Dasia (Forever)

By Nic Stone

Thirteen-year-old Dasia Riley is in the early, exhausting weeks of chemotherapy when another young patient enters her room. Jameson, known as Jimmy, initially seems to belong to a very different world. She has money and attentive care, and Dasia is not immediately convinced they have much to say to each other.

Over the course of a night, differences give way to shared experiences. Both girls carry worries about brothers, friendships, and the families who need them. Dasia's history also unfolds through poems written as unsent letters to her incarcerated older brother, bringing the pressures beyond her illness into view.

Nic Stone's Dear Martin companion novel moves between prose and verse to follow two girls supporting one another when neither can easily imagine what comes next. Their connection becomes a way to make room for hope amid serious illness and complicated lives.