Changing Fate by Michelle Merrill

All Kate wants is to live. Battling cystic fibrosis is hard enough, dying from it is even harder. When her mom moves them closer to the hospital in the middle of her senior year, Kate’s determined to isolate herself—saving everyone the trouble of befriending a dying girl. It’s a difficult task when cheerful optimist Giana insists on being Kate’s friend.

Kate’s resolve falters even more when curly-haired Kyler captivates her with his sweet melodies. As her emotional walls collapse, Kate realizes the people she’s been pushing away may be the ones giving her a reason to live. But it might be too late.

I am always grateful for books that help inform and educate me on something I don't know much about.  I don't often get that sort of thing in YA fiction, but with this book, I did.  Cystic Fibrosis is something I have absolutely no first hand knowledge of.  I don't know anyone who has cystic fibrosis.  I am completely ignorant.  That must be the motivation behind the author's desire to write a book like this because by reading this book I learned many things I did not know about this disease.  Not only did my knowledge increase, but my compassion as well.

Kate has had a rough go of life.  Facing death every day and trying to protect your fragile emotions must be a difficult thing.  Kate manages well for the most part but her self imposed isolation is making her life harder, not easier.  Kate is trying to protect herself and others but I love how she gradually realizes that people are willing to help her carry tough burdens.  Friendship is one of the greatest treasures we have.  Kate finds some true friends and it makes all the difference for her.

I really liked the strong friendships in this book.  It was less of a romance and more friendship based.  It is also a story of healing within Kate's own family.  The ending was a little hard to believe, but this is a work of fiction and it made for a happily ever after ending for Kate tied up with a pretty red bow.  It was both heart wrenching and hopeful.

It must be hard to write a book like this, I think, because you want to bring out the realities of of cystic fibrosis without it becoming overwhelming to the reader.  There were plenty of hard and emotional things in this book but I felt like I walked away better for reading it.

You can purchase this book on Amazon.  Half of all proceeds will be given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names. To learn more about her, visit www.authormichellemerrill.com.