I don’t have diabetes. However, I know people who do. I also know people who are at risk. Some of these are kids. This book will be useful to anyone who has diabetes or is close to someone who does, especially if a child, adolescent, or teenager is involved.
Diabetes and me: An Essential Guide for Kids and Parents is filled with excellent information and advice that make the book worth reading accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations that transform the information into a comic book format that is a bit more accessible for both younger and older readers. It does so with a tone that is positive and hopeful about the future. The author, Kim Chaloner, is a middle school science teacher who was diagnosed with diabetes at age sixteen. Her husband and the book’s illustrator, Nick Bertozzi, is an award-winning and established illustrator and author in his own right.
The book acknowledges from the beginning that a diagnosis of diabetes is a life-changing event. It is with this perspective that the author gently takes the reader on a journey through the maze of fear, uncertainty, and confusion that is common and normal in such a moment and beyond all this to help the reader figure out how to answer the question, “What do I do now?”
The book is filled with practical information about doctors and specialists and what each one the diabetes patient is likely to interact with and why. It discusses common treatment options, monitoring, diet, and exercise. The book acknowledges various doctors and treatment centers for their assistance vetting and guiding the content and gives a solid warning to the newly diagnosed to be careful about what sources of information they trust, especially when it comes to internet searches and potential snake oil treatments.
As someone with no personal experience with diabetes, I learned a lot. I can easily imagine that someone struggling with a new diagnosis would find the book a welcome resource, as well as someone who has had diabetes for years but doesn’t feel like they really understand what is going on.