International Rights

Bittersweet

  • ISBN 9781443146029, Paperback
  • 216 Pages | Ages 8 to 12

When Sam is diagnosed with diabetes, her whole world changes - can she learn to handle it?

Sam is a normal 12-year-old. She loves ice cream, sleepovers, Christmas, and her soccer team (future team captain). What doesn't she love? Her super-annoying teenage brother, how her little sisters mess up the house and talk incessantly, and especially, how completely weird she is feeling.

Lately, Sam has been crazy hungry and thirsty. She's tired all the time, and, most humiliating of all, she's started wetting the bed like a baby.

One day, after a collapse at a soccer game, she wakes up in the hospital to find out she's got Type 1 diabetes. Suddenly everything is different: not just her diet and the injections, but her relationships with her family and her friends. Will she learn to handle it?

This poignant story of a young girl coming to terms with a serious diagnosis, is a hopeful tale about overcoming life's hurdles.

Rights Sold

Finnish – Stabenfeldt, French (N. Amer.) – Éditions Scholastic, Norwegian – Stabenfeldt, Swedish – Stabenfeldt

Selling Points

• Diabetes is a disease of great interest to young readers, since it typically strikes kids their own age.
• Soccer is the most-played sport among Canadian youth and in many other countries around the world.
• Winnie Mack has a great middle-grade voice.

Awards

  • Short-listed, Diamond Willow Award (Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice), 2017
  • Commended, Resource Links, Best of the Year, 2016