptoms include mothlike fluttering and floating, skin changes, and sugar cravings. The drugs that help control symptoms have side effects. Anna’s efforts to minimize her growing symptoms fail, especially when she overexerts herself. When Smilla’s encouragement feels like toxic positivity, Anna shuts her out, turning to classmate and gifted artist Kristi, whose harsh cynicism is initially a relief. Writing in her author’s note about being diagnosed with lupus as a teen, Kamins knows her territory, and Anna’s emotional experience rings true. Readers who can suspend disbelief to embrace the premise of the fictional disease will be well served by this detailed, convincing, and timely depiction of learning to live with chronic illness. Main characters default to White.

Effectively shines a spotlight on how the onset of chronic illness reshapes one teen’s world.