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Playing in Dirt

by Kimberley Ghiggia Thorn

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A childhood shaped by family, illness, and community

$20.79 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A childhood shaped by family, illness, and community

Set over a year on a ranch in California’s Central Valley in the early 1980s, *Playing in Dirt* recounts Kimberley’s experience at age five while her older brother Clint undergoes cancer treatment. The account places hospital stays and illness alongside the everyday perspective of a young child, whose brother is also her best friend and protector. Family members, friends, and people beyond the family help Kimberley keep attending kindergarten amid the upheaval. Presented as a true story, the book explores how illness affects a household and how love, laughter, and faith figure in the family’s experience.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in memoirs about childhood and family life during serious illness.
  • Those seeking a true account centered on sibling bonds and a family’s support network.
  • Readers interested in stories of faith and community in the face of cancer.

Themes

Childhood and sibling bondsCancer and family lifeCommunity supportLove, laughter, and faith

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Witness what childhood cancer is like through the eyes of a sibling whose brother is fighting for his life. While having an older brother battling leukemia, five-year-old Kimberley doesn't know a world without childhood cancer. The talk of death and illness is commonplace in her home, but in her innocent eyes, life is filled with laughter, love, and hope.

 

Journey with her through unexplained miracles, hospital stays, and unwavering faith; while her parents, extended relatives, family friends, and complete strangers help her navigate the chaos of life to ensure that she never misses a single day of kindergarten. Follow her through a year in the early 1980's of farming on the family's grape vineyard in California's Central Valley.

 

This is a true story of how cancer brought a family and community closer to each other.

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